This is kinda foreign to me especially since i was never religious growing up as a kid... anyways my DM wants me to play a werewolf at his request so i am playing a natural born werewolf as a twilight cleric worshipping Selune and wanted some tips for roleplaying a cleric from those who have experience if that is cool with everyone.
Also building to be more martial so also on the side some advice on feats if any would be good since i already have 20 wisdom.
Being a cleric is wonderful. It's a great experience, and your entire party will love you for it. That being said, there are a few tips that can make it a bit more comfortable for you to don the vestiges of your faith. Bear with me, as I may ramble, but only because I love this class and this topic, and it's late and I'm a bit hopped up on the Dr. Pepper.
First: Forget everything you know about religion. Seriously. Just let it all go. Our world has done a pretty terrible job in that field, but the D&D world lets you start fresh and build a pantheon and a belief system that more accurately reflects positions that you actually want to believe in. Our world has conditioned you to think that a cleric is someone utterly devoted to one particular God, and who claims that God is infallible, and who tries to put a good spin on their own religion, and maybe even tries to convert others. Drop all that. Clean slate. Clear your mind, we're starting fresh.
Second: Welcome to polytheism. There are tons and tons of gods, and demigods, and elder titans, and extraplanar beings, and angels, and demons, and space aliens, and countless other things our minds can't even begin to process. Those deities each have their own plans, and their own ambitions, and their own abilities, and you... well.... you are standing on the lowest rung of a ladder that leads up (or down) to tremendous power. But - you get to decide the parameters of that relationship. What does that mean? Well, there's no actual canon gospel of the faith of Selune, and no actual risk of damnation for violating it. You get to make it up, either in character creation or as you go along. You're not just building one cleric - you're building the entire universe!
Third: How is a cleric supposed to behave? Well, most people in our world might think of priests or monks as examples. WRONG! You are an avatar of your deity. Your behavior reflects the nature of that deity. I cleric of Talos would have a terrible temper and would constantly be thrashing about. A cleric of Oghma might spend her days at the docks, asking newly arrived sailors if they have any books that she might transcribe. A cleric of Bhaal would pray by spelling Bhaal's name in the pool of their latest victim's blood before disappearing into the night. I played a grave cleric who worked for Kurgan, my homebrew god of Death. I didn't worship Kurgan, I worked for him. It was a job. I did my job and he let me stay in this world until I was done. I never said prayers to him, but I would occasionally mumble under my breath to him or shout into the wind at him. It was a healthy give and take relationship. As a cleric of Selune, you are a seeker and a guide. You love a good mystery and you're always attentive to the signs and omens in the natural world around you. You probably play your cards close to your chest, never reveal more than you have to, and not until the time is right. You are as full of secrets as the night sky is full of stars. Also, if you really want to exercise your role-playing muscles, your mood could change with the phases of the moon. At New Moon you are withdrawn, cautious, always perceiving but rarely speaking. At the Crescent you're a bit more open and playful, maybe even optimistic. At the First Quarter you are at your most level headed and confident in your decisions. At the Full Moon you are a bundle of energy, barely contained, yearning to run through the forest all night until your legs ache and your lungs burn and your enemies are in full retreat. Selune is as ever-changing as the orb that rules our night, and thus has learned that there is no "one truth" or one "chosen people". She respects differences and is not afraid to accommodate new people and new cultures. Her clerics should reflect that openness and respect.
Finally: What is your role in this world? Well, a lot of this is up to the dynamic between you and your DM. Talk to your DM about the depth of role-playing expected in the campaign. Some groups like to kill monsters, go back to the tavern, deduct 5 gp for drinks and a room, then go kill more monsters. That's fine. Boring. But fine. Hopefully your DM will be able to incorporate the duties of your faith into the story, just as a warlock's Patron or a paladin's Oath would be. When your group arrives in a new village, you will want to visit their elders or their shaman or whomever and not only share information but also offer your services as payment in trade. There may be no amount of gold that can buy the people's favor, but when you cast Lesser Restoration on the mayor's little blind daughter, well... that's worth more than gold. That's gonna open doors!
Think on the ground. See the world around you from your character's level. Don't ask "what do I want", ask "what would Selune want from me." All the npc's you'll meet are people with needs, and desires, and problems, and secrets. If you can discover those secrets, you can more easily meet their needs and solve their problems, and then they might help you fulfill your desires. You're not some cloistered priest. You're not a goody two shoes. You are part sage, part spy, part battlefield medic, and part beacon of hope. Be sure to spend a little time exploring and enjoying each one of those aspects of your character.
As far as the mechanics go, you've already got your Wisdom, so get your Strength up to 15 asap so you can wear that sweet sweet heavy armor. And a good Constitution is important to, not just for the HP but to succeed on spell concentration checks, cuz you're gonna be making a lot of those rolls. Feats! Get War Caster ASAP! It'll let you cast spells while you're wielding a weapon and a shield. And you'll get advantage on spell concentration checks. Beyond that - have fun. The best part about playing a cleric is that there is no right way or wrong way to do it. It's a game. Have fun!
first off this is the best answer i have ever received for any question on these forums in my entire time using these forms so i wish i could up vote your reply a good 100 times lol
Second thing is that this whole post has helped a lot! I think I have some good ideas for setting up who he is now! I ended up choosing Selune originally because him being a werewolf good aligned it intrigued me, but then after reading lore on her i really got far more interested!
third thing is... dr pepper? good choice! The choice drink of intellectuals lol
If you are running/playing in a camapign in the Forgotten Realms, it might be worth seeking out an old AD&D book called Faiths and Avatars. It goes into great detail about all the major (and some minor) faiths in the realms including what the church of each does, how they act and ceremonies/holy days which could give you some roleplaying hooks to bring into the 5e game.
On a similar note, there are also two other books that I am aware of from the AD&D days: Demi-human Dieities which deals with Dwarf, Elf, Gnome and Halfing gods and Powers and Pantheons which deals with other areas of Toril such as Chult, Unther, Mulhorand and a variety of other lesser gods/powers in the realms.
