D&D 5E WHY is there (still) no Class that allows you to use both Arcane and Divine magic...?

[Elderbrain]

In D&D, there has traditionally been a sharp divide between Classes that use Arcane magic (i.e. Wizards, etc.) and Classes that have access to Divine magic (i.e. Clerics, etc.), such that Wizards and the like receive no healing or resurrection magic UNLESS they multiclass (the Bard being an exception).

However, in quite a few works of fantasy fiction - and other RPGs - Wizardly characters do not have any such limitation, freely casting any spells available in the fictional world or game system (i.e. GURPS mages are not prohibited from selecting healing or raise dead type spells - in fact, in GURPS Banestorm, the world of Yrth, only mages cast spells - any "cleric"-type character must be a mage to do so!) So why is there no such "blended" Class in D&D?

I understand that such a Class could not have all the "bells and whistles" of both a D&D Cleric and a D&D Wizard, or it would be overpowered... but surely there's some way to make a build that would not be game-breaking?

 

[ChrisCarlson]

Wizard/Cleric multiclass.

 

[Sacrosanct]

you answered your own question. The lore bard. Outside of that, who's to say in these literary references, that the people in question weren't multi-classed wizards/clerics?

 

[Lanliss]

There's the Arcane Cleric, I think from the SCAG.

 

[Patrick McGill]

There's a variety of ways to achieve this already. Multi-classing a class that uses arcane with levels of one that uses divine, the Bard can access spells from any lists with his class abilities, the Arcane domain for the Cleric grants some in this manner. Hell, even more easily, there's a feat that lets you dip into a class's cantrips.

Classes are meant to be archetypal expressions representing well worn tropes in fantasy. What archetype would a divine/arcane hybrid be that would warrant a whole class?

Edit: Should've read other replies first, got too trigger happy with the quick reply.

 

[5Shilling]

There was also the "Mystic Theurge" in 3rd edition.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Cognomen's Cassowary]

Arcane cleric, tempest cleric, light cleric, bard. The line between divine and arcane is so thin that it's really more a matter of how you conceive of those two types than any real difference in the game mechanics.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

However, in quite a few works of fantasy fiction - and other RPGs - Wizardly characters do not have any such limitation, freely casting any spells available in the fictional world or game system (i.e. GURPS mages are not prohibited from selecting healing or raise dead type spells - in fact, in GURPS Banestorm, the world of Yrth, only mages cast spells - any "cleric"-type character must be a mage to do so!) So why is there no such "blended" Class in D&D?

D&D is not other fantasy fiction, or a different RPG. D&D is not some generic, do-anything fantasy setting. D&D is a very specific type of fantasy setting, where certain tropes hold, and others do not. You are free to change this, of course, but you need to be the one to do that; WotC isn't going to do it, since it would dilute their brand identity.

Also of note, the divide between Arcane and Divine was mostly an organizational structure for 3E. Before and after that, every class has its own spell list, which doesn't necessarily conform to that divide.

 

[Gadget]

In short: Tradition. D&D is not really a generic fantasy world/genre simulator, though it has taken more steps in that direction lately. When Gygax & co. first came up with the hodgepodge of rules and fantasy elements to add to their table top war game, the 'wizard' or 'magic user' and what came to be known as the 'cleric' evolved along different paths in response to different gaming needs over different timelines, with different sources of inspiration. It eventually 'gelled' or coalesced into what we now know as D&D with all its quirky trappings.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that the Bard pulls spells from both divine and arcane spell lists, not to mention its magic secrets ability to grab spells from any spell list. I thought the Sorcerer had a divine spell or two, not sure about the Warlock. Clerics with certain domains, along with Land Druids with certain areas, get some arcane spells added to their lists as well. In short, barring some of the splat prestige classes in previous editions, the Divine/Arcane split has never been thinner in D&D.