D&D 5E Arcane Domain

[costermonger]

I also have to point out, that unless it has changed, one of the strongest followers and wizards for Mystra started his life as a Clerical follower of her. As such, even the great Elminster has some clerical ability.

IIRC he started as a fighter in a band of outlaws/freedom fighters, then spent time as a thief in the city and became a cleric when he broke into a deserted temple of Mystra. Only later did he take up arcane study as he began life hating all wizards. Another cleric of mystra (Adon?) started out as a follower of Sune, he became her cleric due to his friendship with her when she was a mortal - Midnight during the Avatar crisis. Thats two IC reasons, another would be wanting to promote the spread of magic by helping others. Cleric spells tend to be more ‘commoner friendly‘ after all.

 

[Blue]

Are you naturally gifted in magic and manipulate it directly through the force of your personality? You might be a sorcerer.
Are you studious and driven and eventually follow a scholarly path to mage? You might be a wizard.
Are you full of faith in Mystra, see how her works (magic) have improved the world, and want to spread her doings? You might be a cleric.
Are you frustrated that you can't find magic on your own and instead make a shortsighted deal to give you some? You might be a warlock.
Are you not magically inclined at all and like to hit all of the above with pointy objects, repeatedly? You might be a fighter.

 

[Miladoon]

"Oh noes Mystara, I can't be your high priestess, I am just a rogue with the acolyte background!"

Any character concept is plausible in D&D. Play less of the class and more of the character concept and you should have less problems.

EDIT: Partial ninja'd by Blue

 

[BryonD]

How about we forget their stats and just ask: what if they simply believe that the powers of arcana (or a god behind it) is simply worth religious devotion?

 

[Dormouse]

I guess I am the only one here who agrees with the OP, but yes, an arcane domain is stupid. I'm fine with having a god of magic, and with the god of magic having priests, but it seems like a wizard with the Acolyte background makes a lot more sense than a cleric.

Cleric and priest are not the same thing; you can be a member of the clergy, and devoutly religions, without having divine magic, as running services and weddings does not usually require a Cure Wounds spell. It seems like a god like Mystra would neither call for nor desire clerics. When she needed help who did she contact? Elminster the wizard.

 

[gyor]

The job of a Chosen and the Job of a Cleric are two very different things.

A Chosen takes care of the epic things, the Cleric takes care of the worshippers, and an Acolyte is no replacement for a Cleric, an Acolyte doesn't preform the miracle/spells that awe the worshippers and make them feel like thier in the presence of the divine, an Acolyte might conduct rites, like with the Ritual Caster feat they might even do limited divine magic by rituals, but its the cleric that does the healing in a community and the really powerful miracles that bind people to a God's faith.

Not to mention its Clerics that rake in the money day to day for a church.

 

[Jester David]

I accept the idea of an arcane domain.
A wizard gets their power from themself. They memorize spells and tap into magical power, using the arcane energies of the elements or the weave or what not. But it's still them casting the spells.
A cleric draws their power from their god. They're just the vessel. They don't cast the spell, they pray for a minor miracle. The miracles of the god of magic just happen to be very similar to arcane spells.

 

[fba827]

My realms lore is weak so apologies if I'm remembering wrong ...

But isn't arcane magic partially fueled by a force known as 'the weave' and mystra s focus is partially on maintaining the weave? So if I'm remembering all that maybe mystras clerics are about maintaining and such for the weave, while wizards are simply drawing power from it...

 

[EzekielRaiden]

"I believe that Magic is the ultimate tool of good. Yes, it certainly can be used for evil ends; you need only look at most liches, or most chromatic dragons, to see that. But Magic is the ultimate tool for curing the sick, resurrecting the dead, feeding the hungry, sheltering the poor, protecting the weak...all these things are possible through Mystra, because she is Magic. No, I don't mean 'she possesses the attribute of being magical.' She IS Magic, and Magic IS her. Those wizards, out there, who peer through lenses, chart astral motions, blend noxious liquids, draft geometric complexities, and pontificate endlessly on minutiae? Certainly they do her work, because they advance the cause of knowledge, they explain and share and employ her works in our world and beyond.
"But which is better, or fuller, or truer, you ask: to know the work, or to know the maker? I would argue the question itself is malformed. It presupposes that the two approaches are wholly distinct, for one thing, when they aren't--they, by learning the works, gain insight into their maker, while we, by understanding the maker, gain and grant insight into her works. For another, the motivations of our causes are different--different values which lead to the same desire, and thus express that desire in different ways. The Wizard values this knowledge because it is an achievement, because they consider it the highest of the mental arts, because it grants power to the learned, for words have meaning and names have power. The Cleric values--or, at least, I value--this knowledge because it is transcendent, because I am awed and humbled and transformed through it, because it proves false the claims that building up must always be more difficult than tearing down. And most of all, because it is the most tangible possible link to the divine, at least for those of us not fortunate enough to take (or be taken by) a deity as a lover or to be the offspring of such union."

--Rhiannon ta Windrel, Mystran High Priestess of Waterdeep