Rites & Rituals, part 2: Churchbound Rituals

Druidical Worship, illus. Leon Benett (1838-1917)

In issue #1 of Tales from the Smoking Wyrm, our Rites & Rituals article provided a few ways in which your players could use rituals to build specialized magic items in the form of phylacteries to portion off your soul, and dowsing rods to help find magical sources of power.

In issue #2, we will delve into rituals that are used almost exclusively by those of a religious bent, and how these sacraments can deliver long-lasting, meaningful change for the structures that clerics and their faithful often build—graveyards, churches, and the sanctified implements associated with such locations. While there are certainly spells that attempt the same things these rituals do (e.g., sanctify/desecrate), they are short term in impact.

These rituals also can be used to bond clerics to specific sites—giving them access to additional abilities while at that site. This comes in the form of a Pious Deed die and Miracles.

The Pious Deed die is a powerful addition to clerics brave enough to bond themselves to a holy space

Miracles are things that happen when the cleric is bonded to the space and rolls a natural 20. Miracles are wondrous things that spontaneously happen, benefiting the holy and harming the unholy. Of course, this being DCC, there is a table for that (a d30 table to be precise)…

Did we mention there are 30 miracles you can roll?

As always, these rituals come with at least two ways they can be implemented, this time focused around Cthulhu and Osiris as examples. Here is an example of one of those implementations, this time for Liturgy of Blessing, wherein the cleric can sanctify implements of the faith—censers, chalices, altars, and cornerstones.

Clearly, you do not want to roll poorly if you are a worshipper of Cthulhu

These rituals are not for the faint of heart! However, they add powerful defenses to holy spaces. We are really looking forward to showing everyone the full range of possibilities!

Liturgy of Blessing, illus. Joel Phillips

Rites & Rituals, part 2—including Blessings of the Grave, Liturgy of Blessing, and Rite of Consecration—can be found in issue #2 of Tales from the Smoking Wyrm, available now from Goodman Games and DriveThruRPG!