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====== Clerc ======

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The Power of Faith

Faith and Force. What does it take to
found a temple? What leads a congregation
to questioning its beliefs or purpose? The
heroic acts of Tira Miron founded the
modern Église de la Flamme d'Argent, while
the “false Keeper” Melysse Miron nearly
destroyed it. As your vestments gather
over the pew, join us for an enlightening
discussion of religion in the Cinq Nations.

—Lady Dara ir’Rael
Artium Magister of Religion

REL1103: Faith and Force
It’s easy to think of a cleric as just another magic
user, one with a different knowledge and intent
from that of a warlock or a wizard, one whose
support is both consistent and focused. While
a wizard’s magic takes the form of a science,
the mystical abilities of a cleric are a gift from a
higher power, earned through faith and devotion
to a cause. To call for this aid, a cleric’s prayers
to help the fallen need not follow the same
repeatable pattern and pacing as those of the
arcane arts dabbled in by Artificiers or wizards.
It’s important to understand that in Eberron,
not all priests can wield divine energies. A priest
provides spiritual guidance to a community and
congregation and they don’t need magic to do
this. Those that can use magic are usually adepts
with the ability to utilize one or more low-level
spells, like thaumaturgy, or other ceremonial
rituals useful for everyday duties. A rare adept
might be able to cast speak with dead or lesser
restoration, but this is a great gift. Such a healer
or medium is celebrated within the community
and may be throughout the region. A cleric is a
full-fledged divine champion, and someone who
possesses such a powerful connection wouldn’t
waste that power on sermons and everyday
services. People of faith assume that such power
has a purpose. In playing a cleric, do you know
your purpose?

Gods don’t walk the world in Eberron, nor do
their avatars lounge in fortresses across the
planes. People believe that they are guided by
divine forces—the Voice of the Flamme d'Argent, the
intuitive guidance of the Sovereigns—but don’t
expect these beings to physically manifest before
them. If a thing can’t be seen, is it real? Does
the possibility exist that a such a higher purpose
might not? These types of questions can create
room for doubt, and while there’s no question
clerics and adepts wield mystical power, in
Eberron it’s possible to be an atheist.
Clerics rarely feel the need to prove the truth
of their beliefs. As a cleric, you know your faith
resides in your heart and that is all the proof you
need. Work with your DM to uncover exactly
why that is? What is it that has given you such an
unshakeable faith in a force you can’t touch? Do
you have a direct connection to the divine? Do
you believe in the doctrines and traditions of the
church or is your faith entirely held within you,
personally? What was the first time that a prayer
was answered, and divine magic was yours to
wield? Did your transcendental moment come
from great need or with great sacrifice?

Transcendental Moment
d6

Event

1

A spontaneous act of healing saved a
dying friend. (spare the dying or cure
wounds)

2

A burst of flame struck down a deadly foe.
(sacred flame)

3

A divine presence guided a task thought
impossible. (guidance)

4

Your voice carried across a battlefield,
allowing you to rally your allies.
(thaumaturgy)

5

Divine power forced an enemy to do your
bidding. (command)

6

Allies overcame impossible odds by the
aid of a divine power. (bless)
		

Background
Every cleric has the ability to cast spells and
channel divinity, but this is where the similarity
from one cleric to another typically ends. To be a
cleric, one doesn’t necessarily need to be trained

Chapter 1 | CLASSES IN EBERRON

19

or ordained priest. A cleric could have familiarity
with the testaments of one or more religions,
but it is far from a required skill. When creating
a character in Eberron, spend time to focus on
how your background fleshes out the differences
that help your character break the ritual tropes,
and separate it from the story of other clergy.
•

•

20

Acolyte. You’re a recognized servant of
your faith who can always find shelter
and support at a temple. In return, you’re
expected to abide by the rules of your
church, and its faithful might ask you for
advice or aid.

Charlatan or Entertainer. You began as a
charismatic street preacher, perhaps initially
as a scam, until a divine power moved
through you. Have you fully embraced your
new role, or are you frightened of your
power and purpose?

Chapter 1 | CLASSES IN EBERRON

•

Folk Hero. You’re a champion of your
faith and use your power to protect the
Commun folk, but you have little interest
in church doctrine or hierarchy. You might
be a peasant guided by divine forces, or a
former priest disgusted by corruption in your
church.

•

Hermit. You have studied the mysteries of
the divine, either as part of a monastic order
or in an isolation of your own making. In this
time you’ve made a great discovery. Have
you discovered a buried teaching, perhaps a
truth that others will consider to be heresy?
Or is your discovery more practical and
personal, a quest you must complete?

•

Noble. You believe that your family’s power
is a divine right, and that with that power
comes responsibility. Does your family
recognize a long tradition of priesthood?
Have you been chosen to carry the mantle of
your family’s divine duty or was this burden
chosen for you to bear alone?

