Cleric war domain choices [Archive] - Wizards Community

Cleric war domain choices [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Twinkletoes73
01-18-06, 06:45 PM I was making a cleric earlier, and like a lot of my clerics he didn't follow a deity but just took his powers from the divine source or whatever.

Anyway, this one took the war domain, and was given weapon proficiency in his deity's favored weapon. Since he doesn't have a deity, does he get to choose his favored weapon, or does he lose the ability?

If he chooses an exotic weapon, does he have to do extra training?

And even if a local DM wouldn't allow an excellent weapon to be chosen, could that character have that weapon in an RPGA game?

Thank you very much.
FLAvatar
01-18-06, 07:35 PM as a loose guideline, you could always fall back on the table from the Weapon of the Deity spell.

default good- Warhammer
default evil - Light Flail
default neutral - Heavy Mace
default law - Longsword
default chaos - Battleaxe

at least I think it was from Weapon of the Deity. Don't have my books handy, so can't confirm it was reprinted from Defenders of the Faith.
Ziatyn Phoenixwolf
01-18-06, 10:36 PM With me not being a fan of Dietyless divine casters; Iwould not allow the weapon focus to be with any weapon that is not part of the cleric's weapon list(simple weapons only). That is just the way that I see it.
Dwalon
01-19-06, 03:33 PM If he chooses an exotic weapon, does he have to do extra training?

*******

I would require extra training for a godless cleric to freely use an exotic weapon.

I DM'd a LG cleric who wanted to use big weapon, and since the campaign was in Greyhawk, the player and I decided that the route for the character to go was to worship a lesser goddess who basically was raised from paladinhood to godhood by Pelor. Her name in the Living Greyhawk Gazette escapes me at the moment. The goddess has both longbow and bastard sword as her favored weapons. The player won out, but that is okay, as now he had to follow a strict church's guidelines and tenets, rather than just maintain vague alignment confines.
Elemental_Elf
01-19-06, 03:50 PM Godless Clerics are kinda dumb, IMo. I mean where does their divine power come from? Them selves? From thin air? Ugh, IMO the dietyless cleric was tossed in so the evengelical soccar moms wouldn't sue WotC for 'forcing' their son to believe in a false god.

Anyways, If I were a DM, I wouldn't let you play a Dietyless Cleric... Unless your parents were proven evangelicals, and that's assuming you were young enough for your parents to control your life. Anyways, as for the War Domain of a Godless Cleric, choose one that already exists. Essentially take any god with the war domain, choose which weapon suits you best and use it. Eitehr that or ask your DM as he/she does have the final say in matters like these.

Anyways, sorry for the rant.
Milo_Tealeaf
01-19-06, 06:14 PM i'm a newbie halfling rogue and would like to know how to cross class with a cleric
Twinkletoes73
01-19-06, 07:19 PM Those are all good guidelines, and I think I might have an answer. But is there any kind of "official" answer?

And clerics without dieties get their power from the same place the gods do. It's just that they can take a lot less from that source.

The reason I like making godless clerics is so that they can become gods themselves without having to ask permission from their diety. Sure, Pelor might sponsor someone who was LG to become a god and nurture her along that path. But Vecna? Especially in an environment where divine power is limited, I can see why some gods might not want to split the pie any more ways, if that makes sense. Even a neutral god might not let someone attain dietyhood if it meant reducing his power significantly.

And also, I like my characters to have their own beliefs about their role in the world. Sure, my LN cleric might be a lot like a cleric of St. Cuthbert, but what if he doesn't agree with critical portions of Cuthbert's devine law? It just allows more flexibility, which I like.
Tony Vargas
01-19-06, 07:48 PM default good- Warhammer
default evil - Light Flail
default neutral - Heavy Mace
default law - Longsword
default chaos - Battleaxe

at least I think it was from Weapon of the Deity. Don't have my books handy, so can't confirm it was reprinted from Defenders of the Faith. I think it's also under Spiritual Weapon in the PH.

