Campaign Design - The Lords of Heaven: Rúadan

Rúadan (Donn)

The Dead Lord; The Scourge of the Risen Dead; The Watcher of Graves; Celestial Lord of the Peaceful Dead

Alignment: Lawful Good.
Domains: (Crusade), The Dead, Endings, Foresight, Peace, Planning, Truth.

Summon Monster: Rúadan's clerics and favored souls can summon axiomatic and celestial creatures using summon monster spells.

Symbol: A broken axe.
Favored Weapon: "Cleaver of death" (battle axe).
Related Prestige Classes: Paladin.

Rúadan is dead. Along with Forseti, Heim, and Tiwas, he was one of the four sons of Eiur, and like them he was a champion of the armies of Heaven. During the War in Heaven, Rúadan joined his brothers in their quest to recover the infant Füllar. Though they found Füllar and rescued him, Rúadan was overwhelmed and fell while holding the demonic hordes off long enough for his brothers to escape with the child, and was taken as a hostage into the depths of Hell. Though Woda sent Aíne to try to secure his release, the Lords of Hell betrayed her, and when they proved unable to slay her due to the death gesa that protected her, they killed Rúadan instead, using infernal poisons and magic that put him beyond even Eiur's ability to heal.

Being dead, Rúadan sees all things as they are, and can foresee all ends. Being dead, Rúadan only begrudgingly shares such secrets with the living, keeping his own counsel, silent as the grave. Even though Rúadan is dead, that does not mean he does not have devoted worshipers. Even though he was one of Eiur's sons, his death caused the divine mother so much grief that his temples are not co-located with hers as those of his brothers are. Instead, Rúadan's shrines can be found guarding over cemeteries and graveyards, providing a silent watch to ensure that the dead are left in peace. As the Lord of the Peaceful Dead, Rúadan's greatest ire is reserved for grave-robbers, necromancers, and all who would disturb the rest of the departed. As such, his priesthood holds a special enmity towards the White Hand, as well as a particular animus towards Kalma and her followers.

Rúadan is not a popular deity per se, but all honor him eventually when they bury those they have lost. Every funeral's rites are conducted in his name. Many of Rúadan's priests serve as caretakers of the places of the dead, performing the rituals of comfort for the living and guarding the resting places of the departed to ensure that they are left in peace. Others, however, take up the axe to cut down the living dead to return them to the grave where they belong. Many of the most famous of Rúadan's devotees have been crusading undead hunters.

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Campaign Design - Clerical Domains: Truth

Truth Domain (adapted from the Book of the Righteous, Races of Eberron, and the Thieves' World Player's Manual)

Divine Power: Rúadan.

Granted Power: You may add Gather Information, Innuendo, Sense Motive, and Spot to your list of character skills for free. You gain a +2 bonus on all Gather Information and Spot checks.

Granted Power: You gain a bonus on Sense Motive checks equal to your cleric level. You cast divination spells at +1 caster level.

Truth Spells
1^st: Detect secret doors, detect thoughts
2^nd: Zone of truth
3^rd: Discern lies, see invisibility
4^th: Scrying
5^th: True seeing
6^th: Analyze dweomer, force shapechange (RoE)
7^th: Greater scrying, illusion purge (RoE)
8^th: Discern location, foresight, mind blank
9^th: Fact to fiction (BotR), mass true seeing (RoE)

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Rúadan

Campaign Design - Clerical Domains: The Dead

The Dead Domain (adapted from the Book of the Righteous)
Divine Power: Rúadan.

Granted Power: You gain the retributive rebirth ability. Whenever you turn undead and deal enough turning damage to destroy the undead, you may instead call upon the spirits that once inhabited the now desecrated and undead bodies. If the person who raised the undead is within a distance of one mile per your cleric levels, the spirits come into the undead vessels and then go to destroy the evil creature or spell caster that desecrated their mortal bodies. You do not have to call for retributive rebirth if you do not want to. An undead turned on its creator will pursue him doggedly until it is destroyed or he is. Once the undead's creator is destroyed, the undead itself turns to dust and the spirit returns from whence it came. The undead's creator cannot turn, rebuke, or in any other way control the undead that have come for their revenge, but his allies may.

The Dead Spells
1^st: Detect return (BotR)
2^nd: Consecrate
3^rd: Negative plane protection
4^th: Touch of return (BotR)
5^th: Hallow
6^th: Heal
7^th: Greater restoration
8^th: Greater return (BotR)
9^th: Imprison soul (BotR)

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Rúadan

Campaign Design - Clerical Domains: Peace

Peace Domain (adapted from Secrets)
Divine Power: Rúadan.

Granted Power: You gain the ability to cast sanctuary as a divine spell, at your cleric level, once per day. In addition, you gain a +2 sacred bonus to all Diplomacy checks.

Peace Spells
1^st: Shield
2^nd: Owl's wisdom
3^rd: Dispel magic
4^th: Spell immunity
5^th: Atonement
6^th: Forcecage
7^th: Repulsion
8^th: Antimagic field
9^th: Freedom

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Rúadan

Campaign Design - Clerical Domains: Foresight

Foresight Domain (adapted from Secrets)
Divine Power: Rúadan.

Granted Power: You gain a +4 insight bonus on any check to avoid being surprised as well as a +1 insight bonus on all Initiative checks and Spot checks.

Foresight Spells
1^st: True strike
2^nd: Augury
3^rd: Arcane sight
4^th: Divine power
5^th: Commune
6^th: Contingency
7^th: Vision
8^th: Moment of prescience
9^th: Foresight

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Rúadan

Campaign Design - Clerical Domains: Endings

Endings Domain (from SpirosBlaak)

Divine Power: Rúadan.

Granted Power: You cast Endings Domain spells at +1 caster level.

Endings Domain Spells
1^st: Detect undead
2^nd: Consecrate
3^rd: Halt undead
4^th: Death ward
5^th: Hallow
6^th: Interment (SB)
7^th: Holy word
8^th: Holy aura
9^th: True passage (SB)

Endings Limitations
Because death is sacred to clerics of Rúadan who take the Endings Domain, they never use magic that unnaturally prolongs life, raises the dead, or creates undead creatures. This includes the following spells and magic items. This is not an exclusive list. The DM may restrict any spell or item that violates the ban.

Restricted Spells: Animate dead, clone, contact other plane¹, control undead, create undead, create greater undead, death ward, raise dead, resurrection, true resurrection, reincarnation, miracle², speak with dead¹, wish².

Restricted Magic Items: Armor or shield of undead control, periapt of wound closure, ring of wishes².

¹ This spell may be allowed in special circumstances such as helping a lost soul find its way to whatever lies beyond death. There is no prohibition against using this spell to contact with non-afterlife realms such as the elemental planes.
² Only when used to raise the dead or create undead.

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Rúadan

Campaign Design - Clerical Domains: Planning

Planning Domain
Infernal Power: Rúadan.

Granted Power: You gain the feat Extend Spell as a bonus feat.

Planning Domain Spells
1^st: Deathwatch
2^nd: Augury
3^rd: Clairaudience/clairvoyance
4^th: Status
5^th: Detect scrying
6^th: Heroes' feast
7^th: Greater scrying
8^th: Discern location
9^th: Time stop

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Rúadan