# A cleric and his deity's favored weapon



## Azlan (Jun 25, 2007)

1. Does a cleric _have_ to wield – as often as possible, in combat – his deity's favored weapon? If, say, I'm playing a cleric of Pelor, whose favored weapon is a mace, and I find a +1 morningstar, can I switch from using my non-magic mace, to using that +1 morningstar?

2. If a cleric _does_ have to wield his deity's favored weapon, what about a multi-class cleric? It would be a shame to be a fighter/cleric, and be proficient with all martial weapons, but be forced to wield a simple weapon because that's my deity's favored weapon. And if I were playing a fighter/cleric of Pelor, the sun god, and I found a Sun Sword, it would be a crying shame if I couldn't wield it because of the limitation imposed by my god's favored weapon. (A fighter/cleric of Pelor, wielding a Sun Sword, sounds like an awesome combination, to me.)

3. If I choose to be a cleric, but I do not choose the War domain, do I still gain proficiency with my god's favored weapon even if that weapon is not among the cleric's weapon proficiencies? (Note, if the answer to question #1 is "yes", then the answer to this question can't be "no". That is, unless a non-War domain cleric is forced to take, as one of his feats, a proficiency with that favored weapon, that he would otherwise not be proficient with.)

4. What are the consequences, if any, a cleric suffers if he does not prefer to use his deity's favored weapon?


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## Kahuna Burger (Jun 25, 2007)

Favored weapon of your diety is pretty much pure flavor unless you either have war domain or are casting spiritual weapon, ime... It can add some good roleplaying to prefer that weapon, but worshiping your diety doesn't have to mean pretending to be him - a cleric could just as easily be uncomfortable "presuming" to weild the weapon of his god as feeling that it was the proper weapon to have....


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## werk (Jun 25, 2007)

1. no
2. still no
3. yes
4. none, though other restrictions or penalties may apply.


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## Kahuna Burger (Jun 25, 2007)

werk said:
			
		

> 3. yes



I think this one is no too. "A cleric who chooses the War domain receives the Weapon Focus feat related to his deity’s weapon as a bonus feat. He also receives the appropriate Martial Weapon Proficiency feat as a bonus feat, if the weapon falls into that category." I presume that the "he" in the second sentance is the same cleric who chooses the war domain, not your average cleric. If you want to weild your diety's favored weapon efficiently and it's Martial take the war domain or spend a feat.


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## lukelightning (Jun 25, 2007)

werk said:
			
		

> 1. no
> 2. still no
> 3. yes
> 4. none, though other restrictions or penalties may apply.




That should be "no no no none"

Clerics do *not* automatically get proficiency in their deity's favored weapon.


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## Klaus (Jun 25, 2007)

lukelightning said:
			
		

> That should be "no no no none"
> 
> Clerics do *not* automatically get proficiency in their deity's favored weapon.



 What he said.


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## the_mighty_agrippa (Jun 25, 2007)

Agree with the last two posts.


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## Murrdox (Jun 25, 2007)

1 - No.  Wielding the favored weapon of your deity is a mark of honor and respect for that deity.  However, it is not required, but likely church officials encourage it.  Wielding another weapon would be like being in the army, and using a gun manufactured by a country other than your own. (not a perfect analogy, but you get the idea)

2 - No.  It depends on how loyal a Cleric you are, and what type of "flavor" you imagine for your character.

3 - No.  Although I'd like to point out that in my campaign we have House Ruled this as a _yes_.

4 - None, but completely dependent on DM.  If the Cleric's superiors order him to wield the Holy Mace of Pelor, but the Cleric insists on wielding a longsword... then he can probably expect to be punished by the church for not respecting their traditions.


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## lukelightning (Jun 25, 2007)

Murrdox said:
			
		

> 4 - None, but completely dependent on DM.  If the Cleric's superiors order him to wield the Holy Mace of Pelor, but the Cleric insists on wielding a longsword... then he can probably expect to be punished by the church for not respecting their traditions.




You could say this for just about any class. 

"We barbarians of the Wolf Tribe only wield tridents!"
"If you want to be a wizard in this town, we better not see you carrying a staff... clubs only!"
"Alright, footpad, you're a member of the Ducky Dozen now. Get rid of that short sword, we use rapiers!"


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## Murrdox (Jun 25, 2007)

The "Ducky Dozen"?  LOL


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## BadMojo (Jun 25, 2007)

As a side note, one of the Eberron novels has a protagonist who carries around his religion's favored weapon and practices with it, but he's still complete crap when it comes to actually hitting anything (Blade of the Flame books by Tim Waggoner).

I think that makes for some fun roleplaying.  Just because you carry around a trident doesn't mean you actually know where the "stabby end" is.


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## werk (Jun 25, 2007)

lukelightning said:
			
		

> That should be "no no no none"
> 
> Clerics do *not* automatically get proficiency in their deity's favored weapon.




Yep, read that wrong. 

"A cleric who chooses the War domain receives the Weapon Focus feat related to his deity’s weapon as a bonus feat. He also receives the appropriate Martial Weapon Proficiency feat as a bonus feat, if the weapon falls into that category."

If they all get it for free, that wouldn't be there. 

(I would like to point out that the OP had 2 replies in a half hour and I had 3 corrections in 10 minutes....thanks for the help!)


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## Arkhandus (Jun 25, 2007)

Azlan said:
			
		

> 1. Does a cleric _have_ to wield – as often as possible, in combat – his deity's favored weapon?



Nope.  Not required.  Just a minor, personal preference of the deity's clergy, it has no impact on what a cleric is allowed to wield.



> 3. If I choose to be a cleric, but I do not choose the War domain, do I still gain proficiency with my god's favored weapon even if that weapon is not among the cleric's weapon proficiencies?



Nope.  If your deity's favored weapon is a Simple weapon, like the Quarterstaff or Heavy Mace, then you're proficient anyway just because clerics are all proficient in Simple weapons.  If your deity's favored weapon is a Martial weapon, like the longsword, you _only_ gain proficiency in it if you take the War domain (and only if your deity has the War domain listed among his/her/its domains), _OR_ if you multiclass into something that does have Martial proficiency (like multiclassing into fighter) (QUICK EDIT: or if you take the appropriate Martial Weapon Proficiency feat, of course).  If your deity's favored weapon is Exotic, then you only gain proficiency in it if you take the appropriate Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat (which requires at least a +1 Base Attack Bonus beforehand).



> 4. What are the consequences, if any, a cleric suffers if he does not prefer to use his deity's favored weapon?



Nothing.  Pelor doesn't care if you wield an Orc Double Axe, or a Quarterstaff, or a Longbow, or your bare hands.  Pelor's dogma does not say anything about denying you access to other weapons.  Neither does any other deity's, to my knowledge.

Only particular advantage to using the deity's favored weapon is a) if it's from the War Domain then it's just the benefit of a free proficiency and Weapon Focus, and/or b) other followers of the same deity might have an inkling more respect for you if you wield the deity's favored weapon, just because it's a bit more traditional for that deity's clergy in emulation of their god/goddess.


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## pawsplay (Jun 26, 2007)

Often, deities have relics that resemble their own personal weapons, so if relics are in play, that's something to consider.


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