Changing Divine classes.

[Leatherhead]

I've often said that the priest/cleric in D&D is more of a kludge used to patch the system than a proper class in itself. From it's start as a vampire slayer (because there was a vampire problem), to it's infamy as a heal-bot (because natural healing took too long, and most other classes were totally barred from healing at all), to their significant flavor/lore overlap with other classes in 5e. It seems like the concept is more ready to be pruned than any other class.

Of all the D&D editions to tackle them, the best (imo) are 2nd edition, where the priest category classes are all radically different (The Druid and Monk are priests in that system). And 4e, where the Divine Power Source is quartered up into the 4 basic roles: Defender Paladin, Controller Invoker, Leader Cleric and Runepriest, and Striker Avenger. Furthermore, any character has the option to swap some of their powers out for some divine powers if it suits them.

 

[Hobbit4Hire$]

I've often said that the priest/cleric in D&D is more of a kludge used to patch the system than a proper class in itself. From it's start as a vampire slayer (because there was a vampire problem), to it's infamy as a heal-bot (because natural healing took too long, and most other classes were totally barred from healing at all), to their significant flavor/lore overlap with other classes in 5e. It seems like the concept is more ready to be pruned than any other class.

Of all the D&D editions to tackle them, the best (imo) are 2nd edition, where the priest category classes are all radically different (The Druid and Monk are priests in that system). And 4e, where the Divine Power Source is quartered up into the 4 basic roles: Defender Paladin, Controller
Invoker, Leader Cleric and Runepriest, and Striker Avenger. Furthermore, and any character has the option to swap some of their powers out for some divine powers if it suits them.

Right.
When it comes to the role of healer, I have always found the "White Mage" class from Final Fantasy to just make more sense internally speaking. If "magic" is just another branch of physics or science, and the "magic-user" is just an applied scientist or engineer, then having someone specialize in "healing magic" seems logical to me.

The one thing that I think the cleric class adds to any campaign setting is that the cleric is intrinsically tied to notions of religion and the divine. The cleric is explicitly supposed to be an emissary for some greater power. That was why I came up with my two replacement classes.

The "chaplain" covers an actual mercenary/adventurer that has genuine faith and adherence to a school of thought that is relevant to his vocation.

The "proxy" prestige class is meant to represent the more empirically verifiable "little-g-gods" found in typical fantasy and comic-books, as well as proxy-agents of some state actor found in contemporary proxy wars.

The "thaumaturge" or "factotum" class mentioned earlier fulfills the niche that Van Helsing occupies, the expert on Esoterica that can provide the unique protections or vulnerabilities against enemies.

Nix, Dayne Edward. 2021. Moral Injury and a First World War Chaplain: The Life of G.A. Studdert Kennedy. Lanhamn, MD: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This is hilarious! This is what it takes now? If you create a house-rule you need to write an story about it with footnotes and sht? THIS is what people are doing

Dude if you don't have the imagination to understand divine-casters, just use that "I'm An Atheist Cleric" class that's been around for decades lol I can't believe you added footnotes though like En World is some kind of scholarly journal. Really?

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