Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

I plan to create a character who has the powers of a wizard but also serves as a priest for a yet to be determined planar entity, prob fiendish... kind of like a warlock. He will either be a wizard who comes to worship and serve this entity or a sorcerer who gained his arcane spark from said entity in exchange for service. He wont have any divine powers but most of those who call themselves priests in D&D don't have any power anyway. Not every priest or wannabe priest are clerics, clerics are much more rare according to lore. Should be fun to rp.

It's hardly "unusual". You're just devoted to a cause without being a cleric. If your character deal with devils for power, it's a warlock. But maybe your character got it's sorcerous powers from some demonic, faint lineage in his blood though.

I'd be asking the DMs on this before I spent too much time developing this concept.

I think the main issue with this concept is that your character would supposedly have their power from this unknown entity. That is either a warlock or a cleric, and would therefore need to conform with the proper rules surrounding those classes.

Characters can be priests without being clerics, yes, but they do not receive any powers. I imagine it as they are more devour and do more of the paperwork than a regular lay member

If you gain your power from the entity in exchange for X, you are a warlock. Warlocks aren't the only ones who deal with devils/demons/other extra planars, however. Anyone can make a deal with these creatures (the deal doesn't have to be for magical powers. For example, a wizard might already have those. It could be for forbidden knowledge, wealth, etc.). Their cults and followers aren't made up of 100% warlocks (infact, warlocks are somewhat or a rare breed of creature).

Most of your ideas you had there are fine lore-wise. The sorcerer wouldn't have gained their arcane spark in exchange for anything, sorcerers have those powers at birth (see above. If you made a deal in exchange for the power, its a warlock). However, your sorcerer could have the said extra planar's blood in his veins, which is how sorcerers have their power (magical blood. Be it dragon, demon, devil, fey, celestial, etc.).

I actually have a priest that isn't a cleric as well, and it is fun.

And while what metaquad says is true from a rules standpoint, it is perfectly acceptable to play a PC who has been tricked into believing an entity is the source of his power (usualy by that entity or his followers) while in reality they are inborn (sorc) or learned (wizard). So you could have both a priest that isn't a cleric, and a warlock that isn't really a warlock, just thinks he is. Seems pretty unique to me.

This is hardly an "unusual" rp path, unless you RP it as if your character directly receives his or her powers from the deity without being a divine class, in which case it is not an unusual RP path but a rule breaking one. While clerics are members of the clergy, not all members of the clergy are clerics. Certain deities barely even have clerics, majority of their clergy being other classes.

Bane's clergy under Fzoul Chembryl (aka "Transformed") for an example, have more wizards as members than clerics. Which has led to the conflict with the Orthodox clergy (under the High Imperceptor from Mulmaster), who are mostly clerics. The wizards are the members of the church and a part of the clergy, yet they receive absolutely no divine powers for that. They are still wizards and their arcane powers come from their own studies.

I'm sure there are a bunch of other churches which have wizards and/or sorcerers as regular members of their clergy. Mystra comes to mind.

I've seen this topic before. . .

http://bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=47836

V'rass wrote:I plan to create somewhat exotic and unique character later tonight. My idea is to create a wizard who worships a being and serves as a priest in its name but instead of divine magic is taught how to use arcane magic by said being. Kind of like a warlock but not quite as limited and also more of a minion then just someone out for themselves like most warlocks are. I got this idea from one of my favorite video game villains who was exactly what is written above. The entity will prob not be a god so much as a powerful fiend or lovecraftian being. It will not be giving him spells like a cleric rather it will have instructed him on how to use magic as a wizard. I enjoy playing odd characters and this would certainly qualify. I can hardly wait.

Let nothing come between a man and his snowflake.

V'rass wrote:
I plan to create somewhat exotic and unique character later tonight. My idea is to create a wizard who worships a being and serves as a priest in its name but instead of divine magic is taught how to use arcane magic by said being. Kind of like a warlock but not quite as limited and also more of a minion then just someone out for themselves like most warlocks are. I got this idea from one of my favorite video game villains who was exactly what is written above. The entity will prob not be a god so much as a powerful fiend or lovecraftian being. It will not be giving him spells like a cleric rather it will have instructed him on how to use magic as a wizard. I enjoy playing odd characters and this would certainly qualify. I can hardly wait.

The difference this time is he is not gaining any power from the entity. He might gain other favors from it but he is not drawing power from it as a cleric or warlock would. He worships it as a god and serves as its priest but the entity is not a true god and does not grant him spells.
He does not need spells from it that's why he will be either a wizard or sorcerer. He uses his own magic in his and it's name. What magic he has he learned on his own. He needs no help from the entity in that area. He is not getting any spells from it in any way, shape, or form this time.

I see no issue with it if it's clear OOCly that no actual power is being derived from the worship of said entity.

I'd still shoot the DMs a PM though, as it sounds like an unusual background request, and they're likely the group you're going to want to turn to if you ever want to take the concept further or ever want to actually meet the character's mysterious "deity" in game.

Question now is... do I go wizard or sorcerer? Sorcerer might be more believable since he could claim to have powers due to fiendish blood or ancestry and simply found a particular demon-lord or arch-devil and offered his services.

Wizard on the other hand has its own pros and cons and he could simply claim to worship said entity while learning magic on his own to serve it. Sorcerer is far more powerful but wizard gets tons of feats which could make the character more effective.'

What to choose...?

Btw, this is not an attempt to argue over rules but rather a question.

I have read in several D&D books that sorcerers can have their power granted to them by other entities without becoming warlocks through one of two methods... intimate relations (ugh), or blood/essence transfusion. I believe the book of vile darkness or the fiendish codex mentions that the demon lord Gra'zzt has spawned tons of sorcerers through intimate encounters with said sorcerers before they were sorcerers. Now even if the rules allowed this I would not be going down the intimate route. That's just wrong lol. Still the book seemed to indicate some sorcerers do get their powers from interactions with fiends though such is rare.

Again this is not an attempt to cheat the rules I just thought I would mention it.

Comments?

Btw i think i figured out a way to make the character still owe the entity for its help without directly gaining power from it. Wizards generally learn their art as apprentices to more powerful wizards but they do not draw power from their masters, they simply learn magic on their own with occasional help from their master. I could say that i was apprenticed to the entity i serve and learned magic with its help but i would not be gaining power from it in any way shape or form. I would simply have studied with it and learned what i know through my own ability. This would allow me to have my rp and not violate the power-source rule.

If that does not work i could say i learned from a mortal wizard who was in a cult in service to the entity and that is how i came to serve it. Might work better then the first method.

Will prob give it a try later... until then, comments?

PM the DM team with the character idea & biography?