Is there a difference between a cleric and a celestial domain warlock

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Greetings FlameOutsideOfStaff,

Are you asking from a Philosophical standpoint?

As far as how the Characters are built and played, there are lots of differences:

• Spell Slots
• Ability Score for Spellcasting
• Spells Available to Learn
• How they interact with their God / Patron
• Weapons available to be used
• Etc.

What specifically are you looking to learn?

how they interact with god/patron as well as how commoners will view them

A cleric is typically very devoted and loyal to their god. A Warlock has made a deal, so loyalty and devotion isn't necessarily required.

Commoners, being commoners, likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Here's a suitable analogy:

Cleric: "Praise be to Talos!"

Celestial Warlock: "A New Hand Touches the Beacon"

The cleric gets more spell slots and get the option to wear better armor. The warlock gets to pick a unique handful of abilities from the Invocations list. That's about it. 

The relationship with their source of power does differ. For Clerics it's more like a patreon; the cleric does good deeds in a certain domain—Light, Light, Arcane, etc—and the deity of that domain that they worship rewards them with some power. The Cleric doesn't necessarily ask for or expect the power, it comes from them doing the right thing.

For Warlocks, it's more of a contractual (or scam) type interaction—a celestial that represents a certain divine power will approach the Warlock with a proposition (or the other way around) and terms will be negotiated. Do this for that much power, don't to this, don't hurt these people, do hurt those people etc. Sometimes the Warlock will find a "backdoor" to access a divine beings power, like an ancient ritual or circle of power. This is more like the warlock finding a cheque made out to "cash" and being all "Well if you didn't want anyone claiming this power, you shouldn't have left this ritual of the pact divine laying around. I didn't do anything technically wrong"

As for how the average commoner sees them, that'd depend entirely on cleric/warlock in question. A kind and benevolent warlock who has made a coercive pact with Shar might seem more priestly than a brutal war domain cleric of Lolth.

Quote from Davyd >>

The relationship with their source of power does differ. For Clerics it's more like a patreon; the cleric does good deeds in a certain domain—Light, Light, Arcane, etc—and the deity of that domain that they worship rewards them with some power. The Cleric doesn't necessarily ask for or expect the power, it comes from them doing the right thing.

For Warlocks, it's more of a contractual (or scam) type interaction—a celestial that represents a certain divine power will approach the Warlock with a proposition (or the other way around) and terms will be negotiated. Do this for that much power, don't to this, don't hurt these people, do hurt those people etc. Sometimes the Warlock will find a "backdoor" to access a divine beings power, like an ancient ritual or circle of power. This is more like the warlock finding a cheque made out to "cash" and being all "Well if you didn't want anyone claiming this power, you shouldn't have left this ritual of the pact divine laying around. I didn't do anything technically wrong"

As for how the average commoner sees them, that'd depend entirely on cleric/warlock in question. A kind and benevolent warlock who has made a coercive pact with Shar might seem more priestly than a brutal war domain cleric of Lolth.

 As a warlock with a celestial patron, I would be very, very careful about "claiming" to have a backdoor to acquire occult power. Otherwise, my celestial patron might Gate my character to one of the Upper Planes and then "forget" where I was deposited. 

Also, a warlock's alignment is probably a key reason as to whether or not a celestial will have anything to do with him/her.

Note that generally in lore Clerics require a certain innate capacity for divine magic/communion with their deity, whereas Warlocks are generally characterized as gaining power via some transactional/systematic process.

Another big thing is that, strictly speaking, a Celestial Warlock doesn't necessarily need to be serving a deity. There are independent Celestials, or ones who might make an arrangement on their own initiative/for their own purposes rather than at the behest of someone higher up.

A celestial warlock's made a deal just like any other warlock.  A cleric is a worshipper.  A celestial warlock may absolutely LOATHE their patron, but as long as they abide by the terms of their contract, a deal's a deal.

I might repeat some of what others say, but I think that's kind of what you're looking for -- the common wisdom.

A cleric is a particularly blessed priest of a deity, deities, or a pantheon, granted a portion of divine power by their god(s). A cleric may not have necessarily personally met their deity or deities (yet), but does feel the divine presence in their life.

A warlock has made a pact with a powerful being of some sort. A Celestial Domain warlock has made that deal with an entity from the Upper Planes, not necessarily a god. It is all but certain the warlock has had more direct contact with their extraplanar patron, and quite likely has met them personally.

A cleric doesn't necessarily have to be good-aligned. There are, of course, evil gods, and most of them also have clerics. Even a cleric of some good deities isn't necessarily required to be good, but they will almost never be more than one step away from their god's alignment (and hence no worse than neutral). A Celestial Domain warlock is all but certainly good, as it would only be under the most extreme circumstance an angel, a unicorn, etc. would make a deal with an evil entity, let alone grant them any powers, and would only hesitantly and begrudgingly do so with someone who is neutral.

A Celestial Domain warlock that outwardly worships a god might look almost indistinguishable to a commoner, particularly one who isn't of the same faith, though a cleric (likely of any deity) would be able to tell the difference.

Quote from crzyhawk >>

A celestial warlock's made a deal just like any other warlock.  A cleric is a worshipper.  A celestial warlock may absolutely LOATHE their patron, but as long as they abide by the terms of their contract, a deal's a deal.

 If the celestial warlock hates the patron, then why does the warlock continue to work for, or serve, that patron? I am well aware of the lust for the power and such, but why would anyone spend the bulk of his/her existence trying to fulfill the goals of a being he/she hates?

