Druids

Not sure what I can say since this isn’t a spoilers thread. Spoiler for pride goeth….

I haven’t read the module, but I thought that it was said in “pride goeth” that while the saluwean’s considered the nomadic saluwean male Druids there heretical, but because a past agreement the official position of the mother church was that it wasn’t, and thus the inquisition there refused to hunt them (despite the saluwean desire for them to do so)

So you can be a male priest of saluwe, without being burned by the inquisition. You might be burned by the other saluweans, and you’ll never get anywhere in the church, but officially your ok. I was only wondering if there was something secret/special/unique about the nomadic followers of saluweans. (Like if a path for “Druid” vs just priest of saluwe)

Hello,

The information provided in that adventure was based upon the information provided in the original Players Guide to Arcanis. The Saluwean Druids are, indeed, officially accepted by the Mother Church of Coryan, meaning that the Inquisition technically would not hunt them down as it is considered a valid worship of Saluwe by the Church.

Sorry I don’t agree.

When Arcanis was written during the D20 era, certain allowances had to be made for the world to make the most use of the system – this included, among other things, the Druid Class.

I went back to the original Player’s Guide and re-read every entry which I wrote about Druids, which included the following:

“Role of the priest– The clerisy of Saluwe’ is exclusively reserved for females with a separate druidical sect reserved for the males. Priestesses act as mid-wives, protectors of women within society and the home, bless the barren with fertility and advocate the equality, or in some cases, superiority of females. Priestesses, as well as the druids, are expected to call upon the Earth Mother to ease the people’s misery in times of drought or famine as well as blessing the grain fields and orchards to ensure a bountiful harvest.

In frontier settlements or towns deep in the wild, Saluwean priestesses and druids protect the populace from the creatures of the wild, and especially from foul creatures that are the creation of black sorceries and madmen. Aberrations are not tolerated and their very existence is seen as an affront to Saluwe’.

The druidical tradition of Saluwe is grounded in the tending and protection of the sacred groves, forests, and pristine environment that exist across Arcanis. While the druids that have their traditions grounded in Animism see mankind as a blight upon nature, Saluwean druids believe that mankind is as much a part of nature as the plants and animals. Mankind needs only be instructed as to how to live in harmony with their four legged brethren rather than in conflict. Saluwean druids feel it their duty to defend humans and their kin from the predations of the wilds as any good host will offer safety to those who dwell in their home.

The Golden Boughs of Saluwe’ are especially sacred and it is within these woods, the eaves of its mammoth trees creating a cathedral like ceiling, that the holiest of groves exists. At its very center lies a pool so pure and crystalline in clearness that it is said to be divinely wrought. Saluwean dogma ascribes this glade as being where the Earth Goddess rested and slaked Her parched lips after defeating Marok, the Earth Elemental Lord of the Elorii. ”

Now, if you notice, I stated that there was a separate sect from the priestesses, meaning that they were NOT priests. In the ARG system, I believe we again state that the Saluwean clergy is strictly female.

So, if you want to remain in canon, no you cannot create a PRIEST of Saluwe’. If and until the rules come out for a Druidical Order and you want to play such a character, then I would suggest a “druid” build consisting of the Primal tradition (basically a Shaman) and call it a Druid.

…snip…So, if you want to remain in canon, no you cannot create a PRIEST of Saluwe’. If and until the rules come out for a Druidical Order and you want to play such a character, then I would suggest a “druid” build consisting of the Primal tradition (basically a Shaman) and call it a Druid.

Gah. This makes my head hurt.

Henry, in the campaign I do not equate PRIESTS with divine casters. I only equate Priest with divine casters who also have the blessings of “an Institution.” The Mother Church, the Eloran church….whatever. If you want to cast divine spells you certainly don’t have to be a PRIEST of one of the Churches. You can also be a Templar or Sword Saint…or just a member of the Divine Archetype who never takes church related Paths. Is my interpretation fundamentally wrong?

Like Cody I also assumed that the Druids of Saluwe were an accepted, if politically marginalized, group. IIRC this stems from early meetings between the Mandai and Savosh peoples. The Savosh already worshipped some form of Saluwe…much like they already worshipped Yaris. But they included men and as a result that they were politically outside the mainstream of followers of man (and thus couldn’t for example become Anointed Priests). And that as such they would cast cants… almost by definition. Primal casters can certainly honor the gods like anyone else…but I can’t see primal casters accepted even into the margins of the PoM/Mother Church.

I finds myself vey confused by your posts.

In this case, I believe the stat blocks for Pride Goeth might need to be revisited…I don’t have it in front of me at the moment, but I believe there are stats for Druids using the divine template.

Stat blocks cheat. They are there to help tell, and fit the story. The Divine variation does not mean that the NPC is an accepted “Priest”. It just gives particular mechanical benefits to an NPC for combat purposes. Although (generally) spell selection follows the normal trend that PCs must follow, it is not absolute law. A prime example is the priests of the Ssethregoran “Death God” in the BI….I pulled spells from Necromancy (Primal) and Nerothian Divine sources to give to them.

I was just going to follow up with two questions that are echoed above, and one new one:
1. So does that mean that male druids of Saluwe are a church approved (nonheretical) form of primal casting?
2. But while there can be no male priests of Saluwe, I assume that still means there can be Templars, right? Only actual priests are forbidden? Or are all divine casters of Saluwe female?
And…
3. The rules are different for male casters of Saluwe, but those rules aren’t out yet? Is that a correct interpretation of what you said above? Interesting….

1) No. Henry says they aren’t approved. And I know of no groups of primal casters that are accepted by the Mother Church. If after review things change so that they are officially non-heretical I am all but positive that they will be some flavor of divine.
2) Yes. There are spellcasting Templars and Holy Champions who serve Saluwe. Plenty of them are males.
3) Maybe. There definitely aren’t any rules out yet. While we’re on the issue of gender and the Priesthood I’ll also note that the general rule is that you can’t become a Priest of Illiir if you are a woman. That’s true for all PCs. There is a minor NPC exception for a small group of Illiir its nuns…and two very prominent and powerful NPCs.

1) No. Henry says they aren’t approved. And I know of no groups of primal casters that are accepted by the Mother Church. If after review things change so that they are officially non-heretical I am all but positive that they will be some flavor of divine.

No, Henry said that male priests of Saluwe aren’t approved. My take away from what was posted is that Druids are approved and accepted as part of the church, they just shouldn’t be male priests of Saluwe. He recommended primal builds. So my questions is whether that is a church sanctioned version of primal.

2) Yes. There are spellcasting Templars and Holy Champions who serve Saluwe. Plenty of them are males.

Not sure about that. Henry intimated that there might be a different mechanic for male Saluwean’s. since there is little mechanical difference between a priest and other divine casters (Templar, divine archetype, etc) it seems that might apply to other divine casters of Saluwe as well. After all, if it was that simple we could just classify all male druids as Templars and call it a day, rather than have to rebrand them as primals.