Cleric *must* use deity's favored weapon?

[Freelance Henchman]

For the SRD: "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).

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."

It doesn't sound like clerics usually even receive the feat needed to wield that weapon (unless it's a simple weapon) unless they (can) take War domain. So clerics don't absolutely have to use the deity's favored weapon, right?

[OneWinged4ngel]

For the SRD: "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).

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."

It doesn't sound like clerics usually even receive the feat needed to wield that weapon (unless it's a simple weapon) unless they (can) take War domain. So clerics don't absolutely have to use the deity's favored weapon, right?

They can use whatever weapon they want.

[Freelance Henchman]

They can use whatever weapon they want.

But is it expected of them to get the relevant proficiency so they look "authentic"? From the formulation is sounds like the favored weapon only is of relevance to Warpriests or such.

[JellyPooga]

But is it expected of them to get the relevant proficiency so they look "authentic"? From the formulation is sounds like the favored weapon only is of relevance to Warpriests or such.

Well think about it...a Cleric of a God of Peace isn't likely to wield any weapon at all (to take the opposite extreme)...it's only Deities of War or Clerics that take a particularly martial approach to their faith that are going to be concerned with their deities favoured weapon...but by no means is anything neccesary

[leperkhaun]

if im remembering correctly most dieties without the war domain tend to have favored weapons that are simple weapons.

[Rad]

Nothing in the rules says that a Cleric has to use her deity's favored weapon. Whether your deity, religious order or other requires it, or merely frowns if you don't is up to the DM, who should keep in mind that he is putting an extra constraint on your character. In the case of a Cleric, depriving one of one precious feat by forcing her to take Martial Weapon Proficiency is a serious nerf; a possible compromise could be to allow her to take one (more) flaw to get another feat. Flaws are generally frowned upon since they mean "almost" free feats, but one flaw for an unwanted feat is a fair trade you could propose to your DM if he insists.

[its_all_ogre]

all weapons for non-war domain deities are simple weapons as far as i know.
so long as your cleric of pelor is not using a scythe to kill young children purely for fun i see no issue.

[Freelance Henchman]

so long as your cleric of pelor is not using a scythe to kill young children purely for fun i see no issue.

Damn. On to Plan B I guess.

[Riffington]

No worries. Fun AND profit.

[Yuki Akuma]

Most deities wouldn't expect their clerics to wield their favoured weapons. A deity's weapon is just that: the deitiy's personal favourite weapon. Gods are people too, you know.

Some extremely pious clerics may wish to emulate their patron in all possible ways, but it's not required.

[Keld Denar]

Its also of note to check the dieties canon (if playing in a purchased setting such as FR or Greyhawk). I know for a fact that Heironious' favored weapon in the PHB is the Longsword. Greyhawk canon states that worshipers of the old aspect of the Big H use Battleaxes. Therefore, if a cleric was an Orthodox follower, he or she would wield a Battleaxe, and if he or she was a Contemporary follower, then he or she would wield a Longsword.

Carrying this over to a custom developed world, you can present this to your DM as an arguement to use just about any weapon you want (within reason!). If the diety in the DMs campaign doesn't match the weapon you want, ask if there are any other incarnations of the diety that more closely match the design of the character you choose. Be humble in your request, and gracious in recieving, and hopefully your DM will let you actualize your character exactly as you wish.

Good Luck and Good Gaming!

[Leon]

Gods are people too, you know.

Well most of the time...


My tangent on the favoured weapon is that any cleric i play generally has a Weapon of the Deity on them even if they dont use it.

[Freelance Henchman]

Well most of the time...


My tangent on the favoured weapon is that any cleric i play generally has a Weapon of the Deity on them even if they dont use it.

That actually makes sense I think, for ceremonial reasons for example. I suppose thats really the best way to go about it, just keep a nicely decorated ceremonial weapon on you, but use whatever is appropriate/you are good at using for actual battle. Presumably a deity will forgive you if you don't use a poisoned dagger to kill skeletons, even if that is the deity's favored weapon.

[Shishnarfne]

if im remembering correctly most dieties without the war domain tend to have favored weapons that are simple weapons.

Not quite: Kord, a strength-based deity, does not have the war domain, but his favored weapon is a greatsword (probably a better weapon than any favored weapon of a deity with the war domain). Also, Moradin is listed as having favored weapon warhammer, so again, in the PhB, we have another deity with a martial favored weapon and no war domain. See also Nerull (scythe). There are others (Olidamarra comes to mind), but these are just ones I remember off the top of my head.

Anyway, using the favored weapon is generally a question of style. It's something you do if you think it fits in better with your character concept. Generally, however, I prefer to create clerics who do use the prefered weapon to keep the characters distinct.

My 2cp.

[Roderick_BR]

It's more fluffy than anything. Clerics prefer to use their deity's favored weapon, but are not forced to. The only real case is one spell (I don't recall the name) that requires you to use your deity's favored weapon (or one among 4 basic ones given in the description if you doesn't follow a deity).

