Clerics: your god and spells?

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CapnZapp
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 173
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Clerics: your god and spells?

Post by CapnZapp »

"A cleric’s choice of god must match his alignment, and
determines weapon groups, holy powers, and magical
spells.
"
(my underlining)

"A cleric has access to the spells of his
god as noted on table 1-5."

I can find no trace of how your choice of alignment/deity impacts your selection of spells. Not in table 1-5, not on page 32, and not in the spell description themselves. Everything suggests every Cleric can potentially have every spell.

Can anyone clarify what the above quotes are referring to?
CapnZapp
Hard-Bitten Adventurer
Posts: 173
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2021 2:00 am
FLGS: Book

Re: Clerics: your god and spells?

Post by CapnZapp »

In lieu of any guidelines this is what I have come up with:

The first spell of each level is chosen by the Cleric's Player.
The second spell of each level is chosen by the Judge.
The third spell of each level is randomized (permanently).
The fourth spell of each level is randomized as a "daily".

For the first choice the Judge is encouraged to agree to whatever choice the player is making, unless it goes directly against the deity's ethos, and the player can't come up with a cool plan for why he should get it anyway. (A Sun god granting darkness for instance: "don't forget that the divinatory power of lunar eclipses ultimately come from the sun...")

The Judge will naturally select a spell appropriate for the god. Don't be afraid to choose a spell that will challenge the player to come up with constructive usages.

The totally random spell (like a DCC Wizard's spells) is only rolled AFTER the player and the Judge makes their choices. If you roll a duplicate (the same as the player's or Judge's choices) I would be inclined to generosity, and consider it a daily spell (see below) that just happens to hold the "no spell" spell right now.

A "daily" is a spell "slot" that CAN function much like D&D prepared spellcasting in that at a given time of day (sunrise, midnight etc) the Cleric can pray for a new spell to replace the old one. Asking for a new spell should be considered a much bigger deal than in D&D, though. Whenever there's no pressing reason why the existing spell can't suffice, the Cleric should not ask for a change. But "our quest takes us into the Desert so I humbly ask for something else than Water Breathing" might be considered a valid request :) Whether the new spell is determined to be one the Cleric actually asks for, or just a random one, is up to the Judge. If the Cleric asks for a spell genuinely useful to further the deity's goals, she should likely get it. If the Cleric just pesters his god for the "best" spell repeatedly, the Judge should feel free to grant him the "no spell" spell ;)

At higher levels, Clerics gain more than four spells of a given level. I would probably randomize these spells much like the third spell: if you get a duplicate result, that "slot" is permanently a "daily"; while if you get a new spell, that is your permanent new ability.

This would result in a guaranteed degree of player agency, a guaranteed influence from the Judge, and a guaranteed chance of wacky randomness! ;)

Thoughts? Mistakes? Things I should have taken into consideration?
BanjoJohn
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Re: Clerics: your god and spells?

Post by BanjoJohn »

Clerics and their gods get the short end of the shaft compared to wizards and patrons in the book. There is a little bit more flushed out in the dcc annual, but until then it was mostly up to people to flesh it out themselves.. like... "would your god allow this kind of spell".

Personally, I made some optional rules up in my product. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/37 ... lass-Rules
I basically set up a system where clerics have a sabbath day, chosen by the Judge/player, once a week where they can do a ritual to pray for different spells in case they wanted to switch them out based on what they expect to face. They can also make sacrifices during the sabbath to get a bonus to spellcasting with their holy amulet.
The way I figure, every god would provide every spell available in the book because of their generic godly powers, and then if you wanted something special for the god, it is extra spells or bonuses in addition to what you get in the book.
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