This post is inspired by a character I played in a 3.0 campaign a while back. The character was a Dwarven Cleric. He happened to be a cleric in the service of a god of the harvest, and of brewing in specific. The character started out tongue-in-cheek, but my DM helped me come up with some special abilities for him. Based on the general concept, I decided to try my hand at a cleric domain in PF. The domain is Brewing, but I decided to encompass the concept of alcohol in general. I decided to make it a domain of Erastil as well as of Cayden Cailean, since in early mythologies, harvest and brewing were so closely tied. Here's what I came up with, any thoughts?
Brewing Domain
Deities: Erastil, Cayden Cailean
Granted Powers: You celebrate the cycle of life as symbolized in brewing. An ale mug, tankard, or goblet is your holy symbol.
To Your Health: Any alcoholic beverage you handle is treated as if it were holy water.
Tincture: At 6th Level, you receive the feat Brew Potion as a bonus feat.
EDIT: Shoot, I forgot Domain Spells. I'll work on those.
OK, here's what I came up with for Domain Spells, trying to focus on a thematic tie-in, and using only the spells in the core rulebook. Some of them are obvious, some a stretch, but more consistent than anything else at their level:
1st – Remove Fear; 2nd – Delay Poison, 3rd – Create Food and Water, 4th – Neutralize Poison, 5th – True Seeing, 6th – Hero's Feast 7th – Regenerate, 8th – Spell Immunity, Greater; 9th – Heal, Mass
Cool idea! For the feat ability, I suggest you add in a clause that if you have the feat already, you can pick another feat. Many clerics might want to pick it up at level 3 already.
On the spells, I feel that anti-poison doesn't fit very well. I'd change the 2nd level spell to Blur, Tongues or Hideous Laughter. Blur is the most obvious one. It's a powerful spell, but right now it's quite a weak domain at low levels.
At 4th, I'd go for Confusion. He can make all his enemies drunk to stupor at a whim! I'd drop True Seeing, lower Hero's Feast to 6th level (it's fairly circumstantial), and the 6th level could be Instant Summons (potions only). It too is quite circumstantial and more so with potions only but as a 6th level spell it might make sense.
7th level could be insanity (aka delirium), or waves of exhaustion. 8th level could be irresistible dance, mind blank. 9th level is hard, but I'd say Sympathy or Foresight.
Thanks, good ideas, especially the feat clause.
As for the rationale behind the spells, well, my thinking was:
Anti-poison: Originated in the far-back origins of the religion as the ability to shake off the effects of alcohol, and just evolved.
True Seeing: In Vino Veritas, doncha know.
Having said that, I do kinda like your ideas as well, and will be incorporating at least some of them.
I like the idea but I don't like the 'any alcohol is holy water' unless you actually convert the liquid. If you throw something to be treated like holy water, why not make it holy water?
You could even go a few steps further "Consecrate Wine". A cleric of the brewing domain may convert any drinkable alcohol, skillfully made and aged more than 6 months, into a healing potion at half the listed cost. You could give them this ability with or without the Brew Potion feat.
You might give them the power to instantly sober someone up. Maybe remove a condition like shaken or something?
Perhaps a real alcoholic haze - literally. Give the cleric a ranged attack with an inebriating cloud of alcohol. It might even be flammable.
Maybe it's vinegar and not wine!
Seriously, I could see this guy using ale, mead, wine, vinegar. All the good ol' stuff.
Thanks everyone for the input so far. I'd like to address a couple of things suggested:
I like the idea but I don't like the 'any alcohol is holy water' unless you actually convert the liquid. If you throw something to be treated like holy water, why not make it holy water?
Because 1) That's the point of a Domain Power, to be able to do one or two things in a sepcial way that clerics outside your domain can't, or to do them more easily, or more powerfully. When I look at the damage bonuses, conditions inflicted, etc. of other Domain Powers, being able to make a holy water splash attack seems fairly reasonable, especially since it's limited to use against specific monsters and creatures. And furthermore, 2) To a cleric of a god of brewing, alcohol IS sacred, or indeed, "Holy". Consider the fact that Whisky (Uisce Beatha in the original Gaelic), Scandinavia Aquavit, and the French brandy Eau de Vie all derive their names from the Latin Aqua Vitae, or "Water of Life", and further consider that Irish monks taught the Scots how to make Whisky. Although I probably should limit its use to the 3+WIS times per day other 1st level Domain Powers have on them.
I will say, however, that your "Consecrate Wine" idea works for me even better than the free Brew Potion feat, and I'll probably use it in some form in the final draft.
As for the breath attack idea bandied about by you and Set, while it certainly is in keeping with the properties of alcohol, it's less in keeping with the "Happy drunk Friar Tuck/Corn King" flavor I want for the domain. It seems a little more "Vegas Flare Bartender" in style -- in which case I'd have to design a deity whose avatar was Tom Cruises character from "Cocktail", and the spells would be things like "Flare" (I know, not a cleric spell, but go with the joke).
Maybe it's vinegar and not wine!
Seriously, I could see this guy using ale, mead, wine, vinegar. All the good ol' stuff.
I agree. And maybe the amount of healing power a cleric can derive is directly porportional to the quality of the beverage.
Beer = Holy Water...
My Dwarf Cleric would never have holy water... he would have a righteous hangover though...
Pun intended, I assume?
I'm not against the holy water ability but against the structure of the power. I think giving the cleric the chance to spontaneously turn wine into holy water is simpler than wondering if Holy Beer is better than Holy Wine, vs holy port vs.....
Sigurd
I'm not against the holy water ability but against the structure of the power. I think giving the cleric the chance to spontaneously turn wine into holy water is simpler than wondering if Holy Beer is better than Holy Wine, vs holy port vs.....
Sigurd
Actually, when discussing the quality of the drink, I was referring to the suggestion of turning alcohol into a healing potion, not the earlier holy water power.