Clerics can cast any spell on their spell list, and do not use spellbooks. So all first level Clerics have full access to all first level spells, for instance.
A Cleric must rest for six continuous hours before preparing spells. After resting, the Cleric must meditate and pray for a number of hours equal to the highest level spell being prepared. This process is sometimes called memorizing spells.
Spells remain in memory until they are cast, and once they are cast, the power of the spell leaves the caster. However, the same spell can be prepared multiple times. The Cleric’s spell charts give the maximum number of spells that can be memorized at each level and the Cleric can never have more than this number prepared at one time. A Cleric can simply dismiss spells from his mind uncast, clearing the “spell slot” for other spells when preparing them as usual.
Reversible spells must be prepared as either the “straight” version or the “reversed” version; the decision cannot be made at the time of casting.
A Cleric can only safely prepare spells once every twenty-four hours. The mind simply cannot handle any more.
Scrolls are magical items which allow a Cleric to cast a spell without prior memorization, even if the spell is of higher level than the Cleric is able to cast. The scrolls are written in the language of the writer, so no Read Magic spell is necessary as it is for Magic-User spells, but to use a scroll a Cleric must be able to read the language of the writer. Curiously, scrolls written by Clerics of different religions can be used with no penalty or modification, and it is this fact that leads some heretical and blasphemous philosophers to believe that Cleric magic is not actually directly connected to any particular religion or deity.
Casting a spell from a scroll erases it from the scroll.
A character must hold the scroll with both hands in order to read/use it, and if used in combat takes the entire action of the caster to use.
All spells cast from scrolls use the level of the reader, not the writer, to determine the effects of the spell.
Any Cleric can create a spell scroll for any spell that he is able to cast. The process costs 50 gp per day in offerings to the Cleric’s deity and/or ritual expenses.
Even though a scroll is essentially a “one-use” formula for a spell, scrolls must be individually created with the requisite prayers and meditation.
Clerics are able to create scrolls which can repel certain types of creatures. The Cleric creating the scroll even gets to choose which category. It can be as specific as the Cleric wants (“Humanoids who dwell in the Foul Caverns!”), but can only be so general as to make easy distinction between affected and nonaffected creatures.
The making of such scrolls requires a sacrifice—a number of creatures of the target class must be sacrificed (in a manner consistent with the Cleric’s religious teachings) to capture the effect of the warding magic. The total Hit Dice value of the creatures sacrificed determines the length of time of the scroll’s crafting as well as the chance that the preparation will be successful. For each 5 Hit Dice of this total, the Cleric must spend one day preparing the scroll, while the total number of creature Hit Dice equals the percentage chance that the process will successfully create a working Protection scroll. It costs 50 gp per day in offerings to the Cleric’s deity and/or ritual expenses to create a Protection scroll.
Protection scrolls, when used, will prevent the target class of creature from approaching within 10' of the user for d4+ 2 Turns.
Water that is to be made into holy water must first be at rest in a basin in a place holy to the Cleric’s religion. Then, at the same time every day for nine days straight, a Bless spell must be cast on the basin and its contents. On the tenth day, the water must be placed in a vial, and then the tenth Bless cast upon it. Only then can it be used to combat the unnatural and the evil.
Most “holy water” used in religious rituals and services is merely symbolic. While suitable for its purpose, it does not have any potency against the undead or otherworldly creatures unless this ritual is performed.
A Cleric’s player can invent totally new spells for his character to research. The player must first write the spell in the format of the other spells in the spell lists. The Referee must approve the spell, and should revise the spell for the player in advance of any research (sometimes this will merely involve altering the spell level). If successful, the character now has a spell that no other character has in the game! The process costs 100 gp per day in sacrifices and/or ritual costs as determined by the Cleric’s religion.
When writing scrolls or researching spells, the character (and player) will never know exactly how long it will take.
The player must declare ahead of time how long the character will take to perform the activity. The Referee will randomly determine the actual necessary length of time it should take according to the table below (which the player may also use to estimate how long they wish to work). The period must be uninterrupted for the character; any significant interruption undoes all work and the project must be started anew. The costs up to that time are wasted. Only after the time passes in-game and the money is spent can success be determined.
If the character spent time equal to, or greater than, the amount necessary, then the work is automatically a success. If the character spent less time, the entire project is a failure; all work has been for naught, all money spent has been wasted, and the process must begin from scratch. There is also a 10% chance that any failed project results in a curse as determined by the Referee.
The time required is doubled if the Cleric is not working in a temple or church of his religion of a size more than a thousand square feet times the level of the spell.
The character’s Wisdom modifier is applied to the final number of required days (with a positive modifier lessening the number of days, of course). The minimum amount of time it takes to research spells or write scrolls is never less than a day.
| Activity | Time |
| Writing a Scroll | Spell Level × 2d6 Days |
| Researching a New Spell | Spell Level × 4d6 Days |
Spells are cast by a combination of mental concentration, gesticulation, and chanting. In order to cast a spell, a Cleric must clutch a holy symbol of his religion and be able to chant freely. A character that is bound, gagged, Silenced, or otherwise unable to gesture or speak, cannot cast spells. Casting a spell cannot be done secretly, stealthily, or disguised as another activity; the actions necessary to casting a spell will be obvious to all.