• Name: Tempus
• Allegiance: Gods of Disaster
• Portfolio: War, Battle, Conflict, Violence, Warriors
• Titles: Foehammer, Lord of Battles, Master of All Weapons, The Butcher, The Red Knight
• Symbols: A flaming sword; A pair of horse, one white, one black; Crossed weapons (any kind); A blood-red shield
• Worshipper Alignments: LN, LE, TN, NE, CN, CE
• Core Doctrine: Peace is for fools. Wage war, always.
  • Edicts:
    • Arm everyone, even foes.
    • Seek conflict wherever it may be.
    • Encourage conflict where it is not.
    • Shed the blood of your enemies daily.
    • If you have no enemies, make some.
  • Anathema:
    • Avoiding battle.
    • Fleeing from battle.
    • De-escalating conflict.
    • Negotiating peace in any form.
    • Going about unarmed (even when asleep).
    • Refusing to arm anyone who requests it.
    • Refusing any challenge of arms.
    • Sparing the life of weak or cowardly opponents.
• Allied Faiths: Beshaba, Gond, Talos
• Enemy Faiths: Eldath, Meriadar, Sune
• Pesudonyms: Anhur (in Mulhorand), Clangeddin (among the dwarves), Selvetarm (among Half-Elves), Targus (in ancient Netheril and Nog), Uthgar (among the Barbarian Kingdoms)

Base Requirements

• Races: Any
• Classes: Cleric
• Ability Requirements: Muscle 14, Knowledge 14
• Alignments: Non-Lawful, Non-Good
• Starting Cash: By class

Proficiencies

• Weapon Slots: By class
• Allowed Weapons: Any Weapons
• Allowed Armor: Any Armor or Shields
• Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: none
• Required Weapon Proficiencies: none

• Non-weapon Slots: By class
• Available Groups: Spiritual, Martial, and Craft
• Bonus Proficiencies: Armorer, Religion, Weaponsmithing, Wild Fighting
• Required Proficiencies: none
• Recommended Proficiencies: Armor Optimization, Battle Command, Blacksmithing, Blind-Fighting, Charge, Danger Sense, Dirty Fighting, Display Weapon Prowess, Endurance, Engineering, Land-based Riding, Sabotage, Signaling, Offensive Tactics, Zeal
• Forbidden Proficiencies: Diplomacy, Mediation

Priest Spheres:

• Major: All, Combat, Divination, Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Thought, War
• Minor: Chaos, Fire

Overview: Tempus is the god of war and the lord of battles. What sort of conflict can one have without weapons at the ready? The clerics of Tempus are the weaponers of the church, clerics who seem to be a bit too fond of “field-testing” their creations. They are soldier-priests in every sense of the word. Not only are they fanatically devout followers of Tempus’ teachings, but they specialize in military matters such as strategy, tactics, logistics, and morale. Priests of Tempus actively work to encourage wars wherever possible, and will train, arm, and equip all sides in any conflict.

It is not uncommon for two opposing armies to be carrying the Lord of Battle’s standard into battle, which doesn’t seem to bother the god; he’s more interested in promoting the fighting rather than picking a winner. Similarly, Tempus’s priests will appear on both sides in most conflicts. Death in battle is the only way to enter the Lord of Battle’s realm in the afterlife, and meeting a fellow fanatical priest on the battlefield is a sure way to ensure one of them meets their god.

Description: The average cleric of Tempus wears a sturdy suit of plate armor with a blood-red sash worn diagonally across the chest from shoulder to hip. They favor war-hammers and swords in combat. Clerics of Tempus never wear helmets. These priests would be mistaken for any normal follower of Tempus, but they seem to radiate a definite air of command and authority in battle.

Role-Playing: Imagine a blacksmith who creates a set of horseshoes and then cannot resist immediately putting them on a horse and riding it twenty miles. Clerics of Tempus come from such a mindset. Clerics of Tempus are not mere armchair generals leading the troops from the safety of the rear lines. Rather, they recklessly lead the charge, screaming bloody murder and smiting any enemies that dare get in their way. Many of these clerics will charge at overwhelming opponents single-handed, heedless of certain death. This exasperates the priest’s comrades, as it usually forces them into the battle as well, but the priests never ask anyone to attack anything that they themselves wouldn’t fight by themselves!

Just as the sight of a king’s banner can inspire and rally the troops in war, these clerics rouse those around them and lead everyone to that state of glory that can only be achieved through hard-fought battles in Tempus’ name. If a cleric of Tempus is ever forced to retreat, he will swear to return someday to “finish the job.” From that point on, this return engagement will be foremost in his mind. When he feels confident of his chances for victory against the foe who forced his retreat, he will seek that adversary out and force a confrontation.

Clerics of Tempus are especially intolerant of mistakes made in combat. If someone misses a target, fumbles a melee attack, or accidentally hits a comrade, the cleric will insist on improving his comrades’ combat skills. The priests command these offenders to attend combat drills at dawn or some other exercises.

Special Abilities:

• Clerics of Tempus start out with a free suit of plate mail and the choice of one weapon.
• By looking at any weapon, suit of armor, or shield, a cleric of Tempus can correctly discern its magical bonuses and any special abilities.
• Using non-magical weapons they themselves forged (including their starting weapon), clerics of Tempus can attack and damage monsters that normally requires a magical weapon to hit.
• These fanatical clerics can remain conscious and fight until they reach -10 hit points, then drop dead.
• In battle, clerics of Tempus inspire their comrades to greater feats of battle. Companions in sight range (maximum 50 yards) get +1 bonuses to attack and damage rolls and saving throws, and +2 bonuses to morale.
• Once a day per level, at the beginning of an encounter, a cleric of Tempus may call on his tactical knowledge. If he does, everyone of his allies gets a -1 bonus to their initiative rolls for the battle.

Special Disadvantages:

• Clerics of Tempus cannot turn undead.
• A cleric of Tempus must make a blood sacrifice to Tempus daily in order to regain his spent spells. Tempus, however, is not a god of passive bloodshed, but of battle. Thus, the cleric must kill someone in battle each day. In order for the sacrifice to qualify as a battle, the victim must be armed and capable of causing the cleric harm.
• A cleric of Tempus can never retreat from battle unless he is either opposed by more than three equal-sized foes or an enemy with at least three times as many hit dice as the priest. If he leaves a battle of lesser odds than this for any reason, the cleric disgraces his office. His priestly spells and abilities are gone immediately and he is considered a fighter of his current level. He can regain his cleric status once he has slain or helped slay as many foes as he has levels. These foes must all be slain in melee combat, and must be of at least equal level/hit dice to him.

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