The handiwork of the gods is everywhere—in places of natural beauty, in mighty crusades, in soaring temples, and in the hearts of worshipers. Like people, gods run the gamut from benevolent to malicious, reserved to intrusive, simple to inscrutable. The gods, however, work mostly through intermediaries—their clerics. Good clerics heal, protect, and avenge. Evil clerics pillage, destroy, and sabotage. A cleric uses the power of his god to make his god’s will manifest. And if a cleric uses his god’s power to improve his own lot, that’s to be expected, too.
Adventures: Ideally, a cleric’s adventures support his god’s causes, at least in a general way. A good cleric, for example, helps those in need. If, through noble acts, he can improve the reputation to his god or temple, that’s even better. An evil cleric seeks to increase his own power and that of his deity, so that others will respect and fear both.
Clerics sometimes receive orders, or at least suggestions, from their ecclesiastical superiors, directing them to undertake missions for the church. The clerics and their companions are compensated fairly for these missions, and the church may be especially generous with the casting of needed spells or divine magic items as payment. Of course, clerics are people, too, and they may have any or all the more common motivations for adventuring.
Characteristics: Clerics are masters of divine magic, which is especially good at healing. Even an inexperienced cleric can bring people back from the brink of death, and an experienced cleric can bring back people who have crossed over that brink.
As channelers of divine energy, clerics can affect undead creatures. A good cleric can turn away or even destroy undead; an evil cleric can bring such creatures under his control.
Clerics have some combat training. They can use simple weapons, and they are trained in the use of armor, since armor does not interfere with divine spells the way it does with arcane spells.
Alignment: Like the gods they serve, clerics can be of any alignment. Because people more readily worship good deities than neutral or evil ones, there are more good than evil clerics. Clerics also tend toward law instead of chaos, since lawful religions tend to be more structured and better able to recruit and train clerics than chaotic ones.
Typically, a cleric is the same alignment as his deity, though some clerics are one step away from their respective deities in alignment. For example, most clerics of a lawful good god of valor are lawful good, but some are lawful neutral or neutral good. Additionally, a cleric may not be neutral (that is, neutral on both the good–evil axis and the lawful–chaotic axis) unless his deity is neutral.
Religion: Every reasonably well-known deity has clerics devoted to him or her, so clerics can be of any religion. The majority of clerics, human or not, are devoted to the chief god of the appropriate racial pantheon. Most clerics are officially ordained members of religious organizations, commonly called churches. Each has sworn to uphold the ideals of his church.
Some clerics devote themselves not to a god but to a cause or a source of divine power. These characters wield magic the way clerics devoted to individual gods do, but they are not associated with any religious institution or any particular practice of worship. A cleric devoted to good and law, for example, may be on friendly terms with the clerics of lawful and good deities and may extol the virtues of a good and lawful life, but he is not a functionary in a church hierarchy.
Background: Most clerics join their churches as young adults, though some are devoted to a god’s service from a young age, and a few feel the call later in life. While some clerics are tightly bound to their churches’ activities on a daily basis, others have more freedom to conduct their lives as they please, as long as they do so in accordance with their gods’ wishes.
Clerics of a given religion are all supposed to get along, though schisms within a church are often more bitter than conflicts between religions. Clerics who share some basic ideals, such as goodness or lawfulness, may find common cause with each other and see themselves as part of an order or body that supersedes any given religion. Clerics of opposed goals, however, are sworn enemies. In civilized lands, open warfare between religions occurs only during civil wars and similar social upheavals, but vicious politicking between opposed churches is common.
Races: All the common races are represented in this class, since the need for religion and divine magic is universal. The clerics of most races, however, are too focused on their religious duties to undertake an adventurer’s life. Crusading, adventuring clerics most often come from the human and dwarf races.
Among the savage humanoids, clerics are less common. The exception is troglodytes, who take well to divine magic and are often led by priests, who make a practice of sacrificing and devouring captives.
Other Classes: In an adventuring party, the cleric is everybody’s friend and often the glue that holds the party together. As the one who can channel divine energy, a cleric is a capable healer, and adventurers of every class appreciate being put back together after they’ve taken some hard knocks. Clerics sometimes clash with druids, since druids represent an older, more primal relationship between the mortal and the divine. Mostly, though, the religion of a cleric determines how he gets along with others. A cleric of a god of thieves gets along fine with rogues and ne’er-do-wells, for example, while a cleric of a god of valor rankles at such company.
Role: The cleric serves as a typical group’s primary healer, diviner, and defensive specialist. He can hold his own in a fight but usually isn’t well served by charging to the front of combat. The cleric’s domains and spell selection can greatly affect his role as well.
Clerics have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Wisdom determines how powerful a spell a cleric can cast, how many spells he can cast per day, and how hard those spells are to resist (see Spells). A high Constitution score improves a cleric’s hit points, and a high Charisma score improves his ability to turn or control undead.
