cleric switching god

[briand97]

I have a player who is currently running a cleric of lathander (F realms setting). Most of his party was slain by kobolds; he and one other member of the party were held hostage and tortured / beaten for several months until another paty rescued them.

He feels that Lathander turned his back on him and that a strong god would never allow this to have happenned. Now he wants to become a cleric of Tyr - the god of retribution and justice. I think the story fits but have a difficult time beleiving that the church of lathander would hold no ill will towards him vise versa... and that it would be as easy as saying Lathander sucks and I follow tyr now.

What do you think. What would be an appropriate hoop to jump through to do this. Currently I'm toying with making him adventure without his clerical abilities and take a level in fighter - then a quest for the church of Tyr.

ideas welcome

 

[Sithobi1]

An Atonement, maybe?

 

[briand97]

forgot to mention

low level - 3rd. So atonement spell would be tough. but thanks for the advice

 

[Jdvn1]

Get someone else to cast Atonement. Or go on a quest for a scroll. Or go on a quest to prove his devotion to his new god.

 

[moritheil]

I have a player who is currently running a cleric of lathander (F realms setting). Most of his party was slain by kobolds; he and one other member of the party were held hostage and tortured / beaten for several months until another paty rescued them.

He feels that Lathander turned his back on him and that a strong god would never allow this to have happenned. Now he wants to become a cleric of Tyr - the god of retribution and justice. I think the story fits but have a difficult time beleiving that the church of lathander would hold no ill will towards him vise versa... and that it would be as easy as saying Lathander sucks and I follow tyr now.

What do you think. What would be an appropriate hoop to jump through to do this. Currently I'm toying with making him adventure without his clerical abilities and take a level in fighter - then a quest for the church of Tyr.

ideas welcome

Obviously the Lathanderite clergy will not take kindly to "I left because Lathander is a wuss." Plot hooks galore. I would consider that a good thing for the DM.

I would have the people of Tyr be skeptical. After all, he just abandoned one deity because he saw fit to. That won't hold well with the LG, obligation-obsessed members of the Tyr church. He'll have to:

1) argue that Lathander breached the existing contract before he himself did.
2) indicate his willingness to be on probation for a while.
3) undertake a quest to prove himself to Tyr, without any clerical powers in the meantime (he is effectively an ex-cleric).
4) get an atonement from a high priest of Tyr after 1-3.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Under no circumstances should you force your player to take a level of fighter, however.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

As far as I know, Lathander is a good and loving god. I'd say he wouldn't do anything to the PC for leaving the faith. Good gods aren't into that sort of thing. The god might very well be sad to see the PC leave the flock of the faithful, but that's about it. As far as the clergy is concerned, sure, you might see some anger and resentment toward the PC coming from them. But even so, remember that these are good clerics. So they should probably, for the most part, hold any negative feelings about the PC in check.

Now, the Church of Tyr, of course, is going to be skeptical about this guy. He has, as you rightfully pointed out, abandoned his previous faith, blaming his god for his friends' deaths, rather than praising his god for saving him. My thought is that they'd send him on a series of pilgrimages (1-3, depending on how long you want this side-quest to last,) to Tyrish holy sites. Perhaps he's to pray at each holy site, opening his heart and soul to Tyr for judgment. And, of course, clearing away the evil that's overrun each site.

Under no circumstances should you force your player to take a level of fighter, however.

This comment bears repeating. After you've repeated it, repeat it again. Forcing your player to take a level of fighter is a bad idea. It'd make a player like me reconsider participating in your game.

Instead, remember that technically, clerics don't have to belong to a church at all. They can merely channel unspecified divine energy. So while he's in transition, simply consider him a cleric of whatever Lathander's alignment is, until he fulfills his quest and is accepted into Tyr's faithful.

 

[mhd]

Erm, if I'm not completely mistaken, in the Forgotten Realms cleric _have_ to pledge allegiance to a god. No wishywashy "principled" clerics...

A cleric should be able to get by without spellcasting for a while, especially when the group accomodates him. So while he's on the quest to become a faithful of Tyr, he'll just have to make do withit spells, but everything else proceeds along the normal guide lines for clerics. It depends on your campaign and players whether a digression into a non-cleric class would be worthwile. Pure spell-casting progression seems to be some kind of holy cow, especially in high-powered campaigns. If the character woulde be really out for vengeance, this would be one of the rare occassions where multi-classing into barbarion could fit

Then again, if the character is out for vengeance, is "Tyr the even-handed" really the way to go? He ain't no St. Cuthbert... For vigilante "justice" maybe someone less lawful. And maybe even less good... Wasn't Hoar the god of doom or something like that?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Wasn't Hoar the god of doom or something like that?

Was and still is. Hoar, the Doombringer, God of poetical Justice. His priests are prone to utter the sort of dry humour action movie heroes are known and loved for.

If you cannot find the spells, seek some monster that drains your intelligence. It can make you into a perfect follower of Tyr.

 

[mhd]

Ah, don't be so mean. Tyr is such a nice guy, he would give his right hand to help you.

(That said, I always stumbled over the god of "poetical justice"? Doesn't that clash with straight, doom-ish vengeance?)