GURPS - Clerics and Paladins on Aestas

Clerics are members of a priesthood who wield mystical powers in service of their deities, essentially acting as their god's hands on Aestas. These powers differentiate them from lay clergy (normal people who fill religious offices), and spell casters, who manipulate the ambient energies of the universe through their will. Clerics, priests, and paladins are all members of a clerical hierarchy, and should all have varying levels of "Clerical Aptitude", as well as "Theology", "Religious Ritual", and other related useful skills. Nearly all clerics will have "Duty", "Sense of Duty", "Vow", and "Disciplines of Faith" in some level". Paladins are simply a form of cleric devoted to martial pursuits, devoted wholly to serving their deity on the battlefield. They are typically knights who owe allegiance to a church rather than to a noble or monarch. Because of what Paladins are and what they do, they will have disadvantages such as "Code of Honor", "Extremely Hazardous Duty", and "Fanaticism", in addition to other more typical disadvantages. Likewise, "True Faith" is nearly universal among Paladins. As such, paladins are always at the forefront of any crusade. Not all faiths produce Paladins in equal numbers - those devoted to Law, Justice, and similar qualities tend to produce the greatest numbers. In addition to "Clerical Spellcasting", Clerics and Paladins are defined by a number of supernatural advantages that most characters do not have access to, usually referred to as referred to as "Numina". Commonly found supernatural advantages among clerics include the following:

• Blessed

• Channeling

• Healing

• Higher Purpose

• Indomitable

• Medium

• Oracle

• True Faith

In addition to these relatively common abilities, clerics and paladins also have access to a wide variety of other powers. These can include any of the abilities from the "Dungeon Fantasy" supplements on Clerics or Holy Warriors. Any of the "Mystic" abilities found in GURPS Monster Hunters 1, pp42-45 are also available. In particular, the following ability should be common to nearly any Cleric worthy of the title.

Miraculous Prayer (24 or 48 points)

You may pray for direct divine or spiritual intervention! This takes at least 1d seconds of concentration, after which the GM rolls 3d against a target number of 6 or 9 (depending on your level) to see if your prayer is heard. If not, you cannot try again this session; otherwise, your patron immediately lends you a hand! It is only able to act freely in supernatural matters, however (e.g., banishing a demon). For all other requests, it is limited to subtle manipulation to bring about extreme coincidences (e.g., a construction crew demolishing the wrong building). You are limited to roughly one such “miracle” per adventure.

Statistics: Patron (Limited manifestation of god or powerful spirit; 6 or less; Highly Accessible, +50%; PM, -10%; Special Abilities, +100%) [24] or (9 or less) [48].