D&D (2024) 2024 Players Handbook: Cleric rules are culturally inclusive

[Yaarel]

(Screenshot from @SlyFlourish)


The 2024 core rules clearly include nontheistic Clerics. Reallife cultures across humanity comprise very different kinds of sacred traditions. I feel the mechanical and narrative rules now allow enough breathing space to draw inspirations from many or all of them.


"
Clerics draw power from the realms of the gods and harness it to work miracles. Blessed by a deity, a pantheon, or another immortal entity, a Cleric can reach out to the divine magic of the Outer Planes − where gods dwell − and channel it to bolster people and battle.
Because their power is a divine gift, Clerics typically associate themselves with temples dedicated to the deity or other immortal force that unlocked their magic. Harnessing divine magic doesnt rely on specific training, yet Clerics might learn prayers and rites that help them draw on power from the Outer Planes.

"

In sum, Cleric magic is alignment magic. The magic comes from the ethical structuralism of the Outer Planes, where binaries of Good-versus-Evil and Chaos-versus-Law oppose each other. Possibly this Cleric power source extends to all of the Astral Plane understood in the sense of mixed ethics. The term "immortal" refers to "forces" of the Outer Planes. Note, in Spelljammer, the term also describes those of the Astral Sea, including dominions of with populations of mixed alignments. A Cleric attunes and channels the concepts of the thoughtscape of the Astral Sea (paradigms, symbols, languages, meaningfulness, ideals, ethics, and so on), according to ethical principles.

Many Cleric traditions are theistic and priestly. Importantly, some are not. Both from the perspective of a player who is deciding the character concept for ones Cleric, and of a DM who is worldbuilding diverse cultures without fighting against the core rules − this inclusivity is a welcome relief.

I love the 2024 Cleric!

 

[TravDoc42]

I love this!
Also, that class format is crisp and efficient! Good to see!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I hope king Arthur and knights of the round table to can return as "patrons".

 

[Yaarel]

I hope king Arthur and knights of the round table to can return as "patrons".

Yeah, with the more inclusive Cleric, the old school Arthur and Round Table make sense as a persons of a sacred tradition.


Traditions can revere ancestors, saints, or heroes. One or more of these persons can interact with the Cleric (via spells, dreams, visions), without implying they are "worshiped" as "gods".

An angel of fire might bestow fire spells, while an angel of healing bestows life spells.

Relatedly, a D&D monotheistic tradition can have "saints and angels" who are Celestials, while the transcendent deity is infinite and imageless. I have these tradition interpret the Positive Energy Plane as an immanent aspect of deity that requires effort to actualize, and relating to concepts such as free will and responsibility for making the multiverse a better place. The Negative Void Plane is where the deity "hides", for the purpose of allowing effort to illuminate.


In animism, objects of nature like rocks and streams are persons with souls (minds, spirits). Water flows because it wants to. A sacred ethic is the wellbeing of a community whose members include humanoids and objects of nature. These animistic dominions always orient toward the Material Plane, while being the thoughts and intentions of natural persons.


In a philosophical tradition, the "immortal forces" are fundamental principles by which reality exists and persists. In the Astral Plane, the Cleric can experience and interact with aspects of these impersonal forces. In Sigil, the philosophies of various alignments inspire competing factions of adherents, each reshaping the multiverse according to the respective immortal forces.


Meanwhile there are also traditions whose adherents are polytheistic, who view certain persons as representatives of or personifications of specific immortal forces. There can be "priests" whose job is to be "servants" for them, and to build "houses", temples, for them to dwell in and rule from.


Different kinds of sacred traditions are possible. D&D cultures can be truly diverse.

 

[mAcular]

Ah, so now it's more like the Warcraft priests, who draw on the nature of the universe -- the Light, shadow, void, and fel, and such.

 

[Charlaquin]

Cool! I never had a problem with clerics being connected to theistic traditions myself, but this is more flexible and if it helps some people feel better included, I’m here for it.

 

[Baumi]

Sound good.

It still urks me that there are no gods listed in the PHB, which is a common question from new players, but there is a (2-page) chapter for the multiverse that has no impact for the players.

 

[J-H]

Isn't that how it's been since 3 or 3.5 when you could have a cleric of X ideal RAW? Falls-From-Grace was that back in PS:T back in the late 90s.

This is of course DM dependent. My games still require clerics and paladins to have a specific deity if there's a focus on moral choices and alignment as part of the way they are challenged... not that it always works as Thor seems to be CN and the Harper is contributing to the party going evil.... but at least they know it.

 

[DragonLancer]

I agree. I always "make" a cleric worship a deity or other powerful supernatural entity in order to get their spells and abilities. The idea of a cleric worshipping a concept or ideal has never sat well with me within the confines of a game world where gods and devils/angels are a known quantity.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I miss the vestige binder (althought now it's a warlock subclass), the living idols from al-Qadim and the ardent class from the complete psionic handbook.

If now "no-deities" can be patrons, for example the king Arthur. Why not other characters? Not only from classic folklore but also forgotten IPs, for example the Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones.