Cyric, the Mad God

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Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Envy, Evil, Madness [Insanity], Murder (Death), Pride, Trickery [Espionage, Greed, Illusion]
Favored Weapon: Longsword

Cyric is a petty, self-centered, megalomaniacal deity, born of the events of the Time of Troubles. He gained the followers and portfolios of many ancient evil gods and became one of the three greater powers of evil in Faerûn. deity of strife and lies. He is the power associated with murder, conflict, lies, intrigue, and illusions. Cyric went insane, falling victim to his own lies that he was the one true god, and as such assumed dominion over insanity as well as became known as the the Mad God. The Prince of Lies delights in spinning webs of deception that lead both mortals and deities to their ruin and pit friends and lovers against one another. After Bane’s ressurection, a subsequent purging of the Zhentarim of Cyric’s faithful, as well as the total annhilation of Cyric’s one templar order, the Knights of the Ebon Spur, in 1371 at their failed seige of Candlekeep, Cyric suffered a loss of divine status to that of an intermediate deity. He now fights a two-pronged assault, one coming from Bane’s church in retribution, seeking to regain the portfolio of Strife, and the other coming from the Shadowlord, seeking both to regain his portfolio of Intrigue, and to steal away the patronage of assassins from Cyric — both of which have realized they can play the game of ‘enemy of my enemy’ to bring Cyric’s church down further.

Dogma: Death to all who oppose Cyric. Bow down before his supreme power, and yield to him the book of those that do not believe in his supremacy. Fear and obey those in authority, but slay those that are weak, of good persuasion, or false prophets. Battle against all clergy of other faiths, for they are false prophets and forces who oppose the One True Way. Bring death to those that oppose Cyric’s church or make peace, order, and laws, for only Cyric is the true authority and all other authority must be subverted. Break not into open rebellion, for marching armies move the false deities to action. Fell one foe at a time and keep all folk afraid, uneasy, and in constant strife. Any method or means is justified if it brings about the desired end.

For Deific Obedience

Obedience: Each day come up with some lie to perpetuate among the populace — this can be something defamatory about another person or persons, or a rival faith (which is to say, any other faith), or some other target of your disparaging, and the lie can be as blatant or absurd as you care to make it. Spend the remainder of the hour circulating amongst people nearby and spreading the lie with utmost seriousness in your intentions that they know “the truth.” Gain a +4 profane bonus on Bluff checks.

1: Maddening Voice (Sp) lesser confusion 3/day, mad hallucinationUM 2/day, or confusion 1/day
2: Maddening Thoughts (Su) Your mind constantly swirls with dark whispers and disturbing thoughts. You gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting (compulsion) spells and effects and against divination spells and effects that attempt to read your thoughts. Anyone who targets you with such a spell or effect must succeed at a Will saving throw (with a DC equal to 10 + your Wisdom modifier + 1/2 your Hit Dice) or take 1d4 points of Wisdom damage.
3: Avatar of Strife (Sp) You can call upon the Black Sun to surround you with an aura of madness, which spreads urges of mindless murder in your path. Once per day as a standard action, you can begin radiating a back miasma, equivalent to deeper darkness, lasting 1 round per Hit Die. Any creature within 60 feet of you must succeed at a Will save (DC = 10 + half your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) at the start of its turn or be compelled to attack the nearest conscious creature that round (similar to the “attack nearest creature” result of the confusion spell). Worshipers of Cyric are immune to this effect. As a swift action, you can command a creature affected by your aura to direct its attacks against a creature of your choice within the effect’s 60-foot area; this designation lasts until the effect ends.

Antipaladin Oath

Blackguards of Cyric are fully committed to empowering him through ritualistic murder. These Blackguards are rare, and like the Lord of Murder’s clerics, usually work alone to fulfil their murderous desires. They approach killing with zeal — performing murders as a ritualistic art form intended to strengthen Cyric, aiding in the Mad God’s furtive grasping to regain power that was lost upon losing the throne of Death.

  • Cyric is the One True Way. He is the one True God; he proved that mortals can ascend to greatness; lie, cheat, kill, I do whatever it takes to follow his way.
  • Strengthen the Lord of Murder. Each creature killed strengthens the Mad God — kill in the name of Cyric.
  • Murder is an Art Form. The best murders are planned and performed with grace, skill, and secrecy, so I may earn the Mad God’s favor.
  • Apathy is key. I must put aside my feelings toward those marked for death. Emotions can cloud my thoughts, so I put them aside for the Lord of Murder.
  • Impart knowledge in Death. Before I land the killing blow, I shall let the victim know why they were chosen, and that their death strengthens the Lord of Murder.

For Followers of Cyric

Archetypes: Dread Champion† (Vigilante), Hidden Priest (Cleric), Temple Assassin (Inquisitor), Turncoat (Slayer)

Specialty Priest: Strifeleader (Cleric)

The Prince of Lies demands control by any means necessary. Strifeleaders are the chief instruments of the Dark Sun, charged with spreading the One True Way of Cyric (as least the Prince of Lies whispers it in their minds) through force and deception. They spread strife and work murder everywhere in order to make folk fear and believe in Cyric.