Edit: the 3.5e forgotten realms campaign setting book has a small entry for each god as well, under the dogma section for Selune specifically it says:
"Let all, on whom Selunes lIght falls be welcome if they desire.
As the Silver Moon waxes and wanes so too does life.
Trust in Selunes radiance and know that all love alive under her light shall know her blessing.
Turn to the Moon and she will be your true guide.
Promote acceptance and tolerance.
See all things as equals and follow Selunites (other followers of Selune) as if they were your dearest friends."
Being a cleric is wonderful. It's a great experience, and your entire party will love you for it. That being said, there are a few tips that can make it a bit more comfortable for you to don the vestiges of your faith. Bear with me, as I may ramble, but only because I love this class and this topic, and it's late and I'm a bit hopped up on the Dr. Pepper.
First: Forget everything you know about religion. Seriously. Just let it all go. Our world has done a pretty terrible job in that field, but the D&D world lets you start fresh and build a pantheon and a belief system that more accurately reflects positions that you actually want to believe in. Our world has conditioned you to think that a cleric is someone utterly devoted to one particular God, and who claims that God is infallible, and who tries to put a good spin on their own religion, and maybe even tries to convert others. Drop all that. Clean slate. Clear your mind, we're starting fresh.
Second: Welcome to polytheism. There are tons and tons of gods, and demigods, and elder titans, and extraplanar beings, and angels, and demons, and space aliens, and countless other things our minds can't even begin to process. Those deities each have their own plans, and their own ambitions, and their own abilities, and you... well.... you are standing on the lowest rung of a ladder that leads up (or down) to tremendous power. But - you get to decide the parameters of that relationship. What does that mean? Well, there's no actual canon gospel of the faith of Selune, and no actual risk of damnation for violating it. You get to make it up, either in character creation or as you go along. You're not just building one cleric - you're building the entire universe!
Third: How is a cleric supposed to behave? Well, most people in our world might think of priests or monks as examples. WRONG! You are an avatar of your deity. Your behavior reflects the nature of that deity. I cleric of Talos would have a terrible temper and would constantly be thrashing about. A cleric of Oghma might spend her days at the docks, asking newly arrived sailors if they have any books that she might transcribe. A cleric of Bhaal would pray by spelling Bhaal's name in the pool of their latest victim's blood before disappearing into the night. I played a grave cleric who worked for Kurgan, my homebrew god of Death. I didn't worship Kurgan, I worked for him. It was a job. I did my job and he let me stay in this world until I was done. I never said prayers to him, but I would occasionally mumble under my breath to him or shout into the wind at him. It was a healthy give and take relationship. As a cleric of Selune, you are a seeker and a guide. You love a good mystery and you're always attentive to the signs and omens in the natural world around you. You probably play your cards close to your chest, never reveal more than you have to, and not until the time is right. You are as full of secrets as the night sky is full of stars. Also, if you really want to exercise your role-playing muscles, your mood could change with the phases of the moon. At New Moon you are withdrawn, cautious, always perceiving but rarely speaking. At the Crescent you're a bit more open and playful, maybe even optimistic. At the First Quarter you are at your most level headed and confident in your decisions. At the Full Moon you are a bundle of energy, barely contained, yearning to run through the forest all night until your legs ache and your lungs burn and your enemies are in full retreat. Selune is as ever-changing as the orb that rules our night, and thus has learned that there is no "one truth" or one "chosen people". She respects differences and is not afraid to accommodate new people and new cultures. Her clerics should reflect that openness and respect.
Finally: What is your role in this world? Well, a lot of this is up to the dynamic between you and your DM. Talk to your DM about the depth of role-playing expected in the campaign. Some groups like to kill monsters, go back to the tavern, deduct 5 gp for drinks and a room, then go kill more monsters. That's fine. Boring. But fine. Hopefully your DM will be able to incorporate the duties of your faith into the story, just as a warlock's Patron or a paladin's Oath would be. When your group arrives in a new village, you will want to visit their elders or their shaman or whomever and not only share information but also offer your services as payment in trade. There may be no amount of gold that can buy the people's favor, but when you cast Lesser Restoration on the mayor's little blind daughter, well... that's worth more than gold. That's gonna open doors!
Think on the ground. See the world around you from your character's level. Don't ask "what do I want", ask "what would Selune want from me." All the npc's you'll meet are people with needs, and desires, and problems, and secrets. If you can discover those secrets, you can more easily meet their needs and solve their problems, and then they might help you fulfill your desires. You're not some cloistered priest. You're not a goody two shoes. You are part sage, part spy, part battlefield medic, and part beacon of hope. Be sure to spend a little time exploring and enjoying each one of those aspects of your character.
As far as the mechanics go, you've already got your Wisdom, so get your Strength up to 15 asap so you can wear that sweet sweet heavy armor. And a good Constitution is important to, not just for the HP but to succeed on spell concentration checks, cuz you're gonna be making a lot of those rolls. Feats! Get War Caster ASAP! It'll let you cast spells while you're wielding a weapon and a shield. And you'll get advantage on spell concentration checks. Beyond that - have fun. The best part about playing a cleric is that there is no right way or wrong way to do it. It's a game. Have fun!
This is so good! My issue is that my cleric doesn't actually have a god. She is a Kalashter who follows the Path of Light in Eberron. Not only is there no real "god" for them, clerics are very rare. I'm thinking of going with something along the lines of Buddhism but I'm not sure.
It's okay not to have a god. It may seem counterintuitive for a cleric to not have a deity, but that leads us to the question... "What IS a deity???"
A lot of people in our world will say that God or Gods really do exist, and others will disagree. And that's fine. The same holds true in the D&D settings. Except in the D&D settings people can actually see extraplanar influence happen right before their eyes, so it may be a bit more natural to accept the reality of some sort of extraplanar influence at work. Many would call that extraplanar influence a deity or a god. Those are just words that our very small and very limited mortal minds use to refer to things that are so big and so far beyond our realm of comprehension that we have to simplify it just to understand it.
