Anyone got any ideas?
So I wanted to make a Cleric of Tempus for a campaign, but couldn't think of any reason they'd be adventuring beyond seeking combat?
Anyone got any ideas?
Do you need another reason?
I mean, really. Cleric of Tempus kinda sums it up.
If you want more character depth: why does he fight? why Tempus, the Foehammer?
I'd like other reasons tbh, the only thing I can think of is someone being a Cleric of Tempus but having their own agenda, but the deities quite limited for reasons to bother doing anything.
Lets say there's an investigation into something mysterious (typical campaign plot point), why would a Cleric of Tempus go along? Just because there's a fight?
I'd like other reasons tbh, the only thing I can think of is someone being a Cleric of Tempus but having their own agenda, but the deities quite limited for reasons to bother doing anything.
well, clerics in 4e are simply invested with holy power that is generated by the deity, the deity not longer has any say in how that power is used. So yes, you could have an heretical cleric.
But I don't think you want that.
What does your cleric fight for. Remember, Tempus is also known as the Foe Hammer. This is no idle title. Who (or more likely: What) is your foe that you wish to bring divine hammer-shaped smotation down upon. Perhaps that is what draws your character into the fray.
There's an old tale in an old sourcebook about how Tempus wept tears... when peace was declared between two warring states. (There's a related bit here: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20011226x)
It's entirely within the church of Tempus's interests to disrupt peace efforts and aide the breakout of war, whether it be between two kingdoms, or against a horde of zombies or orcs. Just as long as the battle is honourable and heroic, and is not a massacre of innocents or dirty and underhanded.
So for a cleric of Tempus, it makes perfect sense to seek out trouble, even if it only begins as investigation, if there's the possibility of a good war ultimately brewing. You never know. It's better to seek battles out rather than wait for them to come for you (as I'm sure Tempus would say).
Tempus hates crimes of war and urges his clergy to hunt down and punish those who have done so in the past. A good way to sent an adventuring cleric of Tempus on a path to eventual justice by punishing those unlucky gits.
-There you go. That gives you unlimited possibilities, all over the planet.
So I wanted to make a Cleric of Tempus for a campaign, but couldn't think of any reason they'd be adventuring beyond seeking combat?
babes
-Never underestimate the things we'll do for babes.
and yet, we play Dungeons & Dragons.
So does my wife, so... ;)
hmmmm......both are players, or is one a DM?
So I wanted to make a Cleric of Tempus for a campaign, but couldn't think of any reason they'd be adventuring beyond seeking combat?
Anyone got any ideas?
The Red Book of War could have gone missing again. He could be looking for it.
babes
:D This:D
Seriously though why not adventure? Perhaps between dungeon raids and mystery solving he preaches the Way of the Sword but he still needs to get by and a wandering cleric is unlikely to be picking up a wage from his church.
More importantly his actions draw attention to him, his faith and his god. Who's more interesting? Pastor Fred who tends his rose garden and pats young women on the bottom.
Or,
Brother Mordecai, Blade of War - Who only last week struck down the orc chieftain Garesh and returned to the village carrying his head, his riches and his blood soaked into his boots.
-Hmm...An interesting philosophical question. Would a Cleric of Tempus instigate a war? I would say only evil ones would, while good and neutral ones would not.
Here's my take on this.
A Good Cleric of Tempus could start a war that s/he sees as a just war, a war that needs to be fought. A city/state/army/etc has committed atrocities, needs to be brought to justice.
Good can be as unreasonable as Evil in its motivations. I'm not sure how to express that better, but you get the point?
Look at the crusades. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that the original intent was that of (perceived) good. Sending armies to the Holy Land basically amounted to starting a war.
So my ideas were not well-expressed, but hopefully decipherable.
-Hmm...An interesting philosophical question. Would a Cleric of Tempus instigate a war? I would say only evil ones would, while good and neutral ones would not.
