A question of religion in FR

[Grim]

Hello.

My gaming group has a little problem. We just started a campain set on the sword coast of FR. The problem is that my character, an elven paladin of Kelemvor, the Judge of the Dead, has some problems with the party cleric, who's player has not picked a god, but has picked Death as a domain.

The problem lies within the fact that, as an acolyte of the Judge, my character must try and sentance all of the partys enemys that survive a fight. (the ones that died, well, it was kelemvor's will) But our cleric, who has that handy dandy death domain, wants to cast certain spells, such as death knell, that require a sacrafice. I dont see how my character, in good concience and code of honor, can let the cleric blaspheme an entities death, no matter how guilty that entity is. Or even if they would be damned anyway.

And there is also the problem of the character casting create undead spells, but at least those are a bit more obvious.

But the question comes down to this: does Kelemvor frown upon his clergy (or their associates) sacraficing an entity (stealing its lifeforce) that is close to the Border anyway?

Thanks in adavance,
Grim

 

[Warmaster_Horus]

I personally always thought of Kelemvor as an Azrael figure so, I think that what the cleric is doing, killing others before their fate is sealed, or making a mockery of the life-death cycle with his petty magicks is offensive to Kelemvor. It is just my personal opinion though.

 

[Kvantum]

Personally I find the idea of ANY cleric in FR without a specific god to be offensive. It just doesn't feel right, you know?

Anyway, if one takes Faiths and Pantheons into account, there's only one or two gods in FR who actually offer the Death domain. (Kelemvor, Jergal, Osiris, and Urogalan all switch over to the Repose domain.) The only option left (other than the Orcish deity Yurtrus) is Velsharoon, and any paladin of Kelemvor whose faith in the Judge of the Damned is secure will NOT exactly get along with a follower of the Lord of the Forsaken Crypt.

As far as the question of Kelemvorite dogma goes, their general attitude would be "Help others die with dignity at their appointed times and no sooner." So, yeah, I'd say the paladin would have a big problem with the sacrifices.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Can clerics in the FR even operate without a deity? I'm not sure they can, but it's a bit of a moot point for the issue. At any rate, I pretty much agree that the sacrifices would be problematic to the paladin.

Best,
tKL

 

[Meek_Monkey1]

The Paladin would kill the Cleric. Plus the cleric wouldn't get spells because he has no god to call upon. And bad things can happen when a god takes over granting spells and you don't know about it.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I don't know as though the paladin would kill the cleric — I'm not sure that differences of religious opinion would necessitate that action. At least not immediately. There's got to be a better way to go about it for at least a while.

Best,
tKL

 

[Nightfall]

Personally I find the idea of ANY cleric in FR without a specific god to be offensive. It just doesn't feel right, you know?

Anyway, if one takes Faiths and Pantheons into account, there's only one or two gods in FR who actually offer the Death domain. (Kelemvor, Jergal, Osiris, and Urogalan all switch over to the Repose domain.) The only option left (other than the Orcish deity Yurtrus) is Velsharoon, and any paladin of Kelemvor whose faith in the Judge of the Damned is secure will NOT exactly get along with a follower of the Lord of the Forsaken Crypt.

As far as the question of Kelemvorite dogma goes, their general attitude would be "Help others die with dignity at their appointed times and no sooner." So, yeah, I'd say the paladin would have a big problem with the sacrifices.

How dare you forget Orcus! Orcus has Death domain too!

 

[Nightfall]

Can clerics in the FR even operate without a deity? I'm not sure they can, but it's a bit of a moot point for the issue. At any rate, I pretty much agree that the sacrifices would be problematic to the paladin.

Best,
tKL

I'm reasonable sure they can't. It would be different if this were Dark Sun or Ravenloft.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Nightfall and K-Lion are right.

Faerunian clerics function as described in the Player's Handbook, except that no clerics can serve just a cause, philosophy, or abstract source of divine power.

All clerics in Faerun serve a patron deity. It is simply impossible for a person to gain divine powers (such as divine spells) without one.

Forgotten Realms Campaign Sourcebook, pages 22-23

At best, a Paladin serving Kelemvor would refuse to associate with a cleric of death such as this one. At worst, he'd put a stop to him, as he would to any evil-doer.

I'd take this up with the DM, as he may not have realized this before. The cleric might be allowed to switch out Death for Repose, and should choose a patron. If the DM leaves it for you two to resolve, then go with your gut. Personally, I think the DM has a responsibility to promote (but not enforce) party cooperation and harmony, and should have given warning of this kind of conflict when the characters were created.

 

[Celtavian]

Re

No, clerics cannot operate without a patron deity in the Forgotten Realms. Read the text concerning the cleric class near the front of the book. I am at work, so don't have access to my books.