''The Complete Priest's Handbook'' is a supplemental rulebook published in 1990 for the 2nd edition of the ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. Accompanying manuals are ''

The Complete Fighter's Handbook ''The Complete Fighter's Handbook'' is a supplemental rulebook published in December 1989 for the 2nd edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Accompanying manuals are '' The Complete Thief's Handbook'', '' Priest' ...

'', '' Thief's Handbook'', and '' Wizard's Handbook''.

''The Complete Priest's Handbook'' is a rules supplement for the 2nd edition ''

Player's Handbook The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of ru ...

'' which details priestly characters and the role of religion in

campaigns Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme *Bl ...

. The book includes rules for priest kit subclasses, and 60 sample priesthoods. This ''AD&D'' game supplement provides noble priests, outlaw priests, fighting monks, amazon priestesses, and other “priest kits”; priest personality archetypes like the crusader, philosopher, hypocrite, and earnest novice; 60 sample priesthoods of deities for agriculture, birth, disease, elemental forces, hunting, literature, oceans, oracles, trade, wind, wisdom, and more; and rules for designing new faiths. There are new weapons and equipment, martial-arts rules, and adventure hooks for priest characters.

Publication history

PHBR3 ''The Complete Priest's Handbook'' was written by

Aaron Allston Aaron Dale Allston (December 8, 1960 – February 27, 2014) was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably ''Star Wars'' novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, severa ...

, with illustrations by

Thomas Baxa Thomas M. Baxa is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Biography Tom Baxa grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He enrolled at Northern Illinois University, where he studied under comic and fantasy artist Mark Nelson. Works To ...

, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a 128-page book.

Reception

Stewart Wieck Stewart Douglas Wieck (May 10, 1968 June 22, 2017) was one of the founders of the publishing company, White Wolf, Inc. He was also one of the original writers of Mage: The Ascension. Career Stewart Wieck was born in Freeport, Illinois in 1968. H ...

reviewed the publication in the October–November 1990 issue of ''

White Wolf A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf. It may also refer to: Organizations * White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band * White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA * ...

'', rating it overall as a 4 out of a possible 5. Allston stated, "Of all the Handbooks, I recommend this one most. Not only is the material presented of superb quality, but it also goes the farthest in defining the character class so that even members of the same class are distinctive."

Allen Varney Allen Varney (born 1958) is an American writer and game designer. Varney has produced numerous books, role-playing game supplements, technical manuals, articles, reviews, columns, and stories, as well as the fantasy novel ''Cast of Fate'' ( TSR, ...

reviewed ''The Complete Priest's Handbook'' for ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' magazine #165 (January 1991). He comments on the book by asking, "Is there anything so unlikely as a "generic priest"?" Varney's concluding comments in the review are: "Never thought of an all-priest campaign? Then you never saw ''The Complete Priest's Handbook''. Bravo! (Or do I mean "Hallelujah"?)"

Reviews

*''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' #59 *''

'' #82

References

Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1990 {{D&D-stub

Contents

Publication history

Reception

Reviews

References