[Jasdoif]

It's more fluffy than anything. Clerics prefer to use their deity's favored weapon, but are not forced to. The only real case is one spell (I don't recall the name) that requires you to use your deity's favored weapon (or one among 4 basic ones given in the description if you doesn't follow a deity).

If you're referring to spiritual weapon, it doesn't require you to be using your deity's favored weapon; it simply makes a weapon of force that takes on the shape, threat range and crit multiplier of your deity's favored weapon (or one of the four listed ones that correspond to an alignment).

If you're not talking about spiritual weapon...well, I have no idea what spell you're talking about then.

[de-trick]

we(group +me) have it homebrewed that all clerics are proficient with gods weapon

war domain gives all martial weapons + weapon focus( god wep)

[Sundog]

we(group +me) have it homebrewed that all clerics are proficient with gods weapon

war domain gives all martial weapons + weapon focus( god wep)

Not a bad alternative. Makes dipping to fighter for the Martial Profs less tempting.

[Curmudgeon]

all weapons for non-war domain deities are simple weapons as far as i know.

Your knowledge doesn't extend very far, unfortunately. There are hundreds of D&D deities. Just as an example, Kossuth isn't a War deity but has the spiked chain (which is exotic) as favored weapon. And Joramy is a War deity but has the simple quarterstaff as favored weapon.

we(group +me) have it homebrewed that all clerics are proficient with gods weapon

This house rule steals something away from the Favored Soul class, then. Advancing feats with the deity's favored weapon is one of their main distinctions. Favored Souls are the divine version of Sorcerers -- spontaneous casters. They really need something to make up for their severely restricted spell list.

[Freelance Henchman]

The posts here seem to say that the favored weapon is almost completely fluff. Unless you want to play a cleric who is a total suck-up and tries to emulate his deity in every silly way.

[Techonce]

Generally my players and I have had their clerics use the favored weapon, but defintly not required.

I see lawful churches being more likely to have everyone use the dieties weapon through peer pressure, but except for a few specific churches, it wouldn't be required.

Giving everyone the proficience in their dieties weapon kind of seemed good and bad to me.

UNless it was a divine inspiration, I don't see clerics of Nerull taking the time away from studying necromancy to learn to use the scythe. Or clerics of Sune learing to tuse the whip. Actually, take that back. I do see clerics of Sune learning to use the whip.

[Freelance Henchman]

Actually, take that back. I do see clerics of Sune learning to use the whip.

I meant in *combat*, not for recreation.

[Telonius]

The posts here seem to say that the favored weapon is almost completely fluff. Unless you want to play a cleric who is a total suck-up and tries to emulate his deity in every silly way.

That's about the size of it, yeah. Look at it this way: Thor's favored weapon is probably the warhammer. But he's probably not going to make a fuss if his cleric bops somebody over the head with a club, or behead them with a sword. As long as it makes a good drinking story, who cares!

[SoD]

In my campaign, I say that all clerics are proficient with their deities favoured weapon, and the war domain gives martial proficiency in general, plus weapon focus for the favoured weapon.

[RebelRogue]

Clerics are powerful enough as is. I see no reason to grant them additional proficiencies for free!

[Duke of URL]

There's no rule that says a cleric must use the deity's favored weapon.

However, like most things, everything is up to the DM's interpretation. In one campaign I've played in, clerics and paladins were required to use the deity's weapon as the main weapon, unless they could provide significant backstory justification for using a different weapon. In other games, I've seen the DM allow anything without question.

Personally, I would generally play toward the stricter house rule -- a cleric or paladin is a representative of a deity, and should act the part in all manners. (Of course, certain deities, particularly the evil ones, place emphasis on trickery and deceit, so walking around sporting an obvious holy symbol and an unusual weapon commonly associated with the deity would be a bad idea.)

I also generally like to point out that a clerical type is supposed to pray for the spells (s)he receives -- if (s)he requests spells out of line with the deity's domains and disposition, the DM should step in (as the deity) and deny them or provide alternates.

[Talya]

Sune does not have the War domain, and her favored weapon is exotic.

I've been playing in an FR campaign for two years.

My character is a former harem girl who becomes a Sune-worshipping zealot. She is 2 Bard/6 Sorceror/6 Heartwarder (Sunite PrC, Faiths & Pantheons).

Heartwarder has a prerequisite (among many) that you be proficient in your Deity's favored weapon (which in this case is Exotic Proficiency: Whip.) The 10 level PrC is obviously targetted at sorcerors, it raises charisma by +1 at every odd level. It also has a 3/4 BAB progression, and high saves are fort/will. My dip into Bard was primarily to get exotic proficiency: whip, as I needed a lot of feats both for the PrC and the character background.

Now think about that: a PrC that is a hand-chosen representative of a deity on Faerun -- not just a priest -- has a costly prerequisite. Do you really think every cleric of sune takes exotic proficiency: whip?