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Cleric design goals . Legends and Lore April 23
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<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5890095" data-attributes="member: 3192"><p>Here are five descriptors for a cleric:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"The cleric serves to fortify, protect, and revitalize." </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"The cleric also has a limited number of attack spells, some of which are simply the reverse form of curative incantations." </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"The cleric has the ability to wear armor, carry effective weaponry, and engage in hand-to-hand (melee) combat with a reasonable chance of success." </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"Another important attribute of the cleric is the ability to turn away (or actually command into service) the Undead and less powerful Demons and Devils." </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"The class of character bears a certain resemblance to religious orders of knighthood of medieval times."</li> </ol><p>The first describes not only the spells a cleric has available, but all potential abilities. I strongly suggest clericism is not about being a healer in combat, at least not only literally. Let's stop thinking about this class as just another warrior class with every feature geared towards fighting. That's how we can make it unique. Adventuring wizards are the masters of their environment, not war. What adventures does a group of only clerics go on? Historically speaking? Mythological, in legend, in literature, in actuality? The original configuration of a cleric is medieval holy men and women, the priests, shamans, and wise men of their time. Their adventures are divine quests and self-guided missions in nature.</p><p></p><p>When it comes to spells clerics, like M-Us, have a vast scope to design within. However, beyond the usual limits of spell creation they do not need to find or attempt to learn spells. So they are primarily limited by divine scope and total available spells. I believe clerics should have a finite list of known spells. These could be custom designed or selected from a list of divine spell suggestions. This total is received all at once with the advent of every new spell level. How many can prepared at any one time however is much less. I would even give clerics fewer spells per day than a M-U.</p><p></p><p>Spell selection can define a cleric in the manner of a specialty priest, but so can the mix of other abilities. Monks and Druids are Clerics too. We can carve out another niche here for all of them, going beyond combat, magic, and larceny. For me, a class defines the scope of behavior that advances certain abilities leveraged in performing well within that scope. The specific abilities can be changed out, at least to some degree, so long as they are similarly focused. The standard cleric focuses primarily on the behavior of intelligent creatures. Druids focus on animal and semi-intelligent ones. Monks turn inwards and focus on the self and small enclaves rather than whole societies. This is where their adventures lie, what will gain them XP, advance in their classes, and further the class as well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 5890095, member: 3192"] Here are five descriptors for a cleric: [LIST=1] [*]"The cleric serves to fortify, protect, and revitalize." [*]"The cleric also has a limited number of attack spells, some of which are simply the reverse form of curative incantations." [*]"The cleric has the ability to wear armor, carry effective weaponry, and engage in hand-to-hand (melee) combat with a reasonable chance of success." [*]"Another important attribute of the cleric is the ability to turn away (or actually command into service) the Undead and less powerful Demons and Devils." [*]"The class of character bears a certain resemblance to religious orders of knighthood of medieval times." [/LIST] The first describes not only the spells a cleric has available, but all potential abilities. I strongly suggest clericism is not about being a healer in combat, at least not only literally. Let's stop thinking about this class as just another warrior class with every feature geared towards fighting. That's how we can make it unique. Adventuring wizards are the masters of their environment, not war. What adventures does a group of only clerics go on? Historically speaking? Mythological, in legend, in literature, in actuality? The original configuration of a cleric is medieval holy men and women, the priests, shamans, and wise men of their time. Their adventures are divine quests and self-guided missions in nature. When it comes to spells clerics, like M-Us, have a vast scope to design within. However, beyond the usual limits of spell creation they do not need to find or attempt to learn spells. So they are primarily limited by divine scope and total available spells. I believe clerics should have a finite list of known spells. These could be custom designed or selected from a list of divine spell suggestions. This total is received all at once with the advent of every new spell level. How many can prepared at any one time however is much less. I would even give clerics fewer spells per day than a M-U. Spell selection can define a cleric in the manner of a specialty priest, but so can the mix of other abilities. Monks and Druids are Clerics too. We can carve out another niche here for all of them, going beyond combat, magic, and larceny. For me, a class defines the scope of behavior that advances certain abilities leveraged in performing well within that scope. The specific abilities can be changed out, at least to some degree, so long as they are similarly focused. The standard cleric focuses primarily on the behavior of intelligent creatures. Druids focus on animal and semi-intelligent ones. Monks turn inwards and focus on the self and small enclaves rather than whole societies. This is where their adventures lie, what will gain them XP, advance in their classes, and further the class as well. [/QUOTE]
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Cleric design goals . Legends and Lore April 23
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