Alignment: A cleric’s alignment must be within one step of his deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful–chaotic axis or the good–evil axis, but not both). Some individual gods may have exceptions. A cleric may not be neutral unless his deity’s alignment is also neutral.
Hit Die: d8.
The cleric’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Domains and Class Skills: A cleric who chooses the Animal or Plant domain adds Knowledge (nature) (Int) to the cleric class skills listed above. A cleric who chooses the Knowledge domain adds all Knowledge (Int) skills to the list. A cleric who chooses the Travel domain adds Survival (Wis) to the list. A cleric who chooses the Trickery domain adds Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), and Hide (Dex) to the list. See Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells for more information.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Spells per Day1 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | ||||||
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Turn or rebuke undead | 3 | 1+1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | — | 4 | 2+1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | — | 4 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | — | 5 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | — | 5 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | — | 5 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | — | 6 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | — | 6 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | — | 6 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — | — | — | — |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +3 | +7 | — | 6 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — | — | — | — |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — | — | — |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — | — | — |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — | — |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — | — |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | — |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | — |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | — | 6 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 5+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 |
| |||||||||||||||
All of the following are class features of the cleric.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Clerics are proficient with all simple weapons, with all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy), and with shields (except tower shields).
Every deity has a favored weapon (see Deities, page 106), and his or her clerics consider it a point of pride to wield that weapon. A cleric who chooses the War domain receives the Weapon Focus feat related to that 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.
Aura: A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). Clerics who don’t worship a specific deity but choose the Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful domain have a similarly powerful aura of the corresponding alignment.
Spells: A cleric casts divine spells (the same type of spells available to the druid, paladin, and ranger), which are drawn from the cleric spell list. However, his alignment may restrict him from casting certain spells opposed to his moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below. A cleric must choose and prepare his spells in advance (see below).
To prepare or cast a spell, a cleric must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Wis 10 for 0-level spells, Wis 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a cleric’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the cleric’s Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a cleric can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on the Cleric table. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). A cleric also gets one domain spell of each spell level he can cast, starting at 1st level. When a cleric prepares a spell in a domain spell slot, it must come from one of his two domains (see Deities, Domains, and Domain Spells below).
Clerics do not acquire their spells from books or scrolls, nor do they prepare them through study. Instead, they meditate or pray for their spells, receiving them through their own strength of faith or as divine inspiration. Each cleric must choose a time at which he must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain his daily allotment of spells. Typically, this hour is at dawn or noon for good clerics and at dusk or midnight for evil ones. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a cleric can prepare spells. A cleric may prepare and cast any spell on the cleric spell list (page 183), provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.
Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells: Choose a deity for your cleric. Sample deities are listed on Table 3–7: Deities and described on page 106–108. The cleric’s deity influences his alignment, what magic he can perform, his values, and how others see him. You may also choose for your cleric to have no deity.
If the typical worshipers of a deity include the members of a race, a cleric must be of the indicated race to choose that deity as his own. (The god may have occasional worshipers of other races, but not clerics.)
When you have chosen an alignment and a deity for your cleric, choose two domains from among those given on Table 3–7 for the deity. While the clerics of a particular religion are united in their reverence for their deity, each cleric emphasizes different aspects of the deity’s interests. You can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) for your cleric only if his alignment matches that domain.
If your cleric is not devoted to a particular deity, you still select two domains to represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities. The restriction on alignment domains still applies.
Each domain gives your cleric access to a domain spell at each spell level he can cast, from 1st on up, as well as a granted power. Your cleric gets the granted powers of both the domains selected. With access to two domain spells at a given spell level, a cleric prepares one or the other each day in his domain spell slot. If a domain spell is not on the cleric spell list, a cleric can prepare it only in his domain spell slot. Domain spells and granted powers are given in Cleric Domains.
For example, a 1st-level cleric follows a sun god with Good, Healing, Strength, and Sun domains in that god’s portfolio. The cleric chooses Good and Healing from those four as his two domains. He gets the granted powers of both his selected domains. The Good domain allows him to cast all spells with the good descriptor at +1 caster level (as if he were one level higher as a cleric) as a granted power, and it gives him access to protection from evil as a 1st-level domain spell. The Healing domain allows him to cast all healing subschool spells of the conjuration school at +1 caster level as a granted power, and it gives him access to cure light wounds as a 1st-level domain spell. When the cleric prepares his spells, he gets one 1st-level spell for being a 1st-level cleric, one bonus 1st-level spell for having a high Wisdom score (15), and one domain spell. The domain spell must be one of the two to which he has access, either protection from evil or cure light wounds.
