Is the Cleric a Common Fantasy Archtype?

[Merlion]

As many of you may know I have recently developed something of an antipathy for the Arcane/Divine division of magic in DnD, and especialy for the cleric class. Their are many reasons for this but the one I wish to discuss in this poll is this: I do not feel that it is a common concept in fantasy literature etc. Ohh I know it exists, I have heard examples cited. But I have never personaly read a fantasy novel that featured warrior-priests who could fight almost as well as a full warrior and use extensive magic that included healing, divination and enhancement but largely exlcluding offense and utilities such as shapeshifting, flight, teleportation, telekintetic effects, mind control etc, and in where they wizards or mages could do all those things but had no ability to heal or use magic of a philosophicaly charged nature(anti good or evil spells detecting evil or good etc).
So my question is this: Have you seen or read a story more or less of this type? One that features most or all of the characteristics I mention?
Edit: DnD Novels do NOT count

 

[Voadam]

Sure I've seen them, in D&D novels.

 

[Piratecat]

Darn it, Voadam, you stole my joke.

 

[Volaran]

I _vaguely_ recall some of the priests in Raymond E. Feist's books fitting the archetype of the D&D cleric...then again, the Riftwar books might count as D&D books by the view of some...

 

[Zaruthustran]

The cleric is a fantasy archetype, if you take "Cleric" to mean "a spellcaster who gets spells from gods."

But in D&D, the primary role of the cleric is "healer"--not "spellcaster."

That's because in D&D most characters can't heal themselves, while in fantasy heroes don't need healing until they're dead, mortally wounded, cursed, or diseased. And those conditions exist only to move the plot.

Personally, I wouldn't mind a variant of D&D where every class is able to heal itself. Maybe something where you automatically heal (2 x (your level) + Con bonus) after every encounter.

This would let clerics be spellcasters instead of bandaids.

Of course, then you'd have to rebalance the entire class. As is, the game assumes that some or most of the cleric's spells are going to be spent on healing...

-z

 

[DonAdam]

Yes and no: priest with powers from God? Yes.

Knight Templar on crack? no.

 

[Merlion]

Yea spellcasters gaining power from gods IS common. My question is about spellcasters who get spells that include mostly certain types of spells and exclude others who have good physical combat abilities in a world were mages arent allowed to use the types of spells the priests focus on

 

[takyris]

Feist's series was originally based on his D&D campaign.

Personally -- no. Priests, yes. Healing magic, yes. But not war priests who can heal AND smite the demons. In my younger and less discerning days, I remember Terry Brooks had the gnomes of, um, something, Storlock? Anyway, they were dedicated healers. But in Shannara, ALL magic was segmented -- you might have a guy who could twist minds, and you might have a guy who could fling fire, but you'd rarely if ever have a guy who did both. So that's not the best divider.

-Tacky

 

[Celebrim]

Yes, RF's Riftwar books are D&D books. You can literally hear the dice rolling in the subtext as you read them.

I don't think that the 'cleric' (priestly warrior?) is a particularly common fantasy archetype outside of D&D, BUT I don't think that most fantasy novels deal with the gods and thier servants much at all. Most of them seem to follow the Tolkienesk convention of having a world with essentially no visible organized active religion.

But where you do have alot of evidence of an active visible organized religion, you also have evidence of 'clerics'. Think of the head villians of 'Conan the Barbarian' or 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'. Fantasy novelists seem to avoid such topics by and large, and seldom for whatever reason make thier protagonists clerics. Perhaps it is a modern Western discomfort with good clergy engaged in violence, or with religion in general. Perhaps those that aren't uncomfortable with religion are unconfortable with topics that could be percieved as sacriligious. I don't know what the cause is.

 

[Voadam]

Darn it, Voadam, you stole my joke.

Stole it? That means I've got pirate booty! Woo hoo!