Boccob (BO-kob)

The Uncaring

Lord of All Magics, Archimage of the Gods

Greater God of the Outlands, N

Spheres of Concern: Magic, arcane knowledge, foreknowledge, foresight, non-intervention, balance
Aliases: Al-Zarad (Bakluni)
Domain Name: Outlands/The Library of Lore (in the Plane of Concordant Opposition)
Superior: None
Allies: Zagyg the Mad Archmage
Foes: Tharizdun
Symbol: Eye in a pentagram or eye in a star
Worshippers: Any/wizards, sages, seers, diviners
Worshippers Alignment: Any
Boccob the Uncaring seems not to care whether any worship or serve him, and sages have postulated that his power is linked directly to the strength of magic on Oerth. Nevertheless, the Archimage has a small number of worshippers spread throughout the Flanaess, with a handful of adherents in most major cities and some towns and villages. Throughout the Flanaess seers and diviners entreat him for omens, sages revere him, and those seeking to create new magical items or spells often seek his aid. The Archimage of the Gods is venerated by most of the human races of the Flanaess, outside of enclaves of pure Suel stock where the faith of Wee Jas is typically preeminent. Some believe he was the first human wizard of Oerik countless millennia ago.
Ancient myths also tell that Boccob was instrumental in bringing about the Rain of Colorless Fire upon the Suloise Empire. The resulting devastation is what turned him towards neutrality and non-interventionism. The story also says that Boccob is looking for a means of reversing the impact of the Rain of Colorless Fire and restoring the Sea of Dust to its once great glory. Boccob neither seeks nor avoids confrontation. He desires balance above alignment and knowledge above all.
He is indifferent and reticent to those he meets, neither seeking nor avoiding confrontations, but he always seeks to gain knowledge. He is concerned with magical research and creation, manipulation of the "flux," nexus points, and other manifestations of magic. The Lord of All Magics is both gifted and cursed by his ability to foresee the future, for in it he sees the eventual disappearance of magic from Oerth, and the death of everything he holds dear. His appellation as the Uncaring is somewhat of a misnomer, as Boccob is actively battling to save Oerth from its creeping doom. The Archmage cares intensely about the weakening of the fabric of magic, and nearly all of his power is focused on delaying and reversing magic's apparently inexorable decline.

The Church

Clergy: Cleric, specialty priest, monk, wizard
Clergy’s alignment: any
Turn Undead: No (all classes)
Command Undead: No (all classes)

Most temples and churches devoted to Boccob are vast libraries. It is the responsibility of the clergy to go out and gather up as many histories as possible. Some of the temples will pay large sums of money to acquire books, scrolls, or even stone carvings of people long since vanished. There are many sages, scribes and wizards in the employ of the church in order to make sure the books are protected and authentic. The church is willing to sell copies of spells for the right price. The main goal is to find and keep safe as much knowledge as possible The University of Magic as well as the Great Library of Greyhawk within the City of Greyhawk are both dedicated to Boccob, as are the great libraries of Rel Astra (Great Kingdom), Chendl (Furyondy), Niole Dra (Keoland), and Mitrik (Veluna). There was once a great library in Wintershiven (Theocracy of the Pale) but it was burned decades ago by the priests of Pholtus, declaring it a center of witchcraft.

Dogma

To the church of Boccob, knowledge is all. This knowledge is precious and includes all manner of subjects ranging from history to philosophy, to science, to metaphysical studies, to history, to necromancy. This knowledge, however, is not to be shared with just anyone. One must prove need of certain records and manuscripts contained within the great libraries. This is the opposite of the Church of Delleb which teaches that all knowledge must be shared freely.

Day-to-Day Activities

As with their patron, the priests of Boccob do not care about anything but the pursuit of knowledge. They go about their day hunting books and scrolls, authenticating them, copying them to scrolls, caring for precious documents, and curating the libraries instead of trying to convert people to their religion. Those who do leave the temple will do so in pursuit of a rare book or scrolls containing new knowledge or even a rare magical item or even clues or maps that may lead to the discovery of an artifact once thought lost. The priests will pay very well for such items.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days

Every time a tome or ancient scrolls of great import have been discovered and authenticated; the priests of the temples convene a great feast celebrating the bounty that Boccob has bestowed on them. This is followed by complex rituals, incense burning, and recitations from works honoring knowledge.

Major Centers of Worship

The major centers of worship for the church of Boccob are in many Oeridian major cities. While there are smaller libraries located around the Flanaess dedicated to Boccob, as well as a variety of wizard’s towers across the land, the largest are primarily located in major Oeridian cities. The one in Niole Dra was dedicated and built specifically to atempt to learn the secreats of the Silent Tower.

Affiliated Orders

The church of Boccob does not associate with any knightly orders but do hire men at arms to guard and protect the great libraries, and to guard caravans between libraries, as well as protecting the church leadership.
If an important caravan needs to be protected, such as a caravan that is transporting a highly powerful artifact or relic, the church will seek out and hire adventuring parties to protect the caravan.

Priestly Vestments/Adventuring Garb

All priest wear purple robes with gold trim whenever they are outside of their private chambers. Armor may be hidden underneath these robes (such as leather armor). The leadership of the church wear these robes, but the robes are also embroidered with various magic symbols and glyphs, such as those of Boccob himself, but these symbols to not change. Wizards associated with this religion will only wear the robes when they are visiting the temple.

Specialty Priests (Scholars)

Requirements:

Abilities: Int 14 or Wis 16
Alignment: Neutral
Weapons: dagger, flail, knife, mace, sling, staff, staff-sling
Armor: any non-metal
Major Spheres: Astral, Charm, Divination, Numbers, Thought
Minor Spheres: Creation, Elemental (all), Guardian, Summoning, Time
Required Non-Weapon Proficiencies:
Bonus Non-Weapon Proficiencies:
Powers
1) cast all divination spells as if two levels higher
7) Commune
8) Limited Sage ability (see below)
10) able to use magical items normally usable only by wizards

Priests of Boccob gain limited sage ability (see DMG) when they reach 8th level. The cleric has access to the major field of the Supernatural and Unusual, with one special category per 4 points of intelligence. The cleric can answer questions or conduct research only if he has access to a library. If a priest of Boccob builds a religious stronghold (see PHB), he may enchant one or more of Boccob's eyes in a star symbol to act as a scrying device. Each scrying device costs 5,000 g.p. and takes 13 weeks to construct. The cleric can build one of these devices for every 3 1/2 points of Intelligence he has. The devices function only within the stronghold, each acting as a crystal ball, but capable of scrying only the area in which it is placed. The cleric may use them from any location on the Prime Material Plane. The chance for successful scrying is 100%. There is no limit to the number of times the cleric can scry through these devices, but the total scrying time allowed is three hours per day; the cleric may divide his time between the available devices as he sees fit. When Boccob's clerics reach 10th level, they gain the ability to handle magical items normally usable only by magic-users. The items they can use include all wands (but not rods or staves, save those usable by clerics), crystal balls, robes (but not a robe of the archmagi). Once they reach 10th level, clerics pay an additional 5% experience point cost when gaining further levels.
Boccob Spells: Disc of Concordant Opposition