Hello al! I'm a first time DM, long time DM forum lurker, and the new campaign is one session deep. I had a lot of fun, couple odd mistakes on my end but which worked out to the Party's benefit. Anyhow, two quick questions:
It dawned on all of us that our Level 8 cleric hasn't declared any devotion to a particular deity (but has done a good job at being religiously faithful in a general sense). The Party will soon be entering a "radicalized" elven city deep in a magical forest, led by a zealot whose religious fervor is high. Question: should the player be pressed ahead-of-time to think more on developing/confirming his character's deity, or just let the character come up short on answers when asked by the Zealot possibly being allowed to convert?
Party also has a level 6 goliath ranger (player can only occasionally make the game). Question: are Rangers SUPPOSED TO have some sort of animal companion? Another player character's ranger has a wolf companion. If it's more normal for Rangers to have a beast, is it a choice for the character to find their beast of preference? Or (and this is what I thought might be cool), is to have some random forest beast reach out mentality, follow him around for hours until a bond forms. Basically, would it be bad form for a DM to present a possibility mid story to spice things up, or better to talk off table with the player to see if a companion is even wanted.
1) generally, not all religions have deities. I think the primary thing is that the cleric has a religion with “rules”. You mention the cleric has been generally religiously faithful. Try talking through codifying that into something believably concrete, so that when the cleric meets the zealot, you have an idea of where their respective religions touch and diverge, where there is agreement and difference, so you can generate believable conflict.
2) in short, no. On the other hand, any character may want a pet.
3rd edition explicitly said that clerics could choose to have no deity. In 5th edition, that doesn’t seem to be an option. That being said, it’s up to a DM whether the no deity option works in their campaign. You could also decide, if the player agrees, that the PC’s deity has never truly revealed itself to the character.
3rd edition explicitly said that clerics could choose to have no deity. In 5th edition, that doesn’t seem to be an option. That being said, it’s up to a DM whether the no deity option works in their campaign. You could also decide, if the player agrees, that the PC’s deity has never truly revealed itself to the character.
That might have something to do with the Forgotten Realms Metaplot. Essentially, a PC needs to have a Deity, cleric or not, to avoid being consigned to a worse than the lower planes afterlife by being welded into the wall around Kelemvor's Realm, or wandering aimless on the Plains of Dust.
I think if your cleric player is doing fine roleplaying a generely spiritual person it's fine. As Trirhabda said it's all up to the DM in the end if all Clerics need a per-se deity. Paladins apparently do not. Maybe have him write down a sort of codex similar to a paladin. Discuss with him his philosophy. It could be an interesting plot point to have him maybe later run into a small religion that honors a good with very similar ethics - and maybe he will find his god there.
Regarding the ranger I am a bit confused. Only if the Beastmaster Subclass is taken you can have a beast companion ( 1/4 CR).
If we go by the Unearthed Arcana improved ranger (is it still UA?) it's a bit different. You still need to choose the Beast subclass. It says the following:
At 3rd level, with 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. Select your companion from among the following animals: ape, black bear, boar, giant badger, giant weasel, mule, panther, or wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area.
At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion's Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time.
If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion's spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.
I think your idea with a beast choosing the ranger instead the other way around is pretty cool. Just make sure your player actually wants that kind of companion. Generally speaking rangers don't necessarily have a beast companion or require one.
Does that answer your question? Maybe I am a bit confused about the second one ;)
HI all. Total joy for me to see such good responses.
Cleric question wise, good advice to have a quick chat with the player, see where he may want to further develop. Giving those various options to him directly to mull over seems a good course of action for mutual story development.
Ranger question wise, the input was great. I did some character sheet review and crossreferenced with compendiums; his ranger is the hunter subclass not the beastmaster, so it seems a moot point now but the answers provided here helped me dig into research deeper to better understand.
My greatest appreciation to all the feedback, I'll be sure to have loads more questions and scenarios to ponder over the coming month. Being the DM is a lot more fun than I imagined.
If they choose the beast master archetype for ranger, they should have a pet. My players and I believe hunter/ horizon walker to be the best archetypes, though.
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Hello al! I'm a first time DM, long time DM forum lurker, and the new campaign is one session deep. I had a lot of fun, couple odd mistakes on my end but which worked out to the Party's benefit. Anyhow, two quick questions:
Thank in advance!
Boldly go
1) generally, not all religions have deities. I think the primary thing is that the cleric has a religion with “rules”. You mention the cleric has been generally religiously faithful. Try talking through codifying that into something believably concrete, so that when the cleric meets the zealot, you have an idea of where their respective religions touch and diverge, where there is agreement and difference, so you can generate believable conflict.
2) in short, no. On the other hand, any character may want a pet.
3rd edition explicitly said that clerics could choose to have no deity. In 5th edition, that doesn’t seem to be an option. That being said, it’s up to a DM whether the no deity option works in their campaign. You could also decide, if the player agrees, that the PC’s deity has never truly revealed itself to the character.
That might have something to do with the Forgotten Realms Metaplot. Essentially, a PC needs to have a Deity, cleric or not, to avoid being consigned to a worse than the lower planes afterlife by being welded into the wall around Kelemvor's Realm, or wandering aimless on the Plains of Dust.
Hi there!
I think if your cleric player is doing fine roleplaying a generely spiritual person it's fine. As Trirhabda said it's all up to the DM in the end if all Clerics need a per-se deity. Paladins apparently do not. Maybe have him write down a sort of codex similar to a paladin. Discuss with him his philosophy. It could be an interesting plot point to have him maybe later run into a small religion that honors a good with very similar ethics - and maybe he will find his god there.
Regarding the ranger I am a bit confused.
Only if the Beastmaster Subclass is taken you can have a beast companion ( 1/4 CR).
If we go by the Unearthed Arcana improved ranger (is it still UA?) it's a bit different. You still need to choose the Beast subclass.
It says the following:
At 3rd level, with 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. Select your companion from among the following animals: ape, black bear, boar, giant badger, giant weasel, mule, panther, or wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area.
At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion's Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time.
If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion's spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.
I think your idea with a beast choosing the ranger instead the other way around is pretty cool. Just make sure your player actually wants that kind of companion.
Generally speaking rangers don't necessarily have a beast companion or require one.
Does that answer your question? Maybe I am a bit confused about the second one ;)
all the best!
HI all. Total joy for me to see such good responses.
Cleric question wise, good advice to have a quick chat with the player, see where he may want to further develop. Giving those various options to him directly to mull over seems a good course of action for mutual story development.
Ranger question wise, the input was great. I did some character sheet review and crossreferenced with compendiums; his ranger is the hunter subclass not the beastmaster, so it seems a moot point now but the answers provided here helped me dig into research deeper to better understand.
My greatest appreciation to all the feedback, I'll be sure to have loads more questions and scenarios to ponder over the coming month. Being the DM is a lot more fun than I imagined.
Boldly go
If they choose the beast master archetype for ranger, they should have a pet. My players and I believe hunter/ horizon walker to be the best archetypes, though.