What are clerics capable of? Lore-wise

[cptcuddlepants]

Title.

I've been hanging around a lot of mages and they do a ton of cool stuff, I'm mostly wondering what clerics (and by extension, divine magic) can do in terms of, well, magic and stuff.

Is there any "wiggle room" for creative uses of power, such as lighting a campfire without casting, say... Fire Storm? Or are characters restricted to the spells and abilities present in the ingame spellbook?

[Lorkas]

As long as whatever you're claiming your character is able to do doesn't give them an advantage over other characters that isn't due to them, there's a lot of wiggle room!

People tend to dislike things that scream "MY character is special" and like things (I think) that make the world a richer place. Exploring things like the everyday uses for magic can really build up the game world in my opinion.

But yea, definitely do not try to claim a special advantage over another character in this way.

[Nitro]

Well, in the P&P, clerics have a little different spell list than wizards do. They don't have an analogue to prestidigitation, which is what wizards use to create all most of their minor magical tricks like lighting candles, creating sparkles of colored lights or changing the color or taste of something. But on the other hand, clerics can get some other useful utility cantrips like: Create water, Detect Poison, Mending, Guidance and Read Magic.

That said, I doubt anyone is going to jump down your throat if you RP waving a hand to light a campfire, especially not if you worship a deity with the fire domain, like Kossuth.

[cptcuddlepants]

It wouldn't be anything like "oh yeah, Jad can also cast wizard spells and stuff because he's special" - but some RP flexibility outside the very limited cleric spellbook. Like making ice! Could a deity's power turn water into ice, or make a drink colder or warmer, or similar? What about some of the rituals and other magical fixtures (like the negative energy-related fixtures that have been very relevant in Cordor recently) that wizards do? Could a cleric assist with that, or even create one of his/her own?

[Iceborn]

I would say:
With every spell focus that you take, you are increasing your affinity with magic. It doesn't matter if it's divine, arcane or else, that's a natural comprehension of magic, of a way to alter reality.
Wizards and sorcerers can take this to a whole new level with INFICASTING, WOO! But if your priest has greater evocation focus, I would find it perfectly alright if he could do minor forms of evocation, like sparking a flame, or setting one of his fingers on fire.

Divine magic is not more limited than arcane magic, but priests may have a different focus for it. If your character is aware of his limitations, that makes it all the more interesting to learn to skirt and expand on it ICly.

[The GrumpyCat]

Strictly speaking- mechanicaly speaking you can do what you can do in NWN. You are not entitled to anything else, unless the playes/DMs decide to run with it. But no doubt you already knew that.

With that being said, rping above and beyond that power can be fun, and can be something we roll with (as you know) especialy where it makes more story/fun for others.

To answer your direction I would say - ask not what your character can do, but what your God would do for your character.

For example: I am not sure Torm would assist one of his clerics in making ice, but would certainly perhaps assist with say, making the cleric extra awsome to sway a crowd. Or assisting the cleric in standing firm under adversary. Or removing fear from others, to make them more loyal under pressure, ect....
Auril on the other hand might be well up for helping her priests make things colder. Or helping others withstand cold a little. Or dousing fires ect.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Something I've always done, and this isn't canon stuff,

most mages I've played have always had some tricks to do with the elements. all divine non-nature classes I've played have always done little tricks with light, creating light, snuffing it out, stuff with candles, orbs of light, lanterns, etc. I've always seen light/dark as analogues to Positive/Nergative energy, and since clerics are attuned with that - more than wizards & co - that's always been a creative space I've adopted.

(disclaimer: I probably stole this from another player. sorry to that person!)

[FrozenSolid]

Yeah, it's up to the god! But I'd stress if you are going to push a god for more powers then that god would need a reason to bestow them. Divine followers channel the gods power themselves. So a god won't spare it for someone that isn't an avid follower. In my opinion anyways.

I don't see many divine followers integrate their faith into RP too often. An example is prayer, or calling out a prayer in the midsts of combat while also raining fire onto their enemies. Or asking others to give a moment of thanks to X God for the gifts they bestowed etc. Some do. But not many that I have seen.

[kittenblackfriends]

My champion, whenever she prayed, would actually whisper prayers. The amount of players who would pray with me and were astounded by it was insane.

Roleplaying a divine caster is amazing.

[High Primate]

My epic cleric recently paid another character a large sum of money. For dramatic effect I had him conjure it in the form of a huge whirlwind of coins.

Justification? It made things more fun.

[Magnusc0r3]

Using some of the in-game macros from the -help menu might get some of that started. Wizards can use things like Poik (clean) too magically clean themselves or other surfaces, so Clerics and all Divine casters I'm sure have their own things too. Stick to the mechanics if you want to be careful about what they said about Godemoding your PC, otherwise just look up stuff for Cleric that they can do and find a way to use it in game, without just implying or saying it.

[Aelryn Bloodmoon]

Ceviran routinely uses wind and flames to incinerate dirt and grime (and sometimes blood).

Lore-wise it very much depends on who your cleric worships, as others have pointed out. I believe Selune allows clerics leading a ritual to bestow the power of flight on others without that power for the duration of the ritual on a specific holy night under the moon.

Mechanically, no one on Arelith can fly overhead and out of reach, but it would be perfectly legitimate for you to RP as much, and I feel like most would go along with it- as long as you didn't try to direct their flight for them.

Likewise, nothing is really stopping you from carrying around tons of food and performing holy prayers to "Create food/water" for the poor, starving masses. No one else has to acknowledge the holy miracle, but no one else can PROVE that you didn't just create it out of thin air, either.

Common sense goes a long way, here. Did you have a specific example in mind, or were you just looking for a starting point?

[cptcuddlepants]

For example: I am not sure Torm would assist one of his clerics in making ice, but would certainly perhaps assist with say, making the cleric extra awsome to sway a crowd.

What about if being extra awesome for crowd-swaying purposes required ice?

I didn't really have anything specific in mind - mostly looking for guidelines and hard limits stating that some things are definitely impossible. I've found that adhering strictly to game mechanics or P&P rules can get stifling sometimes, but I don't want to go way overboard or over-the-top with impossible things. The wiki says that clerics and divine casters aren't actually using magic, but could they still understand how magic works well enough to, for example, assist with magical ailments and undo spells/enchantments in certain areas?

The question "what would a deity do for one of his followers" seems a little difficult to find answers for, as one could theoretically justify almost anything if they wanted to badly enough, and I feel like that might make things really awkward.