Is there really a physical manifestation of each deity sitting in a cloud somewhere? What are they doing when they're not working? Do they watch TV? Do they do their laundry? Do they poop? Who knows? It doesn't matter. That's all beyond our pay grade. Each deity exists because people give them the power to exist by having faith in them. In essence, gods didn't create us, we created them. And if you ask ten followers of the same deity what that deity stands for or what their ideals are, you're likely to get more than ten different answers. To use the previous example of Selune, one worshipper may consider her the mistress of secrets, another may call her the balm of sleep. One may thank her for lighting dark paths and another may thank her for her gift of music.
It's all about the ideals. Each deity does not represent a cluster of ideals. It's not a top-down thing. Instead it's a bottom-up thing. People are drawn together by their shared ideals, and each tight cluster of such ideals manifest as a representation of the will of those people. That is the deity! "But how can something that is manifested by mortals give mortals magical powers?" That's a great question and I'm glad you asked it! We mortals are more than the sum of our parts. We're crafty little buggers. We'll surprise ya! In a world where there are no defined deities, each cleric would basically function like a holy sorcerer. Sorcerers have magical abilities that may not have a defined source. They're just born that way. Well, a cleric is kinda like a sorcerer, except rather than being born wielding your powers, you had to unlock the power hidden deep within you. That took time, and patience, and a deep guttural belief in a certain ideal. And maybe as you began to feel the first inklings of that power you sought out guidance from someone more experienced, someone who shared your ideals, someone who had already attained what you were seeking within yourself. That person accepted you into a small tight knit group, and taught you the mantras and the exercises that worked to train and discipline and warp your mind and your soul into the balm of healing or the weapon of vengeance that you had been seeking to become.
As a Kalashtar your form holds two minds. Your mortal side and your Quori. The Quori are a deeply mysterious folk that even the greatest sages of Eberron don't fully understand. It could be that your Quori spirit is the actual cleric and your mortal frame merely its vessel - granted, a conscious and willing vessel. Your Quori may be the one tinkering around inside your mortal mind, working to unlock your true potential, much in the way that a gnome mechanic might tinker around inside an engine to get more power out of it. When you activate one of your powers, whether to heal a wound or Banish an enemy, you may close your eyes and go quiet for a moment, as your Dreaming Spirit takes the reins and guides your actions. And the "prayers" that others overhear you whispering each day may just be the unintentionally-out-loud conversation between your two minds.
Your Quori is somehow still connected to the dreamworld. And that is where its ideals lay. As a light cleric, your ideals should revolve around light and you'll probably use light-based euphemisms in your speech a lot. You don't just need to learn a secret, you need to "shine a light on the truth." You don't just need to kill that monster, you need to "destroy a creature of darkness." You are not just a cleric, you are a Beacon. "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" (Louis Brandeis, 1913). You are the torch that lights the path. You are the fire that keeps us warm. You are the lamp that keeps the ships from crashing upon the rocks. Truth, hope, guidance, protection. That is a tight cluster of ideals. And you are the instrument that will spread those ideals. Because you are a Light Cleric!
. . . . . . .
Every morning the sun rises, and the world is light. Every evening the sun sets, and the world is in darkness. When the sun sets, does that mean that the sun has failed? No. It is the darkness that gives the light its purpose. The sun does not fail when it sets. The sun would only fail if it did not rise. Your sun has set, you are in darkness. But this does not mean that you have failed. The question is.... Will You Rise?!" - Anzio Faro
It's okay not to have a god. It may seem counterintuitive for a cleric to not have a deity, but that leads us to the question... "What IS a deity???"
A lot of people in our world will say that God or Gods really do exist, and others will disagree. And that's fine. The same holds true in the D&D settings. Except in the D&D settings people can actually see extraplanar influence happen right before their eyes, so it may be a bit more natural to accept the reality of some sort of extraplanar influence at work. Many would call that extraplanar influence a deity or a god. Those are just words that our very small and very limited mortal minds use to refer to things that are so big and so far beyond our realm of comprehension that we have to simplify it just to understand it.
Is there really a physical manifestation of each deity sitting in a cloud somewhere? What are they doing when they're not working? Do they watch TV? Do they do their laundry? Do they poop? Who knows? It doesn't matter. That's all beyond our pay grade. Each deity exists because people give them the power to exist by having faith in them. In essence, gods didn't create us, we created them. And if you ask ten followers of the same deity what that deity stands for or what their ideals are, you're likely to get more than ten different answers. To use the previous example of Selune, one worshipper may consider her the mistress of secrets, another may call her the balm of sleep. One may thank her for lighting dark paths and another may thank her for her gift of music.
It's all about the ideals. Each deity does not represent a cluster of ideals. It's not a top-down thing. Instead it's a bottom-up thing. People are drawn together by their shared ideals, and each tight cluster of such ideals manifest as a representation of the will of those people. That is the deity! "But how can something that is manifested by mortals give mortals magical powers?" That's a great question and I'm glad you asked it! We mortals are more than the sum of our parts. We're crafty little buggers. We'll surprise ya! In a world where there are no defined deities, each cleric would basically function like a holy sorcerer. Sorcerers have magical abilities that may not have a defined source. They're just born that way. Well, a cleric is kinda like a sorcerer, except rather than being born wielding your powers, you had to unlock the power hidden deep within you. That took time, and patience, and a deep guttural belief in a certain ideal. And maybe as you began to feel the first inklings of that power you sought out guidance from someone more experienced, someone who shared your ideals, someone who had already attained what you were seeking within yourself. That person accepted you into a small tight knit group, and taught you the mantras and the exercises that worked to train and discipline and warp your mind and your soul into the balm of healing or the weapon of vengeance that you had been seeking to become.