  • A Strifeleader is proficient in light armor but not shields; this alters the cleric’s armor and shield proficiencies.
  • A Strifeleader gains Bluff, Stealth and Sleight of Hand as class skills; he loses Diplomacy as a class skill, and gains 4 skill points per level.
  • Diminished Spellcasting: A Strifeleader prepares one less spell of each level he can cast at each experience level; if this reduces the number of prepared spells for a spell level to 0, then he can only prepare spells of that level if he has bonus spells like those for a high Wisdom. This alters the cleric’s spellcasting.
  • Insanity Channel (Su): A Strifeleader can cause a 30′ burst of corrupting psychic energy centered on him that inflicts madness upon living creatures caught within its radius. Those caught within the blast are allowed a WILL save against a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 his cleric level + his Charisma modifier; those who fail the save are affected with confusion as the spell, for a number of rounds equal to half the Strifeleader’s cleric level (minimum 1 round). This replaces channel energy.
  • Spells of Strife: A Strifeleader adds these spells exclusive to the Strifeleader to his spell list as cleric spells, and he can cast any of these spells spontaneously by sacrificing a prepared spell of the same level or higher instead of inflict spells: 2nd—Black Talon, 3rd—Skull of Secrets, 4th—Dread Blast, 5th—Skull Eyes, 7th—Triple Mask; this replaces spontaneous casting.
  • Sneak Attack (Ex): At 3rd level, a strifeleader gains the sneak attack ability of a rogue, except that his dice of damage are +1d6 at 3rd level, and increase by an additional +1d6 at every third level thereafter, for a total of 6d6 at 18th level; if the Strifeleader has levels in another class with this ability, then these levels stack to determine the number of sneak attack dice at the best progression of the two classes. This and murderer diminish the cleric’s spellcasting.
  • Divine Madness (Su): At 8th level, a Strifeleader has become so immersed in the madness of the Dark Sun that he is immune to fear and confusion effects; this replaces the greater domain power of one of the cleric’s domains.
  • Murderer (Ex): At 11th level, the Strifeleader gains the assassinate Slayer talent, except that the DC is Wisdom based, rather than Intelligence.

Feats: Bloody Weapons (ignore weapon restrictions), Breaker of Barriers, Conversion Channel, Destroyer’s Blessing (for any race), Fearsome Finish, Shatter Resolve, Squash Flat

Magic Items: Dagger of Denial, Fuming Blood Sabre,

Prestige Classes: Assassin (Unchained)

Spells: Heretic’s Tongue, Yellow Sign

Prestige Classes: Arcane Devotee, Divine Champion, Divine Disciple, Divine Scion (Unchained), Divine Seeker

Traits: Always Threatening, Backstabber, Destructive Blows, Holy Schemer, Liar’s Tongue, Opportunistic (works with deity’s favored weapon), Practiced Deception, Sacred Smasher, Strip the Veils, Unhinged Mentality, Veils upon Veils, Wrecking Wrath

Unique Spell Rules

  • Confusion, Lesser can be prepared as a 2nd-level Clerc, Inquisitor or Antipaladin spell
  • Confusion can be prepared as a 4th-level Cleric, Inquisitor or Antipaladin spell
  • Nightmare can be prepared as a 6th-level Cleric or 5th-level Inquisitor spell

Unique Summon Rules

Clergy & Temples

Clerics of the Dark Sun pledge to spread strife and work murder everywhere to make folk fear and believe in Cyric. They support rulers with a taste for cruelty and empire-building but indulge in intrigue in every land. They avoid plunging realms into widespread war, which would pay honor only to Tempus the war deity. At least, this is the ideal Cyricists pay lip service to. In truth, Cyricists spend most of their time scheming against one another, each striving to strengthen his or her personal power in an endless struggle of cabal against cabal. To make matters worse, during his madness Cyric spoke often to his faithful clergy, but not with one voice. As they all fear him, and each believes what he says is the One True Way, his words set Cyricist temples at cross purposes. His clerics are at one another’s throats as often as they are promoting the defeat of other religions.

Cyric’s temples are festering sores of evil that vary widely in appearance, reflecting the deity’s chaotic nature. Many are hidden within caves or existing structures, including abandoned buildings, crumbling sewers, and forgotten dungeons, from which terrifying screams echo at irregular intervals. Many such complexes once served as temples of Bane, Bhaal, or Myrkul, and thus resemble the grim, foreboding keeps of the Black Lord, the hidden guildhalls of the Lord of Murder, or the tomblike vaults of the Lord of Bones. All have in common a bloody sacrificial altar and a great hall where the local high cleric can rant to the assembled worshipers at irregular intervals.