Poll : Do you allow godless clerics?

Kahuna Burger · Nov 10, 2003

OK, just to make it clear that godless clerics are not a houserule, or even an 'option' the relevant comments from the SRD:

Aura (Ex): A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). Clerics who don’t worship a specific deity but choose the Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful domain have a similarly powerful aura of the corresponding alignment.
and
If a cleric is not devoted to a particular deity, he still selects two domains to represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities. The restriction on alignment domains still applies.

That said, I've gotten the impression that a lot of people don't like godless clerics, or consider them a "real" option. So tell me about your veiws on godless clerics from either player or DM perspective.

Kahuna burger

Harlock · Nov 10, 2003

Neat poll, KB. I chose the "I don't like godless clerics for flavor/homebrew gameworld reasons" option because I run a Scarred Lands game. In the Scarred Lands the gods are very active and even have their heralds and avatars at work across the lands. Now, if a player came up with a good reason to allow a godless cleric, I'd consider it.

Creamsteak · Nov 10, 2003

I'm "OK" with them in that I love it when a player chooses this for roleplaying reasons and not for specific domains.

BigFreekinGoblinoid · Nov 10, 2003

It has never come up for me as, but I would most likely allow it

Teflon Billy · Nov 10, 2003

I wouldn't allow it for Flavor reasons.

A "Godless Cleric" is a bookeeper (at best)

I'm not even sure I understand the idea of a Priest who foloows no Gods.

Congrats on your nuptials BTW KB

Steverooo · Nov 10, 2003

I allow them, for RL reasons. Some people (Baptists, Catholics, etc.) don't want to worship a false god, even in a game. So I'm okay with "an unaligned Cleric of Good". Also, your pantheon may not have anything to a PC's tastes, so they may prefer to serve an ideal (like "Good") instead. If a Druid or Ranger can draw "divine" power from unintelligent nature, I don't see why a Cleric can't draw the same from an unintelligent ideal...

Creamsteak · Nov 10, 2003

One iconic example of a "Godless" cleric would be a cleric of an elemental plane of existence. They draw their power from, for instance, the elemental air plane. Thier first domain is pretty obvious in this case (Air), and the second is probably related to some vestige within that plane (such as chaotic, representative of the cleric's alignment and the types of air elements he uses), or something related to air (travel perhaps).

Tsyr · Nov 11, 2003

The only "godless" clerics in my game are ones that nobody know what god they worship, but they do in fact worship a god.

Godless cleric's dont exist, and I would never allow one.

Mark Chance · Nov 11, 2003

Teflon Billy said:
A "Godless Cleric" is a bookeeper (at best)

How many boos does a godless cleric keep?

Dark Jezter · Nov 11, 2003

I'm running a Forgotten Realms campaign, and it's stated quite clearly in the FRCS that godless clerics aren't allowed. In fact, ANY divine spellcaster (even rangers and paladins) must have a patron deity to cast spells.

I don't care for the concept of godless clerics; it dosen't make sense to me that a cleric would be able to cast divine spells without a god granting them.