Suggestions to have players play a Cleric.

[sadsam345]

No Cleric in our party and we are having a blast

We are currently nearly 1/2 way though the shacked city Adventure Path and we have no cleric. Yes we have a Druid (me) and a Paladin, but we are getting around with-out a cleric.

We make up for it by CLW wands (I started the current module with three and after a big fight I may burn through 15+ charges), potions of in combat heals (CSW, CCW) and limited CLW spells memorised by the Druid/Paladin.

Our Paladin is limited in his Cha and often misses his turn checks, but Eagles splender at the right moment can help! We have noticed undead still burn by fireball, break by sword and fry with lighting if push comes to shove.

All in all we probably burn more party treasure healing potions/wands etc. But the fun when a PC dies that using the "resurrection spell dice rolling lottery" provides more than makes up for that. (also Resurrection is way cheaper - 1000gp vs 5000gp and available as a 4th level spell)

 

[Runesong42]

Clerics are over- and under-rated

If one breaks down a cleric into its core elements, it's not quite a fighter and not quite a mage, but nearly as good as both.

In one of my campaigns, there is no "Cleric" base class. "Clerics" are no more that sorcerers who wield a different kind of magic.

This is chiefly for flavour, as my campaign deals with the truth of religion as it pertains to my campaign world. The PC's are slowly discovering that the "gods" they worship are very powerful entities, but mortal, and can be killed by mortal hands (albeit with great difficulty). As such, they do not grant spells to followers, nor do they even seek worshippers.

So, "clerics" really aren't that necessary. There ARE Druids about, but the same story goes for them, too.

 

[IronWolf]

If no one wants to play one then I would probably not make an issue of it. They will adapt quickly, perhaps by picking up potions or some other means. I try not to force player's into characters they don't want. In my current campaign the cleric died last session (along with another character). Neither is coming back as a cleric, though one is coming in as a druid and the other a paladin.

 

[Turanil]

I like playing a cleric because of their versatility...am I going to be a battle cleric, or one who heals, or an undead hunter, something else, or some of all of the above. <...> How do you go about encouraging other players to play a cleric? Do you even bother?

As a DM I don't bother encouraging players to play anything, only to have a coherent party (i.e.: elven paladin doesn't side with evil half-orc warlock). I adapt my campaign and adventures to the characters. When it comes to clerics, I prefer someone who choose cleric for the role (being a priest and a servant of God) rather than for the abilities.

 

[talien]

There are six of us in our group. When starting a new campaign/adventure (incidentally--we usually start off as 1st-3rd level characters and play until 9thish before starting again), having someone play the cleric is always a chore.

I've seen this problem before with living games and for the life of me I don't undersatnd it. Or I should say, I don't share the distate for clerics (I'm playing one in our current Arcanis campaign). I think the problem is how clerics are perceived.

Here's how I play Quintus, a legionnaire: 1) he's a legionniare, not a cleric in his own mind. He treats his divine gifts more likely superpowers, not as religious dogma, 2) his divine magic is tied to his standard (his spear), which he uses in battle as well. He sees himself as a spiritual and military leader, not as a healer by any means. 3) and yet, he IS a healer and everybody misses him when he's not around.

When Quintus it not around (because I'm DMing), our fihali druid and elven bard have to make up the difference. It's not easy, but it can be done.

I think people don't like the idea of being a support person. Quintus' use of the longspear makes him ideal for being in the second row, where he can both cast spells and hit bad guys. It works well.

What I see, though, is too many people wanting to make all around survivor characters who can do well on their own without any assistance. That is, they want lots of hit points and a high armor class, so they don't want to branch out into anything that might sap those two strong numbers. Especially at low levels, this attitude seems common.

But it's ridiculous. Yes, sorcerers and wizards are weak at first, but they trade that off for ULTIMATE POWAH! Clerics have a similar range...but ultimately, they are a class that's built to support others. There's nothing wrong with that, but it takes a cooperative mentality for the group to do it.

In short, if your group of PCs don't want to support it each other, it's likely there are other issues involving trust and competition that haven't quite gelled. More experience gaming groups who have played together tend to accept clerics more easily, and groups that are higher level are more likely to have a cleric than lower level parties.

 

[MonsterMash]

I've played a Cleric, a Druid, and now both a Cleric and a Psion in the one campaign where I'm actually a player. Cleric is a fine class, so long as you remember the purpose is to PROSELYTIZE!!!

-- N

Preach it brother! Personally I like to play clerics - the only thing that I dislike is the lack of feats.


In the campaign I GM the party is a Bard, Dwarf Fighter, Druid and Sorceror, generally I don't change published adventures to fit them as they're not short on healing, but are weakish against undead (except for the Sorceror's disrupt undead spells)), but my homebrew stuff tends not to use undead critters so much.

 

[IronWolf]

I play a dwarven cleric in RPGA's Legacy of the Green Regent campaign. He is pretty fun to play and would certainly consider playing clerics in future games with no issues. In the first LotGR slot at Origins he did pretty well, helping make up for the lack of an arcane caster. A couple of well placed flamestrikes, Dispel Magic spells and a well timed healing spell he came out looking pretty good. Coupled with taking some time up front to help bail the rogue out of trouble after healing him he played a fairly decent role in that game, above and beyond his healing ability. I think clerics are what you make of them. They can be fun to play.