Spontaneous Casting: A good cleric (or a neutral cleric of a good deity) can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that the cleric did not prepare ahead of time. The cleric can discard any prepared spell that is not a domain spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with “cure” in its name). For example, a good cleric who has prepared command (a 1st-level spell) may discard command in order to cast cure light wounds (also a 1st-level spell). Clerics of good deities can cast cure spells in this way because they are especially proficient at wielding positive energy.
An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric of an evil deity), on the other hand, can’t convert prepared spells to cure spells but can convert them to inflict spells (an inflict spell is one with “inflict” in its name).
A cleric who is neither good nor evil and whose deity is neither good nor evil can convert spells to either cure spells or inflict spells (player’s choice), depending on whether the cleric is more proficient at wielding positive or negative energy. Once the player makes this choice, it cannot be reversed. This choice also determines whether the cleric turns or commands undead (see below).
Exceptions do exist, so consult with your DM.
Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). For example, a good cleric (or a neutral cleric of a good deity) cannot cast evil spells. Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions (see Spells).
Turn or Rebuke Undead (Su): Any cleric, regardless of alignment, has the power to affect undead creatures (such as skeletons, zombies, ghosts, and vampires) by channeling the power of his faith through his holy (or unholy) symbol (see Turn or Rebuke Undead).
A good cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships a good deity) can turn or destroy undead creatures. An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships an evil deity) instead rebukes or commands such creatures, forcing them to cower in awe of his power. If your character is a neutral cleric of a neutral deity, you must choose whether his turning ability functions as that of a good cleric or an evil cleric. Once you make this choice, it cannot be reversed. This decision also determines whether the cleric can cast spontaneous cure or inflict spells (see above). Exceptions may exist; consult your DM.
A cleric may attempt to turn undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. A cleric with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion) gets a +2 bonus on turning checks against undead.
Bonus Languages: A cleric’s bonus language options include Celestial, Abyssal, and Infernal (the languages of good, chaotic evil, and lawful evil outsiders, respectively). These choices are in addition to the bonus languages available to the character because of his race (see Race and Languages, page 12, and the Speak Language skill).
A cleric who grossly violates the code of conduct required by his god (generally by acting in ways opposed to the god’s alignment or purposes) loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons. He cannot thereafter gain levels as a cleric of that god until he atones (see the atonement spell).
Pelor is given here as a sample deity. Any deity may be chosen with the two domains listed below in that deity’s portfolio, or no deity at all, of course.
Armor: Scale mail (+4 AC, armor check penalty –4, speed 20 ft., 30 lb.). Heavy wooden shield (+2 AC, armor check penalty –2, 10 lb.).
Weapons: Heavy mace (1d8, crit ×2, 8 lb., one-handed, bludgeoning). Light crossbow (1d8, crit 19–20/×2, range inc. 80 ft., 4 lb., piercing).
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 3 + Int modifier.
| Skill | Ranks | Ability | Armor Check Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spellcraft | 4 | Int | — |
| Concentration | 4 | Con | — |
| Heal | 4 | Wis | — |
| Knowledge (religion) | 4 | Int | — |
| Diplomacy | 4 | Cha | — |
| Gather Information (cc) | 2 | Cha | — |
| Listen (cc) | 2 | Wis | — |
Feat: Scribe Scroll.
Bonus Feat: Alertness.
Deity/Domains: Pelor/Good and Healing.
Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Case with 10 crossbow bolts. Wooden holy symbol (sun disc of Pelor). Three torches.
Gold: 1d4 gp.
Source: Player’s Handbook (version 3.5), page 30.
These rules describe the advancement of this class beyond 20th level.
Hit Die: d8.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Spells: The cleric’s caster level is equal to his or her class level. The cleric’s number of spells per day does not increase after 20th level.
Turn or Rebuke Undead: Use the cleric’s class level to determine the most powerful undead affected by a turn or rebuke check and the turning damage, just as normal.
Bonus Feats: The epic cleric gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic cleric bonus feats) every three levels after 20th.
Epic Cleric Bonus Feat List: Armor Skin, Automatic Quicken Spell, Automatic Silent Spell, Automatic Still Spell, Bonus Domain, Enhance Spell, Epic Spell Focus, Epic Spell Penetration, Epic Spellcasting, Ignore Material Components, Improved Alignment-Based Casting, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Heighten Spell, Improved Metamagic, Improved Spell Capacity, Intensify Spell, Multispell, Negative Energy Burst, Permanent Emanation, Planar Turning, Positive Energy Aura, Spectral Strike, Spell Opportunity, Spell Stowaway, Spontaneous Domain Access, Spontaneous Spell, Tenacious Magic, Undead Mastery, Zone of Animation.
| Cleric Level | Special |
|---|---|
| 21st | — |
| 22nd | — |
| 23rd | Bonus feat |
| 24th | — |
| 25th | — |
| 26th | Bonus feat |
| 27th | — |
| 28th | — |
| 29th | Bonus feat |
| 30th | — |