Fluff, Rules, and the Cleric/Warlock Multiclass (WITH POLL!)

[Arilyn]

So your clerics can never reach 20th level? How many levels of Warlocks do you force them to take?

This was just musing, an example of how the two classes could be mixed in a way that could make sense, from a story point of view. It is not something I have done, or imposed. I probably should have said a deity, rather than a whole pantheon.

 

[Seramus]

It's really not a good look for any god, to allow its clerics to become warlocks.

Are you talking about your specific campaign setting, that you use at your own table? If so, then I can definitely see how being both a warlock and a cleric would be difficult in your homebrew.

But if you are talking about the games of other people, none of that is necessarily true.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

It's really not a good look for any god, to allow its clerics to become warlocks.

Just as well that the range of deities available to clerics aren't limited to only gods then isn't it?

Having said that, someone in another thread was talking about their warlock worshipping Mitra. If that god is a reflection of the real-world Mitra, god of covenants and pacts, then multiclassing to cleric has a pretty good pathway for that character.
(You could even allow a gradual conversion from warlock levels to cleric levels if the player was amenable. So instead of going from Warlock 5 to warlock/cleric 5/1, they go to warlock/cleric 4/2. Next level to warlock/cleric 3/4 etc as the pact with their servitor is subsumed by the deity.)

 

[TwoSix]

Well, if you do want to play a cleric/warlock, at least you can point your DM to this poll.

 

[Li Shenron]

It's really not a good look for any god, to allow its clerics to become warlocks.

Well you're only a "neo"god, so you are excused for not having already figured out all the strategic possibilities.

 

[neogod22]

Are you talking about your specific campaign setting, that you use at your own table? If so, then I can definitely see how being both a warlock and a cleric would be difficult in your homebrew.

But if you are talking about the games of other people, none of that is necessarily true.

Mainly talking about in the FR setting, since it is the only official setting in D&D. If you want to make your gods weak to the point to justify a cleric/warlock multiclass in your world, that's on you. From a mechanical standpoint, I guess it can be good. For a paladin, it makes sense, not so much for a cleric, but from a story telling standpoint, I don't see why someone who already gets power from a,superior being will also try and make a deal from an inferior being to gain power also. In the long run, it actually weakens the cleric. As a DM, I would never allow any divine class multiclass into a warlock, unless you want to lose all your powers in that class, and you will have to seek your pact in the campaign.

 

[neogod22]

Just as well that the range of deities available to clerics aren't limited to only gods then isn't it?

Having said that, someone in another thread was talking about their warlock worshipping Mitra. If that god is a reflection of the real-world Mitra, god of covenants and pacts, then multiclassing to cleric has a pretty good pathway for that character.
(You could even allow a gradual conversion from warlock levels to cleric levels if the player was amenable. So instead of going from Warlock 5 to warlock/cleric 5/1, they go to warlock/cleric 4/2. Next level to warlock/cleric 3/4 etc as the pact with their servitor is subsumed by the deity.)

Never heard of Mitra. The only thing I could find online was the pathfinder god of justice and the sun which doesn't fit the description on what you're talking about.

 

[neogod22]

Well you're only a "neo"god, so you are excused for not having already figured out all the strategic possibilities.

You're looking at them from a,player perspective, not from the God's. The god gains nothing from this, and let's be real, what are you trying to gain from this that you can't gain taking the magic initiate feat?

 

[Arilyn]

Mainly talking about in the FR setting, since it is the only official setting in D&D. If you want to make your gods weak to the point to justify a cleric/warlock multiclass in your world, that's on you. From a mechanical standpoint, I guess it can be good. For a paladin, it makes sense, not so much for a cleric, but from a story telling standpoint, I don't see why someone who already gets power from a,superior being will also try and make a deal from an inferior being to gain power also. In the long run, it actually weakens the cleric. As a DM, I would never allow any divine class multiclass into a warlock, unless you want to lose all your powers in that class, and you will have to seek your pact in the campaign.

Since WOTC hasn't actually brought out a world book for 5e, I'd say FR is more default than official.

But looking at FR, and I'm looking at my 3e version, there are so many deities and so many domains, fitting in a warlock/cleric has gotta work somewhere. I mean, they can't afford to be too picky considering the heaps of competition. I can see Mielikki accepting a cleric, who also has a pact with a good fae lord/lady. And from the character's or player's point of view, it doesn't have to be all about "path to power."

Taking two, seemingly disparate elements in the game, and combining them into something that makes for an interesting and compelling character is an awesome part of the game, which is why I am very careful about outlawing particular choices or combinations at my table.

 

[neogod22]

You mean this quote?



that tells us how a Warlock is different from a Cleric, but not why. What is the actual difference between the way a Cleric serves their deity and the way a Warlock serves their patron? And more importantly, why does that difference lead to completely different kinds of powers? The answer to if/why they can multiclass lies in the answer to those questions.

Before the warlock was created, the question was, if demonlords and other entities can grant powers to their followers without making them clerics, since a cleric really doesn't fit the theme. In comes the warlock. Essentially they both serve the same purpose, the difference is, only gods can create clerics. Non-gods can only create warlocks. Their powers are are different because only the divine have the power of life and death.