Quote Originally Posted by brian 333 View Post
In my first campaign setting I was using AD&D rules, one of which was that elf PCs could not be clerics, but elf NPCs could be.

Armed with my oldest brother's copy of The Silmarillion, I set about explaining the reason why this was so.

The last of those born in the uttermost west were gone, and those who were left were their descendants or were descended from those who had never gone. Thus to them the straight road over the sea was lost.

To give the elves a way to the Undying Land the clerics were created by the gods.

In every elf community of 200 or more when a cleric passes on the oldest female gains her clerical powers. I had a population chart showing the number and levels of clerics based on the number of elves they served. In communities smaller than 200 a lay-cleric who was the oldest female present could serve as a level 0 cleric.

They were charged
with opening the path the spirits of the dead elves must follow to the afterlife. It was then up to the spirit to follow the path on its final adventure.

To perform the ceremony some bit of the elf must be present, so it is common for elves to leave a lock of hair with their mother before they leave home.

What prevents a player from being a very old elf cleric staying in a church all day?