For the purposes of this book, a death priest can include any cleric whose religion embraces one of the many aspects of death. This priest thus need not worship death per se. From the CPrH, the priesthoods of Evil (Philosophy), Disease, Life-Death-Rebirth (Force), and (obviously) Death itself fall into this general category. In this chapter, we also present the priesthoods of the Dead, Murder, Pestilence (a more detailed revision of the Disease priesthood), Suffering, and Undead. These new priesthoods are discussed in sufficiently general terms that they can be transplanted into any campaign world with minimal modification. Also, the new priesthoods include sufficient detail that the DM need not worry about assigning individual kits from the CPrH in order to flesh out a particular priest character.
Unlike the CPrH, we are not interested in exploring priesthoods that would be appealing or useful to player characters. Even among experienced players, few besides the DM will enjoy role-playing twisted, death-worshiping religious fanatics. Unless stated otherwise in the following descriptions, it is strongly suggested that death priests, along with necromancers, remain NPCs for the campaign, where they can serve as unusual advisors, employers, and evil arch-villains.
Most priesthoods outlined in the CPrH gather priests and followers from among humans and all of the major demihuman races (dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings). However, only humans are admissible to the necromantic priesthoods outlined below, for the same reasons that necromancy (at least in general) can only be practiced by human wizards (see Chapter One).
Finally, the deities mentioned here can be represented by male, female, or even monstrous powers. In the descriptions that follow, the most likely gender of the various gods has been used for clarity and convenience; the DM should feel free to modify the deity's sex to suit the particulars of a campaign.
- The God of the Dead
- The Goddess of Murder
- The God of Pestilence
- The God of Suffering
- The Lord of Undead
| Level | Experience | Hit Dice (d4) |
THAC0 | Spell Levels | Proficiencies | Saving Throws | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | NW | WP | PPDM | RSW | PP | BW | S | ||||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
| 2 | 1,500 | 2 | 20 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
| 3 | 3,000 | 3 | 20 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
| 4 | 6,000 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| 5 | 13,000 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| 6 | 27,500 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| 7 | 55,000 | 7 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 6 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 12 |
| 8 | 110,000 | 8 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | 6 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 12 |
| 9 | 225,000 | 9 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 7 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 12 |
| 10 | 450,000 | 9+2 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| 11 | 675,000 | 9+4 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| 12 | 900,000 | 9+6 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | 8 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| 13 | 1,125,000 | 9+8 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | 8 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| 14 | 1,350,000 | 9+10 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| 15 | 1,575,000 | 9+12 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| 16 | 1,800,000 | 9+14 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 17 | 2,025,000 | 9+16 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 18 | 2,250,000 | 9+18 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 19 | 2,475,000 | 9+20 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 20 | 2,700,000 | 9+22 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 21 | 2,925,000 | 9+24 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 22 | 3,150,000 | 9+26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 23 | 3,375,000 | 9+28 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 24 | 3,600,000 | 9+30 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 25 | 3,825,000 | 9+32 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 26 | 4,050,000 | 9+34 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 27 | 4,275,000 | 9+36 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 28 | 4,500,000 | 9+38 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 29 | 4,725,000 | 9+40 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 30 | 4,950,000 | 9+42 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
- NW: Nonweapon Proficiency slots; W: Weapon Proficiency slots; PPDM: Paralyzation, Poison, or Death Magic; RSW: Rod, Staff, or Wand; PP: Petrification or Polymorph; BW: Breath Weapon; S: Spells.