Cleric spell check: augmentation?

[Skyscraper]

Hi all,

Another question that I can't find an answer to in the book.

Wizards can spellburn. It seems that clerics cannot. This is correct, right?

Do clerics have other mechanics to augment their spellcheck results? If not, am I to understand that very high spell check results (30+) are only achievable by clerics or very high level, and even then only on lukcy rolls (20)?

Thanks,

Sky

[Raven_Crowking]

You are correct.

Clerics can augment spell checks via Luck, but have no direct means to force their gods to do anything.

RC

[Skyscraper]

Thanks!

[Raven_Crowking]

Always pleased to help!

[Merl]

Actually, it is possible for clerics to spellburn, as detailed in the paragraph on page 108: " Spellburn by Clerics".

Admittedly, not so useful in the midst of an adventure when you really need a good result on your laying on of hands...

Just as an aside, it is also possible to augment cleric spell check results - via other spells. This happened in our game yesterday. We've been playing the same campaign for the last year, originally using the beta rules (now a mish-mash of beta, final and a few house-tweaks), and the players were taking on the remnants of a cult (well, at least that's what the party cleric called it - Aman Tor's followers don't recognise Aman Al Ur Tet as a real god, but Aman Al Ur Tet's followers do recognise Aman Tor... as a son. It's messy).

The head "evil" cleric was sixth level, with a Personality of 16, meaning total plus was +8 to his spell check rolls. The first thing he did when the party approached was cast Blessing, and got a 20-23 spell result. Caster Level +1d3 bonus to all rolls, meant that his total plus to spell checks became +16 for ten minutes.

You do not want to get hit by a Bolt From the Blue when the bad guy has +16 to his spellcheck...

[beermotor]

WTFBBQPWN3D!!1!!1!!1!!1!!!!!!!!11!1

That's so awesome. I bet the players were awestruck, and rightly so.

[Raven_Crowking]

Actually, it is possible for clerics to spellburn, as detailed in the paragraph on page 108: " Spellburn by Clerics".

Spellburn by clerics: Spellburn is a form of magic generally reserved for wizards. However, under highly unusual
circumstances (mostly associated with great magic items or rare formulae), clerics can also utilize spellburn. Clerics can
never utilize spellburn for normal spells; only under specialized circumstances the judge will specify. When a cleric
does utilize spellburn, it invariably involves ritualized behavior associated with the rites of his deity.

(Yeah, I know that paragraph is there, but it isn't going to come up often in actual play....And it doesn't help the cleric with his normal spells.)

[Merl]

That's so awesome. I bet the players were awestruck, and rightly so.

Oh, yes. Especially the warrior who was struck by half a dozen godly bolts which almost killed him, who then went mad and pulled most of his hair out, and finally lost 16 ability points including more than half of his strength...

(Yeah, I know that paragraph is there, but it isn't going to come up often in actual play....And it doesn't help the cleric with his normal spells.)

You're right, of course - and I did say that it wouldn't be of use in regular play - but I was pointing out that the answer to "Can clerics spellburn?" is not No, but Yes, in rare circumstances.