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Have you or a loved one ever become suddenly possessed with the idea of pretending to be an omnipotent god to help your friend understand their intricate and (often compelling) relationship with theirDungeons & Dragonscharacter’s deity? Have you ever felt a cold sweat break out across your brow as your player rolls a natural twenty on their religion check to commune with their god?
Does the thought of your players finally, finally encountering the source of the cleric’s divine power make you start wishing you’d sent up some prayers of your own? If your answer is ‘yes,’ then you’re in luck! There is hope!
Establish The Relationship
Clerics often overlook the exact nature of their relationship with their god. This is by no means anyone’s fault.After all, the cleric is not a warlock.There’s no deal at the center of their magic, accidental or otherwise.
For a lot of players, this indicates that playing a cleric means they’re moreremoved from the purveyor of their divine power.
This is fine. Great, even! Many clerics receive their magic asa result of their devotion, and thus, at a lot of tables, very little tangible contact has to be established between god and worshiper.
It makes things difficult, though, especially where roleplay is concerned. These relationshipsvary, andthere will always be exceptions to the general rule, so you should figure outwhat your cleric’s dynamic is with their god as soon as you can.
A good way to guide establishing relationships is toask questions!How did the player become a cleric? Why do they worship this god? Is this a personal or impersonal relationship?
Your player’s backstory will help inform this, butreaching out to your player will also be appreciated.
Power And Deities
This will differ depending on the table, but it will help you to dedicate a couple of minutes of thoughttowards how powerful the god may bein the setting. Not only will this help you establishgoals, personality,andfellow religious NPCs, but it will also inform therelationship this deity has with their devotees.
If they have fifteen worshipers, they may materialize more frequently or have a more intimate relationship with your cleric… but they may also be less powerful. If they have thousands of worshipers, the god may be more distant and austere, but more likely to supply the party with useful assistance as they reach higher levels.
In many settings, the gods frequently have a barrier in place toprevent them from solvingall theirmortal worshipers' problems.
Develop Their Avatars
In the Forgotten Realms, multiple gods have very,verypersonal relationships with their clerics and will appear to their worshipers as avatars of themselves.
An avataris an incarnation of a deity in a mortal, more human form, originally from the Sanskrit word avatāra, meaning “descent.” The definition, however, has evolved online to meanan image that represents a user, or, an image standing in for another thing. Hilariously,avatars in Dungeons & Dragons adhere to both of these definitions.
While not every god chooses to appear,almost every god will have an avatar.For example, Eilistraee and her brother Vhaeraun oftentake on a humanoid form to speak with their clerics.Some gods have been known to take the forms of rays of light or bodies of water. Some even appear as animals.
Theavatarwill also inform yourphysicality and the descriptions you use, making it an important feature to establish while roleplaying.
Method Of Communication
When deciding on how your god will interact with your cleric,consider using dreams, visions, or disguises.This will let you have some genuine roleplay between the god and the cleric without worrying deeply about keeping the mystique of the god up.
Sometimes, roleplaying a deity isdelivering a message through an underling, somessengersmay also be a good way to convey the god’s will, especially if you decide that the god is simply too far removed to have an interesting roleplay with. It also gives you an NPC!
A Deity’s Mindset
An unfortunate side effect of being human is thatyou are not omnipotent.You may not want to approach roleplaying your cleric’s god as if you are! It’s too much work, too much to remember, and it will make your head explode.
Typically,you don’t want to demystify the gods(unless, of course, thatiswhat you and your table want)! Keeping that distance is a good way to guarantee the god is still respected or feared.
Instead, try this exercise: try tolook at the player characters as if they are stray dogs.
Sometimes these dogs are annoying to you. They nip, they bark, and they fight among themselves. you may put them away from your mind once you aren’t looking at them. You can swat them or get them out of your yard if they cause too much of a fuss.
On the other hand, sometimes there are special dogs that you meet. You pet them and they show you adoration. They come when you call. You might bring them into your house, and they protect it. They hunt.
They have small lifespans, but maybe you love them. Sometimes their deaths affect you. Despite all of this, though, the dog can do many things, but it cannot write. It cannot compose music. It cannot understand things the way you’re able to. This mindset is whatseparates the god from mortals.
Keeping your deity interesting, especially in roleplay, may enhance the nuance of your story.
Gods can go on after their worshipers are gone, but sometimes there are those special ones that stick with them long after, for better or for worse.
By thinking of your player characters as something more consequential than an insect but less sapient than a human, you can better roleplay a being that cancomprehend what it is to exist in a way that we, as mere D&D players, cannot.
The players may not be the god’s equals, no matter how they may love them.
Another method in the same vein could be called “The Clockmaker Method.” There is a bigger picture. Your cleric is but a single cog in the machine— though that single cog could also shut down the entire plan if it is misplaced. Getting a new piece would be annoying, but ultimately feasible.
A Deity’s Attitude
Gods in D&D tend towards imperfection. They almost personify it.Their vast portfolios and relative lack of true omnipotence makes them ripe for controversy and to have complex inner worlds.They also won’t contact a cleric on a whim, so when they reach out, it’s for a purpose beyond a fey’s desire for amusement.
While roleplaying with your cleric,ensure you keep in mind the god’s mindsetwhile also balancing these three questions:
This part relies heavily on the god’s personality and portfolio as you roleplay.You may find it useful to keep a note of what this god stands for, to keep you in character.A god of oak trees may be considerably lax compared to a god who represents himself as the Lord of Murder.
Because the cleric’s deity may not be turning up consistently, you shouldn’t be afraid to chew the scenery when you finally get to embody them. Get melodramatic, frightening, or deathly still! Have fun with it.
