whats a Cleric to do?

[Dakdakkel]

I have played DnD here and there since I was younger but was never able to fully get into it because of a lack of people i knew to play with until recently. I decided to give being a DM a try and things are going well and I am learning a lot that of rules that I was previously unaware of, and still trying to understand more to keep things true to the heart of the game. I hope this question does not seem trivial.


Character: Tarren
Deity: Taiia (Creator) also known as Taiia (Destroyer)
Domains: Healing & Knowledge
Class: Cleric lvl 2
Race: Halfling
Alignment: Neutral


Now I want to know if Tarren would be able to use spells such as Inflict Minor Wounds which is a Necromancy school spell? Everyone in the group has to be neutral - Lawful good and I am not sure if a neutral cleric who is good would be able to use necromancy spells and still be good. But at the same time I can see that my god sits on both sides of the fence and is truly neutral so I believe that my character should be able to use these darker powers but for the forces of good. Just want to know if anyone else with more experience in this realm has some knowledge they could share.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Any cleric can use both Cure and Inflict spells, though the deity may care just how you use such gifts. Necromancy isn't inherently evil, although some necromancy spells are evil.

Since you're a neutral cleric with a neutral deity (or at least a deity with more than one aspect), you have choice as to whether your cleric can spontaneously cast cure spells or inflict spells (that is, the ability to swap your prepared spells for either cure or inflict spells on the fly). This will also affect your ability to either Turn or Rebuke undead. For more information about this, I'd refer again to the Cleric description in your PHB.

Some deities (such as Wee Jas) have stipulations about this choice, but most will not. Does Taiia have a restriction on the spontaneous casting ability of her neutral-aligned clerics?

I feel that curing will be more practical, especially in a group likely to contain good characters. If you can pick up the Complete Divine supplement, you can get a feat that allows you to spontaneously cast inflict spells (or cure spells, if you pick a different feat) a couple of times per day.

 

[Arkhandus]

Taiia is a monotheistic goddess presented near the back of Deities & Demigods. She has no restrictions on her clerics' choice of positive or negative energy affinity. However, it is generally best for clerics to choose "casting spontaneous cure spells, and turning/destroying undead" whenever possible. Choosing the other option is only effective if the cleric works with a lot of undead that can benefit from spontaneous Inflict spells healing them (unfortunate that evil clerics are required to choose it).

Necromancy spells, and those that channel negative energy or cause death effects for example, are not inherantly evil, not generally. Only a few specific spells are noted as being evil.

To the OP, any cleric can cast any spell from the cleric spell list, with one exception. A few spells have the Good, Evil, Chaotic, or Lawful descriptor. This is listed under their name, next to their school of magic, in the full spell description. Clerics cannot cast spells with an alignment descriptor that opposes their own alignment, or the alignment of their patron deity. Taiia is true neutral, so the latter doesn't apply, but the former (the cleric's own alignment) still matters.

For example, if I recall correctly, Animate Dead has the Evil descriptor, and so do a few others like Create Undead, Create Greater Undead, Death Knell, Dispel Good, Blasphemy, Unhallow, Unholy Aura, and Unholy Blight. Also, Summon spells (like Summon Monster III) and Planar Ally spells (like Lesser Planar Ally), along with arcane versions like Planar Binding, have the Evil descriptor when used to summon evil-aligned creatures, like when summoning or calling a dretch, fiendish crocodile, or salamander. Good-aligned clerics cannot cast these capital-E Evil spells.

Deathwatch and Desecrate are also Evil spells if you use the 3.5 rules (but don't appear to have that descriptor in the 3.0 rules; so if your group plays 3.0, ignore it; if they play 3.5, then these two spells are also Evil).

I may be missing one or two Evil spells from the Core Rules, but I don't think so.

 

[Dakdakkel]

Awesome, thank you for all that info, with this and the other thread I started in the RPG forums i believe I have a good understanding of how things should continue. Thanks again.