So, since I ALWAYS run up against not liking my choices for deities, I've done some thinking on how to reorganize the Cleric.
Temples and churches get organized around similar alignments, offering reverence to any and all deities appropriate; in effect, individual gods become fluff. Some churches may actually span the world, some might be strictly local, most would fall between these into regional hierarchies.
Clerics:
... choose whether to channel negative or positive energy *regardless of alignment*
... likewise, any cleric can pick up versatile channeler
... spontaneously-cast whichever Domain spells they have prepared, rather than cure/inflict spells
... have an Aura based on their own alignment
... may choose 2 Domains that don't conflict with their alignment
I also designate several Domains as "non-(x)" alignment (must be non-x to select) as follows:
... non-Good: Madness, War
... non-Evil: Healing, Liberation
... non-Chaotic: Artifice, Community, Knowledge
... non-Lawful: Destruction, Luck, Weather
Thoughts?
I would not make Knowledge non-chaotic (mad sage) nor would I make Luck wholly non-lawful (Fate subdomain makes a decent lawful domain). I think I would make Liberation non-lawful.
Core rules allow for not having to choose a deity, re-read the cleric class. You can just venerate a belief of some sort and take 2 domains that pertain to that belief.
Basically, no rework necessary.
Core rules allow for not having to choose a deity, re-read the cleric class. You can just venerate a belief of some sort and take 2 domains that pertain to that belief.
Basically, no rework necessary.
Alitan seems to be wanting build specific churches around that tenants. Also, some things he wants are going beyond core assumptions (channeling energy independent of alignment for example).
Pre-script: no heat in any of the following. Disagreement=\=discord.
Knowledge, from my perspective, is about the collection, preservation, and organization of lore, etc. That's why it got non-chaotic.
Fate isn't luck (despite subdomain placement). Fate is preordained, as far from "luck" as I can imagine... while relying on luck, worshipping it? "Fortune is fickle," ever since Rome.
As for Liberation, well... yeah, it could be. But "Law" doesn't have to mean enslavement, or even enforced conformity. That is, I can envision a lawful celebrant of liberation much more easily than an evil one. (Besides, this way the non-good and non-evil Domains are balanced... I'm pretty lawful, myself, if law=OCD.)
(Also worth noting, I don't use the subdomain stuff. Fate would fall non-chaotic if I did, but I don't.)
S4 -
I'm aware of what the core rules permit.
I want to do away with defined deities entirely, so one can be a priest of "the god of rescues," f'r'instance, without having to pack yet another god into an always-getting-more-crowded pantheon.
And I'm not a fan of "negative energy=evil/positive energy=good" trope.
And I prefer, if a cleric is gonna be spamming spontaneous casting, that it be of spells that are more meaningful than cures and inflicts. And I prefer making clerics memorize their cure spells to make magic healing a little less instacure.
I prefer lots and lots of "god-like-entities" without having to go into the crunch details of each priesthood.
Now, if you have any comment on the proposed re-work, I'd love to hear it. If you're just going to point me at rules I already know, that obviously weren't sufficient, well, don't.
There are 9 alignments. Each is 1/9th of infinity.
This is why alignment restrictions on class are becoming rarer and rarer.
The Discordia is a book full of caos, and it's not alone.
Your system is good as an addition to the existing rules, but every GM will want to modify your restrictions, or use the existing ones.
The Discordia is a book full of caos, and it's not alone.
Everything's full of chaos, just arranged in neat little piles so people think it's not. HAIL ERIS!
I guess I'm just not a huge fan of changing things for the sake of changing them when the system already has ways to do what you want. Want to play a "good" cleric but not use positive energy? Run a lawful neutral character, "problem" solved. You already mentioned the feat for channeling so you are obviously aware of it as well. Spontaneous casting is a little more of an issue, but honestly most people I know would prefer to have the cure wounds "on tap" so to speak rather than other spells. I can memorize spells that I know I'll want and if the poop hits the fan I have access to healing when I need it and don't have it.
Spontaneous casting of domain spells that you have memorized is a bit iffy, most domains have few really useful spells and even then it will be of a certain spell level. So while it might seem to be opening choices up, it really isn't. With inflict/cure spells at least they are always doing what they do with any level spell. Using your option, characters will have dead levels or have to blow higher level spells to get access to a decent spell of lower level. That seems like a really poor option to me.
You could try ditching alignments in favour of "allegiances".
D20 Modern used the system. Instead of having an alignment you are instead aligned to different causes and organizations and can play the character with more organic morality.
Detect alignment can become detect motivation, or detect surface thoughts, or detect opposition.
The aura can become an aura of their domains.
Just an idea.
I especially (and always) like the idea of clerics spont their domain spells and not cure/inflict.
This is a WAY better way to flash out the different clerics than a single domain spell slot could ever be.
The problem is though - as Skylancer said - this would take away a lot of the clerics healing potential AND would make the "Healing" domain EXTREMELY attractive, maybe even resulting in almost all clerics taken this.
Another idea might be to allow clerics to spont. BOTH cure/inflict AND their domain spells.
The domain slot would then either be treated as a normal spell slot or would simply be dropped (to readjust power).
I will give this some more though for my campaign...
I'm kind of a fan of requiring cure and/or inflict spells to be specifically prepared, rather than allowing cure-spamming. Given positive channeling, and especially if one opens up versatile channeler, spontaneous cures are a bit much.
As for alignments, well, I'm comfortable working with them. And so much of the magic is already in place, would require lots of tweak. "Magic Circle vs. (x allegiance)" for example, would expand that spell out of all reason...
But then, am grognard. Or maybe, AM Grognard...
Anyhow, I'll be springing this revised cleric on a gaming group in a couple months, and will have some actual playtest data to report on how it works.
Magic circle against beastal, would keep out whiverns, maybe.