When a cleric takes up an adventuring life, it is usually because his or her god demands it. True clerics are rare in most hierarchies. 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. 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. Not every acolyte or officiant at a temple or shrine is a cleric.
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. They can provoke awe and dread, lay curses of plague or poison, and even call down flames from heaven to consume their enemies. 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.Ĭlerics combine the helpful magic of healing and inspiring their allies with spells that harm and hinder foes. Harnessing divine magic doesn’t rely on study or training.
The gods don’t grant this power to everyone who seeks it, but only to those chosen to fulfill a high calling. Clerics are conduits for that power, manifesting it as miraculous effects. Healers and Warriorsĭivine magic, as the name suggests, is the power of the gods, flowing from them into the world. No ordinary priest, a cleric is imbued with divine magic. As varied as the gods they serve, clerics strive to embody the handiwork of their deities. Create your free Character Cleric Class DetailsĪrms and eyes upraised toward the sun and a prayer on his lips, an elf begins to glow with an inner light that spills out to heal his battle-worn companions.Ĭhanting a song of glory, a dwarf swings his axe in wide swaths to cut through the ranks of orcs arrayed against him, shouting praise to the gods with every foe’s fall.Ĭalling down a curse upon the forces of undeath, a human lifts her holy symbol as light pours from it to drive back the zombies crowding in on her companions.Ĭlerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods.