Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Playing non-healer clerics
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ECMO3" data-source="post: 8910983" data-attributes="member: 7030563"><p>Because I am building and playing my character. This is player agency.</p><p></p><p>It is not up to the party what I play or how I play (with the exception of session 0 exclusions and such).</p><p></p><p>Why play a combat cleric instead of a Paladin? Becuase I don't want to fight by attacking with weapons. I want to use control spells and cantrips for that, or maybe I don't want to use weapons at all. I played a Dwarf Order Cleric with a 2-level Wizard dip and an 8 strength and 8 dex in plate. She was a tankish control caster, completed all of Call of Netherdeep without using a weapon a single time. Another cleric I played was a V Human tempest cleric who picked up booming blade, shocking grasp and Hex from Magic initiate. I wanted to be doing the holy warrior thing with thunder and lightning, not by banging with a sword.</p><p></p><p>I am playing a Paladin right now, but that character is more of a controler than a martial. She maxed Charisma at 8th level and almost never uses divine smite. She throws around frightened a lot either through cause fear (from Shadow Touched), Wrathful Smite or the Fear spell (from Conquest Paladin). She also uses command and hold person a lot. She does attack (usually from 10 feet away with a lance or whip), but that is not her main thing, her main thing is control. Both of the Clerics above were more front-line type tanky characters than she is, and to be honest with Lay on Hands she is more of a healer than they were.</p><p></p><p>There is nothing wrong with that.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Because it is ME playing that and that is how I want to play that character.</p><p></p><p>To be honest when I want to play a character who is going to melee tank every single fight, I will usually play a Wizard. Bladesinger subclass, Blade cantrips, Protection from Evil and Good, Haste, Blur and use my high level slots for contingency and upcast false life. I will use very few offensive spells, when I do that. If you think we need a Wizard to throw around control spells or fireballs then you can play one.</p><p></p><p>That is how I like to melee, why should I be foreced into a Fighter, Barbarian or Paladin box to play a melee tank who wades into the thick of melee when the Wizard mechanics are more fun to me when playing that type of character?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Player agency, that is why.</p><p></p><p>I should be allowed to play a character like I want to play a character and I should not be forced into a role because of my class. My character should not have a specific job just because of what is written on the top of my character sheet.</p><p></p><p>I also disagree with the idea that every class is everything. It is very hard to make a good melee sorcerer (I know I have tried to figure out how to do it and I can't) and it is also hard to make an effective dex-based Barbarian or a Barbarian that casts spells (even if you get them through race and feats, it is difficult to be effective using them).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ECMO3, post: 8910983, member: 7030563"] Because I am building and playing my character. This is player agency. It is not up to the party what I play or how I play (with the exception of session 0 exclusions and such). Why play a combat cleric instead of a Paladin? Becuase I don't want to fight by attacking with weapons. I want to use control spells and cantrips for that, or maybe I don't want to use weapons at all. I played a Dwarf Order Cleric with a 2-level Wizard dip and an 8 strength and 8 dex in plate. She was a tankish control caster, completed all of Call of Netherdeep without using a weapon a single time. Another cleric I played was a V Human tempest cleric who picked up booming blade, shocking grasp and Hex from Magic initiate. I wanted to be doing the holy warrior thing with thunder and lightning, not by banging with a sword. I am playing a Paladin right now, but that character is more of a controler than a martial. She maxed Charisma at 8th level and almost never uses divine smite. She throws around frightened a lot either through cause fear (from Shadow Touched), Wrathful Smite or the Fear spell (from Conquest Paladin). She also uses command and hold person a lot. She does attack (usually from 10 feet away with a lance or whip), but that is not her main thing, her main thing is control. Both of the Clerics above were more front-line type tanky characters than she is, and to be honest with Lay on Hands she is more of a healer than they were. There is nothing wrong with that. Because it is ME playing that and that is how I want to play that character. To be honest when I want to play a character who is going to melee tank every single fight, I will usually play a Wizard. Bladesinger subclass, Blade cantrips, Protection from Evil and Good, Haste, Blur and use my high level slots for contingency and upcast false life. I will use very few offensive spells, when I do that. If you think we need a Wizard to throw around control spells or fireballs then you can play one. That is how I like to melee, why should I be foreced into a Fighter, Barbarian or Paladin box to play a melee tank who wades into the thick of melee when the Wizard mechanics are more fun to me when playing that type of character? Player agency, that is why. I should be allowed to play a character like I want to play a character and I should not be forced into a role because of my class. My character should not have a specific job just because of what is written on the top of my character sheet. I also disagree with the idea that every class is everything. It is very hard to make a good melee sorcerer (I know I have tried to figure out how to do it and I can't) and it is also hard to make an effective dex-based Barbarian or a Barbarian that casts spells (even if you get them through race and feats, it is difficult to be effective using them). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Playing non-healer clerics
Top