Cleric of no deity and the War domain

[Spatzimaus]

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.

 

[garyh]

Spatzimus -

Assuming the domains are balanced, as they're intended to be, what's the harm in picking any two?

Also, I recall the 2E Complete Priests' Handbook describing clerics of forces or beliefs, rather than gods. If you strayed too far from the belief that grants your power, you lose your spells. Same as a diety.

"Sorry, Bob, the cosmic force of law escapes Brother Paitr this morning. Perhaps it is displeased with the way you helped Randolpho the Rogue escape the Town Guard yesterday."

 

[Camarath]

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.

You don't give your clerics very much church support do you?

 

[Legildur]

To answer the original question, the Defenders of the Faith splatbook has an extensive list of favoured weapons based on a number of character parameters aside from their Deity. IDHBIFOM now, but I recall that they had alignment specific favoured weapons.

 

[garyh]

To answer the original question...

Oh, yeah, the original question.

I don't see a problem with the cleric picking any martial weapon they want. Even if they take one that can help with neat tricks, like a flail, they still need to take the feats to do the neat tricks.

 

[Sejs]

There's actually precident for this - check out OA. Shaman get access to domains, one of which is War, and commune with spirits rather than worship gods.

The entry for the Shaman's War domain in OA just says pick one martial weapon.

 

[Knowledge Sinkhole]

There's actually precident for this - check out OA. Shaman get access to domains, one of which is War, and commune with spirits rather than worship gods.

The entry for the Shaman's War domain in OA just says pick one martial weapon.

Thanks! Official comments about this were exactly what I was hoping for.