I think that god/patron is like angel depictions, clerics have modern depictions, and celestlocks have biblically accurate depictions.

Quote from GeijerFeyLock >>

Quote from crzyhawk >>

A celestial warlock's made a deal just like any other warlock.  A cleric is a worshipper.  A celestial warlock may absolutely LOATHE their patron, but as long as they abide by the terms of their contract, a deal's a deal.

 If the celestial warlock hates the patron, then why does the warlock continue to work for, or serve, that patron? I am well aware of the lust for the power and such, but why would anyone spend the bulk of his/her existence trying to fulfill the goals of a being he/she hates?

 Depends on the terms of the contract.  I've worked for some bosses that I absolutely loathed before, so it's certainly not unrealistic.  It's not a stretch for me to beleive the warlock does it for the same reason I do:  I need the payout.

I'm imagining 2 identical twins that are cleric and celestlock and nobody can tell them apart.

Quote from crzyhawk >>

Quote from GeijerFeyLock >>

Quote from crzyhawk >>

A celestial warlock's made a deal just like any other warlock.  A cleric is a worshipper.  A celestial warlock may absolutely LOATHE their patron, but as long as they abide by the terms of their contract, a deal's a deal.

 If the celestial warlock hates the patron, then why does the warlock continue to work for, or serve, that patron? I am well aware of the lust for the power and such, but why would anyone spend the bulk of his/her existence trying to fulfill the goals of a being he/she hates?

 Depends on the terms of the contract.  I've worked for some bosses that I absolutely loathed before, so it's certainly not unrealistic.  It's not a stretch for me to beleive the warlock does it for the same reason I do:  I need the payout.

 I will concede the point with the counterpoint that a boss/ patron that you like or admire can make the job/task much easier to bear. A boss/patron that you despise simply means that when/if you find a better situation, you will have no incentive to  remain.

Quote from GeijerFeyLock >>

Quote from crzyhawk >>

Quote from GeijerFeyLock >>

Quote from crzyhawk >>

A celestial warlock's made a deal just like any other warlock.  A cleric is a worshipper.  A celestial warlock may absolutely LOATHE their patron, but as long as they abide by the terms of their contract, a deal's a deal.

 If the celestial warlock hates the patron, then why does the warlock continue to work for, or serve, that patron? I am well aware of the lust for the power and such, but why would anyone spend the bulk of his/her existence trying to fulfill the goals of a being he/she hates?

 Depends on the terms of the contract.  I've worked for some bosses that I absolutely loathed before, so it's certainly not unrealistic.  It's not a stretch for me to beleive the warlock does it for the same reason I do:  I need the payout.

 I will concede the point with the counterpoint that a boss/ patron that you like or admire can make the job/task much easier to bear. A boss/patron that you despise simply means that when/if you find a better situation, you will have no incentive to  remain.

 
Sure, but it’s not like there’s whole job boards of patrons just looking for an applicant. Plus your pact’s terms could well include penalty clauses if you try to ditch.

yep.  All terms of the contract.  having terms for the contract can give the DM some fun story hooks, if that's something you both are happy with.

It's easier to imagine hating an evil or cruel patron - a deal with a devil, literally, where you gain power, but are subject to their whims and cruelty.

But one can envision circumstances where a celestial could be resented. You and your guttersnipe friends thought it would be an easy job to sneak into the temple and nip a few gold cups and candle-sticks from the alter while the priests were all attending the feast at the palace. But you tried to nick that one Chalice, and now you are looking at the flaming sword of the glowing winged being that suddenly appeared, with the rest of your crew dead or split, and you knew your day had come. You stood there, your chest exposed for the blow, and said "Go ahead, do your worst. S'not like I had much going for me in this life." But they admired your courage and the fact you didn't abandon your friends, and offered to spare your life, in exchange for swearing a pact.

Now you sometimes hate that smug self-rightous celestial that wont let you nick a purse, even when that snotty merchant left it hanging half out of their belt just begging to be nipped, and or use these spells to give the what-for to that one guard that used to hassle your crew so much. And you can't stand the high and mighty priests who never gave you a second glance when they passed you in the street before. But you like the power it gives you, and you don't mind being able to wear decent clothes and a nice room to live in and a few extra gold.

Quote from RangerFalin >>

It's easier to imagine hating an evil or cruel patron - a deal with a devil, literally, where you gain power, but are subject to their whims and cruelty.

But one can envision circumstances where a celestial could be resented. You and your guttersnipe friends thought it would be an easy job to sneak into the temple and nip a few gold cups and candle-sticks from the alter while the priests were all attending the feast at the palace. But you tried to nick that one Chalice, and now you are looking at the flaming sword of the glowing winged being that suddenly appeared, with the rest of your crew dead or split, and you knew your day had come. You stood there, your chest exposed for the blow, and said "Go ahead, do your worst. S'not like I had much going for me in this life." But they admired your courage and the fact you didn't abandon your friends, and offered to spare your life, in exchange for swearing a pact.

Now you sometimes hate that smug self-rightous celestial that wont let you nick a purse, even when that snotty merchant left it hanging half out of their belt just begging to be nipped, and or use these spells to give the what-for to that one guard that used to hassle your crew so much. And you can't stand the high and mighty priests who never gave you a second glance when they passed you in the street before. But you like the power it gives you, and you don't mind being able to wear decent clothes and a nice room to live in and a few extra gold.

Ah, yes, there is an fable of Aesop's which illustrates that a rich, well fed existence often comes with a fancy collar around one's neck, while freedom often means an existence with few material rewards.