Cleric

Overview

Clerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods. As varied as the gods they serve, clerics strive to embody the handiwork of their deities. No ordinary priest, a cleric is imbued with divine magic.

Almost all the folk in the world who revere a deity live their lives without ever being directly touched by a divine being. As such, they can never know what it feels like to be a cleric - someone who is not only a devout worshiper, but who has also been invested with a measure of a deity's power.

The question has long been debated: Does a mortal become a cleric as a consequence of deep devotion to one's deity, thereby attracting the god's favor? Or is it the deity who sees the potential in a person and calls that individual into service? Ultimately, perhaps, the answer doesn't matter. However clerics come into being, the world needs clerics as much as clerics and deities need each other.

The gods are most active through their chosen clerics, who carry out the gods' work on the Material Plane. A typical cleric serves a single divine patron, but some individuals feel called to serve a group.

Some clerics belong to an established religious hierarchy, but many do not. The gods choose whomever they will, and sometimes a devoted worshiper is blessed with all the abilities of a cleric, despite not being a priest of any kind. That cleric might be a contemplative hermit, a wandering prophet, or simply a devout peasant. Religious orders often try to recruit such clerics and bring them into the fold, but not all of those clerics wish to be bound to a hierarchy.

Conversely, not everyone who pursues a religious vocation is a true cleric. Some acolytes discover a different path for their lives than the path of the cleric. They serve their faiths in other roles, such as priests, scholars, or artisans, while some go on to vocations that have nothing to do with religion. A few souls who are denied the path of the cleric become embittered and seek favor with sinister or forbidden gods or forge pacts with other powerful entities. Religious scholars debate whether divine rejection led such a person to embrace a dark path or whether the person was rejected because the gods foresaw the potential for darkness in the person's future. The gods remain silent on the matter.

Some clerics are homebodies who serve a particular community of the faithful, but adventuring clerics tend to have a certain crusading zeal to do their deity's work in the wider world. This work may include ministering to far-flung communities, as well as seeking out and defeating threats to the civilized world.

Healers and Warriors

Divine magic, as the name suggests, is the power of the gods, flowing from them into the world. Clerics are conduits for that power, manifesting it as miraculous effects. The gods don't grant this power to everyone who seeks it, but only to those chosen to fulfill a high calling.

Harnessing divine magic doesn't rely on study or training. A cleric might learn formulaic prayers and ancient rites, but the ability to cast cleric spells relies on devotion and an intuitive sense of a deity's wishes.

Clerics combine the helpful magic of healing and inspiring their allies with spells that harm and hinder foes. They can provoke awe and dread, lay curses of plague or poison, and even call down flames from heaven to consume their enemies. For those evildoers who will benefit most from a mace to the head, clerics depend on their combat training to let them wade into melee with the power of the gods on their side.

Divine Agents

Not every acolyte or officiant at a temple or shrine is a cleric. Some priests are called to a simple life of temple service, carrying out their gods' will through prayer and sacrifice, not by magic and strength of arms. In some cities, priesthood amounts to a political office, viewed as a stepping stone to higher positions of authority and involving no communion with a god at all. True clerics are rare in most hierarchies.

When a cleric takes up an adventuring life, it is usually because his or her god demands it. Pursuing the goals of the gods often involves braving dangers beyond the walls of civilization, smiting evil or seeking holy relics in ancient tombs. Many clerics are also expected to protect their deities' worshipers, which can mean fighting rampaging orcs, negotiating peace between warring nations, or sealing a portal that would allow a demon prince to enter the world.

Temple

Most clerics start their lives of service as priests at a temple, then later realize that they have been blessed by their god with the qualities needed to become a cleric. To prepare for this new duty, candidates typically receive instruction from a cleric of a temple or another place of study devoted to their deity.

Some temples are cut off from the world so that their occupants can focus on devotions, while other temples open their doors to minister to and heal the masses.

Keepsake

Many clerics have items among their personal gear that symbolize their faith, remind them of their vows, or otherwise help to keep them on their chosen paths. Even though such an item is not imbued with divine power, it is vitally important to its owner because of what it represents.

Secret

No mortal soul is entirely free of second thoughts or doubt. Even a cleric must grapple with dark desires or the forbidden attraction of turning against the teachings of one's deity.

Features

As a cleric, you gain the following class features

Hit Points

• Hit Dice: 1d8 per cleric level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per cleric level after 1st

Proficiencies

• Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
• Weapons: Simple weapons
• Tools: None
• Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
• Skills: Choose two from History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion

Equipment

• A mace or a warhammer (if proficient)
• Scale mail, leather armor, or chain mail (if proficient)
• Any simple weapon or a light crossbow, 20 crossbow bolts, and a crossbow bolt case
• A priest’s pack or an explorer’s pack
• A shield and a holy symbol