Cleric design goals . Legends and Lore April 23

[WarlockLord]

I'd argue #5 makes the rest of the article a joke. Again, these seem like they'd all vary based on your god. Why the hell would Boccob want you wading into battle with a quarterstaff if he's the god of magic and can probably grant you some nice spells if you ask? You'll note the sample cleric from that section bore no resemblance to the rest of the article.

 

[jbear]

The design goals sound good to me. It has a classic cleric at the core but there will be a flexibility that allows me to customise my cleric to fit the character I want to play.

Sweet.

If all classes are like this ... sweet.

 

[Kzach]

Point three is probably the only one I take issue with since gods in D&D are rarely subtle or indirect.

 

[Stormonu]

hmm... what caught my eye was "cleric of Apollo". Sounds like we won't have the narrow-focused mish-mash pantheon of 4E. We might even see a Deities & Demigods with the greek gods in 5E, if we're lucky.

I'm a little dubious of the article though. While it sounds like they're expanding how the cleric can be customized through worshiping a god, it sounds like they're planning to force the cleric to be a defensive buffer with spells - notice no talk of the iconic Hold Person, Flame Strike and offensive spells the cleric's had possession of. My guess is that the offensive "spells" will be going to the paladin and the cleric's getting the defensive/buff spells.

 

[Serendipity]

The class should relate in some way to archetypal characters, stories, legends, and myths that form modern fantasy. Someone who has never played D&D should understand what the class represents within the fantasy genre.

Like................what exactly? I can't say I'm used to seeing anything like an armor clad healing spellcaster with a religious bent anywhere BUT D&D.
I would really like to see them cite an example of this that doesn't come from a D&D novel or a video game based on D&D style fantasy.

 

[Lanefan]

As for the design goals, I would say that #2 (The Cleric Is a Divine Spellcaster) is the most important, followed by #5 (Clerics Reflect the Gods). Everything else should just be starting points and customizable by the player. It should be possible to make a cleric who is not a healer or an armored warrior and who smites and blasts his enemies with raw, direct, unsubtle displays of divine power. (Flame strike! Earthquake! Insect plague! Astral storm! Mass harm! Slay living!)

Agreed; Clerics should have some offensive spell capability as well, and thus have to choose between casting offense now or healing later.

Deity-specific powers etc. sound good but potentially complicated. Ideally, spells will also be deity-specific, both in what you get and what it does - for example Create Water cast by a Poseidon Cleric should work differently than the same spell cast by an Apollo Cleric. But that's complicated too.

The article has one example that rubs me the wrong way: since when did Apollo, a Human deity, support Elves as Clerics?

Lanefan

 

[Kzach]

My guess is that the offensive "spells" will be going to the paladin and the cleric's getting the defensive/buff spells.

Or they're being reserved for the 'priest'.

I could see the cleric being a hybrid divine buffer/combatant with the arcane counterpart being a bard whilst the divine counterpart to a wizard could be a priest.

The article has one example that rubs me the wrong way: since when did Apollo, a Human deity, support Elves as Clerics?

OMG! A fantasy RPG doesn't make sense in the real world!

 

[Minigiant]

Sounds like the cleric is just a half-decent warrior with mostly healing and subtle spells at low levels and access to all armors.

And that's it. Okay maybe Turn Undead.

Then backgrounds and theme does the rest. "Nature" and Lurker for Apollo-cleric. Soldier and Slayer for Kord, Ares, Bane, Horus, Freya, the Morrigan or the million other war deities..

 

[Zireael]

Turn Undead was not mentioned in the article.

I agree that many clerical spells in previous editions were not subtle at all; I guess the offensive spells will go to the priest class.

As for Apollo, I guess it was a filler - since the article said the gods were not fleshed out at the time he played the cleric of Apollo.

 

[FireLance]

The article has one example that rubs me the wrong way: since when did Apollo, a Human deity, support Elves as Clerics?

Given the fairly common D&D trope that deities get power from the number and quality of their worshippers, I'd say the average D&D deity, regardless of origin, will be quite happy to accept worshippers of any race.

Besides, if I'm not wrong, Apollo's portfolio includes archery, music and the sun. Sounds pretty compatible with elves to me.