#knowledge (religion)

[dare-to-dm]

Animals Play RPGs - Knowledge Religion

This skill check lets you know all about deities, religious myths and traditions, and recognize things like holy symbols.

It is, of course, also useful for knowing things about the Undead!  This is a broad category of monsters with a lot of unique strengths and esoteric vulnerabilities, so it’s worth investing a point or two in this skill before you take on the liche or the vampire or what have you.

[terolusgreyhawk]

Shrines of Sheela Peryroyl

Knowledge (religion) DC19: Shrines of Sheela Peryroyl are often rough stone painted green and gilded, covered in flowers and flowering plants (while linked, these bloom year-round).

Standard inscription (in Halfling): "Watchful Mother, protect us from predators, from storms, from illness and hunger. May flowers bloom in our path, and gentle rain fall upon our crops."

Commonly found in forests, glades, groves, hilltops, and farmlands. Suggested offerings are flowers, ribbons, good drink, wooden objects, moss agates, or green sprigs.

Boon: +2 sacred bonus to Survival and Profession (farmer) checks for 1 week.

Curse: will be struck by lightning if caught outdoors in a thunderstorm within the next 5 days.

Base construction cost: 50gp

[terolusgreyhawk]

Knowledge (religion) DC30:

Before going into the stormwrack to harvest shipwrecks or fish, Coroaster locals will usually make offering to the gods of sea and storm. Blood offerings to Blipdoolpoolp are common, even among humans. Some will sacrifice fish or burn branches to Obad-Hai, while others will tie off a strip of their clothing to a tree branch for Vogan, the Oeridian storm god. A few will burn incense and pray to Isora, especially since the Worldrain. A common belief in Coroaster is that any such offerings should be commensurate in value to one's familial wealth--if a poor man makes a small offering, it is acceptable, but a richer man should make a richer offering or expect a watery doom for his greed. 

[terolusgreyhawk]

Knowledge (religion) DC15 or Druid Level Check DC5:

The traditional oath of most druidic Circles goes something like this: "I vow to honor and protect the natural order, the delicate balance of life that binds all creatures and elements. With the strength of the earth and the wisdom of the ancients, I shall stand as a guardian of the wild, defending the forests, rivers, and skies from those who would bring harm. I commit to uphold the ancient teachings of our Circle, safeguarding our secrets and traditions. The knowledge of the ancients shall not fall into the hands of those who would exploit or corrupt the land. May the roots of the earth bind me, and may the spirits of the wild carry my words. With this oath, I embrace my duty, and with every breath, I reaffirm my bond to the Circle and the natural cycle we cherish."

[terolusgreyhawk]

Knowledge (religion) DC14:

An anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented and ascetic life of self-imposed isolation. In lawful religions, anchorites are required to take a vow of stability of place, opting for permanent enclosure in cells which are often attached to churches. They are often subject to a religious rite of consecration that closely resembles a funeral rite, following which they are considered dead to the world, and in some cases a living saint. Anchorites often have significant autonomy within the limits of their vows, being answerable only to very high-level religious authorities (often superceding even the church’s leadership). Their cells, called anchorages or anchorholds, tend to be simple and spare, built against one of the walls of a church or temple. Possessing an anchorite is a mark of pride for lawful churches, often drawing pilgrims and converts.

[terolusgreyhawk]

Knowledge (arcana) or (religion) DC17, or Mystic Theurge Level Check DC11:

Mystic theurges study the true nature of magic, blending their study of arcane and divine sources to access a broader range of magical power than any mage who seeks only of those paths. Clergy of gods of magic, such as Wee Jas and Boccob, are particularly suited for this rare mastery.

[terolusgreyhawk]

Knowledge (nobility & royalty) or (religion) DC16:

Lishtar is a sahuagin warpriestess of Sekolah in service to Baron Krueln the Mighty, vassal of the great kraken Shlishlls, whom in turn serves the Great Power Astarte. Lishtar lost her right arm to a shark in a training accident, but was blessed by Sekolah with a replacement made of animated elemental seawater that swells and shrinks slightly with the tides, and is effectively invisible when she's submerged. Five underpriestesses serve as her apprentices. In battle, she wields her god's favored trident in her left arm (casting with the invisible right, which makes it harder to identify her spells with somatic components).

[terolusgreyhawk]

Knowledge (nobility & royalty) or (religion), or Profession (minister) or (soldier) DC15:

Chaplains, specialist support soldiers in the Terolus Human Military's MARSUB, often lead prayer services and hymns for the rank and file. Prayers for good fortune to gods of war before battle are standard, and funerary rites to gods of death afterwards, such that the fallen might be shepherded safely to their final rest.