Common Rituals for the Common Cleric

The Pope is dead, long live the Pope! As cardinals don their ceremonial robes and enter the Vatican to hold a conclave and elect the new ruler of Christendom, I gather my notes and dice and sourcebooks and jump in the newest Blog Bandwagon: The Blogclave!

 So, we're talking about clerics today. Very important role in rpgs: they are part of the Big Four OG Roles along with the fighter, the wizard and the rogue, and they have a very defined set of skills that cement their role as the Main Support of the party:

 CLERICS ARE HEALERS

The most important role of the cleric is to cast all sorts of healing spells. Through prayer and faith, they ask their deity to keep their companions healthy and safe from all the dangers found in the deepest and darkest dungeons. Without reliable healing sources, long expeditions in hostile environments are way hard, almost impossible.

And although clerics can protecc, they can also attacc, for they have yet another skill that may prove crucial when delving in ancient ruins:

 

"Begone, foul Lich! My clerical powers cast thee out!"

 CLERICS ARE EXORCISTS

Repelling, expelling and eventually destroying undead creatures is the other famous basic skill of the cleric. Though their usual spell list may also include means to fence off other kinds of creatures, like demons or "monsters of Evil alignment", whatever that means in the sourcebook of your choice, the truth is that clerics seem to specialize in dealing with the undead. Ironically, higher level clerics are usually the only ones that can cast resurrection spells, which might spark some debate about life, undeath and why their exorcism only applies to skeletons and zombies and not the fighter who was dead five minutes ago and his flesh is still regenerating. But that is beyond the scope of this post.

My problem with clerics comes from the fact that they are good healers and good exorcists... but they have a tremendous flaw of design:

CLERICS ARE NOT CLERICS

There are many types of clerics (monks, religious leaders, knights...), but let's talk about religious leaders because most of the time that seems the thing rpgs are basing their clerics on: real-life clerics can perform ceremonies (marriages, funerals...) that most ttrpgs don't even consider. For me, that's a big issue, so let's talk about some ways to introduce some of these rituals in your games. But first, some ground rules:

 1. Rituals are generic. Although the specifics vary, things like sermons, marriages, funerals and baptisms are commonplace ceremonies throughout most religions. I was raised catholic and live in a catholic country, so I'm biased towards the ceremonies I know, but I'll try to keep the descriptions as generic as possible. The effects are also generic, but that's so you can easily adapt them to the specific mechanics of your game of choice.

2. Every cleric can perform these. Since these rituals are very basic, I'd say a level 1 cleric should be able to perform them without a problem. If you need specific limits, let's say these rituals take 1 hour to perform and you can perform them once a day each.

3. A note on polyteism. Since good ol' D&D is technically polyteistic, with gods holding power over specific domains, feel free to tie these rituals to specific gods if needed, but keep in mind that every cleric, no matter the god, can perform them (they either have a different version of the ritual, or simply worship various gods depending on the task at hand).

 BAPTISM

The introduction of a new individual into the religion. Usually performed on a newborn at request from the parents, but it can also be taken by adults. Baptizing a character into a new faith helps them receive blessings from the gods: clerics that perform beneficial spells on characters of the same faith do so with advantage, or the effects of said spells are doubled.

The cleric welcoming an unsuspecting NPC into his faith, while his god watches from above.

 

 MARRIAGE

The union of two souls witnessed, approved and blessed by the gods. Spells cast on one of the partners affect the other partner in the same way. Married partners may also be able to find each other and communicate in their dreams, if the gods see fit.

FUNERAL

The final farewell to a fallen companion or a dear friend. A proper funeral prevents the corpse from turning into an undead, and repels other undead creatures that may be attracted to it. If the funeral is performed for a fallen PC, the party may also distribute the departed's remaining XP points among themselves, in equal parts.

 SERMON

The cleric talks to the faithful about the lives, teachings and gifts of the gods, and the importance of upholding the religious principles of the faith. Characters listening to the sermon gain inspiration for the day or advantage in their next roll.

The cleric every morning, giving the party free Inspiration.

FORGIVENESS

When the laws of the faith have been broken, a cleric can forgive the transgressor in the name of the gods, if they show repentance. Going against the faith negates the effects of Baptism and Sermon, and beneficial cleric spells from the offended faith are performed at disadvantage (or their effects halved). Characters seeking forgiveness must show they truly repent for their actions, so clerics usually task them with performing certain acts or quests to show their devotion. Clerics that break the laws of the faith cannot forgive themselves, and must seek forgiveness from a higher authority (a superior cleric, or the gods themselves). They won't be able to cast spells, or will do so less effectively, until they are forgiven.

Make your elements weird!

Apparently, today is the day to talk about elements in your games! I think this topic is pretty cool, so lets ramble a bit about it!

