D&D 5E Can Bard cast Word of Recall?

[Cap'n Kobold]

Arguably being able to observe the direct actions of deities makes them far more open to criticism.

"I don't follow any God, they're all jerks!"

Blood of Vol then.

Although its worth noting that in terms of language, the PHB uses "god" and "deity" pretty interchangeably to mean "religion or philosophy that your character follows" rather than an actual entity. I.e. the Blood of Vol is a philosophy, but is still considered a "deity" in those terms.

So a Cleric of "War" is still considered to have a deity even though her beliefs are secular. She could prepare any area strongly associated with war, such as an armoury, strategy room, barracks or sparring area as her sanctuary.

Unless, of course, you're playing in a D&D world where physical proof of their existence is lacking. Like, say, Eberron.

Pretty much everyone in Eberron believes that there are gods though. There might be no proof for the Sovereign Host, or they might be viewed with disfavour, but their existence isn't generally a matter for debate. If nothing else, there is a great gout of silver flame continually burning in Flamekeep as a physical reminder of divine forces at work.

 

[JackOfAllTirades]

The OP didn't specify anything about their setting, so the presumption that everyone has a patron deity in their campaign isn't a safe one.

In fact, the very act of asking the question implies that it is entirely possible for a bard to not have a deity in the OP's game (or else it wouldn't even be a question).

Generally speaking, points that boil down to "If you were playing D&D RIGHT (in a way that isn't laughable), this wouldn't be a problem!" run into a problem with D&D's diversity - there's no one way to play this game right.

And that's really my point. What's your advise on this situation for games that don't share your assumptions about what is a laughable concept in D&D, as the OP's appears to be?

It's not about "playing D&D right." It's about the core assumptions in the basic rules: one of the basic classes -the Cleric- is granted potent spells by their deity on a daily basis which anyone and everyone can witness them using. So yes, it's a default assumption of D&D that there are gods, and that it's obvious to everyone in the "default setting" that they exist. Given that, it would be bloody stupid for anyone not to worship at least one of them. Including Bards, who are supposed to be quite savvy about the lore of any given setting, given their background. That's another "default assumption" about Bards, in case you didn't know.

And since you seem to have forgotten, in his first post, the OP gave us no details at all about his setting. Do I have to quote his question yet again? Is this a short-term memory problem or a reading comprehension problem? Never mind, it's not my problem....

 

[JackOfAllTirades]

Arguably being able to observe the direct actions of deities makes them far more open to criticism.

"I don't follow any God, they're all jerks!"

That may very well be the most succinct summary of Greek Mythology ever written.

 

[S'mon]

double post

 

[S'mon]

Are there, though? We see these so-called priests casting spells, but where are they really getting their power from? They say gods, but I've never seen one. Maybe they're all just wizards in funny hats.

For real, though, you're right, the default assumption is that there are gods running around the outer planes.

In my Wilderlands campaign there are Clerics, but it's an open question whether gods 'really' exist. According to the Wilderlands official backstory, the gods are likely the product of sentient-creature belief interacting with Magicum deposits and the thought-matrix of the Gaea, a world-spanning crystalline entity.

 

[TwoSix]

Although its worth noting that in terms of language, the PHB uses "god" and "deity" pretty interchangeably to mean "religion or philosophy that your character follows" rather than an actual entity. I.e. the Blood of Vol is a philosophy, but is still considered a "deity" in those terms.

So a Cleric of "War" is still considered to have a deity even though her beliefs are secular. She could prepare any area strongly associated with war, such as an armoury, strategy room, barracks or sparring area as her sanctuary.

In game terms, sure, you could consider a personal philosophy a deity, and then say everyone has one. That's fair. But it's a much longer step to Mr. Tirades contention that it's laughable to not have a deity because deities are always out there in the street fussing and fighting. The PHB asserts that there are gods, but is pretty tight-lipped on the nature of their presence in the campaign.

 

[Rod Staffwand]

The point of the sanctuary restriction is to limit the versatility of the spell. You can't use it to return to your base camp at the dungeon's entrance or get back to the drow city deep in the Underdark. You can only use it to get back to a true sanctuary. As long as the player and DM agree on what those should be for the character, you'll be fine.

The DMG covers non-deity derived divine powers under the Forces and Philosophies section of pantheons in the world-building chapter. It discusses how PCs might gain such powers from their ideals and convictions rather than an external power. So, according to the DMG, deity doesn't always have to mean god. You can substitute 'justice' or 'beauty' or 'ancestral spirits' if you want. While the focus is on figuring out a role for gods and religions in a game world, a DM can certainly choose to extend the concept to a specific non-theistic bard looking to crib word of recall.

 

[JackOfAllTirades]

In game terms, sure, you could consider a personal philosophy a deity, and then say everyone has one. That's fair. But it's a much longer step to Mr. Tirades contention that it's laughable to not have a deity because deities are always out there in the street fussing and fighting. The PHB asserts that there are gods, but is pretty tight-lipped on the nature of their presence in the campaign.

With regards to direct physical presence, yes. The PCs are the focus of the game, so having deities directly involved in the world and mucking about would be kind of a buzzkill. Inasmuch as deities not only grant their priests/clerics the ability to work miracles (look, instant healing!) on daily basis, but demand it in some cases, (Pelor v. undead, anyone?) the PHB is quite clear on the presence of deities in the campaign. They act through their Clerics or other divine agents (Druids, Paladins, etc.) every single day.

And we haven't even mentioned the Cleric's Divine Intervention class feature yet. All those Clerics calling for Divine Intervention up to once a week, and succeeding at least once a week (upwards of 5 times a year per Cleric) equals a LOT of divine presence in the world....

 

[TwoSix]

And we haven't even mentioned the Cleric's Divine Intervention class feature yet. All those Clerics calling for Divine Intervention up to once a week, and succeeding at least once a week (upwards of 5 times a year per Cleric) equals a LOT of divine presence in the world....

That PC classes are even represented in the world outside of the PCs is yet another assumption of playstyle.

 

[TwoSix]

The point of the sanctuary restriction is to limit the versatility of the spell. You can't use it to return to your base camp at the dungeon's entrance or get back to the drow city deep in the Underdark. You can only use it to get back to a true sanctuary. As long as the player and DM agree on what those should be for the character, you'll be fine.

The DMG covers non-deity derived divine powers under the Forces and Philosophies section of pantheons in the world-building chapter. It discusses how PCs might gain such powers from their ideals and convictions rather than an external power. So, according to the DMG, deity doesn't always have to mean god. You can substitute 'justice' or 'beauty' or 'ancestral spirits' if you want. While the focus is on figuring out a role for gods and religions in a game world, a DM can certainly choose to extend the concept to a specific non-theistic bard looking to crib word of recall.

All this. That's /thread for me.