CLERICS: Beyond the Healer

“A golden light shines down as I grab my holy symbol and utter a prayer. Healing flows through me and into my fallen friend. As always, my God answers my prayers.” The classic Cleric archetype is one of complete devotion to their God. They heal the sick, tend to the poor, and spread the word of their deity. And that archetype certainly has a place in RPGs, but as usual in this Class series, let’s examine ways to build a Cleric outside the box. We’ll broadly discuss diving into a broader Pantheon, different domains you can use, how your level of devotion can shape your roleplaying, and finally how that might all tie into how you describe your spell casting.

THE PANTHEON

Appendix B of the 2014 Player’s Handbook discusses the Gods of the Multiverse, and how they can be implemented into your game. Take a look at the huge lists available depending on your campaign setting and more. 

Depending on which Setting you play in, there’s a list for the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance and Eberron. If you are in a home-brew campaign setting, as your GM which list you can choose from. Based on how important the Gods are to the story they’re telling, they might even let you freely choose.

Remember that there are deities specifically for Dwarves, Elves, and all the other races. But you don’t have to be that particular race to worship that particular God. Your Elf character could have been adopted by a family of Dwarves, who raised you to worship Moradin. Or your Gnome character might be wholly devoted to the goodly teachings of the Dragon God Bahamut. All they want in life is to do good deeds and eradicate evil Dragons. 

Also, with your GM’s permission, you can pull from historical Pantheons from the real world. This is especially possible in the instance of a home-brew world. Your battle-hardened warrior might follow the teachings of the Greek God of war, Apollo. Your sea-faring character could pray to Thor to bring down the lightning.

DOMAINS

And that brings us to the vast variety of Domains the deities could oversee. In D&D, a Cleric’s Domain is another term for their Subclass, but it can be much more than that. Yes, there’s quite a few to choose from, including Life, Light, Knowledge, Tempest, Trickery and War. And yes, there are many other Subclasses available through 3rd party content. But I urge you to mold these Subclasses to fit the Deity you chose, and most importantly HOW you choose to spread their message. Here are some examples:

• Loviatar is listed in the Player’s Handbook with the suggestion to take the Death Domain Subclass. But Loviatar is the Goddess of Pain. She relishes in the suffering of others, and that can be manifested in many ways. I once played a Forge Domain Cleric who used his Smith tools as instruments of pain to interrogate prisoners. After all, Pain with a Purpose was the best way he knew to worship Loviatar.

• Poseidon is the Greek God of the Sea. The Tempest Domain subclass seems the most obvious, but perhaps you have more of an affinity to the Nature Domain. Instead of calling down lightning bolts, you can call upon kelp to pull your enemies into the ocean, or command those pesky sharks to leave your boat alone.

• Kord is the God of Athletics and Sport in the Greyhawk setting. Although Tempest and War are the suggested Subclasses, why not choose to worship him by ensuring battles and other contests of might are performed fairly. An Order Domain Cleric can reward heroes with spells of Heroism or healing. They can also punish those who won’t fight fairly by evening the contest with the Hold Person, Command, or Slow spells.

LEVEL OF DEVOTION

Now that you decided which Deity to worship and how to worship, let’s go over your level of devotion to your faith. You can add quite a bit of flavor to your roleplaying by gauging your beliefs, and even fluctuating throughout a campaign:

• High Levels of Devotion - You are at your most maniacal at this point in your Clerical career. This could be at the very beginning after reading through all the religious texts and going through much training. Or it could coincide with the peak of your powers with a high-level character. Either way, you feel you KNOW your religion inside and out, and talk about it to everyone you meet in the realms. Maybe you have pamphlets to hand out. And maybe you have rather gaudy vestments that call attention.

• “Questioning” Levels - You’re not quite a fanatic yet, or perhaps were before, but you’re now going through questions of faith. Are you waiting for a miracle to truly believe, or did something heartbreaking occur to give you doubt? You can be a member of your faith solely because your family has been for generations. It could be that your deity is generally labeled as evil to the public, but they were the only one to help you in your time of need. Still, it’s going to take more time before you feel comfortable openly worshiping and converting others to the cause.

• “Discovery” Levels - Do you even know where your power comes from? Perhaps there’s a Deity out there that’s been watching you all your life. They feel you live your life in a way that coincides with their teaching, and so they bestow you with their gifts. Or maybe, you’re part of a wager between gods to see what you do with these powers. Either way, you can heal or harm with great magic abilities, and the mystery of WHY will reveal itself as the campaign unfolds.

MAGIC DESCRIPTION

One of the funnest ways to roleplay a Cleric is to be descriptive with your spell casting. Have a look at our article, “How to Describe Your Spell Casting,” for more tips, but here are some more specific thoughts for your Cleric:

• Spiritual Weapon - This possibly over-powered spell is a popular one. And with the sentence, “The weapon can take whatever form you choose,” in its description, the possibilities are endless. You can go with one that coincides with your Deity - a hammer for Thor or a skull for Myrkul. You can also utilize the ideals of your deity. For instance, a follower of Phobos, the Greek God of Fear, can mean your Spiritual Weapon takes the shape of what you think your enemy fears the most; allowing you to come up with a new description each battle.

• Channel Divinity - Just about all Subclasses let you Turn Undead with this ability, but there are other options that go along with each Domain. So what does it look like when you activate this? Besides just grabbing your holy symbol, the scent of spring flowers can fill the air as vines sprout from the arms of a Nature Cleric to assault the skeletons surrounding you. An Arcana Domain Cleric can manifest the Goddess Mystra’s weave into a physical net that blocks the way of the creatures and scares them enough to make them run the other way.

• Commune & Divine Intervention - You get to actually communicate on a personal level with your Deity. So what does that look like? Do those around you feel the presence as well, or does it look like you’re talking to yourself? A flaming sword can appear to converse or strike down the enemies of Tempus. The heat of the sword is nearly unbearable to those around. Followers of Shar, the Goddess of Darkness could see an inky black figure when they commune. That same bone-chilling void could expand to consume enemies during a Divine Intervention. Those around hear the screams, but are blinded to the massacre.

CONCLUSION

Clerics can be much more than beings dressed in white robes that heal the rest of the party. They can be complex, do what’s unexpected, and have a strength of belief that ebbs and flows throughout a lengthy campaign. I hope this article sparks ideas for your next character. Have fun!