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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grydan" data-source="post: 6278517" data-attributes="member: 79401">I think that that's a fair and reasonably accurate description of my own approach.I also think it's hardly surprising that it's a common take, given that the game world generally defaults to a pseudo–medieval Europe (complete with castles, knights, and princesses) that ditches the monotheism of the real world historical timeframe while not really taking into account the rather large societal impacts of monotheism in general and the specific doctrines of the dominant religion in particular, rather than using pre-Christian polytheistic societies as its basis. You're conflating the Cleric in particular with the general explanation of magic as coming from divine sources. Divine spellcasting can be a more accurate representation of pre-modern beliefs about magic without it in any way altering the fact that the Cleric itself is a D&Dism.To the extent that the D&D cleric is, in any respect, a model of a generic divine spellcaster, it's a shift from the original conception of the class, as well as the earliest published versions. The D&D Cleric of the original system isn't 'generic spellcaster whose magic comes from divine sources', it's an armoured warrior priest with an inherent knack for repelling the undead, who also casts divine magic. At first level, they can't cast any magic at all.As has been <a href="http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.ca/2011/01/bishop-carr-first-d-cleric.html" target="_blank">recounted elsewhere</a>, the original conception of the class had nothing to do with attempting to model a divine spellcaster. It was designed as a vampire hunter based on Peter Cushing's characters in the Hammer Dracula films to combat a specific player's evil vampire PC and his undead minions, then had healing and curing diseases added in, and then a weapon restriction based on stories about Archbishop Turpin.In the D&D sense (at least the OD&D one), no religion has ever had Clerics. Or at least, none that I'm aware of. Perhaps there's a tradition out there somewhere of castle-building armoured warrior priests who fight undead while casting spells and eschewing the use of edged weaponry, and I've simply not heard of it.And a polytheism where the classes most closely tied to the divine are based upon Christian and post-Christian concepts (medieval warrior priest/1970's movie vampire hunter, medieval divinely inspired knight), rather than being based on any pre-Christian archetype (though admittedly at least a couple of Cleric spells are pre-Christian in inspiration, drawing upon the Old Testament rather than the New: Sticks into Snakes and Plague of Insects).The analogy doesn't work much for me either. The local mayor generally isn't a figure of worship known for their vast power and benevolence, whereas Pelor (to again use the god mentioned in the scenario) is. Pelor might be more distant than the mayor, but it's hard to reconcile a god whose teachings call for providing aid to those in need, but at the same time is themselves less likely to provide aid than the average mayor. It seems entirely reasonable to have a greater expectation of aid from the god than from the mayor, especially if it's widely known that the god does grant healing (or at least the clerics of that god do, and claim that they get the ability from their god). It might tax the limits of the mayor's abilities, resources, and schedule to provide aid ... but is a little bit of help even a minor inconvenience to a god worthy of veneration? Though again, I prefer to let the dice land where they may, and then let the players decide for themselves whether their characters believe that a good result is evidence of the god's helping hand or simply random chance. Even in Greco-Roman myth, unambiguous manifestations and direct action are the exception (and generally an unhappy one for the people involved) rather than the rule: you perform a purifying ceremony at the temple of Apollo and your minor illness clears up a few days later ... did Apollo grant you your health, or did you just happen to get better? The typical person probably didn't expect to ever get Apollo making a personal housecall, or even an instant reversal of their condition upon completion of the ritual.</blockquote>

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