Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
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- For the cleric in other role-playing games, see cleric (character class).
| Base classes from Player's Handbook |
|---|
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Barbarian Bard Cleric Druid Fighter Monk Paladin Ranger Rogue Sorcerer Wizard |
| Alternate base classes |
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Archivist Ardent Artificer Beguiler Binder Divine Mind Dragon Shaman Dread Necromancer Duskblade Favored Soul Healer Hexblade Knight Lurk Incarnate Marshal Ninja Psion Psychic Warrior Samurai Scout Shadowcaster Shaman Shugenja Sohei Soulborn Soulknife Spellthief Spirit Shaman Swashbuckler Totemist Truenamer Warlock Warmage Wilder Wu Jen |
| Prestige classes |
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Arcane Archer Assassin Blackguard Red Wizard Shadowdancer |
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the cleric is one of the base character classes. Clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative magics available to them. With divinely-granted abilities over life or death, they are also able to repel or control undead creatures. Whether a cleric repels or controls undead is dependent on his or her alignment.
First Edition
In the very first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the cleric character class was a simulation of a soldier devotee of a sacred order whose powers were granted them from divine source. Apparently not all such soldiers were granted powers, and as the paladin character class description shows, clerics are not the only sacred soldier that are granted divine power. The difference between the two is that clerics are more primal to the motif of a blessed warrior of Christian Europe (as their weapon selection, weapons that do not draw blood, is based on Catholic dictum regarding priests on Crusade), and paladins represent the holy knight, such as Percival. From a pure game mechanic standpoint, clerics are focused on wide and variant manifestation of divine miracle and their behavior varies as per which deity the cleric serves, whereas paladins are granted affixed miraculous power and all paladins serve only good powers. The cleric, while based on Medieval European crusading priests, is obviously meant to be adapted to numerous fantasy campaign worlds (although only this was only officially done in Second Edition rules, unless one views Dragon magazine articles as canon).
Second Edition
The cleric must usually pick a specific religion or mythos. Within the mythos/religion chosen by the character are abilities and powers. These are represented by the Spheres of Influence defined by the worshipped deity's dogma (eg Tyranny, Death, Life, Healing etc.), power (demi, lesser, intermediate or greater power) and alignment (Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil etc.).Spells
The dogma gives guidance on what type of spell the cleric would have access to with greater access (all spells within a sphere, providing the cleric is of sufficient power [level] to cast it) for those spells closely aligned with the deity's dogma and minor access (spells of equal to or less than 3rd level) of those partially within the deity's dogma and no access to those spells outside the deity's dogma.The deity's power defined the upper limit of the spells able to be granted to a cleric: a demi-god can grant up to 4th level spells and a greater deity up to 7th level spells.
For example, a greater deity of Healing could grant spells of all levels in the Healing sphere, minor access to Divination spells and no access to combat spells such as Flamestrike since they are antithetical to its' healing dogma.
Weapons
Reluctant to shed blood, clerics are limited to blunt, bludgeoning weapons unless allowed other weapons by their dogma/mythos.Third Edition
In the 3rd Edition (and 3.5 Edition) of D&D the cleric must choose either a deity or an alignment concept to be dedicated to (the "patron"). The clerics' alignment must be within 1 step of their patron (eg for a Lawful Good patron the cleric can be Neutral Good, Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral). Most notably, it is stated in the rules that a cleric needn't worship a deity or have a religion at all, but can draw their power from a philosophy or even their personal devotion to a cause or way of life.Domains
At the beginning of his career as a cleric, the cleric chooses 2 of the powers associated with the patron (called Domains) and must prepare a Domain Spell each day from a set list in addition to the normal cleric spells.Each domain has a set power associated with it. For example, the Strength domain allows the character to enhance their strength once per day with a number equal to their cleric level for one round, and the Healing domain makes the caster more adept at casting healing spells.
Spontaneous casting
A cleric's alignment dictates what sort of spells are spontaneously available to them. Good-aligned clerics can transform a memorised spell into a healing spell of the same level (for example, a Chaotic Good cleric can transform Protection from Evil, a first level protective spell, into Cure Light Wounds, a first level healing one). Evil aligned clerics can perform a similar feat but convert memorised spells into Inflict spells that cause the same damage as the curing spell of the same level. Neutral clerics must choose to cast one or the other type of spell at time of creation. Once chosen this choice cannot be changed short of an alignment change.This choice also affects a cleric's ability to turn or rebuke (control) undead.
- A cleric who channels positive energy spontaneously casts healing spells, and turns (or destroys) undead.
- A cleric who channels negative energy spontaneously casts inflict spells, and rebukes (or commands) undead.
Weapons
Clerics are no longer restricted to blunt weapons. They are proficient with all simple weapons and may be proficient with other weapons depending upon chosen domains. Often clerics will wield their deity's signature weapon as a tangible, outward symbol of faith and dedication.See also
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