rumtap wrote:
The last of the 3 new professions and I think this is a nice addition. The priest is not overpowered (maybe perhaps a little weak) but has some abilities that will aid a group of adventurers.
Weak in combat, yes, but not weak in a narrative role. The 'scholar' role in a party is usually played by the sorcerer, and tends to just be a conduit for the GM to feed information to the party. The priest has some control over his areas of knowledge and the contribution he can make to a party, at least. I would allow sorcerers to start with Ancient Script and Depth of Knowledge abilities to represent their own scholarly studies. As a general point, the introduction of any new profession that steps on the toes of a previous profession (Hunter/Barbarian, Priest/Sorcerer, Knave/Assassin), the material should attend to options for the original professions. One of my bugbears with the new professions is how their new abilities tend to deprive the original professions of the things they were doing anyway. For example, I'd always generally let a sorcerer make an Intelligence check to read an ancient language, but doing so now deprives the Priest of something that makes him special.
rumtap wrote:
I would have also looked at a couple of extra abilities for the priest. Perhaps an added bonus when using a crucifix (holy symbol) to turn a vampire. I’d also look at how a priest can use holy water/oil against demons and undead.
Curiously, the Friar profession had exactly that - an extra +1d6 to repel vampires with a crucifix. If I were to implement Priests, they'd probably get a combination of Priest and Friar abilities.
My own take on it is that
any character with faith (so probably not a sorcerer...) should be able to repel a vampire with a crucifix (not a cross, of course, despite what Hollywood (and the DW Bestiary) might want us to believe
) and I would have liked to have seen faith explored more (as a template to apply to any character - not just priests). The benefits and obligations of following the True Faith (with maybe a follow-up supplement on the other religions of Legend). For example, belonging to the True Faith might provide +1-3 Magical Defence, but require tithes, attendance at religious services, pledging to a patron saint, following a code of conduct, and so on.
rumtap wrote:
To be honest I was hoping for more details on the religions of Legend in the players guide. It did add more on the true faith church, but I was hoping for more details on all the main religions. It would have helped give some depth to role-play, especially for priest characters.
There are lots of anecdotes throughout the books about various religions, histories, practices, gods, etc., which just pulling together in one reference would be worth doing, I think, and then this single source could be fleshed out with missing details. Maybe that's already on SKG's list? If not, I'll add it to mine...
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