Clergyman - NPC class. What do you think?

[SemperJase]

I'm thinking of making greater use of an NPC Clergyman class. It flows from my view of magic in the fantasy world.

All magic is uncommon even thouh it may not seem so to PCs as they generally encounter those who do have magical talents. Still, few have the gift of magic. Divine magic is specifically reserved for those who have been given special attention from their god. An extension of this gift and attention is that clerics do not multi-class (with the exception of prestige clerical classes). There may be people who are muti-classes (e.g. fighter/cleric) but these are people who picked up other classes before they started down the clerical road. After they start cleric, they do not advance in other classes because of their necessary devotion to their god. If they do multi-class, they lose their clerical abilities (until atoned).

Now clerical magic is uncommon, but churches (especially large ones) still have a need for church leaders to help in more mundane ways - such as leading services, maintaining temples, and spreading the tenants of the faith. People do this because it is the teachings of the church that improves life, not the magic. Charity improves lives in itself (according to some churches), not the fact that a cleric somewhere can create water.

Therefore, a Clergy (NPC) class has developed. These are church leaders who do not necessarily wield divine magic. Now those with minor gifts may rise more quickly or to higher positions in recognition of the favor of their deity. For example an NPC 2nd level Cleric may also a 12th level clergyman - a very high position in the church.

Class skills for the clergy class would be slots such as Knowledge (religion), Diplomacy, Healing and maybe something like Bureaucracy.

Thoughts? What does this do for game balance?

 

[SemperJase]

What this means to PCs

There is an affect on PCs.

Magical healing at temples becomes more difficult to come by. Since local temples may be run by clergy with no levels in cleric, magical healing may be entirely unavailable, even for followers of that faith. Of course, those healing faiths would provide what room, comfort and mundane healing arts they have at their disposal. But the drive-thru healing temple is not a sure thing.

 

[SemperJase]

Ramifications in the world

OK, so now I'm really thinking of new ideas.

How about this for a dilemna. The local cleric 1/clergyman 5 hears about a town farmer and father of five who was run over by a cart. He is dying and summoned by the neighbors. On his way to the farm, the clergyman is overtaken by a guard for the local Baron. The guard tells the cleric that the Baron's son has fallen and broken his arm. The Baron demands he immediately go to the keep to heal his son.

The Cleric has only one healing spell (due to his wisdom score). What does he do?

 

[Snoweel]

It depends entirely on the deity.

I mean, any deity worth its salt will have a body of doctrine telling a clergyman what to do in such a situation, or at least giving a list of priorities, and it is up to the DM to tell the player what that doctrine says (perhaps after a successful Knowledge(Religion) check).

I guess a Lawful deity, or a deity of nobility will favour the baron's son, while nearly any other deity will be "no respecter of persons" and go with the healer's first target.

 

[Mark]

You might find this useful...

Culture Class - County Clergy (An NPC Class)

It limits the magic of the NPC and adjusts the skills-set to better reflect a member of the Clergy. It may be something you'll adopt as is, or perhaps just use as a starting point for your own trimmed-down, non-magical version.

Hope that helps!

 

[LostSoul]

Re: Ramifications in the world

How about this for a dilemna.

He goes to help the Baron's son. If he doesn't, the Baron is likely to cause more harm.

Of course, this depends on a lot of things.

 

[LostSoul]

My first thoughts about a Clergy NPC class - could you just use the Expert?

 

[Mark]

My first thoughts about a Clergy NPC class - could you just use the Expert?

The one in my link above uses a blend of the Adept and the Expert classes. The feeling was that the Adept may work well in a Shamanistic role, but didn't capture the higher-learning aspects of being part of the ecclesiastic elite. By building it from other NPC classes, I think it maintains a balance that building it completely from scratch might find difficult. If someone were to take it and remove the spell casting aspects, they might just wish to use the expert, or perhaps add some feats that pertain to rituals and how they effect local population (similar to a Bard song.)

 

[CCamfield]

Well, I like the idea of NPC non-spellcasting clergy, but that's because it fits in with my game world concepts. (The gods have gone away/asleep/frozen in time/etc; real clerics are few & far between and seen as "miracle workers") However, for such characters, I suspect you could just use Experts and pick appropriate skills. What do you think?

 

[SemperJase]

Culture Class - County Clergy (An NPC Class)

Thanks Mark. I guess you have been there and done that. Pretty cool.

As for mine being an expert, pretty much true. I'm not really trying to make a new class as much as apply a different feel to the game world. In most adventures I've seen, clerics are running the temple. I just thought it would be a good change to make being a cleric more significant. Not just anyone can wield divine magic. It seems in most fantasy game worlds, can just pray and get spells. "OK", I'm a cleric now."