Tag: Cleric

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Editorial

RPG Blog Carnival: Things to Love and Things to Hate About Healing Surges

This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is being hosted by Nevermeet Press. The topic is Things to Love, Things to Hate.

The Cleric has always been my favourite class in D&D. I’m not a spiritual person in real life but there’s something I’ve always found appealing when it comes to playing divine characters. I think a big part of it is knowing that my character has to very power of life and death in his hands. With just a thought he can call forth his deity’s power and heal wounds. Having this power, a power until 4e that was limited to divine character, is like having insurance that the rest of the characters don’t. No matter how bad things get I know that I can use my class powers to heal wounds and stay on my feet. This is not to say that I’m a selfish Cleric, but if I go down no one else gets healed which certainly makes a compelling argument for serving my own needs first.

In my opinion, the most significant improvements to the Cleric class in 4e was making the ability to heal a minor action, thereby allowing the Cleric to still participate in combat. Until 4e Clerics often did nothing but heal the wounded while all the other classes did amazing things. Not so with 4e. The combination of the healing surge mechanic and Healing Word as a minor action made Clerics a lot more powerful because they could be a lot more involved. This is a big reason why I still find Clerics among the best classes in 4e D&D. It’s also the reason that I choose healing surges as the focus for this article, my contribution to this month’s RPG Blog Carnival.

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Adventure Hooks Class Discussions DM Resources

Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters (Part 1)

Adventure hooks are usually pretty simple. One or two sentences serve as inspiration, helping the DM create his next encounter or even a whole arc of the camping. However, adventure hooks designed to include divine characters have the potential to be a lot more complicated.

Right from level 1, divine characters have the support and resources of their church behind them. The PC may not be important or powerful enough within the hierarchy to request a magic item or demand an audience with the high priest, but this relationship exists. Even in circumstances where a divine character has left or been expelled from his order, he still has his faith. Should this character require aid he only needs to find others with similar beliefs and he’ll likely get it.

In most cases, PCs are in good standing with their church. They will often aid followers of the same faith and other members of the church if they need it. Likewise there is a good chance that these same people will assist the PC if the situation is reversed. This makes adventure hooks that feature divine characters a lot more complicated.

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DM Resources

Divine Organizations (Part One)

Divine characters provide some of the best built in role playing motivations. Much of this can be attributed to the various divine organizations that the character might be associated with. At the very least this is the local church where the character was trained or came to understand their faith.

Faiths are more than just a collection of churches. Behind the public facade the church is highly organized. There are various splinter groups or sects that exist within the faith. These groups often provide great role playing motivation, whether they are being portrayed as the heroes or the villains in your story.

Presented here are two divine organizations that you can drop easily into your game. They are campaign neutral and no mention of a particular deity is contained in the entries, allowing you as the DM to simply use them as you wish.

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Class Discussions

Divine Connections

Dwarf InvokerThe divine power source more than any other carries with it great connections between its various classes. This is due to the link that the various deities provide between the classes. Due to this link, a campaign that features only divine characters is easier to manage than a campaign that features only one other power source. Divine campaigns can be a lot of fun to participate in and they provide plenty of opportunities for interesting role-playing.

While divine classes share a common element in their deity, they all approach how to serve that deity in a different manner. In many cases there is a striking contrast in acceptable behaviour from one class to another. This post will briefly discuss the various classes that comprise the divine power source and how they relate to their other divine peers.

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Class Discussions DM Resources

Divine Intervention

I’ve always had a fondness for divine characters. The idea that these classes actually receive divine power directly from their deity everyday in the form of prayer spells has always blown my mind. Unlike the Wizard who need to study and learn their spells, the power of a divine character is based largely in the strength of his faith.

Even though I’m not a particularly devote person in real life, playing a pious character is a role I have very little trouble getting into. This character actually receives confirmation every day that his deity not only exists but allows the PCs to act in his name. I just don’t see how your faith can waiver after you’ve felt the touch of your patron.

As the DM I’ve tried to emphasize this connection between divine characters and their deity at my gaming table. The DM (acting in his role as the patron deity) provides the divine PC with something useful for the upcoming adventure. Usually this is just information that would otherwise be unknown to the PC, but often I granted power boons as well. However, I’ve found this to be a more difficult undertaking with 4e D&D then it ever was in previous editions.

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Book Reviews Editorial

The Essentials On D&D Essentials

D&D Essentials have arrived and yesterday I received my copy of the Rules Compendium and Heroes of the Fallen Lands. I have to admit that at first I had no intention of picking up any books in the Essentials line. I figured I would wait for Character Builder to update and then look at the new options that are available. I’m glad I didn’t.

For those not aware D&D Essentials is an alternate path for advancement available to your D&D characters. The Essentials line is a series of 10 products that gaming shops are encouraged to keep in stock. They are essentially the new entry point for beginner players. That being said, players other than beginners may find the new options to their liking. For more information on the Essentials line, including release dates, read our post regarding the Wizards of the Coast Preview.

There has certainly been a lot of debate about the merit of the Essentials line and it’s place in 4e D&D. I’m not here to tell you Essentials is the best thing since sliced bread or that it’s the worst product WotC has produced in years. Instead I’ll give you my honest feedback of what I’ve read so far and leave you to make your own decisions.

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Class Discussions

What Class Are You? – Wimwick

Wizards of the Coast wants to know what class you are.  It’s to help determine the classes that will be released in PHB3. Ok, maybe not but it’s a fun little quiz.

Me I’m a Rogue, but that’s no suprise. I knew I was a Rogue when I introduced myself to you, so I can’t say I’m shocked at the outcome..

The quiz is fun, but it isn’t rocket science to figure out what class you’ll end up with. Check it out.


D&D Home Page – What Class Are You? – Build A Character – D&D Compendium