D&D General If faith in yourself is enough to get power, do we need Wizards and Warlocks etc?

[Minigiant]

You don't have to be any more fanatical about a philosophy than you do about a religion. The philosophy just needs tenets. Think Buddhism.

No you do because you are creating magic.

Again if everyone isn't casting spell via their own beliefs then the burden of belief or strength of adherence is high than of even normal channels

I mean, it seems like people are cheapening how hard it is to get divine magic.

 

[Maxperson]

No you do because you are creating magic.

No, you aren't. You are drawing from the power of belief. Let's say I want to play a Cleric of Strawberries. Well, millions and millions of people believe in Strawberries. It's hard not to when they are so delicious and you can see them, so there is a lot latent belief based power floating around untapped. That untapped belief power is what gives the cleric his spells.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And they want to re-roll when they roll doubles three times in a row when they go to jail. And they want the person whose piece lands on them to go home in Sorry. And...

Why play a game if you aren't going to follow the rules? A rule of clerics is follow your god's tenets or the god gets royally irked. And why would that god then keep granting you power?

This is why I was never able to get behind 4e's narrative here. It was so obviously designed to allow players to have their super powers with no obligations.

 

[Voadam]

if that is your only concern, yes, that can be avoided. In multiple ways even, do not play a Cleric or Paladin, or refluff the restriction away by reskinning eg the Paladin as a Viking warrior, as someone else did upthread.

It wasn't someone else.

 

[Bedrockgames]

No, you aren't. You are drawing from the power of belief. Let's say I want to play a Cleric of Strawberries. Well, millions and millions of people believe in Strawberries. It's hard not to when they are so delicious and you can see them, so there is a lot latent belief based power floating around untapped. That untapped belief power is what gives the cleric his spells.

I think the issue is this feels awfully light as explanations go for powers. It is the kind of thing people will criticize shows and movies for doing. It can be done well but it feels like just the belief itself as the source of power is a bit of a thin explanation

 

[Maxperson]

I think the issue is this feels awfully light as explanations go for powers. It is the kind of thing people will criticize shows and movies for doing. It can be done well but it feels like just the belief itself as the source of power is a bit of a thin explanation

The power of belief in D&D has been a staple for decades.

 

[Minigiant]

No, you aren't. You are drawing from the power of belief. Let's say I want to play a Cleric of Strawberries. Well, millions and millions of people believe in Strawberries. It's hard not to when they are so delicious and you can see them, so there is a lot latent belief based power floating around untapped. That untapped belief power is what gives the cleric his spells.

So a strawberry farmer who love their fruit cast goodberry? No. Because it's not easy to draw on the power of belief. Harder that becoming a godded cleric.

Cleric of Philosophy is player inclusivity option. One where the community doesn't force you to roleplay lore accurate.

It's like a warlock who never interacted every with their patron. Technically you can do it but canonically it would be rare or hard to manage.

 

[Vaalingrade]

So a strawberry farmer who love their fruit cast goodberry? No. Because it's not easy to draw on the power of belief. Harder that becoming a godded cleric.

Won't work anyway, since strawberries aren't actual berries.

 

[Minigiant]

The power of belief in D&D has been a staple for decades.

And people have been roleplaying it weak for decades as well.

But there is no such thing as "role-playing poorly".

 

[Vaalingrade]

No one has ever gone completely against their professed beliefs either on purpose or through years of cognitive dissonance. Playing a character like that is bad roleplaying and makes no sense.