Mountain priests are spiritual and meditative people who are bound to the land in a way that few others understand. To a mountain priest, everything is infused with an elemental spirit that, for those who listen carefully, can be a powerful ally in most situations life conjures for them. Mountain priests believe that they can become better at hearing the spirits through discipline and the rigorous ritual trials they must undertake that test courage and devotion.

In some places mountain priests form into organized groups, making religious orders that venerate the elemental spirits of the land. Most are loners, however, who have a special talent that allows them to call on the elemental spirits for aid in all manner of tasks.

A mountain priest might become an adventurer to fulfill a mysterious quest granted by the spirits, or he or she might belong to an order that sets a task that sends them to travel across the land. Perhaps they sense an imbalance in the elements and set out to find its cause. Most enjoy undertaking adventures so that they can test their courage and devotion in a direct way.

Starting Feature

As a mountain priest, the first lessons from your trials taught you how to summon the elements. Because of these lessons, you can subtly change the nature of spells and prayers, or wreathe a weapon in flame for a moment as you strike at your foes.

Benefit: You gain the summon elements power.

Summon Elements     Mountain Priest Feature
You call upon the spirits to shape your attack in their form.
Encounter • Primal, Varies
Minor Action     Personal
Effect: Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. Until the end of your turn, all damage from your attacks deals the chosen damage type instead of any other damage type.
Special: You can use this power twice per encounter but only once per round.

Level 5 Feature

As a mountain priest, your ability to sense the elements improves your ability to notice subtle changes in your environment and gain a greater understanding of the natural world.

Benefit: You gain a +2 power bonus to Nature checks and Insight checks.

Level 10 Feature

Your understanding of the elemental spirits has improved to the point that you can commune with the spirits and gain insights from them about events that have transpired near the spirit’s home.

Benefit: You gain the commune with spirits power.

Commune with Spirits     Mountain Priest Feature
You call on the spirit of an object to answer questions for you.
Encounter (Special) • Primal
Standard     Close burst 5
Target: One object in burst
Effect: You commune with the elemental spirits of an object. Make a Diplomacy check to determine how many questions you can ask the spirits. Easy DC of your level: one question; moderate DC of your level: two questions; hard DC of your level: three questions. The spirits give brief and cryptic answers, and they can answer questions only about events that happened within a burst 1 of the object’s location. You can commune with a specific object only once each day.
Special: You can sacrifice 5 gp in ritual components or residium to gain a +2 power bonus to the Diplomacy check.

About the Author

School teacher by day, gamer by night, John has been playing and running Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs since the early 80s, with occasional forays into war games and card games. His focus game at the moment is D&D 4th Edition, which he is playing via the DDI Virtual Table after having moved away from his regular groups.