Mystra

  • Name: Mystra
  • Allegiance: Unaligned
  • Portfolio: Ambition, Greed, Magic, Spells
  • Titles: The Lady of Mysteries, The Mother of All Magic, The Muse, Our Lady of Spells, The Lost Goddess, The Widow, She Who Returns Again, The Creeping Doom, The Great Dracolich
  • Symbols: A single blue-white star; A red mist flowing from a circle of stars; A necklace of stars; A draconic skull
  • Worshipper Alignments: Any
  • Core Doctrine: Magic solves everything.
    • Edicts:
      • Strive always for greater magical power.
      • Gather all the magical lore and items you can.
      • Show obeisance to dragons, for they wield great magic.
      • Research and create new magic as often as you are able.
      • Freely use magic to aid others, and teach them to depend on the gifted.
    • Anathema:
      • Destroying a magic item or allowing one to be destroyed.
      • Performing a mundane task, when you have access to a magical solution.
      • Allowing those without magic to rule or kill those who possess the art.
  • Allied Faiths: Azuth, Oghma, Selune, The Mog, The Blessed Afflictor
  • Enemy Faiths: Cyric, Helm, Kelemvor
  • Pesudonyms: Isis (in Mulhorand), Karsus (historic), Kereska (among Dragons), Midnight (historic), Mystryl (historic), The Hidden One (in Rashamen), Daurgothoth

Base Requirements

  • Races: Human, Elf, Half-elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling, Hengeyokai, Ogre Magi
  • Classes: Cleric
  • Ability Requirements: Reason 14
  • Alignments: Non-Chaotic
  • Starting Cash: By class

Proficiencies

  • Weapon Slots: By class
  • Allowed Weapons: As Wizard
  • Allowed Armor: Any Armor or Shields
  • Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: none
  • Required Weapon Proficiencies: none
  • Non-weapon Slots: By class
  • Available Groups: Spiritual, Academic, and Sorcerous
  • Bonus Proficiencies: Alchemy, Religion, Spellcraft
  • Required Proficiencies: none
  • Recommended Proficiencies: Arcanology, Draconology, Necrology, Research, Thaumaturgy
  • Forbidden Proficiencies: none

Priest Spheres:

  • Major: All, Chaos, Charm, Creation, Divination, Guardian, Protection, Thought
    • Special: One Wizard school
  • Minor: Air, Travelers

Overview: Magic is a force of great power and presence in the Realms, and Mystra’s clerics watch over the different uses of magic power and prevent magical abuse. Mystra’s clerics keep the balance of magical power, collect even detrimental and cursed magical items, and help mages that are unjustly accused of crimes. Mystra’s clerics are also skilled in the fabrication and identification of potions, salves, ointments, and elixirs.

It has long been understood that Mystra is more title than being, and that several persons both mortal and divine have worn the mantle of Mystra over time. During the Day of Black Sun, Cyric after murdering several other gods, went after Mystra, believing her to be his mortal nemesis Midnight and in doing so revealed that the most recent incarnation of Mystra is not Midnight at all, but the ascended dracolich archmage Daurgothoth. Daurgothoth-Mystra proved much too powerful for even the likes of the Dark Sun, and succeeded in driving Cyric off.

Mystra’s priesthood has taken the revelation about their “goddess” in stride, but others, particularly Kelemvor, who was once a lover of the mortal Midnight and also a staunch foe of the undead, have not. While not even Kelemvor dares to challenge the deific dracolich directly, many question what this new Mystra’s intentions might be and what it means for the pantheon.

Description: The traditional garb of Mystra’s clerics are soft midnight blue robes with a silver necklace made of a series of stars strung together that serves as their holy symbol. Due to side effects of long-term alchemical work and exposure to weird substances many of Mystra’s clerics are accompanied by a lingering scent of chemicals and their hair is frizzy, if not burnt in patches.

A few of Mystra’s clergy, have, since the revelation of the new holder of Mystra’s title, begun augmenting their traditional garb with draconic iconography, particularly depictions of draconic skulls or the actual skulls of small drakes or wyverns (usually mounted atop a staff).

Role-Playing: Mystra’s clerics embrace a lawful, balanced attitude towards magic. These clerics all have sharp, analytical minds and keen senses; their minds are always working. While well-versed and highly focused on magic, magical theory, and proper use of spells, Mystrans are quite lacking in social graces. These attributes make most Mystrans seem brusque and abrupt, offending others around them.

Long-term exposure to alchemical fumes also causes bouts of eccentricity in Mystra’s clerics. Most of the time, this is manifested in extremes of behavior and emotion. Loud clerics talk loudly. Excitable clerics are very excitable, and so on.

Special Abilities:

  • All Mystran clerics can Command Undead, regardless of alignment.
  • A Mystran cleric’s base chance of successfully brewing a potion is 85% (rather than the 70% for most spellcasters).
  • Mystran clerics can cast Identify once per day. However, the Mystrans do not have to actually handle the item in order to successfully identify it; they need only see it. The spell accuracy is 15% per level, with a 99% maximum chance of classifying the item.
  • Mystrans can Detect Magic (as the spell) three times a day.
  • They can also attempt to Dispel Magic once per day, plus one additional casting per day for every three cleric levels (2/day at 4th level, 3/day at 7th, etc.).
  • Areas of wild magic have no effect on Mystran clerics or their spells.
  • When they first begin their careers, clerics of Mystra must select one school of wizard magic. Thereafter, the Mystran can gain spells from that school of magic in spell slots as if they were priest spells of the same level. However, he or she still needs to learn the spells from wizards and use a spellbook in prayers to Mystra. He is not bound to paths in the way that a wizard is, and may learn any spell that includes his chosen school (even those that belong to multiple schools) up to the maximum number of spells per level allowed by his Reason score.
  • Priests of Mystra may engage in magical research as if they were Wizards, but only within their granted school.
  • Priests of Mystra can cause their own flesh—all of it, or specific areas, such as a hand—to glow at will with a soft, blue-white radiance. This radiance, known as weaveglow, is enough to read by or to allow the priest to clearly see items and surroundings within 5 feet.

Special Disadvantages:

  • Because Mystra wants her clerics to be dependent on magic in their daily lives, clerics of Mystra have a maximum allowable Muscle score of 15. Not even magic items can cause a Mystran cleric’s strength to exceed that value.
  • Given their usual environment of tower laboratories, Mystran clerics are ill-suited for combat and suffer a -2 penalty on attack rolls.
  • Certain regions where magic is regulated and restricted (Hillsfar or Mulhorand, for example) have a strong dislike of Mystrans. They see a Mystran cleric as a pesky attorney trying to get arrested mages freed on technicalities in Mystra’s name. As a result, in magic-hostile areas, these clerics suffer a -2 penalty on interactions with municipal government NPCs.

Return to Religions.

Mystra

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