D&D 5E (2014) Why ever play a cleric?

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Looks like there's thread-necromancy afoot...

when clerics are involved it’s a thread revivificafion.

 

[Cadence]

Ivanova's quote in B5 feels even better if a god actually did send you:

"Who am I? I am <Insert character name>. <insert official title>. <insert daugher or son> of <insert parents names>. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to <insert appropriate place>, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. <insert god's name> sent me."

 

[cbwjm]

when clerics are involved it’s a thread revivificafion.

Pretty sure it's a Raise Thread.

 

[Maxperson]

I love a good necro thread. Please explain how the Cleric is a superior damage dealer? I notice you didn't include Druid--are they better than a Druid?

This is a resurrection thread. Get on topic!

 

[cmad1977]

Because you make characters and not “builds”.

 

[CleverNickName]

Because you make characters and not “builds”.

Quoting this because it bears repeating.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Cause I wanna be restricted to weapons that won't draw blood?!?!

 

[pming]

I'm not trying to be inflammatory here, I just simply cant wrap my head around why someone would play a cleric other than filling the healing role in a party. I understand domains help them specialize and give them interesting options, but why choose a cleric with a certain domain over a class that functions the same way, just better?

If you want to be a capable warrior with divine magic, go paladin.
If you want to be a capable caster, why go light domain cleric over, say, warlock/sorcerer/wizard?
If you want to be a gish, like tempest or war domain clerics, why not just go eldritch knight?

I look forward to being enlightened and perhaps converted to actually trying a cleric one of these days.

Hiya!

I thought about this, and I know you are expecting a "mechanical reason" because...uh... reasons?

Every time I decided to play a Cleric (ok, so there haven't been many; I DM 99% of the time), there was one, single, underlaying factor that I think I distilled it all down to: Flavour.

Honestly don't give a flying fig about mechanics. They don't make any difference as to if I enjoy playing a PC. But, to answer your question more specifically... I play clerics because I think of a character "look/vibe/feeling". Typically I tend towards real earth-based religions of old (Egyptian, Norse, American Indian, Chinese, Sumerian, etc) because I have a stereotypical 'idea' about how, say, a Cleric of Raven (American Indian)...with my "Sacred Bundle" of rocks, bones, herbs, dried flowers, dirt, etc, and my feathers/bones/semi-precious stones adorning my person as jewelry, maybe tattoos or body paint. Then I move on to personality; quirks, like a fascination with shiny stuff and acquiring "comforting necessities of life" and building a sort of "nest" over time in any location he/she finds his/herself (e.g., the first night of a room at the inn might just have my dreamcatcher hanging up; the second night has a religious tapestry weaving hanging on the wall; the third sees a couple of fluffy fur rugs; the fourth night and I have a replaced the blankets/sheets with my own; in another week or two...it's no longer a "room at the inn"...it's now "my sacred nest of safety" ).

So...that's why. Flavour. Look. Feel.

Mechanics, abilities, spells....? ...ppffft...whatever, I don't care. Those are just "extras" or "after thoughts".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[EzekielRaiden]

RE: the OP's original examples...
Cleric vs. Paladin: Perhaps I don't want to be all that social (low Cha), or want someone who can call on the GREAT miracles and not just use them as a supplement to good ol' smackdowns.
Cleric vs. Warlock: Because I want a willing and joyful service, not contractual, transactional power exchange. And, again, Wis vs Cha.
Cleric vs. Wizard: Because the spells are different and are divine.
Cleric vs. Sorcerer: Because the spells are different and are divine, and again, Wis vs. Cha.
Cleric vs. EK: Because EK is even less spells than Warlock or Paladin, and the spells might be the main draw, with the gish being a nice bonus.

Clerics are theologians militant--ministering to the flock wherever the flock may go. They aren't the impassioned crusaders who raise a flag high (that's Paladins). They're the ones doing the hard and longsuffering work of building a deity's doctrine in the world. That's one of the big reasons you'd play one.

If I may be frank? I suspect that being irreligious or at least only minimally religious (the "go to church for Christmas and Easter" type) is a big part of why people don't "get" the Cleric. There is a huge difference between being a knight-missionary (effectively what most Paladins do) and being an armored theologian (definitely what Clerics typically do). Missionary work and theological work are both a big deal, and in a world as dangerous and dynamic as a typical D&D world, doing theological work often sends you into dangerous places (hence the armor). But being a theologian, someone who works on the refined points of doctrine and works to counsel and support those who already have faith, is very, very different from being a missionary, someone who evangelizes, who spreads the good word to those who do not yet have faith.

Obviously, there's going to be plenty of highly active religious folks who don't get it. This isn't meant as a "everyone in group X does A, everyone in group not-X does not-A." I just strongly suspect that the overall lack of engagement with organized religion is a significant part of why people don't get the class built around organized religions.

 

[Umbran]

Quoting this because it bears repeating.

What bears repeating is that playing "builds" is a perfectly acceptable way to play, and that the righteous dogmatism isn't attractive.

OneTrueWayism isn't pretty.