As a Kalashtar your form holds two minds. Your mortal side and your Quori. The Quori are a deeply mysterious folk that even the greatest sages of Eberron don't fully understand. It could be that your Quori spirit is the actual cleric and your mortal frame merely its vessel - granted, a conscious and willing vessel. Your Quori may be the one tinkering around inside your mortal mind, working to unlock your true potential, much in the way that a gnome mechanic might tinker around inside an engine to get more power out of it. When you activate one of your powers, whether to heal a wound or Banish an enemy, you may close your eyes and go quiet for a moment, as your Dreaming Spirit takes the reins and guides your actions. And the "prayers" that others overhear you whispering each day may just be the unintentionally-out-loud conversation between your two minds.
Your Quori is somehow still connected to the dreamworld. And that is where its ideals lay. As a light cleric, your ideals should revolve around light and you'll probably use light-based euphemisms in your speech a lot. You don't just need to learn a secret, you need to "shine a light on the truth." You don't just need to kill that monster, you need to "destroy a creature of darkness." You are not just a cleric, you are a Beacon. "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" (Louis Brandeis, 1913). You are the torch that lights the path. You are the fire that keeps us warm. You are the lamp that keeps the ships from crashing upon the rocks. Truth, hope, guidance, protection. That is a tight cluster of ideals. And you are the instrument that will spread those ideals. Because you are a Light Cleric!
. . . . . . .
Every morning the sun rises, and the world is light. Every evening the sun sets, and the world is in darkness. When the sun sets, does that mean that the sun has failed? No. It is the darkness that gives the light its purpose. The sun does not fail when it sets. The sun would only fail if it did not rise. Your sun has set, you are in darkness. But this does not mean that you have failed. The question is.... Will You Rise?!" - Anzio Faro
It's okay not to have a god. It may seem counterintuitive for a cleric to not have a deity, but that leads us to the question... "What IS a deity???"
A lot of people in our world will say that God or Gods really do exist, and others will disagree. And that's fine. The same holds true in the D&D settings. Except in the D&D settings people can actually see extraplanar influence happen right before their eyes, so it may be a bit more natural to accept the reality of some sort of extraplanar influence at work. Many would call that extraplanar influence a deity or a god. Those are just words that our very small and very limited mortal minds use to refer to things that are so big and so far beyond our realm of comprehension that we have to simplify it just to understand it.
Is there really a physical manifestation of each deity sitting in a cloud somewhere? What are they doing when they're not working? Do they watch TV? Do they do their laundry? Do they poop? Who knows? It doesn't matter. That's all beyond our pay grade. Each deity exists because people give them the power to exist by having faith in them. In essence, gods didn't create us, we created them. And if you ask ten followers of the same deity what that deity stands for or what their ideals are, you're likely to get more than ten different answers. To use the previous example of Selune, one worshipper may consider her the mistress of secrets, another may call her the balm of sleep. One may thank her for lighting dark paths and another may thank her for her gift of music.
It's all about the ideals. Each deity does not represent a cluster of ideals. It's not a top-down thing. Instead it's a bottom-up thing. People are drawn together by their shared ideals, and each tight cluster of such ideals manifest as a representation of the will of those people. That is the deity! "But how can something that is manifested by mortals give mortals magical powers?" That's a great question and I'm glad you asked it! We mortals are more than the sum of our parts. We're crafty little buggers. We'll surprise ya! In a world where there are no defined deities, each cleric would basically function like a holy sorcerer. Sorcerers have magical abilities that may not have a defined source. They're just born that way. Well, a cleric is kinda like a sorcerer, except rather than being born wielding your powers, you had to unlock the power hidden deep within you. That took time, and patience, and a deep guttural belief in a certain ideal. And maybe as you began to feel the first inklings of that power you sought out guidance from someone more experienced, someone who shared your ideals, someone who had already attained what you were seeking within yourself. That person accepted you into a small tight knit group, and taught you the mantras and the exercises that worked to train and discipline and warp your mind and your soul into the balm of healing or the weapon of vengeance that you had been seeking to become.
As a Kalashtar your form holds two minds. Your mortal side and your Quori. The Quori are a deeply mysterious folk that even the greatest sages of Eberron don't fully understand. It could be that your Quori spirit is the actual cleric and your mortal frame merely its vessel - granted, a conscious and willing vessel. Your Quori may be the one tinkering around inside your mortal mind, working to unlock your true potential, much in the way that a gnome mechanic might tinker around inside an engine to get more power out of it. When you activate one of your powers, whether to heal a wound or Banish an enemy, you may close your eyes and go quiet for a moment, as your Dreaming Spirit takes the reins and guides your actions. And the "prayers" that others overhear you whispering each day may just be the unintentionally-out-loud conversation between your two minds.
Your Quori is somehow still connected to the dreamworld. And that is where its ideals lay. As a light cleric, your ideals should revolve around light and you'll probably use light-based euphemisms in your speech a lot. You don't just need to learn a secret, you need to "shine a light on the truth." You don't just need to kill that monster, you need to "destroy a creature of darkness." You are not just a cleric, you are a Beacon. "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" (Louis Brandeis, 1913). You are the torch that lights the path. You are the fire that keeps us warm. You are the lamp that keeps the ships from crashing upon the rocks. Truth, hope, guidance, protection. That is a tight cluster of ideals. And you are the instrument that will spread those ideals. Because you are a Light Cleric!
. . . . . . .
Every morning the sun rises, and the world is light. Every evening the sun sets, and the world is in darkness. When the sun sets, does that mean that the sun has failed? No. It is the darkness that gives the light its purpose. The sun does not fail when it sets. The sun would only fail if it did not rise. Your sun has set, you are in darkness. But this does not mean that you have failed. The question is.... Will You Rise?!" - Anzio Faro
Thank you! I've been very nervous about playing this. Appreciate the help.
I would also say to make sure you work with your DM. Make sure they don’t have plans for how faiths in general, or yours in particular, work. Anton’s answers are wonderful, but it’s tough to make a blanket statement like, there’s no canon for a given god or penalties for violating them. Certainty there aren’t any in RAW, but your DM may have such things.
