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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nyeshet" data-source="post: 3095967" data-attributes="member: 18363">This has to do with Turning. Specifically, it is due to the fact that good deities - for whatever reason - all grant positive energy channelling to their clergy, while evil deities - again for unknown reasons - all grant negative energy channelling to their clergy. Those of Neutral alignment don't usually care what their clergy channel, but due to the traditions established by the good / evil deities if their cleric should choose to channel negative energy they are considered to be sliding towards evil - even if they never commit an evil act or use a spell with an evil descriptor. It is an oddity of the game that many I know ignore. Indeed, some have arranged for good deities whose clergy channel negative energy (a destructive energy with which to smite the evil foes of their deity) and some evil deities in their campaign worlds have their clerics channel positive energy - the better to heal themselves and the followers of the deity - thus making it easier for them to live to do their deity's bidding another day. A question to those that long played the 1st and 2nd edition: Was turning always affected by the morality of the deity? By that I mean, have clerics of Good deities always turned rather than rebuked, and have clerics of Evil deities always Rebuked rather than Turned? I note that prior to 3e there was no spontaneous curing / inflicting, so no matter the alignment of the deity, the cleric could prepare either (or only one or the other) as they wished without it reflecting their alignment or that of their deity. With 3e that seems to have been tied to Turning. If it turns out that prior to 3e all clerics Turned or that Turning / Rebuking was decided on a cleric to cleric basis (or on a deity to deity basis) irregardless of alignment, then have the designers of 3e ever stated why they tied Turning to Good aligned deities and Rebuking to evil aligned deities - effectively adding morality to non-moral energies? It seems to me that the system often contradicts itself - first stating that the energies are not aligned in any manner, are utterly / absolutely neutral, but then stating that Clerics that serve a deity are committing a moral act (for Good or Evil) whenever they channel either of these non-aligned energies? Any answer to this quandary?</blockquote>

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