Re: Priest Scrolls

Heh, since I'm one of those that'd be most affected,
I'd better get in my 2 coppers!!! :D

--- Paul Westermeyer <westermeyer@????????.net> wrote:

> Does it strike anyone else as odd that a priest of
> Thor could scribe a Cure Light Wounds or Bless or
> Augury spell on a scroll, somehow lose said scroll
> before casting the spell from it, have the scroll
> discovered by a priest of Loki, and then had that
> priest of Loki cast the Bless spell, for example,
> perhaps even on a group of giants about to attack
> one of Thor's Temples?

It does, now that you mention it.  But really, to
answer that question, you have to decide what exactly
a scroll *is*.  As it is now, a scroll is basically a
"freebie" spell to extend a spell-caster's abilities,
a one-shot means of getting a free spell.  But another
way to look at it is that scrolls would be more like
religious texts, and their magic does not simply
vanish simply because by casting the spell on it. 
Actually, you could even go so far as to have priests
use scrolls to cast spells instead of praying for
them.  Thus a clerical scroll becomes a priest's
spellbook, as it were.

> I'm strongly contemplating specifying deity for
> priest scrolls when they are discovered in treasure
> hoards, basically treating such scrolls as not just
> magic items, but holy items of their specific
> religion.

That'd make sense to me.  But if you go that route, I
think scrolls should be reusable in some fashion, to
make up for the fact that no longer can priests use
any cleric scroll they encounter.  Maybe scrolls could
be "recharged" with prayer, following the same rules
on how long it takes to memorize a spell.  With the
special rule that priests cannot "recharge" scroll
spells that are higher level than they can cast.


> Since priesthoods vary so much in most AD&D/HM
> games, with large polytheistic pantheons, perhaps
> priests could use the scrolls that come from allied
> deities, deities from the same pantheon, or deities
> of the same alignment.

In games where you don't always have access to your
deity, scrolls could become a life-saver for priests.
:)  Allowing deities of the same pantheon to use each
other's scrolls make sense, though that may make more
sense for the pantheistic & planar churches.

Adam

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