Weapon Aptitude and War Domain

[killem2]

I wanted to continue this conversation here, outside of the Q & A section, with my thoughts on it.


Q 1119: Can a warblade's ability Weapon Aptitude allow a Cleric to swap out the weapon granted weapon focus by the War Domain?




A 1119

I don't see why not.



A 1119
War Domain's WF is not a bonus feat. Weapon Aptitude by RAW let's you shift around feats.
So, by RAW: No.

Also, with me as the DM, there would be repercussions for the Cleric who tried that by his god. That's kind of strait Ur-Priest fluff (take something from the gods)

I would have to say it depends on the god in question, their back ground, the DM, and the fact you trade out domain powers for devotion feats as well as ordained champion can trade them out for straight fighter feats.

No less insulting if they have a pride issue. As a DM I might want an explanation for it, but I really wouldn't care that much. In this case I am the player of the Cleric not the DM, but if it came up for me I'd like to know what you and others would do.

Also, but RAW weapon focus is a feat. If they didn't want you to obtain "weapon focus", then they would have written it as you gain +1 sacred/profane bonus to your attack rolls, or at least logically to me that is what they should do.

If we look at the subject of Ex-Clerics, apparently you can piss off a god and lose you your major abilities. I don't know if this counts as "grossly" violating your code.

Now I asked the question not because I'm not capable of reading as written, but I knew it seems very "meta-game-ish, but at the same time in the context of the god I chose Dol Dorn from Ebberon, and the flavor of warblade, it seems like it is rather harmless and may even be looked upon by this deity as plus rather than a negative. However, some deities might come off as offended.

Thoughts?

[Andezzar]

I guess I confused the PHB with how Neverwinter Nights handled the War domain. It is unclear whether Martial Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus are granted as Feats or as Class Features. So basically it is up to the DM. If those are Feats, Weapon Familiarity should apply.

There are precedents for either:
-The Samurai gets Exotic Weapon Proficiency(Bastard Sword) as a bonus feat
-The Rogue is proficient with a couple of martial weapons and one exotic weapon as a Class Feature.

I'm not aware of any class granting Weapon Focus as a Class Feature.

How the Gods would react to such behavior is also up to the DM. I'd think if the weapon in question is closely related to the deity's doctrine (Flail/Agricultural deity; Whip/Pain deity) switching the weapon focus and/or proficiency would be a more serious transgression. If the favored weapon is only personal preference of the deity (or the mortal it was before attaining a divine rank) I don't think the deity would mind.

[killem2]

I found a better example of where this might fly, deity Ilneval, in their own description it describes this god as one who will plan out every advantage they can get in battle.

I get the DM has control over stuff, but we have these robust books about all these gods, there is a lot of room for good story telling and rping there.