The adventurer’s handbook
Armored healer and protector
The Cleric enters the dungeon with faith, a mace, and a steadily worsening opinion of the party’s decisions. Wounds can be mended. Terror can be quieted. The dead can be firmly reminded that they have already had their turn. These services do not make the Cleric your mother, although the resemblance becomes troubling when you are told to stop touching things and stand still for healing.
Stay in the front or close support, within one area of endangered allies. Save prepared healing for the expedition’s hardest rooms. Mercy and Intercession are crawl resources, so victory in one room does not restore them.
Keep the abilities of earlier levels as you gain new ones. XP is experience; the figures below are cumulative thresholds from the beginning of an adventurer’s career.
0 XP
Turn Undead and Mercy (twice per crawl). No prepared spells.
1,500 XP
One first-level copy. Cure Light Wounds, Light, and Remove Fear.
3,000 XP
Two first-level copies. Healer’s Lore.
6,000 XP
Two first-level and one second-level copy. Bless and Hold Person.
12,000 XP
Two first-level and two second-level copies. Intercession.
25,000 XP
Two first-level, two second-level, one third-level, and one fourth-level copy. Cure Disease, Cure Blindness, Neutralize Poison, and Cure Serious Wounds.
Twice per crawl during combat, spend a full action to restore 1d6+1 HP to yourself or a living ally in the same or an adjacent area. Mercy uses no prepared spell; damage alone does not interrupt it. It is unavailable in town or between fights. Healing cannot exceed maximum HP or overcome a condition that prevents healing.
Use your action to confront eligible undead with divine authority. Your level and the creature’s strength determine whether the attempt needs a check, succeeds automatically, or destroys the undead. A successful attempt affects a limited total of undead Hit Dice. A failed attempt prevents this Cleric from trying again in that room. Turning has its own rules and uses neither prepared copies nor Mercy.
Prepare individual copies at the Temple. Each spell uses one copy of its own spell level and a full casting action; taking damage before casting can spoil the spell and spend the copy. Knowing a prayer does not supply unlimited casts. Higher-level slots cannot be exchanged for extra lesser spells.
Add your positive Wisdom modifier once per recipient to HP restored by your Cleric spells and abilities. It does not improve potions, another class’s healing, or cures that only remove a condition.
Arm a chosen ally in your combat controls. Once per crawl, use your reaction to reduce their next damage event against yourself or an ally within one area by 1d6 plus your positive Wisdom modifier, to a minimum of zero. It does not cancel attached poison, paralysis, or other effects. You have one reaction per round.
Cure Light Wounds restores 1d6+1 HP to a living ally in the same or an adjacent area, or can cure paralysis instead in combat. Healing does not remove poison. Light blinds a sighted enemy within 120 feet if it fails a spell save; a blinded enemy cannot attack. Remove Fear clears fear from yourself or one living ally within one area; it grants no lasting immunity.
Bless targets one living ally within one area in combat, or a hero in town. It grants +1 to attacks and weapon damage for 360 rounds; multiple blessings do not stack or refresh. Hold Person targets one eligible humanoid within two areas: a failed spell save causes paralysis for up to three rounds, with another save at the end of each target turn.
Cure Disease removes mummy rot, giant-rat disease, and centipede sickness; it restores no HP. In combat it reaches 30 feet and can also destroy Green Slime. Cure Blindness removes a curable blindness effect from an ally within one area but cannot replace missing eyes. Neutralize Poison ends curable poison and can rescue an eligible poison casualty within 10 combat rounds, restoring their pre-poison-death HP up to maximum if there is room in their area; it is not general resurrection. Cure Serious Wounds restores 2d6+2 HP, plus Healer’s Lore, to a living ally within one area.
An action is your main choice on a turn. A reaction answers a particular event. An encounter is one battle; a crawl includes all its rooms. Encounter resources return for a new battle, not by reloading a page or returning to the same fight.
AC measures armor defense; lower is better. THAC0 is the attack score needed to hit AC 0 before modifiers; lower is better. Saving throws resist hazards. The table shows the required unmodified saving-throw scores; lower is better. Class abilities and equipment can improve them.
| Level | THAC0 | Death / poison | Wands | Paralysis / stone | Breath | Spells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| 2 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| 3 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| 4 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| 5 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 12 |
| 6 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 12 |