I've played a lot of Clerics in my time and wanted to branch out with my creativity for them. Most, if not all, have been acolytes or worshippers for their Gods/Goddesses which is fine, but I've gotten kind of bored of that and wanted to try something new. I have no preference for domain.
The question is pretty broad, but it could really be anything. I once had a pirate background who was a tempest cleric, if you want a specific example. But really anyone from any walk of life have some kind of religious revelation. A sage becomes a knowledge cleric, a farmer becomes a mature cleric. An urchin goes into the trickery domain. A blacksmith goes forge. And those are just ones where a background points neatly at a domain. Opposite is also fun. A town guard who gets sick of arresting the criminals decides to join them and goes trickery.
Can you give more specific parameters for what you’re looking for?
Honestly I hear the better pick for 2024 is the guard… at least for frontline builds intending to use weapons. Not sure if that is the build you want to go with or what edition you are going by.
Whatever background you choose you should get a bonus to wisdom (please ignore if your DM is allowing custom background). That gives you Acolyte, Farmer (tough), Guard (alert), Guide (Mag Init Druid), Hermit (healer), Sage (Mag init wiz), Sailer (tavern), Scribe (skilled), and Wayfarer (Lucky).
All of these are great backgrounds to choose from in terms of story telling. Things to remember is that while Acolyte/Hermit/Sage/Scribe are probably the straightest paths to becoming a Cleric any of the others could hear the call. A Farmer/Guard/Guide/Sailer/Wayfarer could easily be people who have a brush with faith while taking part in their normal life. Or perhaps their temple is found in a small town where you don't just get to be a priest but have to have a real job. A chaplain on a ship could be a sailer. The more nature based ones (Farmer, Guide, Wayfarer) would be easier with a Nature domain cleric, but you can fit any of them.
I did a Twilight cleric who had the urchin background -- they were essentially a low-level thief, got killed, and brought back by their god. They didn't know how or why, though, really, so their goal during the campaign was to discover who was giving them these powers. They believed in the powers, since they'd come back to life, but they didn't know the source, which I thought worked pretty well for Twilight.
My favorite is the combat medic. You start with the background of either Soldier or Guard. Focus on Strength and Constitution as much as Wisdom (starting stats maybe 14, 10, 14, 10, 16, 12). That 14 Str let's you wear chain mail. I usually go with a shield, and take the feat War Caster as soon as feasible.
Musician or Chef background in 2024 PHB, would give you different views of playing a cleric. If you’re using that version of play. With them adding feats to background these 2 would work.
I've played a lot of Clerics in my time and wanted to branch out with my creativity for them. Most, if not all, have been acolytes or worshippers for their Gods/Goddesses which is fine, but I've gotten kind of bored of that and wanted to try something new. I have no preference for domain.
The question is pretty broad, but it could really be anything. I once had a pirate background who was a tempest cleric, if you want a specific example.
But really anyone from any walk of life have some kind of religious revelation. A sage becomes a knowledge cleric, a farmer becomes a mature cleric. An urchin goes into the trickery domain. A blacksmith goes forge. And those are just ones where a background points neatly at a domain. Opposite is also fun. A town guard who gets sick of arresting the criminals decides to join them and goes trickery.
Can you give more specific parameters for what you’re looking for?
Honestly I hear the better pick for 2024 is the guard… at least for frontline builds intending to use weapons. Not sure if that is the build you want to go with or what edition you are going by.
Whatever background you choose you should get a bonus to wisdom (please ignore if your DM is allowing custom background). That gives you Acolyte, Farmer (tough), Guard (alert), Guide (Mag Init Druid), Hermit (healer), Sage (Mag init wiz), Sailer (tavern), Scribe (skilled), and Wayfarer (Lucky).
All of these are great backgrounds to choose from in terms of story telling. Things to remember is that while Acolyte/Hermit/Sage/Scribe are probably the straightest paths to becoming a Cleric any of the others could hear the call. A Farmer/Guard/Guide/Sailer/Wayfarer could easily be people who have a brush with faith while taking part in their normal life. Or perhaps their temple is found in a small town where you don't just get to be a priest but have to have a real job. A chaplain on a ship could be a sailer. The more nature based ones (Farmer, Guide, Wayfarer) would be easier with a Nature domain cleric, but you can fit any of them.
I did a Twilight cleric who had the urchin background -- they were essentially a low-level thief, got killed, and brought back by their god. They didn't know how or why, though, really, so their goal during the campaign was to discover who was giving them these powers. They believed in the powers, since they'd come back to life, but they didn't know the source, which I thought worked pretty well for Twilight.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
My favorite is the combat medic. You start with the background of either Soldier or Guard. Focus on Strength and Constitution as much as Wisdom (starting stats maybe 14, 10, 14, 10, 16, 12). That 14 Str let's you wear chain mail. I usually go with a shield, and take the feat War Caster as soon as feasible.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Tayn of Darkwood. Human Life Cleric. Lvl 10.
Musician or Chef background in 2024 PHB, would give you different views of playing a cleric. If you’re using that version of play. With them adding feats to background these 2 would work.
Farmer is good for nature based deities.
Also, if you want to think of a non-acolyte cleric, just think of Thor.
KOBOLDS WITH CANNONS! A RP thread about Small humanoids with Huge weapons.
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