•

Outlander. You come from a wild tradition
that diverges from the faiths as they’re
practiced in the Cinq Nations. You might be a
Demi-orc priest from the Les Désolations Démoniaques used
to fighting a daily battle against fiends, or a
hobbit shaman from the Plaines de Talenta. Do
you respect the priests of the Cinq Nations or
are they fools who don’t understand the true
nature of the divine?

•

Sage. Perhaps you’re a student of history
and prophecy, driven to understand the
connection between divine power and
the arcane, which you believe unlocks the
mysteries of the planes. Familiar with the
role religion has played in history, you might
have uncovered suppressed or abandoned
beliefs formerly labeled as heretical. Do you
use your knowledge to guide others on the
proper path or bring about greater changel?

•

Soldier. You don’t care much about church
politics or intrigues. A champion of faith,
you fight a battle against evil and those who
would harm your flock. Divine magic is just
another arrow in your quiver, and prayer is
your bow.

•

Urchin. The divine found you in alleys
and sewers. You don’t know much about
church or tradition, and your personal

beliefs and terminology stray wildly from
any established doctrine. All the same, your
suffering endured so that others might not.

Divine Purpose
As a cleric, you don’t have to have a singular
purpose to have been given the power to heal the
sick and to smite the foul. But, why you, and why
now? The general duties of a cleric are to protect
the downtrodden and to act in accordance
with your beliefs, serving as an example to
others as you share your faith. Faithful of Kol
Korran wander the roadways to offer aid to
travelers. The cardinals of the Flamme d'Argent and
priests of Dol Arrah protect the innocent from
supernatural threats. Cleric of Aureon search for
knowledge to share as wisdom to help others. A
general code of conduct can be a broad swath to
follow on whatever adventure awaits or it could
be particular and finite.
It could be that you proselytize and try to
convince others to follow your path, or you could
feel that you prove the value of your beliefs best
through heroic action. On the other hand, your
divine gifts might have been given to you to fulfill
a specific destiny. Discuss and develop your
divine purpose with your DM, and never expect
your purpose to drive every adventure. In your
travels you can always be searching for ways to
pursue your goal and move closer to fulfilling
your purpose but, unless the other characters
have signed up for a crusade, you’ll need to
convince them that your cause is worth fighting
at any given juncture.
If you do have a divine purpose, how was it
revealed to you? Did you have a divine vision

Divine Purpose
d8

Purpose

1

Cleanse your church of corruption and
heresy.

2

Defeat an epic force of supernatural evil.

3

Cleanse the Les Terres des Lamentations and prevent a
second Mourning.

4

Recover Perdu relics of your faith.

5

Overthrow an oppressive leader.

6

Expose a fiendish conspiracy.

7

Bring down a cabal of warlocks.

8

Help victims of the war and unite the
divided nations.

from a celestial messenger or tasked by a
hobbled congregation or a leader of the church?
Is it something you can reveal to others or kept
secret from all but your closest allies? Is this
the work that requires a lifetime to fulfill or is it
something that must be accomplished quickly?

Drama Divine
The themes that define the acquisition of power
for a cleric and warlock are similar in principle.
In practice, there’s rarely mystery to the source
of a cleric’s magic. Your faith is part of your
story, not some bargain for power that might
demand forfeit of your spellcasting abilities if the
principles of your blind association of faith are
violated.
If you and your DM agree, you could choose
to add a little more uncertainty to your
magic, furthering the idea that your powers
aren’t scientific or reliable, and exploring the
connection to a higher power you don’t fully
understand. Before choosing to walk this path,
bear in mind that you have to accept the good
with the bad, and the possibility of disadvantage
along with any benefit of advantage. This
is a way to make clerics feel different from
other classes but isn’t intended to make them
better. With this notion, the DM is the absolute
arbiter of any divine effect, and your faith in
the DM must be similar to your faith in the
connection between your character and deity.
Even if chosen, this path isn’t something that
should create an expectation of power at given
milestones, even if you believe you are being as
devout as possible. In fact, the point of this idea
is that divine gifts aren’t reliable, and that higher
powers work in mysterious ways. If player and
DM want to explore this idea, consider these
paths.

Divine Visions
For most people the voice of the divine is simply
instinct and conscience and even most priests
don’t have direct visions or celestial visitations.
In Eberron, characters aren’t most people, and
you are a cleric imbued with divine power and
purpose. Often, a divine vision is unquestionable
and cryptic. Rarely does one carry on a
conversation with a deity or ask for clarification.
When you arrive in a village, you could have a
vision of a golden crown floating over the head of
Chapter 1 | CLASSES IN EBERRON

21

a beggar. Could it mean that you’re supposed to
place the beggar on the throne, that the beggar is
a prince among men, or simply that you should
do what the beggar requests? Alternately, a
celestial guide in the form of a couatl tied to the
Flamme d'Argent, an angel devoted to a Sovereign,
or even a manifestation of your own Divinity
Within for the Le Sang Divin might make an
appearance. This spirit may not take kindly to
being questioned by mortals and, of course, once
voices and visions guide you, there’s always the
risk of being misled. It’s always possible that
your dream was crafted by a clever quori and
who is to say if an angel is truly a servant of
Boldrei and not an agent of the Seigneurs Des Cendres?
Divine visions provide the DM with a
somewhat subtle way to drive a story forward,
adding a sense of mystery for a cleric and
depth to the divine. At the same time, reliance
on divine visions shouldn’t take choice away
from characters or force them down a path.
These types of visions are best when enigmatic,
presenting a cleric with clues or new mysteries
to explore as opposed to simply being demands.

