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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 2366842" data-attributes="member: 14159">Why worship gods when the rulebook says that clerics can get spells without them?Because characters don't read the rulebook?  Because religions are big powerful organizations with a lot of military, political and social power in most settings, and it is a good thing to be affiliated with them, and going around saying you are a cleric or paladin but can't give a straight answer when asked what god you serve can make the common folk pretty suspicious.Maybe it's because being a servant of an immortal and nigh-omnipotent being can have beneifts on rare occasion.  Maybe the cosmology of the setting makes worshipping a deity a really good idea if you want to have a good afterlife.Maybe because a lot of settings (FR notably, but a lot of homebrew stuff too) ignore that little line in the PHB and make it a setting rule that divine magic only comes from divine powers.  Maybe because the "Generic Cleric" was painfully cliche in 2e, when TSR tried to remove any elements of specific religions from the D&D core to appease the anti-D&D crowd, and a lot of players from back then still don't like the idea of a "Cleric of Nobody in Particular".The PHB was meant to work in as many settings and games as possible, and was a lot more about options than restrictions.  However, not every campaign setting follows every letter of the PHB, and even if it is technically possible, being a freelance cleric isn't always a good idea in a game setting.  Just like some settings don't allow some core classes, or some spells, or some races, allowing "Generic Clerics" is something every DM has to decide for himself.</blockquote>

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