Dwarven Priest

An alternative class for dwarven characters by Jeffrey Tadlock

Like your fellow dwarves, dwarven priests were raised far underground in
dwarven mines, strongholds, and great cities. Subscribing to the orderly and
rigid life that keeps dwarven society functioning, the dwarven priest took an
interest in the gods of the land. In addition to years of martial training and
learning crafts, the dwarven priest was instructed in centuries-old religious
knowledge and ritual.
The dwarven priest is a valued member of dwarven society. Life beneath the
surface is treacherous. Mining accidents, natural cavern collapses, and near
constant skirmishes with other denizens of the dark guarantee physical injury
that drive demand for the healing care of a priest. Simply boosting the mental
fortitude amongst dark and confined caverns is one of the facets of a dwarven
priest that add to their worth to the dwarven society.
With their martial training, spells, and luck of the gods to aid them during
battle, dwarven priests are an anchor to the foothold these demi-humans claim
under the mountains. These features also serve to make them stout adventuring
companions.
Hit Die: A dwarven priest gains 1d8 hit points at each level.
Weapon Training: Much like their brethren, dwarven priests prefer battle with
a weapon and shield. With time spent training split between
martial and religious training a
dwarven priest is only trained in the
following melee weapons: battleaxe,
club, handaxe, mace, spear, and
warhammer. A dwarven priest is also
trained in these missile fire weapons:
crossbow and sling. Dwarven priests
wear whatever armor they can afford.
Alignment: The dwarven life produces
many more lawful dwarves due to the
structured clan life of dwarves. Coupled
with learning the tenets of the religious
way, dwarven priests are slanted even
more heavily to a lawful alignment.
Rare are the dwarves who stray from
the lawful path after studying the ways
of religion, but chaotic dwarven priests do
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 exist. These dwarven priests have typically rebelled strongly against their roots
or some say been tainted by the patrons and deities they serve.
Neutral dwarven priests are even rarer and tend to be dwarves that have little
direction in their lives. These dwarven priests frequently find themselves more
beholden to natural elements than lawful or chaotic deities.
Attack modifier: The dwarven priest starts with a static modifier for attack
rolls. At 3rd level the dwarven priest gains a deed die, like the Dwarf Fighter. At
3rd level, this is a d3. The dwarven priest rolls the d3 on each attack roll and
applies it to both his attack roll and his damage roll. The progression of this
deed die is at a reduced rate compared to dwarven fighter or Warrior classes.
Caster level: Caster level is typically the level of the dwarven priest. This level
can be modified under certain circumstances. It is not unheard of for a
dwarven priest to seek out holy relics of their faith to increase their caster level.
Magic: Dwarven priests are able to call upon the favor of his god. This ability
allows the dwarven priest to channel his chosen god’s power and cast spells as
human clerics. Dwarven priests are also able to call upon their deity to lay on
hands,turn unholy, and are subject to disapproval. See the Cleric entry in the
DCC RPG rulebook for a complete description of clerical magic and disapproval.
Divine Aid: In addition to channeling a god’s power as a devout worshipper, a
dwarven priest can beseech his deity for divine aid. Faithful followers recognize
that beseeching a deity directly is an extraordinary act. To request divine aid,
the priest makes a spell check at the same modifier that would apply were he
casting a spell. This extraordinary act imparts a cumulative +10 penalty to
future disapproval range. Based on the result of the spell check, the judge will
describe the result. Simple requests (e.g. light a candle) are DC 10 and
extraordinary requests (e.g. summon and control a living column
of fire are DC 18 or higher.
Mighty Deed of Arms: Dwarven
priests have been exposed to
martial training during their
religious studies. Like Warriors and
dwarven fighters, they can perform
Mighty Deed of Arms in combat. See
the warrior entry in the DCC RPG
rulebook for a complete
description.
Infravision: A dwarven priest can
see in the dark up to 60’.
Slow: A dwarven priest has a base
movement speed of 20’.

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 Underground Skills: Lives led underground train dwarves to detect certain
kinds of construction. When underground, dwarves receive a bonus to detect
traps, slanting passages, shifting walls, and other new construction equal to
their class level.
A dwarf priest can smell gold and gems. A dwarf priest can determine the
direction of a strong concentration of gold or gems within 100’. Smaller
concentrations, even down to a single coin, can be smelled up to 40’ away if the
dwarf concentrates.
Luck: A dwarven priest’s luck applies to the armor class.
Languages: A dwarven priest at 1st-level knows Common, the dwarven racial
language, plus Angelic if Lawful, Demonic if Chaotic or the choice of either if
Neutral. A dwarven priest knows one additional language for every point of Int
modifier, as described in Appendix L of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
rulebook.
Action Dice: A dwarven priest receives their second action dice at 6th level. A
dwarven priest’s action dice can be used for attack rolls or spell checks.

Table DP-1 : Dwarven Priest

Level Attack Crit Die Action Ref Fort Will Spells Known by Level
(Deed Die) /Table Dice 1 2 3 4 5
1 +0 1 d8/III 1 d20 +0 +1 +1 2 - - - -
2 +1 1 d1 0/III 1 d20 +0 +1 +1 3 - - - -
3 +d3 1 d1 2/III 1 d20 +1 +1 +2 3 1 - - -
4 +d3 1 d1 4/III 1 d20 +1 +2 +3 4 2 - - -
5 +d3 1 d1 2/IV 1 d20 +1 +3 +3 4 3 1 - -
6 +d4 1 d1 4/IV 1 d20+1 d1 4 +2 +3 +4 5 3 2 - -
7 +d4 1 d1 6/IV 1 d20+1 d1 4 +2 +4 +4 5 4 3 1 -
8 +d4 1 d20/V 1 d20+1 d1 6 +2 +4 +5 6 5 3 2 -
9 +d4 1 d24/V 1 d20+1 d1 6 +2 +5 +5 6 5 4 3 -
10 +d7 1 d30/V 1 d20+1 d20 +3 +5 +6 7 6 4 3 1

Table DP-2: Dwarven Priest Titles

Level Title by Alignment
Lawful Chaotic Neutral
1 Acolyte Supplicant Celebrant
2 Recottor Beseecher Revivalist
3 Friar Disciple Zealot
4 Vicar Oracle Proselytizer
5 Inquisitor Indoctrinator Everlasting
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