I'd think a good-aligned cleric of Tempus would potentially have many reasons for starting a war, and certainly would if he or she believed that the benefits outweighed the costs. Raising an army to fight for a righteous cause, or a noble goal, even perhaps simply protecting one's borders by taking a proactive action against a neighbor who can't be held at bay with diplomacy.
A neutral cleric could start a war simply for purposes of maintaining honor (or the perception of honor), and might believe that swords convince people more than words, that might makes right, and the like. Not evil, per se, but not good either.
As to reasons for a cleric to adventure, it could be anything from a command from "higher ups" to go out and see the world simply to learn about it, or a variety of personal reasons. Wanting to raise money for the temple you'd eventually like to build, gaining power as a means toward becoming more effective in one's faith, perhaps even as a way to study different types of enemies (and in times of relative peace, it doesn't hurt to learn everything you can about a region, the tactics of different cultures and various monsters, etc.). Lots of reasons, potentially.
-Perhaps I loaded my own question before even asking it, without even realizing it. I tend to lump 'instigate' in with 'negative' and/or 'bad', so...As in, things that instigate are negative and/or bad, and as such, instigating would be doing a bad thing.
Ah, instigating in more of the sense of goading or inciting... yes, I can see the negative implication. It might also be something of a cultural thing, though, for us in the modern age to see inciting or instigating war in a negative light. For me, Tempus hearkens back to a Viking-age or Olympian feel, when the gods were rough and barbaric, and victory in war was something that won warriors a seat in the heavens. And dying quietly of old age with one's family was considered neutral, womanly, or even a tragedy.
I always think of Xena's version of the god of war, Lord Ares, who sometimes just liked to stir stuff up by bloodying a few swords. At least, Ares of the earlier seasons. ;)
Don't see it, given his attitude towards Eldath... but that's just me maybe.
No, that's called naughty metagame knowledge. ;) :P :D
Personally, and this is just me of course, I like to think there are big differences between the barbarian cultures of the icy North who worship him as Tempos (and glory in combat) and the civilized cultures of the south who revere him as Tempus and more as a necessity (and regret the need for war).
With the southerners, I see them as far more likely to make war for the hell of it, since their cultures and societies are much less precarious and they might feel the need to 'shake things up a bit' to stir their people from relative complacency, to keep them sharp. Life in the North offers far more opportunities to 'stay sharp', so there's less reason to go to war, since simple survival is a fairly tough struggle in the first place.
Oh, and :P
Personally, and this is just me of course, I like to think there are big differences between the barbarian cultures of the icy North who worship him as Tempos (and glory in combat) and the civilized cultures of the south who revere him as Tempus and more as a necessity (and regret the need for war).
-I would hope.
-That's something that, unfortunately, we never got to see too much of, differences of religions present in both north, south, east and west, and things of that nature.
Lets say there's an investigation into something mysterious (typical campaign plot point), why would a Cleric of Tempus go along? Just because there's a fight?
I'd like other reasons tbh, the only thing I can think of is someone being a Cleric of Tempus but having their own agenda, but the deities quite limited for reasons to bother doing anything.
ummm... because he wants to?
real world religious figures do all sorts of work. there are priests who are doctors, monks who are firefighters, nuns who run companies, some run for public office, some own businesses.
not everything that a Cleric of Tempus does need be associated with the faith. He may be a Cleric without clerical duties per se, he may be in a sect that doesn't have a strict organization, or he may be permitted to do whatever he wants. he may have a special dispensation from a superior, or he could be an independent holy man, sanctified by purification in battle.
Look at the character's backstory. A Cleric of Tempus is could be a veteran soldier who adopted the faith in the service. Maybe he served as a chaplain during a war. Maybe he had a vision of Tempus during a battle which inspired him to save his unit from annihilation or to destroy a powerful foe.
Now that he's left the army/militia/whatever, he's decided to take up adventuring to pursue his belief in Sacred Battle. It could be just that simple. Look at why the character decided to become a Cleric.