Looking for additional info on St Cuthbert

[clark411]

More specifically, his clergy, dogma, etc. I own Deities and Demigods, but was curious if there are any modules, Dungeon/Dragon publications, or other WotC releases that go into greater detail in regards to the methods and practices of St. Cuthbert's priests and clerics.

If there are any tidbits that are odd, important to know, or well anything of help - please let me know. I'm kinda hoping my future cleric can evolve into more than a "I'm Judge Dread" or "I pray in the morning then thwack things." type- and all the pertinent background info I can get would help me.

As for a few additional questions-
1) St Cuthbert clerics are about retribution, justice, and the law... what is a good mechanic to reflect this in game terms? Taking X-Class knowledge (law) is very difficult for the 2+Int cleric class...

2) According to the PHB, St Cuthbert clerics cannot be evil. Can this be translated into an idea that they can channel negative energy (inflicts etc) without fear of it being an evil act (and thus moving closer to the evil end of the spectrum) or does it act more as a barring of the use of inflicts etc? In some respects this can be pure semantics but I can also see it being a matter of philosophical outlook- does impassionate justice, punishment etc. negate the evil of inflicts and harm etc, or does justice demand that the just not use negative energy in the name of Cuthbert?

Any interpretations of the dogma, and answers to the above would be great help. I'm looking forward to developing this character, and plan to yoink any nifty ideas I know this forum's residents are capable of coming up with! ^_^


oh- and happy holidays of course!

 

[shilsen]

1) The domain choices and abilities are good enough in-game benefits, IMO. The rest can just be role-played, depending on the individual character's outlook.

2) Casting Inflict spells or Harm is not an evil act. As long as a spell does not have [Evil] in the descriptor, casting it is not a problem for good clerics. Note also that both Inflict Light Wounds and Harm are on the Destruction domain spell list, which is a St. Cuthbert-granted domain.

 

[johnsemlak]

I did a search of 'cuthbert' at the Canonfire Greyhawk site and came up with several hits.

This link was the most relavent:
http://www.canonfire.com/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=32

There were several other articles mentioning cuthbert, you might go to www.canonfire.com yourseflf and search around.

I'm not sure if any discuss Cuthbert in detail, but look through the Oerth Journal e-zine (at canonfire) if you can.

hope that helps

 

[Felon]

2) According to the PHB, St Cuthbert clerics cannot be evil.

Does it? I'll have to check on that. According to the cleric rules, the cleric of a lawful neutral deity can be lawful good, neutral, or evil.

Can this be translated into an idea that they can channel negative energy (inflicts etc) without fear of it being an evil act (and thus moving closer to the evil end of the spectrum) or does it act more as a barring of the use of inflicts etc? In some respects this can be pure semantics but I can also see it being a matter of philosophical outlook- does impassionate justice, punishment etc. negate the evil of inflicts and harm etc, or does justice demand that the just not use negative energy in the name of Cuthbert?

Some DM's insist that using negative energy in the form of inflicts & Harm is an evil act. I don't get this attitude. How is this more evil and cruel than burning your foes to death with a Flamestrike, or using a Blade Barrier to julanne them?

 

[Carnifex]

Felon: You are right, that is the general rule, but in the case of St. Cuthbert it specifically states they may not be evil, so clerics of St.Cuthbert have a more restricted alignment selection than usual.

 

[clark411]

regarding channeling negatively equating to an evil act-

PHB pg 140. "Even if a cleric is neutral, channeling positive energy is a good act and channeling negative energy is evil."

This lies under the combat section for turning, however, it's interesting to note that the flavor text of the Cure and Inflict lines state that you also channel positive or negative energy (respectively) when you cast them... it's wierd, as it seems a neutral cleric's alignment can shift if he casts cures more often than inflicts... and when a neutral cleric opts to channel positively or negatively it's almost an inevitability that he ultimately become good if he opts for channeling positively or evil if he does so negatively. Not sure i like it as is.. *shrug* I definitely fall into the group of players who prefers my roleplayed actions dictate my alignment more than the wiggling of my fingers.


And thank you for the info regarding cuthbert.. I didn't even know there was a greyhawk website!

 

[DDK]

There were several other articles mentioning cuthbert, you might go to www.canonfire.com yourseflf and search around.

I'm not sure if any discuss Cuthbert in detail, but look through the Oerth Journal e-zine (at canonfire) if you can.

Dammit! Beat me to the plug...

And thank you for the info regarding cuthbert.. I didn't even know there was a greyhawk website!

And thusly chatdemon, Canonfire's resident site pimp, shall be justly punished... in the name of St. Cuthbert even!

Just as a side note, if you're playing in Greyhawk, St. Cuthbert, technically speaking is NOT the god of retribution and never has been. That job is solely left to Trithereon. Oh, and if you wanna get really narky, Heironeous' chosen weapon is a battle axe, not a long sword... though whoever heard of a paladin with a battle axe?

For other interesting tidbits of Greyhawk lore, and conflicting heretical views on everything from Lydian paladins to LAWFUL evil orcs, come to the chat tommorrow at #Greytalk on chat.psionics.net (the same server #dnd3e is on!).

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot what I was going to recommend. Whilst at Canonfire, d/l the Best of AOL PDF's. In them there are numerous pseudo-canon references to a lot of the gods of Oerth, including St. Cuthbert, which detail many aspects of the various faiths.

 

[Olive]

i would assume (tho i don't have it) that the livign greyhawk gazateer would have more info.

 

[grodog]

Hey Clark411---

Definitely check out CF! as others have mentioned. If you shoot me an email, I'll run through an index prepared for Jason Zavoda (of the WotC Greyhawk-l email lists), and send you the info after I'm back from Wichita for the holidays.

If you need the info more quickly, subscribe to the Greyhawk-l email list, and then ask Jason for the info: he's quite helpful and prompt, generally. For list subscription info, see http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=community/listinfo/register

 

[Glyfair]

Also, IIRC, there is a Yahoo group that focuses on St. Cuthbert in Living Greyhawk. I can't vouch for any of the content, as I was just browsing groups. It can't hurt to look into it, though.

Glyfair of Glamis