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[Neonivek]

but instead lead, help, and bless a community

The problem is that it only applies to one kind of priest. The sort of goody goody.

Priests should come in many shapes and sizes so to speak. (but not so different as to throw off the player)

Plus there are all sort of possitions that would lead to characters of faith anyhow that would restrict them to a live of temple servatude even if priests would. (though there were religious orders in real life where... well... lets just say the whole order could fight as an army)

[darkflagrance]

Ever read the Song of Roland? It's about a battle during Charlemagne's time between the Franks and the Spanish Moslems. The priest with Roland's army gets the second-most amount of kills on the battlefield, with only Roland getting more. Given the Medieval European setting, we shouldn't be limiting priests to ritual or pacifistic purposes in general.

EDIT: Abridged version? I had to read the entire thing for a class I took...

[Vester]

The only thing I remember from that epic is Roland

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

blowing his horn so hard his brains come out his ears.

Epic epics were epic back then.

[JoshuaFH]

I read the abridged version of the song of roland twice, it's awesome.

Roland cleaved more than his fair share of people in half.... long-ways.

He sword was Durendal, which IIRC had the teeth of a saint in the hilt, and was bonifiedly unbreakable. At the end of the battle, he smashes up a marble rock to dust trying to break Durendal, as he didn't want it to fall into enemy hands. He doesn't succeed (as it's unbreakable) so he just sets it on the ground, lies ontop of it and hopes for the best.

It should be noted, that the only reason Roland died was because he was the rear guard, and he was repelling Spain's last and greatest counterattack with only a fraction of his army. He waited until his dying breath to blow his horn because he didn't want the remainder of his army to come back and have to fight a battle they're bound to lose, as they were caught unawares. Way to take one for the team.

Roland was Charlemagne's nephew, which is pretty awesome considering Charlemagne was like the most awesome Emperor to ever rule over Europe.

[Belteshazzar]

Curses... Mentioning Durendal made me start looking up some connections and now I'm waiting for Bungie to finish the trifecta with Joyeuse.

[Vester]

Also it was supposedly Hector's sword, I think.

Quoth Brad Pitt: HECTOOOOOR

[JoshuaFH]

Also it was supposedly Hector's sword, I think.

Quoth Brad Pitt: HECTOOOOOR

What are you talking about?

[Vester]

Durandal was apparently originally Hector's (Troy Hector) sword, and eventually made its way down to Roland, with little relics getting set in it along the way.

[JoshuaFH]

See, the book I read only detailed his last battle, and nothing before or after it.

[Vester]

Does it at least have the part where

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

he tries to break Durandal on a rock, then realizes it's unbreakable, and tucks it under himself instead?

[shadowclasper]

seconded.

Of course, priests might just end up being philosophers with the occasional blessing tacted on. Maybe they have a chance to cure madness? or inspiring the faithful to making artifacts in the name of their god with a longer period of time to make said artifact without going coo-coo

also, you want a dwarf fortress level of epic? read the full Beowulf. Not the movie, the movie sucked. The epic was epic beyond all epic proportions (Beowulf makes Chuck Norris look like a crying nancy boy) Guy held his breath for 4 or so DAYS while wrestling with a witch and the monsters of her lake as he sank to the bottom, in full plate armor Did I mention the witch had the strength of a giant and skin like 5 inch plate steel? Eventually Beowulf takes a sword meant for killing 40 foot tall GIANTS and kills her with it. Oh and let's not forget Beowulf TORE THE ARM OFF CAIN'S OWN SON aka: the son of the guy who invented murder.

There's also dragon slaying. Where, Beowulf is only slightly less bad ass than one of his subordinates (I won't ruin that part for you, READ THE DANG EPIC!)

[JoshuaFH]

Does it at least have the part where

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

he tries to break Durandal on a rock, then realizes it's unbreakable, and tucks it under himself instead?

Yeah, and I think there was something about someone throwing it into a 'poison river' in order to hide it.

[Belteshazzar]

Yeah, and I think there was something about someone throwing it into a 'poison river' in order to hide it.

So we can probably find it in the belongings of an 70s-80s American rock band?

More on topic it is notable that priests, wizards, magi, shamans, monks, prophets, sorcerers ect, have been interchangeable job titles throughout history with most mortal magic users historically obtaining their powers through similar pacts, prayers, manipulation, appeasement, right-of-lineage and outright coercion with spiritual powers.

[Nivim]

 I agree on the priestly matter. I don't know enough about them.

 I might be nit-picking, but not all those terms are interchangeable. Prophet is someone with a vision or message of the future, although they might be a wizard too. There is a division between priests, shamans, monks (possibly prophets) and wizards, magi, and sorcerers. The first is religious (in most cases), the second is arcane (in all cases). The difference in "magic" type has already been described here. Supernatural users are pretty diverse, and it's a bad idea to throw them together for the purpose of simplification.

[Halmie]

Priests power should be mainly inspirational/wealth. Say make a church to a god and take some of the profits but if the god/goddess finds out (rare) he can make your life annoying in some respects (if he/she is the god/goddess of fortresses some of your fortress would collapse depending on how annoyed they are).

That's if gods are chosen to have an effect on the world, otherwise you can steal as much as you like.