Spatzimaus
First Post
In response to the original question, I'd say follow the Spiritual Weapon list too. Don't just let the player pick whatever weapon they want. That'd be too unbalanced;
That being said, we don't allow deityless Clerics IMC either. Abstract concepts only give magical power when you're talking about arcane magic; divine magic is DIVINE, meaning it's given by a deity.
The classic way to handle divine magic is the "direct line". You're a Cleric of Pelor. You wake up, pray to Pelor, and he grants you whatever powers you need. You pick two domains related to his specialties, but you only have maybe 5 to choose from. If you do something that Pelor doesn't like, he stops giving you spells.
Contrast that to the "deityless" system that rule allows for. You don't have to follow a specific code of conduct, since you don't have a deity whose approval you need to maintain. You can pretty much pick any two domains you want, no matter how disconnected they seem. (Side note: who exactly is answering your Communes, anyway?)
How can those be balanced? In 3E, it just seems that having a specific deity is a drawback in every way, without any actual benefits. As if Clerics needed ANOTHER boost in power...
If you want to be a deityless caster, try playing an arcane type and claiming to be a "priest". It works just fine, especially if you can convince your DM to let you make a Sorcerer variant that picks known spells of the Cleric list instead. Or, play a Druid; it seems a bit less tied to a specific god.
That being said, we don't allow deityless Clerics IMC either. Abstract concepts only give magical power when you're talking about arcane magic; divine magic is DIVINE, meaning it's given by a deity.
The classic way to handle divine magic is the "direct line". You're a Cleric of Pelor. You wake up, pray to Pelor, and he grants you whatever powers you need. You pick two domains related to his specialties, but you only have maybe 5 to choose from. If you do something that Pelor doesn't like, he stops giving you spells.
Contrast that to the "deityless" system that rule allows for. You don't have to follow a specific code of conduct, since you don't have a deity whose approval you need to maintain. You can pretty much pick any two domains you want, no matter how disconnected they seem. (Side note: who exactly is answering your Communes, anyway?)
How can those be balanced? In 3E, it just seems that having a specific deity is a drawback in every way, without any actual benefits. As if Clerics needed ANOTHER boost in power...
If you want to be a deityless caster, try playing an arcane type and claiming to be a "priest". It works just fine, especially if you can convince your DM to let you make a Sorcerer variant that picks known spells of the Cleric list instead. Or, play a Druid; it seems a bit less tied to a specific god.