Toln is known as the god of war and violence.
He is sometimes called the Blood Thirsty God, the Celestial Warrior, or
the Defender of Varloche. This last
comes from an ancient myth that during the war of the gods, he defended the home
of Khadina from a group of five other gods.
Why he did this is not known, for every version of the myth offers
different reasons.
Ministers of Toln believe that war is the ultimate expression of life and power. While magic can often gain the same results as a long and hard fought battle, there is little risk to one’s own person, thus there is no reason to develop the body, reflexes and skills that are required to survive. All ministers of Toln are trained in all manner of weapons, including their own physical bodies.
All priests of Toln begin the game with four weapons of their choice. They must have skill in the weapons. In addition the priest may roll on the table below to determine the type of armor owned at creation.
1 | Padded Armor |
2 - 3 | Leather Armor |
4 - 5 | Cuir-bouilli Lamellar |
6 - 7 | Studded Leather |
8 - 9 | Cuir-bouilli Studded |
10 | Chain Mail |
Orders & Cults of Toln | Rituals of War |
Every Disciple of Toln must choose one of the following orders or cults. Each order trains their followers slightly differently, and are granted different powers by Toln. Unless otherwise specified, all of the Orders of Toln are very friendly and often work together for their mutual benefit.
The largest group of priests in the Church of Toln, most people associate the Berserkers when thinking of Toln. Bloodthirsty, dedicated, courageous, and very common in the Empire. While Berserkers are the most numerous, they often do not rise very high in the Church's hierarchy. Falling prey to glorious death in combat, most Berserkers do not live long enough to gain the wisdom needed to run such a large organization.
Gain a bonus of +15 to all Combat skills.
All player selected "A", "B", and "C" skills must be combat skills.
The minister will always have a chance of becoming frenzied each round. The character must roll under his or her WIL at the beginning of each round. If he or she makes the roll, then he or she will act and behave as normal. However, if the roll is failed, the character has become frenzied. He or she will strike out at the nearest creature, whether it be friend or foe. The character will always move towards opponents to engage in hand to hand combat. The character will not use any ranged weapons or spells. (GMs: It may be best if you take control of the character while he or she is in this state.) The frenzy will continue until the character has made a successful roll of 1/4 his or her WIL. This roll is made at the end of each combat round.
Will rarely learn any ranged weapons or spells.
Shield-brothers are also known as defenders. The Shield-brothers are often mixed with protectors of Toln and will often perform very similar duties. Body-guarding, defending the helpless, and warding over their fallen brothers are all duties of the Shield-brothers. They also train and aid the Imperial Order of the Shield, an order of knighthood that protects the Emperor exclusively. Shield-brothers often know the limitations of war, and while they will never hesitate to finish a fight they may hesitate in starting one.
Ulthnar
was a very famous warrior-priest during the first mage-war. His knowledge
of siege warfare, arts of war, and diplomatic pressures for war are still
studied by anyone who wishes to become a great general. He believed that
the best way to worship Toln was focus and dedication. His philosophy
slowly began to gather followers, and some time after his death the Order of
Ulthnar was founded. They believe that by focusing upon only one weapon
they may become the ultimate warriors. They
will do their utmost to fight with only that one weapon, to exclusion of all
others. Weapon Priests are often
very skilled and knowledgeable, devoting the time that they do not spend
practicing and worshiping to other, less warfare-oriented skills.
Weapon Priests have the following A and B skills: Lore: Church of Toln, Defensive Tactics, Riding, One Combat skill, and two skills of choice.
The Weapon Priest must select one specific weapon or style to specialize in. The priest gains an automatic specialization of +15 that can be increased up to +30.
All non-weapon Combat skills have a bonus of +5.
All weapon skills (except the specialized weapon or style) have a penalty of -10.
Weapon Priests will only fumble on a natural 100 with their chosen weapon.
The
word “style” can cover a variety of skills.
It can include Unarmed Combat, Martial Arts, or using two weapons at one
time. In all these cases, one (or
both) of the extra “skills of choice” must be used to purchase the desired
skill. Some examples include
Unarmed Combat (the single Combat skill plus one skill of choice), Martial Arts
(the single Combat skill plus both skills of choice), two weapon combat (for
example Short Sword Right Hand and Short Sword Left Hand). Some players or GMs may go so far as to say that
using Unarmed Combat or Martial Arts with or without the use of brass knuckles
or gauntlets may be cause for the bonus or penalty. Additionally, if using the rules for single spell use, one
might wish to use the spell “Animal Weaponry”.
These rituals are sometimes used by the priests of Toln before a battle.
These rituals take at least an hour to perform, so they must know that
they are going to war. All
participating ministers of Toln will be affected by the ritual, regardless of
affiliated Order.
This ritual taps into the berserker fury of the participating priests, and unleashes their anger and battle lust. Once this ritual is complete, the priests have one hour to enter combat. Once they do, they automatically go into their berserker frenzy, and will have no chance (short of divine intervention) to recover from it until the battle is over. However, once in their frenzy, they all gain an additional attack (not action, just attack), and will ignore all penalties for injury and critical hits. However, at the end of the battle (or massacre) all surviving priests must make a HEA roll, with all applicable penalties. If they make it, they are fine, and may go about and be healed normally. Otherwise, they fall into a coma, as the shock and stress of their wounds suddenly affect them at once. Once in this coma, they must have either the spell “Save from Death” cast upon them, or must make another HEA roll. Failure of either one means that the priest has died. Success means that the priest must heal naturally, through bed-rest.
This
ritual is effectively the reverse of the Ritual of Savage Fury.
All ministers of Toln who participate in this ritual may make full
WIL rolls to avoid going into the frenzy.
They must, however, enter combat within one hour, and will last for
only one battle. Afterwards,
they must resist as normal.
© 2000 J. K. Wykowski & T. Coonrod