Clerics & Favored Weapons

[Galfridus]

If a deity's favored weapon is a martial weapon, do clerics of that deity automatically get a weapon proficiency in that weapon? I can't find a rule saying that do (or don't, for that matter), but it seems like the kind of rule that could be hidden away somewhere.

 

[Mark]

Yes, both MWP feat and Weapon Focus feat, for that weapon (for free).

(...but you must have "War" as one of your domains.)

PHB pg 31

"Some Dieties have favored weapons..."

 

[Galfridus]

I got that part, but the deity in question is Ehlonna...no War domain available. In that case (or if the cleric chooses not to take War), do you get anything, or are you prevented from using the deity's favored weapon effectively without taking a feat?

 

[Uller]

If war is not one of your domains, then no, you do not automatically have proficiency with the diety's favored weapon. From a RP perspective, if the cleric is not particuarly concerned with the god's fighting abilities(as in...doesn't choose the war domaing) or the god isn't particularly concerned with its own warrior abilities(as in, it doesn't offer a war domain), then it wouldn't matter that much to the cleric what weapon the diety uses. At least that's how I see it....

 

[Jairami]

In that case, you'll have to take the feat. But, it might behoove you more to simply take a level in fighter or ranger. You'll get the feat, a boost in BAB to help you handle that weapon, possibly gain a feat with the fighter level (or a couple fixed feats for the ranger level), etc. At least, that worked out very well for me.

 

[Galfridus]

OK, that's what I thought. I'm the DM approving a character and didn't want to unfairly deny them the weapon. The rule makes sense, but I could have seen it going either way.

Jairami, I agree about taking a level of fighter, except that I think this character is much more concerned with spellcasting, so it wouldn't be worth it in this case. I could be wrong though...

 

[Mark]

I suppose you might even allow them to take the War domain but not benefit by getting spells per level for that domain since it isn't a domain of Ehlonna. It's not necessarily a good trade off in the long run, to give up those extra spells for the immediacy of the feats, but the War domain doesn't really go against anything in the worship of Ehlonna and I don't recall seeing a rule specifically against this (I.E. the aligment domain rules are pretty clear). *shrug*