Clerics act as intermediaries between the earthly and the divine (or infernal) worlds. A good cleric helps those in need, while an evil cleric seeks to spread his patron's vision of evil across the world. All clerics can heal wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, and powerful clerics can even raise the dead. Likewise, all clerics have authority over undead creatures, and they can turn away or even destroy these creatures. Clerics are trained in the use of simple weapons, and can use all forms of armor and shields without penalty, since armor does not interfere with the casting of divine spells. In addition to his normal complement of spells, every cleric chooses to focus on two of his deity's domains. These domains grant the cleric special powers, and give him access to spells that he might otherwise never learn.
Those of the cleric class must follow their deity's dogma. A given deity's dogma depends highly on their personality, domains, and history. If you intend to play a cleric, you may want to do some reading on the Forgotten Realms wiki (be careful to stick to 3.5 edition sources or earlier,) or books like Faiths and Pantheons. The deity will have a number of objectives in the world, even if nebulous, and a cleric of that deity should in general strive to promote their deity and work towards their goals. For example: A priest of Tymora would find it important to spread word of the blessings available to the lucky. They may take donations of coin, heal others or perform services based on wagers, and encourage others to chase their dreams with daring and bravado. A priest of Bane would preach order, the place of strength and obedience to the strong in a strict heirarchy.
Clerics who do not follow their deity's dogma, or work against it, or become out of alignment with their deity (the 'one step rule',) have a chance to become Fallen. Their deity decides that the follower is not worthy of their divine magic and withdraws it, along with any other divine or spell-like and supernatural abilities they have granted. In order to regain these powers, the cleric must atone or seek another deity and petition them. This may be done through plotlines and intensive introspective roleplay.
Many deities have holy days, festivals, and other rites that clerics may assist with or host as may be required. The entire list is far too long for this article, but Faiths and Pantheons and other supplementary works describe some of these rituals. They may be improvised as players might need, within the realm of believability for that deity as regional differences will likely exist. (Please don't get after one another for flavor that your own character might differ on.) For example: Priests of Lathander may all have a ritual to perform at dawn, thanking their deity for another day and the strength to grow in this new beginning. The shape of that ritual may differ, but will usually include facing the sun and praying for their spells or other boons, while making an offering of something like a blooming flower in a cup of water.
| Lvl | BAB | Saves | Feats | HP | Base spells per day | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | |||||
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Turn undead, Domains | 8 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | 16 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | 40 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | 48 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | 56 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | 64 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | 72 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | 80 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | 88 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | ||
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | 96 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | ||
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | 104 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | ||
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | 112 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | ||
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | 120 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | ||
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | 128 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | ||
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | 136 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | 144 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | 152 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | 160 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Turn Undead & Rebuke Undead: With this feat, a good or neutral character can turn or destroy undead creatures. An evil character instead rebukes or commands such creatures. This ability may be activated three times per day, plus the character's charisma modifier. The character's level and charisma are used to determine how many undead are turned.
Cleric Domains: A cleric must choose two domains of their patron deity, gaining all benefits and spells of both. They cannot pick a domain outside of their deity's list.
Bonus feats: The epic cleric gains a bonus feat every three levels after 20th. In other words, at levels 23, 26, and 29.
Epic cleric bonus feats: armor skin, automatic quicken spell, automatic silent spell, automatic still spell, epic spell focus, epic spell penetration, great wisdom, greater spell focus, improved combat casting, planar turning