D&D (2024) The Cleric should be retired

[Aldarc]

I think I'm just warped by my time playing WoW. The idea of not needing healing (and having it baked into the game design assumptions) is just...flawed to me at this point.

WoW does things that makes healing rewarding and interesting. It also varies how healers heal through their mechanics: HoTs, Off-Tank Healing, Barriers, Direct Healing, Chain Heals, etc.

I enjoy playing healers, or at least a class with healing abilities on hand, because my own playstyle in MMOs and TTRPGs often tends towards support and tactical defense. In D&D, I have played a lot of clerics and druids in my time.

Fighter/Barb Front Liner
Thief/Trap Guy
Healer
Caster/Ranged Damage

This should just be a basic assumption. The whole 'bring 4 Fighters, YOLO!' kind of open design is just way too far for me.

This is what 4e tried to do with roles: Defender, Striker, Leader, and Controller. But you could also do a similar setup in 4e too entirely with martials, which was the great thing about it.

Fighter/Barb Front Liner: 4e Fighter
Thief/Trap Guy: 4e Rogue
Healer: 4e Warlord
Ranged Damage: 4e Ranger

It's really been the only edition that made me love playing non-magical martial characters.

 

[Scribe]

WoW does things that makes healing rewarding and interesting. It also varies how healers heal through their mechanics: HoTs, Off-Tank Healing, Barriers, Direct Healing, Chain Heals, etc.

I enjoy playing healers, or at least a class with healing abilities on hand, because my own playstyle in MMOs and TTRPGs often tends towards support and tactical defense. In D&D, I have played a lot of clerics and druids in my time.


This is what 4e tried to do with roles: Defender, Striker, Leader, and Controller. But you could also do a similar setup in 4e too entirely with martials, which was the great thing about it.

Fighter/Barb Front Liner: 4e Fighter
Thief/Trap Guy: 4e Rogue
Healer: 4e Warlord
Ranged Damage: 4e Ranger

It's really been the only edition that made me love playing non-magical martial characters.

Conceptually it's one of the things I wish had made the transition to 5e.

 

[Kobold Stew]

One would think that it would be possible to decouple the inherently religious aspect of the cleric given that 5e Backgrounds include being an Acolyte in a religious institution, making it possible for any character to be a priest. Honestly, more robust backgrounds would probably help with other similar issues and not just the cleric.

And that was one of the great things that the 2014 backgrounds gave you -- the Acolyte was the one with a connection to a church (whether conceived as a community or a building). The Feature of the background was that the Acolyte did the (small r) rituals associated with belief as well. That changed, though, when they introduced the Ceremony spell, which is terrible in so many other ways too. Even if they remove that spell, the shape of backgrounds in the current playtest materials is such that we don't get back to the non-mechanical benefits that backgrounds used to give. That's gone now.

 

[Vaalingrade]

So D&D is for people who think depictions of spell casting are Satanic? D&D might be for anyone but it’s not for everyone.

I'll concede that it might be okay if it weren't for people who make terrible hyperbolic arguments against inclusivity by citing people who are against inclusivity.

 

[MGibster]

I'll concede that it might be okay if it weren't for people who make terrible hyperbolic arguments against inclusivity by citing people who are against inclusivity.

So it is or isn't for everybody?

 

[Vaalingrade]

So it is or isn't for everybody?

You aren't required to be tolerant of the intolerant.

 

[MGibster]

You aren't required to be tolerant of the intolerant.

Whose being intolerant here? I'm honestly not sure.

 

[Older Beholder]

I like clerics, I wouldn't like to see them dropped from the game. I think they might be one of the more diverse classes in terms of sub-class options. Each domain be it War, Trickery, Arcana, Tempest, etc... all feel unique within the class.

I think the need for the cleric to be a healer is not really a thing in 5E, with so many other options available.

 

[John R Davis]

Clerics are fine. Always have been. I clearly dont see any issues.

 

[Horwath]

Conceptually it's one of the things I wish had made the transition to 5e.

This can be easily done for 2024.

Replace HDs with healing surges.

you have amount of healing surges equal to 2×prof bonus + con mod.
It heals for 25% of your max HP.

When you take Dodge action, you can spend 1 healing surge.

Clerics healing:

you attack a target withing 60ft with radiant damage.
deal 2d6 damage or half on successful Dex save. increase to 3d6 at 5th level, 4d6 at 9th, 5d6 at 13th and 6d6 at 17th level.
One target inside 60ft of you can spend a Healing surge.
You can do this 2×prof bonus + your Wis mod per long rest.