is it possible for a person to be a cleric and not know it I have a idea for the party to come across a powerful but not very bright tiefling little girl who is unknowingly a cleric for her doting but chaotic evil great grandpa her holy symbol is a little toy shes had for her whole life and and as far as she knows her daily chat with grandpa as she calls it is just normal for people to do with their relatives. so yay or nay
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Honestly sounds like a concept better off made as an Oracle or Witch, both of which have a built-in class flavor of "Gets their spells from a cosmic patron who often remains completely anonymous".
Honestly sounds like a concept better off made as an Oracle or Witch, both of which have a built-in class flavor of "Gets their spells from a cosmic patron who often remains completely anonymous".
I know it would work with a witch or a oracle but im just getting my options in order.
It seems hard, since there is the general implication that being a cleric needs a specific kind of discipline, focus, and devotion that you do not usually stumble upon randomly.
So yeah, witch is much, much easier.
As far as the starting age of characters goes, clerics falls into the "trained" category. For a level 1 character, it takes years of training to become a cleric.
I would say no on Cleric, the fluff of the cleric demands worship and awareness and training. It just doesn't mesh in my mind. Besides, I don't see children as wise, but charisma. Yeah, they got that in boatloads. I think oracle is a perfect fit here.
Also, for her to be a cleric of her grandfather he would have to be a god.
Where as, a child could be sway by a non-deific grandparent and convinced to do things for them without being the grand-daughter of a god (and therefore a demigod in her own right).
I would say no on Cleric, the fluff of the cleric demands worship and awareness and training. It just doesn't mesh in my mind. Besides, I don't see children as wise, but charisma. Yeah, they got that in boatloads. I think oracle is a perfect fit here.
Also, for her to be a cleric of her grandfather he would have to be a god.
Where as, a child could be sway by a non-deific grandparent and convinced to do things for them without being the grand-daughter of a god (and therefore a demigod in her own right).
well she is a tiefling and various powerful fiends can give divine spells so yeah...
well she is a tiefling and various powerful fiends can give divine spells so yeah...
If by various feinds you mean Demonlords and their equivalent yes, because they are demigods. It still requires someone with power above CR 20 to provide spells.
Further, teiflings have very dilute demon/daemon/devil blood. Otherwise they would be half-fiends or quarter fiends.
well she is a tiefling and various powerful fiends can give divine spells so yeah...If by various feinds you mean Demonlords and their equivalent yes, because they are demigods. It still requires someone with power above CR 20 to provide spells.
Further, teiflings have very dilute demon/daemon/devil blood. Otherwise they would be half-fiends or quarter fiends.
yes I know as I saied to quote doting but chaotic evil great grandpa their may be some more greats in their but cleric or not she will be related to something really really deadly.
Since when? Not on any cleric I've played or been in an adventuring party with. I know Int doesn't help the combat and casting aspect of the build, but taking 2 skill points down to 1 you're hurting the weakest aspect of the class. If anything, I would drop Dex below 10.
Hmm, oracle does seem best as everyone has said
As for unwittingly casting spells and such, what if they were nursery rhymes? Vocal and somantic components could easily be replaced as quick song verses and playing them out.
Edit: Makes 'cross your heart and hope to die' a lot scarier in retrospect!
I don't see how any class that needs to choose spells each day can be unaware of it.
It's difficult to be an accidentally evil cleric because evil clerics can only spontaneously harm, channel negative energy and possess an evil aura. These things make your true nature pretty obvious to even the most oblivious. As others have stated, oracle seems much better suited to this concept. Or witch. Or shaman. Classes that don't have blazing tell-tale signs that you are evil when you are evil. I suppose grandpa could be evil and the girl could be neutral to work around my concerns but it doesn't seem like that was what you are going for in the OP.
Have a look at Mirror from the Haunted Lands trilogy. The ghost of a paladin who can't even remember his name, let alone the name of his god, but still manages to smite evil (occasionally catching a friendly undead in the holy light as well) not on his own merit, but because the unnamed god he worshipped in life remembers his service. I see no reason why someone couldn't play a cleric who doesn't know he's a cleric, but it would need special circumstances; for some reason, the cleric would need to have forgotten he was a cleric, and the DM would need to keep track of spells somehow. Maybe the cleric's player says something like "I want to help the fighter, he's hurt bad!" the Dm rolls it off and maybe the cleric casts Heal, maybe he casts Bull's Strength, maybe he casts Harm on the Hydra that causing the problem, all stemming from his god, simply using him as a tool.
At that point, why make the NPC a cleric? She can just be a commoner who for some reason has more than the normal amount of attention from a diety.
At its core, what is a cleric? someone who has more than the normal amount of attention from a deity because reasons. those reasons range from years of studying dusty tomes and praying at mass all the way to sudden realization and gift of grace. Look to Elminster(or should we say Elmara?), his first magical abilities were as a servant of Mystra, praying for his powers, and would we not call that a cleric? he didn't study, he didn't even pray to Mystra before being bludgeoned down during his attempt to deface her temple! Cleric is just a game term for someone who has magical powers gifted to them by a deity, and you can do with that what you will.
Nay with the cleric class for reasons others have given. I did once have a similar idea but involving a child witch with the gravewalker archetype who's most loved toy is a doll (spell poppet) that talks to them. In the OPs case the poppet could be inhabited by the grandfather's spirit who acts as a guide and intermediary for some greater power so unlike the cleric idea he wouldn't have to be a demigod. She can be intelligent without fully understanding she's being influenced by evil forces (which I would see as a trait of low wisdom) and I think there's a tiefling variant that grants a bonus to int and penalty to wis.
If the fluff is the problem, then just make it an archetype with fluff that matches. The archetype doesn't even have to do anything besides let you get cleric features from "Grandpa".