The only thing that I would edit about Anzio's superb answer is that War Caster is not necessary for Clerics to cast while wielding a shield and a weapon. The Cleric class states that you can use your holy symbol as your focus, and that it can be an emblem mounted on your shield. Thus, you would always be contacting your holy symbol by way of wielding your shield.
This is incorrect. I don’t want to hijack the thread (there are plenty of others which explain how components work). Suffice it to say the component rules can be complicated, and clerics get tremendous benefit from warcaster if you and your DM enforce component rules.
My god I went looking everywhere for details about this.
I have the 3e supplements picked up the quintessential series for clerics and elves for help.
Still struggling.
I posted in another section where I asked what deity did you create.
Mine was Kestra a Vestigal Goddess of Moonlight that was a Fey Celestial Archon in service to Sehanine Moonbow.
A Lantern Archon who was bound to a reliquary created by a Gith Warlock seeking to combine various artefacts into a major artefact.
She was rescued by a pair of elven kids one of whom had her soul merged with the Archon creating Kestra who is now stuck hidden within an abandoned temple in the Feywild unable to die properly or return to her Archon's plane of existance before being forced to return to her prison.
Uneffected by the Divine Gates she can briefly break through them, but her followers are very few in number but in addition to serving the Moonweaver she is also a member of the Celestial Bureaucracy that includes all of the Celestial Archons that serve the primary deities which is why she's a Knowledge domain deity.
Much of this story was developed over time and I suspect others are the same.
I'm picturing the Cleric I'm running as being fascinated with learning new stuff such that she is currently learning how to use the Cooking Utensils and this will expand into other tool proficiencies as each have interesting uses and plays into her Knowledge schtick.
Have you considered giving your Cleric a schtick relating to their faith?
great advice above, and it's a fun class to play - especially since you can graft lots of personalities onto it.
the cleric could be a ferocious Torquemada who wants to punish enemies of the faith; they could be a sweet and earnest St. Francis type, always looking to offer care; they could be a youngest child who was pushed into the service by their family and is a little overwhelmed by the powers they've obtained and the duties that come with it; they could be a wild-eyed hermit only reluctantly shaken out of their life of meditative isolation; they could be a fun-loving friar who squeezes their religious duties in between trips to the brewery.
My option for playing clerics is to be Full supporters / healers, as I usually do on various mmoRPGs, because even if the effort it's pretty worthed, it requires a good concentration and a lot of patience to keep the whole party alive and buffed all the time without getting lack on mana. Being said that, I realised the D&D is based on the character's weight, the equipment being weared, and other elses.
So I decided to equip a light armor instead of using a heavy one, because it forces me to raise ASAP the strenght at least to 13 or 15. The Life Domain unlocks the Heavy armor proficiency, which it means, my character was trained ( a least a bit ) about how to wear that type of armors. Then I saw the feats, and I was shocked the Player's Guidebook didn't include the Light Armor Mastery. Why did noone clomplain about it ??? Seriously someone should send a msg to WotC about that missing Feat. So, I wanted to play a Life domain Human cleric, focusing on DEX instead of STR. Obviously the WIS gonna be my highly raised statistic, then DEX, CON, and the INT at 11 or 12 ( enough to be able reading, writing and memorizing anything ); CHA and STR gonna be my lowest ones. The background Acolyte could be best fitted due to the fact my INT is at that score. So, focusing in mobility sacrifying AC, if I keep raisng DEX and WIS, and adquiring some feats later, then I think I could be the best healer and buffer if I work on the midst of the group, so the only thing I could do worst is hitting things and being on the first line of attack, which I left that job on the Fighters/Pallys and Barbs.
If WotC could implement the Light armor Mastery, for sure I'll adquire it to take out the disadvantage on stealth.
Doesn't having those armours be made out of Mithral remove that disadvantage anyway?
My character is a Knowledge domain Cleric originally devised as a ranger until my dm asked me to convert her into a cleric before he then fumbled his campaign for reasons I still don't understand.
I went with a Chain Vest and then Hide armour as a stop gap after one of the wizards firebolted my character almost killing her (the character was DM controlled at the time and it was the second fumble with the other "missing" the gnome wizard) and I used the opportunity to explain she was trying to get her chain vest fixed in the interim.
Sebby, Your DM wants you to play a werewolf. Was cleric also from the DM? Just asking to check that your OK with a werewolf potentially in metal armour.
Cleric is cool but other options include moon druid (although it doubles up on shapechanging), rogue, sorcerer and warlock.
Thematically, a 14 dex could better help half-plate... to be a viability.
Having said all that some tanky werewolves populate google images
For anyone else reading this, I would also add to talk with your DM of how they run deities and religion in general in the game world. A lot of us have christian proclivities and biases that impact how we think deities work and act that are actually just specific to our christian majority culture (depending on where you live, obviously). So your DM might be bringing in that stuff without even knowing it and that might impact how your character would respond to things or view the world.
For instance, some might not think to pray for help for such small things in their day to day because "why would a god care about my small, unimportant life and issues?" but praying to housewights for help when you lost your keys is historically attested pagan praxis. Many of the religions of the proto-indo-european branch have this thing of reciprocity, where you ask the gods for help, a favor, etc, you give an offering (if the ask isn't being made in a time of need, usually) and then if the gods want to help you (and you acted on your wants after the prayer, can't ask for good crops and then not plant the seeds and expect the gods to help) and then they do, then you give another offering as thanks for their assistance. Our conditioning of seeing the christian god as almighty, all-knowing, etc impacts our view on gods in general.
I also like to look up how people worshipped in history and how they do so now. I gives me some nice inspiration that is vitally necessary for me as someone who doesn't have religious proclivities in real life, and so I lack experience in acting like a religious person at all.
