[RedRover]

I thought about just adding this to the Misc Magic Ideas thread, but it's different enough to deserve its own thread. I was going to polish it a little more, but it's been distracting me from my current dom2 project, so I'm sending it now to clear it off my desk.

Prayers currently exist (they are holy spells, as per Sunray's master spell list). Rites would be new--these are holy ritual spells.

HOLY PRAYERS

The following spell ideas are given in ascending level order.

Fear of God: Prayer. Holy/Unholy (Combat Retaliation). Paths: H2. Cost: 0- fatigue.
Any creature striking the priest receives a morale penalty and takes an immediate morale check. The penalty does not stack with itself, but Lasts for the battle or until the caster is killed.

[Design Notes: dmg=morale check, area=1, prec=100, morale penalty is (priest level-1).]

Dispel Evil: Prayer. Holy (Combat Support). Paths: H3. Cost: 0- fatigue.
Counters one unholy spell that Lasts for the battle.

[Design Notes: rng=-, area=Battlefield, prec=-, removes 1 unholy spell effect.]

Dispel Good: Prayer. Unholy (Combat Support). Paths: H3. Cost: 0- fatigue.
Counters one holy spell that Lasts for the battle.

[Design Notes: rng=-, area=Battlefield, prec=-, removes 1 holy spell effect.]

Neutralize Poison: Prayer. Holy (Combat Support). Paths: H3. Cost: 0- fatigue.
Neutralizes poisoning of one friendly unit. Does not prevent subsequent poisoning.

[Design Notes: rng=10, area=One person, prec=5, stops continuing poison damage. AI notes: priority highest current hit points; don’t target creatures with less than 5 current hp.]

Smite Fear: Prayer. Holy (Combat Support). Paths: H3. Cost: 0- fatigue.
The priest targets an enemy commander with a fear modifier and reduces it.

[Design Notes: This spell temporarily reduces a fear modifier of an enemy commander. rng=15, area=one person, prec=100, fear reduction= (priest level squared/3 )–2. Thus, a 3rd-level priest cancels a +1 bonus, 4th level +3, 5th level +6.]

Unholy Smite: Prayer. Unholy (Ranged Attack). Paths: H3. Cost: 0- fatigue.
An enemy priest who fails to resist this spell is stunned for 1 turn per caster level.

[Design Notes: Effective only against enemy priests. rng=35+, area=one person, prec=100, magic resistance negates. This is intended to make undead hordes a little more fearsome.]

Channel Fear: Prayer. Unholy (Combat Support). Paths: H4. Cost: 0- fatigue.
Routing units add to the effectiveness of the caster’s unholy bolts.

[Design Notes: rng=0, area=Caster, prec=100, dmg=+1 per (routing units/5).]

Slay Fear: Prayer. Holy (Combat Support). Paths: H4. Cost: 0- fatigue.
The priest targets an enemy troop type with a fear modifier and reduces it.

[Design Notes: Not sure how codable this is…rng=100, area=Battlefield, prec=100, fear reduction= (priest level squared/3 )–2]

Holy Terror: Prayer. Unholy (Combat Attack). Paths: H5. Cost: 0- fatigue.
All unrouted enemy squads on the battlefield take a morale check at –1.

[Design Notes: rng=100, area=Battlefield, prec=-, morale -1.]

Mass Neutralize Poison: Prayer. Holy (Combat Support). Paths: H5. Cost: 0- fatigue.
Neutralizes poisoning of all friendly units in area. Does not prevent subsequent poisoning.

[Design Notes: rng=15, area=4+, prec=3, stops continuing poison damage. AI notes: priority highest current hit points; don’t target creatures with less than 5 current hp.]

HOLY/UNHOLY RITES (ritual prayers)

These are ritual holy prayers. Unlike ritual spells, they can be cast anywhere, unless noted otherwise. Instead of costing gems, they cost money. Basic cost guidelines:

H1—25 gp
H2—50 gp
H3—75 gp
H4—100 gp
H5—150 gp

The following are given in ascending level order.

Holy Mass: Rite. Path: H1. Cost: 25 gold.
This rite has the effect of a Preach order, and also raises the priest’s level by +1 for the turn. This rite can be performed only at a temple.

[Design note: This rite aids in increasing dominion in a province. It can be cast as a monthly ritual.]

Rite of Calming: Rite. Path: H1. Cost: 25 gold.
This rite reduces unrest in caster’s province by 25 points. It does not reduce unrest below 0. This rite can be cast anywhere.

[Design note: This rite can be cast as a monthly ritual. It automatically ends when unrest reaches 0 or when the money runs out.]

Inspiration: Rite. Path: H2. Cost: 50 gold.
This rite raises the morale of friendly units in the caster’s province by +1 for this month. It can be cast anywhere.

[Designer’s note: This is more of a defensive rite, since a priest who casts it can’t move. There is a higher level variation, Prayers from Afar, that affects friendly units anywhere on the map.]

Cotter’s Blessing: Rite. Path: H2. Cost: 50 gold.
This rite creates 10 points of resources in the caster’s province this month. If not used, they are lost. This rite can be performed only at a temple.

[Design note: This rite can be cast as a monthly ritual. It automatically ends if money runs out.]

Holy Feast: Rite. Path: H3, Cost: 75 gold.
This spell negates the starvation penalty in battle for this month. It does not prevent or cure disease due to starvation, nor does it affect the supply status of the army beyond negating the battle penalty.

[Design note: The Crusaders in the CrusaderMod have this as a national spell. The rite is pegged at H3 because that’s the holy level of the casters of this effect in that mod.]

Consecration: Rite. Path: H3 or prophet. Cost: variable.
This rite must be performed at a temple. It grants the target commander one level of holiness. The first level of holiness must be conferred by a priest H3 or by the prophet (much the same way as Gift of Reason bestows commander status). The rite cost varies according to the level conferred: 1st–200 gold, 2nd –50 gold, 3rd–100 gold, 4th–250 gold, 5th–500 gold. The rite does not function on Pretenders. The rite costs much more if the caster is not of greater holy level than the receiver.

[Design note: This is holy empowerment, granting levels of holy skill. If the caster is not of greater level than the receiver, then the cost of the rite is doubled. This spell has a pop-up message if you try to do it with insufficient money.]

Prayers from Afar: Rite. Path: H4. Cost: 100 gold.
This rite raises the morale of friendly units in the target province by +1 for this month. This rite can be performed only at a temple.

[Design note: This rite is not cumulative with itself nor with Inspiration.]

Blessed Industry: Rite. Path: H4. Cost: 100 gold
This rite creates 25 resource points in the caster’s province. Resources not used in the month of creation are lost. This rite can be performed only at a temple.

[Design note: This rite can be cast as a monthly ritual. It automatically ends if the money runs out.]

Dome of Holy Protection: Rite. Path: H5. Cost: 150 gold.
The dome has a 30% chance to stop an incoming spell. The dome might shatter when it stops a spell. This rite can be performed only at a temple.

[Design note: The chance of the dome shattering is 1% per spell level squared.]

Another line I'd like to see discussed in this thread are holy/magic path combination spells, though I don't have anything to add about them at present.