It's been quite a while since we've had been through an NPC's stats at various levels; still, after sitting on this idea for a year I thought I might as well write it up now. This article will be a bit shorter than the piece on Thousand-Faced Thralgar, if only because I've already explained the basic structure of this kind of article, and there's no need for me to go over it twice. That said, let's crack on with the descriptive paragraphs.
Brother Chthonius is, by his own admission, a rather peculiar sort of priest. He calls himself a 'dungeon monk': a priest who frequents the deep, dark places that serve as homes or prisons for monsters. He has little time for conventional, polite society, and neither does he involve himself in the politics that pervade most churches. As a worshipper of the fates -- as fickle or rigid as they may be -- he believes that all beings are placed in the mortal realm to be tested, and that no environment is more demonstrative of this practice than the dungeon. Here, adventurer and dungeon denizen are pitted against each other in constant struggle, continually called upon to prove themselves. But what would happen if every dungeon were stripped bare, or if no adventurers came? Besides life becoming more boring, it would also be deprived of one of its most basic measures of worthiness. Brother Chthonius tries to maintain the balance by perpetuating the conflict: he keeps dungeons operating by siding variously with adventurers and monsters.
Brother Chthonius's abilities are somewhat generalist, but differ slightly from adventuring clerics. He uses his spells to keep himself informed of the dungeons' secrets, to aid his movement through their hazardous passages, and to repair and expand the dungeons themselves! His chosen domains reflect his commitment to the Fates and their sacred places: the domain of Knowledge keeps his lore up to date, while Luck allows him to ensure that the odds are not unfairly stacked in favour of any side. Arguably, anyone who spends their time in a dungeon doesn't last long without knowledge or luck anyway...
Level 1
At level 1, Brother Chthonius is just starting out on his path, and he has to be careful lest the creatures he might cultivate turn against him. He can't hope to swan straight into a dungeon and announce What-ho! I'm protector of the dungeon! Give me a shout if you need any healing or maintenance done!
— not unless he'd really like to be stuck full of javelins and thrown into a gelatinous cube. Of course, he might. He is, after all, a peculiar sort of priest. Chances are, though, that he'll start out as an adventurer, and then settle down in a dungeon in later life.
Brother Chthonius, male human Clr1: CR 1; Medium Humanoid (Human); HD 1d8; hp 8; Init -1 (Dex); Spd 15 ft. (armour, medium load); AC 16 (-1 Dex, +5 armour, +2 shield), touch 9, flat-footed 16; Base Atk +0; Grp +1; Atk +1 melee (1d8+1, heavy mace) or -1 ranged (1d4, sling); Full Atk +1 melee (1d8+1, heavy mace) or -1 ranged (1d4, sling); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Turn undead; SQ Aura, cast divination spells at +1 caster level, good fortune 1/day, spontaneous casting; AL N; SV Fort +2, Ref -1, Will +4; Str 13, Dex 8, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 12.
Languages: Celestial, Common, Goblin.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +4, Heal +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering, religion) +6, Spellcraft +6; Combat Casting, Extra Turning.
Cleric Spells Prepared (3/3, base DC = 12 + spell level): 0-create water, read magic, detect magic; 1st-detect secret doors*, magic weapon, shield of faith.
* Domain spell. Domains: Knowledge, Luck.
Possessions: Heavy mace, sling, 20 alchemical silver sling bullets, breastplate, heavy wooden shield, 4 scrolls of cure light wounds [1st-level caster], 4 scrolls of detect secret doors [1st-level caster], 4 scrolls of shield of faith [1st-level caster], silver holy symbol (25 gp), explorer?s outfit, backpack [cleric?s vestments, 50 ft. silk rope, 2 weeks? trail rations, waterskin], everburning torch, 2 healer?s kits, 2 flasks of holy water, 30 gp.
Champions of the balance tend to gravitate towards classes that can use magic -- wizards, sorcerers, druids and clerics. Given that Chthonius maintains artificial environments, I figured that pretty much ruled druids out. Wizards and sorcerers could do a passable job, but as far as maintenance is concerned, a cleric's more likely to survive: they have the healing and defensive magic required, and on the whole tend to be a bit more self-sufficient. Almost immediately that makes Wisdom the most important stat. Here I diverge somewhat from conventional clerics; you'll notice that I've left Constitution and Charisma in a rather mediocre state, and opted instead to pump extra points into Intelligence. I did this purely for the skills and languages. He has to be able to speak with certain monstrous races, and needs extra skill points handy to avail himself of the extra Knowledge skills on his class list granted him by the Knowledge domain.
Given that he may start out adventuring, perhaps as hired help for the PCs, his first feats are pretty much predetermined. He needs to be able to cast in the middle of a fight, and given that undead can crop up anywhere and at any time, Extra Turning could well save his skin on many occasions. Especially since he's not all that charismatic.
In terms of equipment we end up deferring to tradition. Ultimately, clerics are mace-wielding tanks. The heavy mace deals a respectable amount of damage, and shows you mean business. As we progress, we're going to give Brother Chthonius the heaviest armour he can afford because with that Dexterity he's not going to be avoiding damage by dodging out of the way. The rest of his gear's all much of a muchness, really.
Admittedly, at entry level Brother Chthonius doesn't have much to differentiate himself from the bog-standard cleric. He has the usual mix of spells, defensive and offensive, just enough to help keep him alive until his specialities begin to develop.