For my trickery cleric of Loki I've been steeping myself into how the norse lived their lives, how those lives impacted their faith, what their stories can tell us, and what their worship was like. Loki worship isn't historically attested as far as we've found, so after all the basics of how a historical heathen worshipped most of my inspiration has come from modern worshippers and how they see things. It's quite fascinating and can give you some great RP tools especially if you aren't a religious, practicing person in real life! Even if you deity isn't one from earth's pantheons it can still give you some great inspiration and insight. :)
I am looking forward to playing a cleric now, I never even thought to ask my DM if I could create a god to serve...Pure Genius! Your deserve a shiny gold star sticker dear friend
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This is kinda foreign to me especially since i was never religious growing up as a kid... anyways my DM wants me to play a werewolf at his request so i am playing a natural born werewolf as a twilight cleric worshipping Selune and wanted some tips for roleplaying a cleric from those who have experience if that is cool with everyone.
Also building to be more martial so also on the side some advice on feats if any would be good since i already have 20 wisdom.
I'm curious as well. I will be playing a Light Cleric in an upcoming campaign and I haven't got a clue.
Being a cleric is wonderful. It's a great experience, and your entire party will love you for it. That being said, there are a few tips that can make it a bit more comfortable for you to don the vestiges of your faith. Bear with me, as I may ramble, but only because I love this class and this topic, and it's late and I'm a bit hopped up on the Dr. Pepper.
First: Forget everything you know about religion. Seriously. Just let it all go. Our world has done a pretty terrible job in that field, but the D&D world lets you start fresh and build a pantheon and a belief system that more accurately reflects positions that you actually want to believe in. Our world has conditioned you to think that a cleric is someone utterly devoted to one particular God, and who claims that God is infallible, and who tries to put a good spin on their own religion, and maybe even tries to convert others. Drop all that. Clean slate. Clear your mind, we're starting fresh.
Second: Welcome to polytheism. There are tons and tons of gods, and demigods, and elder titans, and extraplanar beings, and angels, and demons, and space aliens, and countless other things our minds can't even begin to process. Those deities each have their own plans, and their own ambitions, and their own abilities, and you... well.... you are standing on the lowest rung of a ladder that leads up (or down) to tremendous power. But - you get to decide the parameters of that relationship. What does that mean? Well, there's no actual canon gospel of the faith of Selune, and no actual risk of damnation for violating it. You get to make it up, either in character creation or as you go along. You're not just building one cleric - you're building the entire universe!
Third: How is a cleric supposed to behave? Well, most people in our world might think of priests or monks as examples. WRONG! You are an avatar of your deity. Your behavior reflects the nature of that deity. I cleric of Talos would have a terrible temper and would constantly be thrashing about. A cleric of Oghma might spend her days at the docks, asking newly arrived sailors if they have any books that she might transcribe. A cleric of Bhaal would pray by spelling Bhaal's name in the pool of their latest victim's blood before disappearing into the night. I played a grave cleric who worked for Kurgan, my homebrew god of Death. I didn't worship Kurgan, I worked for him. It was a job. I did my job and he let me stay in this world until I was done. I never said prayers to him, but I would occasionally mumble under my breath to him or shout into the wind at him. It was a healthy give and take relationship. As a cleric of Selune, you are a seeker and a guide. You love a good mystery and you're always attentive to the signs and omens in the natural world around you. You probably play your cards close to your chest, never reveal more than you have to, and not until the time is right. You are as full of secrets as the night sky is full of stars. Also, if you really want to exercise your role-playing muscles, your mood could change with the phases of the moon. At New Moon you are withdrawn, cautious, always perceiving but rarely speaking. At the Crescent you're a bit more open and playful, maybe even optimistic. At the First Quarter you are at your most level headed and confident in your decisions. At the Full Moon you are a bundle of energy, barely contained, yearning to run through the forest all night until your legs ache and your lungs burn and your enemies are in full retreat. Selune is as ever-changing as the orb that rules our night, and thus has learned that there is no "one truth" or one "chosen people". She respects differences and is not afraid to accommodate new people and new cultures. Her clerics should reflect that openness and respect.
Finally: What is your role in this world? Well, a lot of this is up to the dynamic between you and your DM. Talk to your DM about the depth of role-playing expected in the campaign. Some groups like to kill monsters, go back to the tavern, deduct 5 gp for drinks and a room, then go kill more monsters. That's fine. Boring. But fine. Hopefully your DM will be able to incorporate the duties of your faith into the story, just as a warlock's Patron or a paladin's Oath would be. When your group arrives in a new village, you will want to visit their elders or their shaman or whomever and not only share information but also offer your services as payment in trade. There may be no amount of gold that can buy the people's favor, but when you cast Lesser Restoration on the mayor's little blind daughter, well... that's worth more than gold. That's gonna open doors!
Think on the ground. See the world around you from your character's level. Don't ask "what do I want", ask "what would Selune want from me." All the npc's you'll meet are people with needs, and desires, and problems, and secrets. If you can discover those secrets, you can more easily meet their needs and solve their problems, and then they might help you fulfill your desires. You're not some cloistered priest. You're not a goody two shoes. You are part sage, part spy, part battlefield medic, and part beacon of hope. Be sure to spend a little time exploring and enjoying each one of those aspects of your character.
As far as the mechanics go, you've already got your Wisdom, so get your Strength up to 15 asap so you can wear that sweet sweet heavy armor. And a good Constitution is important to, not just for the HP but to succeed on spell concentration checks, cuz you're gonna be making a lot of those rolls. Feats! Get War Caster ASAP! It'll let you cast spells while you're wielding a weapon and a shield. And you'll get advantage on spell concentration checks. Beyond that - have fun. The best part about playing a cleric is that there is no right way or wrong way to do it. It's a game. Have fun!
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.
Wrangler of cats.
Okay a few things i gotta say
first off this is the best answer i have ever received for any question on these forums in my entire time using these forms so i wish i could up vote your reply a good 100 times lol
Second thing is that this whole post has helped a lot! I think I have some good ideas for setting up who he is now! I ended up choosing Selune originally because him being a werewolf good aligned it intrigued me, but then after reading lore on her i really got far more interested!
third thing is... dr pepper? good choice! The choice drink of intellectuals lol
Just to add to this.....
