Achieving cleric badassery
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Pretty simple here. What do you guys like to see in clerics? :lol:
Does anyone have a favorite cleric that comes to mind? What did they do? -
Here are some links you might find useful
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I personally enjoy clerics more when they use they take their own twisted spin on a dogma. For example, part of Lathander's dogma is about striving to achieve new hope, new ideology's and constantly move forward. A cleric with a bizarre twist could view current Arabel society as a failure and seek to evolve it into something more. They could even encourage democracy over monarchy. Taking things like that is what keeps religious PCs fresh and interesting, while providing the PC a less-than-generic feel.
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The primary thing I looked for in good clerics is very simple:
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Interpretation and facet of dogma. Now, it's easy to be a stereotypical cleric, but it's important to realize that Gods do not necessarily expect every cleric of theirs to be the same. If they did, they wouldn't allow one-step (or more) alignments. Ask yourself, "How does an LG cleric of Lathander differ from a CG one?" In cases of deities like Oghma or Gond, who allow clerics of all alignments; How does a CG oghman cleric interpret the dogma differently than an LE one? Think in this vein. All clerics of a God needn't espouse the exact same things, nor should they; Even in RL, how many differing views on scriptures are there? Wars have been fought over interpretations. It's a highly complex thing. Though this is a game and dogmas are often simplistic, players can add a lot to it with some creative thinking.
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Spreading the faith. You need to convince people your God needs offerings, prayers, even converts. That's your job, and if you don't do it, you lose your job.How you bring this about is completely up to you. Trick them, cajole them, threaten them, force them to convert at swordpoint, blackmail them, persuade them, set an example for them, all are viable options depending the God you serve.
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Now, factor in your own PC's personal opinions. Why did you pick this God? What about him do you like? What about him don't you like? Maybe as a cleric, you want to focus on one particular aspect and try to suppress the others. This is also viable. For example, Tempus now holds the portfolios of Valkur, Uthgar, Garagos and Red Knight. All ex-worshipers pray to Tempus, and you can BET that Uthgar clerics and garagossian clerics are NOT going to get along, even if they pray to the same God now. They worship different aspects of Tempus; The honorable battlefather, and the reaver. The strategist, or the chaotic swirl of war.
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The solars, with their hardass take on lathander, focusing on LAW, as opposed to the typical renewl and goodness was cool.
A tempan who focused on well-being of troops as opposed to being badass
A beshaban who focused on avoidance of bad luck as opposed to threats of it.
Just some ideas.