 Elements are pretty big in real life. Before discovering the atoms, philosophers and scholars used many different elements to explain what the world is made of. Ancient Greeks, and later all Europe, had the four classic elements: water, earth, air and fire, and sometimes a fifth: the aether. In Japan, the elements (Godai) are the same, but they had void as the fifth element, instead of aether. In China, the classical elements (Wuxing) are fire, water, wood, earth and metal. You get the idea.

One of my favourite things in Adventure Time is the elements: instead of going with the four classics, the elements in Ooo are fire, ice, candy and slime. I remember how hyped I was the first time I learned about it: it's the four elements, but different?? Weird??? Incredible. 10/10 show. Would watch again and again and again.

 

The four elements in Adventure Time, from The Enchiridion and Marcy's super secret scrapbook!!!

 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also uses elements in a very interesting way: you can find fire, ice and thunder weapons around the map, and each element has a different effect when smacking a monster: fire burns them, doing more damage and maybe burning any wooden weapon or shield. Ice freezes them in place, and your next attack will be a critical. Finally, lightning also paralyzes them, but unlike ice, it makes them drop their weapons. Elements in Breath of the Wild are especially fun to use because, like everything else in the game, they have a lot of interactivity with the world as a whole (fire can cook food, lightning is more powerful when combined with water).

So how can we implement elements in the stories we create? Well, there are many ways to do it, but let's try to make some ground rules:

 Before we start: do you really need to?

"Wait", you might say, "isn't the point of this entire post to make weird elements?" The answer is "yes, but". Classical elements have been used for millenia. They are instantly recognizable, easy to use and, since the've been widely used in alchemy and magic in real life (at least the greek ones), have a certain realistic vibe related to them. If you're going with a "traditional" tolkienesque or martinesque (even gygaxian) fantasy, you can pretty much just add the classic elements to your world, maybe changing the names a bit (i.e. having "rock" instead of "earth"), and they will fit their purpose pretty good without too much work on your part.

"Alright, I've thought about it and classic elements don't really fit the vibe I'm going for. What do I do?"

First: make your elements fit.

Your elements should fit the story. They should fit the vibe of your setting, and offer an explanation about the basic components of your world. Are you going for a dark fantasy setting inspired by dark souls? Fitting elements might be ash, fire, stone, iron, bone... How about a whimsical world inspired by The Legend of Zelda? Aside from the four classics, you could have elements such as plant, stardust, jelly, shadow, life, music... At this point, focus on brainstorming and thinking about what elements fit your story better.

Second: make your elements few.

Four is the classic number to work with. Three is the magic number. Five starts to be too much. Bear in mind that you want your players (or other people) to remember those elements, so the fewer they are, the better. I can remember lightning, acid, cloud and blood. I cannot remember lightning, acid, cloud, blood, magma, quartz, mithril and fruit. Fewer elements are better, and that way you can even add an extra, secret element to the mix, as a treat.

You might be tempted to add "sub-elements": Avatar the last airbender, and especially legend of Korra, has many "unconventional" elements that are an evolution of one or a mix of two basic elements: lava (fire + earth), metal or crystal (derived from earth), lightning (derived from fire)... Don't think too much about these. Focus on having a few basic elements to work with first, and then, if you think the story needs them, add new variations related to them.

Third: make your elements interactive.

Elements need to have a purpose, be it for combat, magic, crafting... fire can set things burning, quartz can deflect magic, fruit can heal wounds when consumed. Use them in unexpected ways. Maybe a fruit sword can heal a character by gently touching the wound with it. Maybe it heals everything it cuts. The important thing here is that they have a clear use that can give way to cool interactions. If players know quartz repels magic, they might want to search for a quartz mine to make a quartz shield or armor before fighting the Council of Evil Archwizards.

Fourth: make your elements be everywhere.

Elements are an attempt to explain nature, they are the matter from which everything else is made. Elements should be abundant in your world and easy to find, at least if you know where to look. This doesn't mean you should be placing fire swords growing from every tree (unless...), but it's cool to have at least a few plants and animals relating to each element that characters can find and use to their advantage. An easier way to introduce elements is to have a whole place related to that element: a volcano is related to fire, so it might have fire-spitting lizards and fireproof flowers all around the area, ready to be used in spells and potions. Similarly, classical greek elements also have creatures related to them: fire has salamanders, water has undines, air has sylphs and earth has gnomes. Think about what kind of creatures would be related to each of your elements, and place them in your stories.

Elements are such a fun resource to play around with, because they give a strong magical vibe that is instantly recognized by most people. They are also great shortcuts for magic, worldbuilding and even character creation. Wether you use classic elements or your own, the possibilities are endless, and it's very hard to do it wrong. Next time you're working on your worldbuilding, consider adding some weird and cool elements to the mix.