If you are running/playing in a camapign in the Forgotten Realms, it might be worth seeking out an old AD&D book called Faiths and Avatars. It goes into great detail about all the major (and some minor) faiths in the realms including what the church of each does, how they act and ceremonies/holy days which could give you some roleplaying hooks to bring into the 5e game.
On a similar note, there are also two other books that I am aware of from the AD&D days: Demi-human Dieities which deals with Dwarf, Elf, Gnome and Halfing gods and Powers and Pantheons which deals with other areas of Toril such as Chult, Unther, Mulhorand and a variety of other lesser gods/powers in the realms.
Edit: the 3.5e forgotten realms campaign setting book has a small entry for each god as well, under the dogma section for Selune specifically it says:
"Let all, on whom Selunes lIght falls be welcome if they desire.
As the Silver Moon waxes and wanes so too does life.
Trust in Selunes radiance and know that all love alive under her light shall know her blessing.
Turn to the Moon and she will be your true guide.
Promote acceptance and tolerance.
See all things as equals and follow Selunites (other followers of Selune) as if they were your dearest friends."
This is so good! My issue is that my cleric doesn't actually have a god. She is a Kalashter who follows the Path of Light in Eberron. Not only is there no real "god" for them, clerics are very rare. I'm thinking of going with something along the lines of Buddhism but I'm not sure.
It's okay not to have a god. It may seem counterintuitive for a cleric to not have a deity, but that leads us to the question... "What IS a deity???"
A lot of people in our world will say that God or Gods really do exist, and others will disagree. And that's fine. The same holds true in the D&D settings. Except in the D&D settings people can actually see extraplanar influence happen right before their eyes, so it may be a bit more natural to accept the reality of some sort of extraplanar influence at work. Many would call that extraplanar influence a deity or a god. Those are just words that our very small and very limited mortal minds use to refer to things that are so big and so far beyond our realm of comprehension that we have to simplify it just to understand it.
Is there really a physical manifestation of each deity sitting in a cloud somewhere? What are they doing when they're not working? Do they watch TV? Do they do their laundry? Do they poop? Who knows? It doesn't matter. That's all beyond our pay grade. Each deity exists because people give them the power to exist by having faith in them. In essence, gods didn't create us, we created them. And if you ask ten followers of the same deity what that deity stands for or what their ideals are, you're likely to get more than ten different answers. To use the previous example of Selune, one worshipper may consider her the mistress of secrets, another may call her the balm of sleep. One may thank her for lighting dark paths and another may thank her for her gift of music.
It's all about the ideals. Each deity does not represent a cluster of ideals. It's not a top-down thing. Instead it's a bottom-up thing. People are drawn together by their shared ideals, and each tight cluster of such ideals manifest as a representation of the will of those people. That is the deity! "But how can something that is manifested by mortals give mortals magical powers?" That's a great question and I'm glad you asked it! We mortals are more than the sum of our parts. We're crafty little buggers. We'll surprise ya! In a world where there are no defined deities, each cleric would basically function like a holy sorcerer. Sorcerers have magical abilities that may not have a defined source. They're just born that way. Well, a cleric is kinda like a sorcerer, except rather than being born wielding your powers, you had to unlock the power hidden deep within you. That took time, and patience, and a deep guttural belief in a certain ideal. And maybe as you began to feel the first inklings of that power you sought out guidance from someone more experienced, someone who shared your ideals, someone who had already attained what you were seeking within yourself. That person accepted you into a small tight knit group, and taught you the mantras and the exercises that worked to train and discipline and warp your mind and your soul into the balm of healing or the weapon of vengeance that you had been seeking to become.
As a Kalashtar your form holds two minds. Your mortal side and your Quori. The Quori are a deeply mysterious folk that even the greatest sages of Eberron don't fully understand. It could be that your Quori spirit is the actual cleric and your mortal frame merely its vessel - granted, a conscious and willing vessel. Your Quori may be the one tinkering around inside your mortal mind, working to unlock your true potential, much in the way that a gnome mechanic might tinker around inside an engine to get more power out of it. When you activate one of your powers, whether to heal a wound or Banish an enemy, you may close your eyes and go quiet for a moment, as your Dreaming Spirit takes the reins and guides your actions. And the "prayers" that others overhear you whispering each day may just be the unintentionally-out-loud conversation between your two minds.
Your Quori is somehow still connected to the dreamworld. And that is where its ideals lay. As a light cleric, your ideals should revolve around light and you'll probably use light-based euphemisms in your speech a lot. You don't just need to learn a secret, you need to "shine a light on the truth." You don't just need to kill that monster, you need to "destroy a creature of darkness." You are not just a cleric, you are a Beacon. "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" (Louis Brandeis, 1913). You are the torch that lights the path. You are the fire that keeps us warm. You are the lamp that keeps the ships from crashing upon the rocks. Truth, hope, guidance, protection. That is a tight cluster of ideals. And you are the instrument that will spread those ideals. Because you are a Light Cleric!
. . . . . . .
Every morning the sun rises, and the world is light. Every evening the sun sets, and the world is in darkness. When the sun sets, does that mean that the sun has failed? No. It is the darkness that gives the light its purpose. The sun does not fail when it sets. The sun would only fail if it did not rise. Your sun has set, you are in darkness. But this does not mean that you have failed. The question is.... Will You Rise?!" - Anzio Faro
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.
Wrangler of cats.
Thank you! I've been very nervous about playing this. Appreciate the help.
No problem. It's what I do. I guide. I give hope.
I am a Light Cleric.
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.
Wrangler of cats.
I would also say to make sure you work with your DM. Make sure they don’t have plans for how faiths in general, or yours in particular, work. Anton’s answers are wonderful, but it’s tough to make a blanket statement like, there’s no canon for a given god or penalties for violating them. Certainty there aren’t any in RAW, but your DM may have such things.
This is incorrect. I don’t want to hijack the thread (there are plenty of others which explain how components work). Suffice it to say the component rules can be complicated, and clerics get tremendous benefit from warcaster if you and your DM enforce component rules.
My god I went looking everywhere for details about this.
