Please, I need help creating a cleric

DJKajuru

Hello everyone, I hope you've had a fine weekend.

I'm having some trouble creating a half elven NG cleric. I've never played one (my characters are mostly mages and bards), and I'd like some with some details.

1) Deity- I don't really like lawful good or lawful neutral deities because they sound too single minded for me, so guys like helm or tyr are out.Also gods like Lathander or Oghma are too nice and happy and I don't think it fits my protagonist .

So I'm kind of stuck in this dilema of whom to follow (roleplaying-wise, I mean). I was looking for some misterious, adventurous non evil deity.

2) How to roleplay a cleric - I love how viconia and jaheira have their own personalities , but I'm having some difficulty roleplaying a character who devotes his life to a god, it doesn't sound "free" enough , but I know that this is my own prejudice.

I'll appreciate any of your comments, I just don't want a character who doesnt have the same "presence" as the other npc's. thanks in advance!

joluv

What about Waukeen?

TheArtisan

I almost suggested Leira but then I noticed you were NG and not CG - oh well. If you're half-elven you can consider an elven god instead. Deneir the god of knowledge and scribes is another favorite of mine, or you could be a cleric of Mystra and be a seeker of magic and knowledge. There's also Eldath the goddess of peace and waterfalls, so you could play as a pacifist who avoids fighting where possible. There's plenty of options out there.

JumboWheat01

This is why Tempus needs to make it into Baldur's Gate. He's (back in that day,) the Chaotic Neutral God of War. And a problem with the cleric class in this game, there really is ZERO reason to be a default cleric unless it's part of a dual or multiclass. Maybe be a Chaotic Neutral Cleric of Talos, but head-canon it as a follower of Valkur, Chaotic Good God of Sailors, who also favors storms and the like.

Edit: Oh, Neutral Good... err... WELL... why not just make a Cleric/Mage multiclass, and call yourself a Cleric of Mystra. No need to worry about kits, you keep your mage spell enjoyment.

By the way, Oghma isn't exactly nice or happy. He just likes knowledge, no matter the source, which is why he's one of the few gods in the Forgotten Realms that does NOT care about your alignment, you could be two-steps away from him and still get powers from him, as long as you were continuing the search for knowledge.

As for the roleplay, well, a cleric is still a human. Just because you get married and start dedicating your life to your spouse, does that mean you're no longer you? No, you still have your likes and dislikes, your own personality, you just need to keep in mind that there is this other being you're dedicated to. Just keep in mind some of the tenants of your chosen god, (some really good info here,) and go about your life.

lunar

Be a Silverstar (or Silverknight) of Selune! Mysterious, adventurous, and also virtuous! Some mod or another adds this kit to the game. You may romance Rasaad and thwart Shar's evil machinations in bg1+2. A perfect match.

Selune's hierarchy is open and free, (Selune is chaotic good, after all!) but very benign. They fight against oppression, darkness and deceit and want freedom+well-being for all sentient creatures. The moonlight helps travellers and lost people in the dark to find safety. Anywhere moon shines upon is a place of worship for a Selunite.

God

1) Milil.
2) Just as you would a bard.

abacus

I really enjoyed playing a Priest of Helm... played him the full Dredd:

alceryes

Remember, having a lawful good aligned cleric (or any class, for that matter) doesn't mean that you are a single-minded zealot or machine. You can be anything. Be a missionary-style cleric or a wide-eyed new cleric who has the classic 'hopeless romantic' view of life (how Adjantis acts).
Alignment was not designed to take options away from you - it's more of a guideline to your actions than a red rope you can't cross. Yes, there may be repercussions for regularly going against your alignment, but there are many forgotten realms characters, who are supposed to be one of the three 'goodies' (lawful good, neutral good, lawful neutral), that are regularly portrayed as surly cusses and an affront to the law.

Back when I DM'd 1e and 2e I did sometimes give XP for alignment roleplaying but only when it was brilliantly done within the context of the situation at hand. I DID NOT give XP to someone who completely missed the spirit of the situation because they were too engrossed in WWLGD, even if they were acting as their alignment supposedly dictates.

e.g. Even though it might keep a lawful good paladin up at night and cause him to submit himself to varying degrees of penance, breaking a fellow party member out of a local jail might be an acceptable act if -
a. The local law is completely inept.
b. The paladin knows that the party member is innocent.
c. The party member was arrested under false pretense.
d. The characters believe that they can prove c. if they could just 'borrow' their incarcerated member for a bit.
e. A good plan for the break-out is formed with disablers like sleep and charm person in mind (i.e. no killing).

Now let's say that, despite a, b, c, d, and e, an innocent did die. What happens to the paladin, you ask? Well, in this instance he gets no XP for the rest of that session (he was unaware of this until the end ) but he DOES obtain a nice magic item that is very useful and could potentially help him in future similar situations. Of course, he saw this as a divine message from his god. Sort of like his god saying, "I know you tried but someone died! Do better next time!" He did NOT lose his paladin status but his primary church did send him on a pilgrimage quest since they really just didn't want to deal with both the killing of an innocent AND the possibility of a sign from their god (you know, good ol' church politics).

DJKajuru

Thank you so much for your help!
@Artemius_I , @JumboWheat01 , @lunar , @God , @abacus , @alceryes I have pondered about which deity to choose and came to the conclusion that Selune is the best choice for me because being devoted to a Goddess that represents the moon and the stars seems very galactic and adventurous. I thought of a neutral good alignment because it's an aligment that I can relate to (pursuing good deeds but falling back to neutrality whenever it's necessary) .

I 'll consider a mod that adds other cleric kits, but I'm actually okay with being a vanilla type (all BG1 npc's are and they're still powerful).

Here's my creation, thanks once again!