Cleric's Alignment...

[Shadeus]

From the SRD:

Alignment: Any. If the Cleric serves a specific deity the cleric's alignment must be within one step of his deity's, and it may not be neutral unless the deity's alignment is neutral.

So I'm wondering if a cleric to a neutral-evil god can be true neutral in alignment. The last half of the alignment sentence is vague to me. Do they mean they cannot be neutral unless the deity is true neutral?

So a cleric to a CN or LN deity couldn't be true neutral then?

Or do they mean that some part of their alignment must be neutral? So if they are NG, NE, LN, CN, or N, your cleric can be neutral in alignment?

My dwarf paladin is stuck adventuring with this True Neutral cleric to an evil god. If he doesn't this whole town will get ripped apart by vampires. I was curious if that was even possible or if the DM made a mistake.

 

[CRGreathouse]

A cleric's alignment cannot be "N" unless the cleric's deity's alignment is "N". If the deity is LG, the cleric can be LG, NG, or LN. If the deity is LN the cleric can be LN, LG, or LE. If the deity is N the cleric can be N, NG, LN, CN, or NE.

"I was curious if that was even possible or if the DM made a mistake."

The DM made a mistake or a house rule.

 

[hong]

A cleric's alignment cannot be "N" unless the cleric's deity's alignment is "N".

I'm still a bit mystified why they bothered to keep that rule. It's the last remnant of the 1E rule that clerics couldn't be TN, while druids could only be TN. Did the playtesters raise a big hue and cry about TN clerics or something?

 

[Christian]

Presumably the sentence in the PH is using the word 'neutral' the same way both times in the last phrase. If this is the case, then if it means 'being of one of the five partially neutral alignments', then a cleric of a corner alignment can only be of that exact alignment. (A cleric of a LG deity would have to be LG, since the 'one step' away alignments, LN and NG, are 'neutral' in this sense, and he can't be neutral unless his deity is neutral.) This is clearly not the case; therefore, the word 'neutral' in the rule means 'True Neutral'. Q.E.D., via the reductio ad absurdum method.

It makes a lot more sense to allow (eg.) Lawful Neutral followers of a Lawful Evil deity, and not Neutral followers of a Neutral Evil deity, than the other way around. Any consistent interpretation of the rule given has to work one way or another-your DM's interpretation logically excludes the former in order to allow the latter ... Of course, it's his world, so there you go-maybe he doesn't want to allow the LN clerics of LE or LG deities. Or maybe he's house-ruling a less restrictive alignment limitation. But more likely, he is just making a mistake ...

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

I'm still a bit mystified why they bothered to keep that rule. It's the last remnant of the 1E rule that clerics couldn't be TN, while druids could only be TN. Did the playtesters raise a big hue and cry about TN clerics or something?

It makes sense if you consider that neutral is a ''power'' alignment for a cleric. If I'm not mistaken, they can cast all spell with an alignment descriptor without being affected by any.

 

[Shadeus]

Ah, ok. It all makes sense to me and that's the way I read it too. Just wanted another opinion before I confront my DM, who seems to enjoy giving me ethical dilemmas.

Thanks again.

 

[CRGreathouse]

It makes sense if you consider that neutral is a ''power'' alignment for a cleric. If I'm not mistaken, they can cast all spell with an alignment descriptor without being affected by any.

More importantly, as far as I'm concerned:

A cleric of a NG deity under the current rules *must* be good. A cleric of a LN deity under the current rules *must* be lawful. (Etc.)

This keeps them in touch with the philosophical aims of their deities - they have to have some portion of their deity's alignment.

 

[Li Shenron]

from CRGreathouse:

A cleric of a NG deity under the current rules *must* be good. A cleric of a LN deity under the current rules
*must* be lawful. (Etc.)

This keeps them in touch with the philosophical aims of their deities - they have to have some portion of their
deity's alignment.

Exactly! If the deity is aligned (G, E, L or C), the Cleric must have the same alignment; if the deity has 2 alignment, at least one is required by her clerics; if the deity is True Neutral, the Cleric has to keep at least some kind of neutrality.