I have the 3e supplements picked up the quintessential series for clerics and elves for help.
Still struggling.
I posted in another section where I asked what deity did you create.
Mine was Kestra a Vestigal Goddess of Moonlight that was a Fey Celestial Archon in service to Sehanine Moonbow.
A Lantern Archon who was bound to a reliquary created by a Gith Warlock seeking to combine various artefacts into a major artefact.
She was rescued by a pair of elven kids one of whom had her soul merged with the Archon creating Kestra who is now stuck hidden within an abandoned temple in the Feywild unable to die properly or return to her Archon's plane of existance before being forced to return to her prison.
Uneffected by the Divine Gates she can briefly break through them, but her followers are very few in number but in addition to serving the Moonweaver she is also a member of the Celestial Bureaucracy that includes all of the Celestial Archons that serve the primary deities which is why she's a Knowledge domain deity.
Much of this story was developed over time and I suspect others are the same.
I'm picturing the Cleric I'm running as being fascinated with learning new stuff such that she is currently learning how to use the Cooking Utensils and this will expand into other tool proficiencies as each have interesting uses and plays into her Knowledge schtick.
Have you considered giving your Cleric a schtick relating to their faith?
great advice above, and it's a fun class to play - especially since you can graft lots of personalities onto it.
the cleric could be a ferocious Torquemada who wants to punish enemies of the faith; they could be a sweet and earnest St. Francis type, always looking to offer care; they could be a youngest child who was pushed into the service by their family and is a little overwhelmed by the powers they've obtained and the duties that come with it; they could be a wild-eyed hermit only reluctantly shaken out of their life of meditative isolation; they could be a fun-loving friar who squeezes their religious duties in between trips to the brewery.
My option for playing clerics is to be Full supporters / healers, as I usually do on various mmoRPGs, because even if the effort it's pretty worthed, it requires a good concentration and a lot of patience to keep the whole party alive and buffed all the time without getting lack on mana. Being said that, I realised the D&D is based on the character's weight, the equipment being weared, and other elses.
So I decided to equip a light armor instead of using a heavy one, because it forces me to raise ASAP the strenght at least to 13 or 15. The Life Domain unlocks the Heavy armor proficiency, which it means, my character was trained ( a least a bit ) about how to wear that type of armors. Then I saw the feats, and I was shocked the Player's Guidebook didn't include the Light Armor Mastery. Why did noone clomplain about it ??? Seriously someone should send a msg to WotC about that missing Feat. So, I wanted to play a Life domain Human cleric, focusing on DEX instead of STR. Obviously the WIS gonna be my highly raised statistic, then DEX, CON, and the INT at 11 or 12 ( enough to be able reading, writing and memorizing anything ); CHA and STR gonna be my lowest ones. The background Acolyte could be best fitted due to the fact my INT is at that score. So, focusing in mobility sacrifying AC, if I keep raisng DEX and WIS, and adquiring some feats later, then I think I could be the best healer and buffer if I work on the midst of the group, so the only thing I could do worst is hitting things and being on the first line of attack, which I left that job on the Fighters/Pallys and Barbs.
If WotC could implement the Light armor Mastery, for sure I'll adquire it to take out the disadvantage on stealth.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Doesn't having those armours be made out of Mithral remove that disadvantage anyway?
My character is a Knowledge domain Cleric originally devised as a ranger until my dm asked me to convert her into a cleric before he then fumbled his campaign for reasons I still don't understand.
I went with a Chain Vest and then Hide armour as a stop gap after one of the wizards firebolted my character almost killing her (the character was DM controlled at the time and it was the second fumble with the other "missing" the gnome wizard) and I used the opportunity to explain she was trying to get her chain vest fixed in the interim.
Never got far enough to test this out.
Sebby, Your DM wants you to play a werewolf. Was cleric also from the DM? Just asking to check that your OK with a werewolf potentially in metal armour.
Cleric is cool but other options include moon druid (although it doubles up on shapechanging), rogue, sorcerer and warlock.
Thematically, a 14 dex could better help half-plate... to be a viability.
Having said all that some tanky werewolves populate google images
For anyone else reading this, I would also add to talk with your DM of how they run deities and religion in general in the game world. A lot of us have christian proclivities and biases that impact how we think deities work and act that are actually just specific to our christian majority culture (depending on where you live, obviously). So your DM might be bringing in that stuff without even knowing it and that might impact how your character would respond to things or view the world.
For instance, some might not think to pray for help for such small things in their day to day because "why would a god care about my small, unimportant life and issues?" but praying to housewights for help when you lost your keys is historically attested pagan praxis. Many of the religions of the proto-indo-european branch have this thing of reciprocity, where you ask the gods for help, a favor, etc, you give an offering (if the ask isn't being made in a time of need, usually) and then if the gods want to help you (and you acted on your wants after the prayer, can't ask for good crops and then not plant the seeds and expect the gods to help) and then they do, then you give another offering as thanks for their assistance. Our conditioning of seeing the christian god as almighty, all-knowing, etc impacts our view on gods in general.
I also like to look up how people worshipped in history and how they do so now. I gives me some nice inspiration that is vitally necessary for me as someone who doesn't have religious proclivities in real life, and so I lack experience in acting like a religious person at all.
For my trickery cleric of Loki I've been steeping myself into how the norse lived their lives, how those lives impacted their faith, what their stories can tell us, and what their worship was like. Loki worship isn't historically attested as far as we've found, so after all the basics of how a historical heathen worshipped most of my inspiration has come from modern worshippers and how they see things. It's quite fascinating and can give you some great RP tools especially if you aren't a religious, practicing person in real life! Even if you deity isn't one from earth's pantheons it can still give you some great inspiration and insight. :)
Er ek geng, þat er í þeim skóm er ek valda.
UwU
WHAT A FANTASTICAL WONDERFUL POST!
Well done my kindhearted chum!
I am looking forward to playing a cleric now, I never even thought to ask my DM if I could create a god to serve...Pure Genius! Your deserve a shiny gold star sticker dear friend
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