Could you play in a fantasy world without clerics

[Turanil]

It seems that priests who gain spells from the gods (and wear heavy armors) have become a scripture carved in marble, where most D&D/d20 settings are concerned.

Setting aside the problem of recovering hit-points and resurrecting the dead, would you be interested to play in a campaign world without spellcasting clerics and druids? A world where priests have no magical powers if they aren't wizards; a world without pantheons, and where one cannot know if the exisitng cults and religions are mere superstition, or just valid philosophies/spiritual concerns, or if indeed they worship deities that exist for real and created the world and its races, and need to be worhipped to gain their protection.

Do you already play in such settings? What do you think about it all?

 

[iwatt]

It seems that priests who gain spells from the gods (and wear heavy armors) have become a scripture carved in marble, where most D&D/d20 settings are concerned.

Setting aside the problem of recovering hit-points and resurrecting the dead, would you be interested to play in a campaign world without spellcasting clerics and druids? A world where priests have no magical powers if they aren't wizards; a world without pantheons, and where one cannot know if the exisitng cults and religions are mere superstition, or just valid philosophies/spiritual concerns, or if indeed they worship deities that exist for real and created the world and its races, and need to be worhipped to gain their protection.

Do you already play in such settings? What do you think about it all?

I would (and do) play in settings like you describe, usually when I'm playing Iron Heroes. Makes playing faithful characters more interesting when clerics aren't there to prove the existence of their gods.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

Yup. I ran a game in which clerics were not priests, but rather pact-makers with various supernatural spirits. They were also seen as heretics by the Church and thus persecuted with vigor.

 

[Firedancer]

Yep, I would play in such a setting. No reason not to. Well thought out setting would allow for the recovery of HP some other way (or encounters would be less frequent so not such an issue).

Never having confirmation of faith makes for a stronger faith. The lack of assurance might mean the promise of power from other sources (deal with the devil!) could be attractive.

 

[wolff96]

Iron Heroes or Arcana Unearthed/Evolved both work along this premise.

I've played in both and they are great solutions to the issue.

 

[GreatLemur]

I think I'd prefer a setting without divine magic, a lot of the time. Religion is a little more interesting when guys aren't slinging around miracles and contacting their deities directly on a regular basis. And, if there are going to be divinely-empowered characters, almost any system would make more sense than the 0-9th prepared spellcasting of the cleric.

 

[Henry]

I would, and have; in a world with low magic and healing magic in particular, it's just a matter of the DM setting a different tone, and the PCs sometimes taking a different tactic to get the job done. You need to engage the enemy smartly, not fighting every battle to overcome it. However, as noted,the DM must work to set a tone, too. He can't set up just a series of no-way-to-avoid battles, expecting the PCs to handle it like before.

 

[TerraDave]

Iron Heroes or Arcana Unearthed/Evolved both work along this premise.

I've played in both and they are great solutions to the issue.

And you can play 3.5 without deities or pantheons as a source of player power. The only change would be if you allow clerics to have free choice of their domains, or provide alternative groupings, and a few spells like commune.

I think the real truth of the matter is that in most campaings deities are not that important, except as sets of domains, or maybe high level antagonists.

 

[Woas]

I would and do run a game (Arcana Evolved) that is exactly as you purpose - religion figures can and are represented by all classes.

I, and the players in my game all love the set up. Plus it gives the players some leeway when role-playing their characters, since they can describe how/where their magic powers are recieved from themselves. That way religion and over-bearing pantheons of dieties of every concievable portfolio are not needed and the theme of religion can be as important or backburner as the game is needed.

 

[Voadam]

Yep. GURPS. My secret magician (The big church hunted wizards) was the party healer.

Yep. Vampire the Masquerade. Churchmen burned us and did miracles. Vamps healed themselves through blood and time.