Yep: The weapon that you get is often a force replica of your deity’s own personal weapon. A cleric without a deity gets a weapon based on his alignment. A neutral cleric without a deity can create a spiritual weapon of any alignment, provided he is acting at least generally in accord with that alignment at the time. The weapons associated with each alignment are as follows.
Chaos: Battleaxe
Evil: Light flail
Good: Warhammer
Law: LongswordAsside: because Spiritual Weapon does the same damge regardless, but uses the crit/threat of the favored weapon, and none of it's other attributes, evil gets kinda shafted with a 20/x2 weapon, while, among specific PH deities, Olidimara (of all things) really makes out with an 18-20/x2 rapier. Wierd.

Anyway, I think that'd be the best way to go with the godless War cleric. If he's got a Law/Chaos and an Evil/Good alignment he can pick one of the two, if he's TN, he can pick any of the 4, depending on where his tendencies lay. There all perfectly good one-handed martial weapons, when it comes to actually using them.

The other alternative would be to take the War domain litterally...Granted Power: Free Martial Weapon Proficiency with deity’s favored weapon (if necessary) and Weapon Focus with the deity’s favored weapon. No diety = no favored weapon = no benefit from the granted power. You get the granted power, it just doesn't do anything for you.
Twinkletoes73
01-21-06, 04:27 AM Thank you very much!
Elbethamore
01-21-06, 12:53 PM The reason I like making godless clerics is so that they can become gods themselves without having to ask permission from their diety.

That comes up so often that you design your character with that eventuality in mind?
Milo_Tealeaf
01-21-06, 01:44 PM Hi i'm new at this game and I would like to know how cross classes with a rogue and a cleric. I'm already a lvl 2 rogue.
chitzk0i
01-21-06, 03:04 PM OP: In the RPGA games I've been in (Living Arcanis and Living Greyhawk), clerics have to have a specific god they worship.