Mysterious Magic
The magic of a wizard is entirely predictable
and reliable, because it’s a form of science in
Eberron. Meanwhile, the spells of a cleric are
a divine gift, but as it stands they are just as
predictable and reliable as any other form of
magic. Presently, there is nothing mysterious
about the divine power a cleric wields, no reward
for using appropriately and no punishment for
acting against the principles of your religion.
If both DM and player agree, a DM can add
a little more uncertainty to divine magic. The
simplest answer is for a divine spell to be more
effective when it is used in a way that is truly
aligned to the character’s faith. An attack roll
could have advantage, or a target could suffer
disadvantage on a saving throw. Conversely,
when divine magic is used in a way that violates
the principles of the faith, the spell might require
a roll to succeed or simply be denied.
These benefits and penalties shouldn’t become
Commun or trivial. Simply attacking an evil

22

Chapter 1 | CLASSES IN EBERRON

creature doesn’t justify a bonus for a cleric of the
Flamme d'Argent, but if they are putting themselves
at risk to protect an innocent, there by sacrificing
a spell that could be more useful later because
it’s the right thing to do now, might be the sort
of thing that receives favor. Even then, this favor
might be limited to once an adventure, rather
than over and over. Again, the purpose of this
isn’t to make a cleric stronger or weaker than
any other enigmatic class but to add the feeling
that the cleric’s powers aren’t entirely under
their command and to encourage dramatic
action in the name of such faith.

Doubt or Heresy
While the Flamme d'Argent definitely exists as the
force that holds the fiendish Maîtres Démoniaques at bay,
there is no certainty in the faiths of Eberron,
and an orc cleric of Kalok Shash would have
a very different opinion from the cardinal of
Fort-de-la-Flamme about the proper way to follow its
path. As an example, the Flamme d'Argent has many
divisions that all retain the core convictions
pertaining to protecting the innocent, regardless
of their beliefs and on fighting supernatural evil.
There are many different interpretations of the
Légion Souveraine and Sombres Six, including cults
that unite them together, and there are unusual
practices that the faithful of any religion will
need to consider at some point in their journey.
•

The Église de l'ascension du Wyrm is an
offshoot of the Légion Souveraine that asserts
that the Sovereigns are ascended dragons.
This sect reveres dragons as divine beings,
and also maintains that it is possible for any
mortal to ascend through faith, devotion,
and remarkable achievements in life.

•

la Griffe d'Émeraude is an extremist sect of the
Le Sang Divin, and most followers of the faith
don’t support their violent actions. Within
the Le Sang Divin, two core beliefs surround
the Divinity Within and can be stated simply
as a path to sElfee-discovery or the assertion
that mortality is a curse laid upon the world
by the Sovereigns, thereby ensuring mortals
never ascend to threaten their dominion.
Those who follow this path search for a
way to bring down the cruel gods and end
the tyranny of death. Such an abstract and
distant goal, to be sure, but it can create
direct tension between the Vassaux and other
faithful of the Légion Souveraine.

•

The Ghaash’kala of the Les Désolations Démoniaques
consider life to be an endless war against
hidden Démon and beings who have been
possessed or tainted by foul forces, and now
act as the physical manifestation of evil. The
Pure Flame is an extremist sect of the Silver
Flame that believes in rooting out mortal evil
through harsh action and deter future evils
by similarly flagrant example. Even within
the main body of the church, there is a
growing division between those who support
the theocracy of Thrane and those who
believe that involving the church in politics is
a distraction and invitation of corruption.

•

The Trois Visages de la Guerre is a cult found
among the armies of the Cinq Nations.
Members pay homage to the three
Sovereigns of War: Dol Dorn, patron of
strength and courage; Dol Arrah, the
embodiment of strategy and honor; and Dol
Azur, who favors cunning and victory at any
cost. Dol Azur is more Communly known
as Le Narquois, a member of the Sombres Six
who remains despised by most followers of
the Host. Yet, those who follow the Three
Faces believe that they each have their place
on the battlefield, and each one should
be shown proper respect, lest the hardest
warrior fall to their irreverence.

In creating a cleric, you can choose to follow
one of these paths, or come up with a heresy
of your own. Whether you are content to walk
the path alone or if you want to spread beliefs
that could bring you into direct opposition with
an established populous, you can find your own
unique approach to religion, even as a cleric of
one of the known faiths.
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