The Clerics of Zeus

Zeus is the god of the air, ruler of the pantheon of all other Greek Gods. Though ruler, his rule is not absolute, and several of the other gods can always persuade him to see things their way. But, for the most part, what Zeus wants Zeus gets. However, Zeus usually differs to the other gods in their area of control and influence unless such matters are vital to his rule. As such, even the clerics of Zeus must ask permission of the clerics of Poseidon to ride horses.

The notes in the book, if you have it, should not be relied upon. Here are several things that are true of the clerics of Zeus and of Greek gods in general.

Zeus is widely popular, but only in small temples and shrines. His reach is thus very wide, but his major temples are few. This is mostly due to the fact that people tend to worship the deity that most closely influences their profession, and very few people have "ruler" as a profession. However, unlike most other Greek gods, most people do respect and pay homage to this deity in some small way, and always present is the thought that wrong doing may incur this god's disfavor more than any other's. Thus, no matter how indirectly Zeus may influence a person or their family, where the Greek Gods are strong, Zeus is always well respected. A cleric of Zeus must be Chaotic Good in Alignment, may be male or female (but tradition seems to favor the male, paternal image). The cleric wears white more often than not while in towns and cities, and must maintain and repair his many small shrines. Their holy symbols include depictions of lightning bolts, oak tress, rams, and/or eagles.

Clerics of Zeus must have wisdom scores of at least 12, Intelligence scores of at least 12, and Strength scores of at least 9. Sometime before 7th level, they must become proficient with Spear or never advance beyond that level until they do so. As the leader of the gods, all people who are of the Greek religion treat the clerics of Zeus as if those clerics had +2 to their charisma scores (max 18), thus getting more favorable responses from people in general and having their "suggestions" given greater credence than normal.

The clerics of Zeus have standard clerical powers as given in the PHB. Zeus' area of control is the sky, and he has major access to all spheres except Plant, and Sun where he has only minor access.

The following seven spells are Zeus' special spells that may be selected by a cleric of Zeus just as normal spells are selected.

1st.) Animal Guise. The casting time for this spell is one round, but the duration is one full hour or until the cleric returns to human form. With this spell, the cleric and his/her equipment ( if lightly encumbered or less) may turn into the semblance of a ram or an eagle, creatures which are holy to Zeus. They may travel as these creatures but retain their own mental faculties. They may not speak, for this action is tantamount to an attempt to return to human form. No system shock is required for this change and no special abilities except locomotion are granted; i.e. they retain their normal vision and hearing, strength, etc. A holy symbol with the image of an eagle and/or ram is required for this spell.

2nd.) The eyes of Zeus. This spell is similar to the standard spell "Charm person or Mammal" except for the following differences. Due to their augmented charisma power, their hypnotic gaze gives the target a minus 2 (-2) to their saving throw. Also, so powerful is this suggestion that the checks between saving throws is doubled in time; i.e. if the target had an intelligence of 9, instead of saving once/month he or she would save once/ two months.

3rd.)The Wrath of Zeus This spell is identical to the 3rd level mage spell Lightning Bolt except the material component is a holy symbol which includes a depiction of a lightning bolt.

4th.) The Blood of Zeus. After casting this spell for an entire round, the cleric spills a single drop of his or her own blood onto the earth, rock, or ground. Only one drop may be used this way per casting, but from this single drop of blood a randomly determined, locally available, 6 hit dice monster will magically appear and fight, to the death, anyone the cleric perceives to be his or her enemies. The cleric may dismiss the monster before the end of combat, but new enemies that show up afterwards will not be perceived as enemies, nor will certain enemies the cleric now perceives as friends fail to be attacked. If the cleric changes his or mind about who is or is not an enemy, they best dismiss the beast before it can harm the cleric's new friends. The monster will return from whence it came at the end of the battle unless it is dead (which happens due to shock at zero hit points). Also, the beast will similarly return if the cleric should loose consciousness.

5th.) Heaven's Flight. This spell takes one round to cast. At the end of the round, the cleric and everyone who can touch the cleric within one round will gain the ability of flight for one hour (this is to be treated as the mages "fly" spell, but no more than 5 times the cleric's level may benefit from this spell at one time). This awesome spectacle demonstrates Zeus' control over the sky and air. At the end of the hour, the flight slowly disappears, gently bringing everyone down to the ground as per the mage's standard "feather fall" spell.

6th.) Conjure/Control Air Elemental. Due to Zeus' control over this element, the cleric of Zeus may summon an 8 hit dice air elemental to do his or her bidding OR they may control a larger air elemental if one happens to be in the area already. Such a preexisting elemental would get a saving throw vs. spell at -4. Failing that, this elemental will act accordingly, just as a summoned one would, and will do one or two things before departing. If the preexisting elemental should make its save, and if already predisposed to being nasty to the cleric's party in general, the elemental would take a special interest in killing the cleric first before all others.

7th.) The Word of Zeus. This spell is a more powerful version of the standard clerical spell "Holy Word." The two differences are that the creatures are treated as if they had 2 less hit dice for what and how they are affected, and such a banished creature may not return for an entire month (20 days on Orlantia) and not just a single day. The Word of Zeus carries a more lasting impression in this manner.

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