Between Wee Jas and a hard place ...

[Jeff Wilder]

Wee Jas is a Lawful Neutral goddess. According to her write-up, her clerics always channel negative energy. (I.e., they inflict spontaneously and rebuke undead.)

However, her clergy can be Lawful Good. According to the RAW, Good clerics channel positive energy.

Which wins?

(The idea of a LG cleric that rebukes undead and spontaneously inflicts is oddly appealing.)

 

[Rath the Brown]

You might want to take a look at the book again (emphasis mine):

Exceptions: All lawful neutral clerics of Wee Jas (goddess of death and magic) rebuke or command undead.

This tells me that lawful neutral clerics of Wee Jas don't get a choice like other neutral clerics do; they ALWAYS rebuke or command undead. Clerics of Wee Jas with a different alignment would follow the alignment restrictions.

 

[UltimaGabe]

I was confused about this too, as I'm currently playing a Lawful Good Cleric of Wee Jas. However, I figured it out. Allow me to explain.

If you read it closely, it doesn't say that ALL Clerics of Wee Jas channel negative energy- all good Clerics channel positive energy, and all evil Clerics channel negative energy. The distinction with Wee Jas is for NEUTRAL Clerics. When a Cleric is Neutral, it causes a problem or two, depending on the deity's alignment.

Neutral Clerics of a Good god channel positive energy. Neutral Clerics of an Evil god channel negative energy. Good Clerics of a Neutral god channel positive energy, whereas Evil clerics of a Neutral god channel negative energy. When both the Cleric and the Deity are neutral, however, generally the Cleric can choose which he wants to channel (negative or positive). However, in the cases of St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas, ALL Neutral Clerics of St. Cuthbert channel positive energy, and ALL Neutral Clerics of Wee Jas channel negative energy.

However, the issue in my mind is that the Player's Handbook states that Rebuking Undead is ALWAYS an Evil act, whereas Turning Undead is ALWAYS a Good act. While I believe they can be used for evil or good purposes respectively, that means nothing in terms of good acts and bad acts. Turning can be used for Evil purposes, and Rebuking can be used for Good purposes- thus, Turning and Rebuking are no more inherently good or evil than wielding a sword. But that's a whole different story altogether.

 

[DreamChaser]

IMO, deity trumps alignment. LG clerics of Wee-jas should channel negative energy.

DC

 

[Black Knight Irios]

I would say LG CLRs of Wee Jas Turn/Destroy Undead and cast spontaneously cure spells, they channel positive energy.

IMO, deity trumps alignment. LG clerics of Wee-jas should channel negative energy.

Right it's your opinion, but wouldn't they have stated that even the LG CLRs have to Rebuke Undead if they wanted it to be that way, no, they only stated it for LN CLRs which are normally allowed a choice.

 

[RPGgirl]

This is a question that has come up repeatedly in our local LG RPGA. (The game day coordinator maniacally insists inflicting is an evil act because it channels negative energy)

According to page 160 of the PHB ... in regards to turning and dealing with undead only (not a blanket statement about channelling negative energy)
"A cleric of neutral alignment can either turn undead, but not rebuke them, or rebuke undead, but not turn them ... Even if a cleric is neutral, channelling positive energy is a good act and channelling negative energy is evil"

In addition, according to page 33 of the PHB ... "All lawful neutral clerics of Wee Jas (godess of death and magic) rebuke or command undead."

As a DM, my ruling on this has been, if you are a LN cleric of Wee Jas, you must channel negative energy to command or rebuke undead, and it is evil - sorry to players that try and make this otherwise. If you are any other alignment and follow Wee Jas, you need to make a choice (irreversible) at character creation wether you will channel positive or negative energy when dealing with undead, and be willing to accept and live with the consequence of that choice.

Similarly, for all alignments, as a neutral cleric, you need to decide wether you will spontaneously inflict or cure (though this choice does not make you good or evil - and nowhere in the books does it say so)

 

[AuraSeer]

If you are any other alignment and follow Wee Jas, you need to make a choice (irreversible) at character creation[...]

There's no choice to make. The only alignments that can follow Wee Jas are LG, LN, and LE. (A cleric cannot be true neutral unless they follow a TN deity.)

Evil clerics always channel negative energy. Good clerics always channel positive energy. LN clerics of Wee Jas have the special rule that they always channel negative energy. There is no "other alignment" to worry about.