Slightly confused on clerical alignment

[Alzrius]

This is from the beginning of the Cleric entry in the SRD: Alignment: Any. If the Cleric serves a specific deity the cleric's alignment must be within one step of his deity's, and it may not be neutral unless the deity's alignment is neutral.

Now, I'm slightly confused as to the wording here. So, a cleric cannot be neutral (by which I think they mean True Neutral), unless their god is True Neutral also? But I though I'd seen N clerics of LN or NG deities before.

Or do they mean neutral as it comes up in either alignment axis?

Please provide examples in answers. If I wanted to play a N cleric, could I only worship N deities, or what?

 

[Bauglir]

LG LN LE
NG NN NE
CG CN CE

You can only go 1 alignment step on that grid (no diagonals).

So a Neutral cleric could worship a NG, LN, CN, NE or Neutral God.

 

[Alzrius]

So the whole may not be neutral unless the deity's alignment is neutral bit is just their way of saying "the one step alignment difference may not include diagonals"? That makes sense, though they completely butchered what they were trying to say.

Thanks for helping me with that. That's how I thought things worked, the crappy wording just confused me. Saying it as may not be neutral unless the deity's alignment is neutral could be interpreted to mean that a LN cleric ("may not be neutral") can't worship a LG god ("unless the deity's alignment is neutral"), which is incorrect. Here's hoping 3.5E fixes that among all the other stuff.

 

[Bauglir]

This is always how I've interpreted it. To me that second sentence reads:

'may not be Neutral unless the deity's alignment is neutral'

ie for a Neutral cleric, the deity's alignment must contain neutral (making the rules for Neutral clerics the same as for everyone else - if so why this phrase? was it an attempt to clarify the previous statement?)..

of course it could also be read as:

'may not be Neutral unless the deity's alignment is Neutral'

in which case it would be as you say, only Neutral deities for Neutral clerics.

or it could be:

'may not be neutral unless the deity's alignment is neutral'

this one would mean:
NG cleric = NG, N god
LN cleric = LN, N god
N Cleric = NG, LN, N, CN, NE god
CN cleric = N, CN god
NE cleric = N, NE god

or, worst of all

'may not be neutral unless the deity's alignment is Neutral'

with this one, NG, LN, N, CN, and NE clerics would all have to worship a Neutral god.

I'd say the best way would be to go with whichever interpretation makes most sense to you, within the context of your game.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think the issue is addressed in the official FAQ, IIRC.
Anyway I play a Cleric, and the Alignment subject has always been one of my favorite aspect of D&D. I am going to tell you what I think it means in a few different ways, so to make it possibly clear.

1)
Given your deity's alignment, you can be a Cleric of her/him if you are the exact alignment or one step away. The exception is that if you are TRUE NEUTRAL you are not allowed to be a Cleric of any deity, unless the deity her/himself is TRUE Neutral. Remember that the word "Neutral" (N) stands for neutral from both axis points of view.

A God of a specific alignment, except N (True Neutral), can always have Clerics of 3 alignments, one of which is her/his own. A N God can have Clerics of 5 different alignments. Obviously, some specific deities could make an exception, but I have only seen further restriction until now.

2)
Simply summarized:

deity clerics

LG - LG, NG, LN
LN - LN, LG, LE
LE- LE, LN, NE
NG - NG, LG, CG
N - N, NG, LN, NE, CN
NE - NE, LE, CE
CG - CG, NG, CN
CN - CN, CG, CE
CE - CE, CN, NR

3)
Or the other way around:

cleric possible deity
LG - LG, LN, NG
LN - LN, LG, LE, N
LE - LE, LN, NE
NG - NG, LG, CG, N
N - N
NE - NE, LE, CE, N
CG - CG, NG, CN
CN - CN, CG, CE, N
CE - CE, CN, NE

4)
You can think of it this way also:

If a deity has a side on both axis (G/E and L/C), the Cleric must have at least one of the two traits, and cannot be opposite on the other axis.

If a deity has a side on one axis only, the Cleric must have the same trait.

If a deity is in the "centre" of both axis, the Cleric must have at least some degree of neutrality.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am sure you have noted from the example 4) that the sense is that if you deity is toward an ethical or moral direction, you must follow her in the same direction. A very biased deity (ex LG) may accept you even if you are only G or only L, but not if you are either LE or CG. A deity which takes one side on an axis but not on the other would want her Clerics to follow the same side, and being neutral is not enough.

 

[Li Shenron]

...by which I meant:

Originally posted by Alzrius So, a cleric cannot be neutral (by which I think they mean True Neutral), unless their god is True Neutral also?

...

If I wanted to play a N cleric, could I only worship N deities, or what? [/B]

Yes.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Obviously, some specific deities could make an exception, but I have only seen further restriction until now.

In the Forgotten Realms, there are some exceptions:

Mystra, the NG deity of magic, kept the worshipers of her predecessor, which was LN, so you can use both NG and LN and determine the possible alignments from there (LG, NG, CG, LN, LE)

Sune, the CG goddess of love, has paladins, and they can be LG.

Both Oghma and Gond accept any alignment. They only require their worshippers to care for knowledge or pregress/ technology, respectively.