AD&D Priest Spheres, need help

[igotsmeakabob!!]

So I don't really get how the priest spheres work. How do I tell which spheres I have as majors, which as minors, etc?
I'm using a custom religion here... but I can't seem to find the rules for Spheres (besides them being listed) anywhere. How many spheres do most deities have, etc?

Ah, and do clerics get extra spells via their chosen domains/spheres?

Do you have to choose specific spheres, or can you be a generic priest? What are the advantages/disadvantages of such?

You could answer me here, or just point me to a section of what book to look in for the answers.
Thanks alot.

[RobbyPants]

My AD&D experience only goes back to 2nd edition, so I'm not sure if the rules are the same as what you're playing, and it's been a while.

If memeory serves me correctly, you get full access (7th level spells) of major spheres and only access to 3rd level spells of minor spheres.  The cleric and druid class (was druid its own class in AD&D? It was in 2E) each have a list of spheres, both major and minor.  In AD&D, spheres weren't tied to deities; it was just handled by the class.  So a cleric of death would get the same spells as a cleric of healing or a cleric of nature.  You may be getting this confused with the functionality of 3E's domains.

The spheres grant you a list of "spells known", that you can prepare each day.  The number of spells you get per day is determined by your class level, and I don't think you get any form of bonus spells.

As for made-up religions, you'd still use the cleric class and get the same spheres.  You can always talk to the DM and build a case why you should be able to swap sphere X for sphere Y.

Does that clear anything up, or did I just make it worse?

[InnaBinder]

*digs out my 2E AD&D Complete Priest's Handbook*
Page 21, under Spheres of Influence, points to pages 33 & 34 of that edition's DMG to reference spheres of influence, of which 16 are listed: All, Animal, Astral, Charm, Combat, Creation, Divination, Elemental, Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Plant, Protection, Summoning, Sun, and Weather.  Page 22 of CPH goes on to give guidelines to sphere access based upon weapon/armor allowances; ask for more detail if needed.

I never saw a 2E game (or 1E, for that matter) where you could be a truly 'generic' priest; my experiences were with DMs requiring a specific Deity to grant access to spells, with their portfolios influencing what spheres they, and therefore you, could access.  I don't find anything allowing the 3E 'worship an ideal' at a cursory glance through my 2E material on-hand, but that's a DM call.

[RobbyPants]

Yeah, I never had any of the Complete X series in 2E, although they could have been fun.  I did end up getting all three Players Option books, which allowed for some heavy customization.  One thing was that clerics could pick various domaims.  IIRC, they had something like 120 character points to play with, compared to 40 points for the mage and 15 for the fighter.

Good times!

[/off toipc]

[igotsmeakabob!!]

Thanks for the help, I found what I was looking for in the Player Options: Spells & Magic book. It seems that making a custom priest(hood) there with their points system is a bit more powerful than the standard black-covered revised PHB classes, though, so I suppose I'll just stick with the universal/generic cleric that's in there.

[RobbyPants]

It it pretty potent.  IIRC, Clerics get 120 points to play with, which is huge compared to the other classes.  To build the standard PHB cleric, the bulk of these are spent on gaining access to the spheres.

Still, the rules in that book allow you to pick any spell you want to use as a spell like ability, either X/day, or even persistantly (which gets expensive).  Note you can also reduce the cost of these spells by delaying their access by two levels. 

One time I made a cleric (that I never got to play) which was primarily centered on X/day spells.  The character was meant to be a storm-lord of sorts.  He had access to several appropriate spheres, but he got things like Gust of Wind X/day, persistant flight at 3rd level, Lightning Bolt 3/day at 5th level, and several other spells up until 11th or 13th level.  It was a cool concept, but I was going for a theme, not super power.  Without DM intervention, that system is broke as hell!