Milo_tealeaf: You should go for the Trickery domain. Beyond that, try the Character optimization forums (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=339).
Twinkletoes73
01-23-06, 01:20 AM Longsword of Truth it is.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Twinkletoes73 01-18-06, 06:45 PM	I was making a cleric earlier, and like a lot of my clerics he didn't follow a deity but just took his powers from the divine source or whatever. Anyway, this one took the war domain, and was given weapon proficiency in his deity's favored weapon. Since he doesn't have a deity, does he get to choose his favored weapon, or does he lose the ability? If he chooses an exotic weapon, does he have to do extra training? And even if a local DM wouldn't allow an excellent weapon to be chosen, could that character have that weapon in an RPGA game? Thank you very much.
FLAvatar 01-18-06, 07:35 PM	as a loose guideline, you could always fall back on the table from the Weapon of the Deity spell. default good- Warhammer default evil - Light Flail default neutral - Heavy Mace default law - Longsword default chaos - Battleaxe at least I think it was from Weapon of the Deity. Don't have my books handy, so can't confirm it was reprinted from Defenders of the Faith.
Ziatyn Phoenixwolf 01-18-06, 10:36 PM	With me not being a fan of Dietyless divine casters; Iwould not allow the weapon focus to be with any weapon that is not part of the cleric's weapon list(simple weapons only). That is just the way that I see it.
Dwalon 01-19-06, 03:33 PM	If he chooses an exotic weapon, does he have to do extra training? ******* I would require extra training for a godless cleric to freely use an exotic weapon. I DM'd a LG cleric who wanted to use big weapon, and since the campaign was in Greyhawk, the player and I decided that the route for the character to go was to worship a lesser goddess who basically was raised from paladinhood to godhood by Pelor. Her name in the Living Greyhawk Gazette escapes me at the moment. The goddess has both longbow and bastard sword as her favored weapons. The player won out, but that is okay, as now he had to follow a strict church's guidelines and tenets, rather than just maintain vague alignment confines.
Elemental_Elf 01-19-06, 03:50 PM	Godless Clerics are kinda dumb, IMo. I mean where does their divine power come from? Them selves? From thin air? Ugh, IMO the dietyless cleric was tossed in so the evengelical soccar moms wouldn't sue WotC for 'forcing' their son to believe in a false god. Anyways, If I were a DM, I wouldn't let you play a Dietyless Cleric... Unless your parents were proven evangelicals, and that's assuming you were young enough for your parents to control your life. Anyways, as for the War Domain of a Godless Cleric, choose one that already exists. Essentially take any god with the war domain, choose which weapon suits you best and use it. Eitehr that or ask your DM as he/she does have the final say in matters like these. Anyways, sorry for the rant.
Milo_Tealeaf 01-19-06, 06:14 PM	i'm a newbie halfling rogue and would like to know how to cross class with a cleric
Twinkletoes73 01-19-06, 07:19 PM	Those are all good guidelines, and I think I might have an answer. But is there any kind of "official" answer? And clerics without dieties get their power from the same place the gods do. It's just that they can take a lot less from that source. The reason I like making godless clerics is so that they can become gods themselves without having to ask permission from their diety. Sure, Pelor might sponsor someone who was LG to become a god and nurture her along that path. But Vecna? Especially in an environment where divine power is limited, I can see why some gods might not want to split the pie any more ways, if that makes sense. Even a neutral god might not let someone attain dietyhood if it meant reducing his power significantly. And also, I like my characters to have their own beliefs about their role in the world. Sure, my LN cleric might be a lot like a cleric of St. Cuthbert, but what if he doesn't agree with critical portions of Cuthbert's devine law? It just allows more flexibility, which I like.
Tony Vargas 01-19-06, 07:48 PM	default good- Warhammer default evil - Light Flail default neutral - Heavy Mace default law - Longsword default chaos - Battleaxe at least I think it was from Weapon of the Deity. Don't have my books handy, so can't confirm it was reprinted from Defenders of the Faith. I think it's also under Spiritual Weapon in the PH. Yep: The weapon that you get is often a force replica of your deity’s own personal weapon. A cleric without a deity gets a weapon based on his alignment. A neutral cleric without a deity can create a spiritual weapon of any alignment, provided he is acting at least generally in accord with that alignment at the time. The weapons associated with each alignment are as follows. Chaos: Battleaxe Evil: Light flail Good: Warhammer Law: LongswordAsside: because Spiritual Weapon does the same damge regardless, but uses the crit/threat of the favored weapon, and none of it's other attributes, evil gets kinda shafted with a 20/x2 weapon, while, among specific PH deities, Olidimara (of all things) really makes out with an 18-20/x2 rapier. Wierd. Anyway, I think that'd be the best way to go with the godless War cleric. If he's got a Law/Chaos and an Evil/Good alignment he can pick one of the two, if he's TN, he can pick any of the 4, depending on where his tendencies lay. There all perfectly good one-handed martial weapons, when it comes to actually using them. The other alternative would be to take the War domain litterally...Granted Power: Free Martial Weapon Proficiency with deity’s favored weapon (if necessary) and Weapon Focus with the deity’s favored weapon. No diety = no favored weapon = no benefit from the granted power. You get the granted power, it just doesn't do anything for you.
Twinkletoes73 01-21-06, 04:27 AM	Thank you very much!
Elbethamore 01-21-06, 12:53 PM	The reason I like making godless clerics is so that they can become gods themselves without having to ask permission from their diety. That comes up so often that you design your character with that eventuality in mind?
Milo_Tealeaf 01-21-06, 01:44 PM	Hi i'm new at this game and I would like to know how cross classes with a rogue and a cleric. I'm already a lvl 2 rogue.
chitzk0i 01-21-06, 03:04 PM	OP: In the RPGA games I've been in (Living Arcanis and Living Greyhawk), clerics have to have a specific god they worship. Milo_tealeaf: You should go for the Trickery domain. Beyond that, try the Character optimization forums (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=339).
Twinkletoes73 01-23-06, 01:20 AM	Longsword of Truth it is.