The very first character I ever created for Dungeons & Dragons, at the tender age of 13, was a Cleric. He was a derivative character named Ashe, heavily inspired by the Army Of Darkness character of the same name. He worshiped Yahkoob, the God of Gleeful Chaos (who was also highly derivative, being a characterization of a dear friend of mine). I remember him favoring ranged weapons, an explosive crossbow in particular, and I remember him very much wanting to own a warhorse.
Little did I know that, despite the strangeness of this particular character, Ashe would act as a prophecy for my RPG choices throughout what would become a lifelong hobby. Whenever I play a character in a one-shot game, I pick up the Cleric. When I played the Star Wars d20 game, I played a Jedi Consular who evolved into a Jedi Healer...becoming the Star Wars equivalent of a Cleric. Heck, I remember one time creating a D&D 4th Edition Warlock who drew life essence from opponents, turning him into a dark and twisted version of a...well, you get the idea. It seemed that, even when I wasn't trying, I would find myself drawn to the Cleric.
And it wasn't just pen and paper roleplaying games either. Whenever I'd start a game on my computer, or on a portable device, I was drawn to the Priest or the Paladin. There was something that inexplicably drew me to wanting to play a character who had such a deep connection with the divine. I couldn't explain the pull - all I knew is I had an undeniable need to play such a character whenever I had the chance.
The fact that I would play the Cleric became a little bit of an expectation amongst my gaming friends. My nickname "Friar Tuck" became more than a friendly moniker - it became gameplay vocation, one that I was more than happy to fill.
And for a while, I accepted it as just that - Cleric was my favorite class. However, a seed of change was planted when a friend of mine asked me why I always played a Cleric. I pondered the question deeply...and what I found out about myself was interesting.
The most basic reason I choose a Cleric is because it is the most helpful of the classes, a role that I very much enjoy. As a person, I like to be helpful - whether I'm offering my time and money for a charitable cause, or just giving someone a hand at my job, helping is something that is deeply fulfilling to me. The Cleric helps his party through the miracle of healing. Without the Cleric's supernatural ability to draw down the merciful light of the heavens, the adventuring party would not last long against the most epic of foes.
Going somewhat deeper, I love the Cleric because it is one of the only classes that can be both peaceful and effective. The strengths of the Cleric are in the aforementioned power of healing, and through a focus in the skill of diplomacy. A Cleric who cannot peacefully talk his way out of a battle need not raise a hand in combat. Now, while not all Clerics are played this way, I love that this is a feature for the class. As someone who endeavors towards a life and path of peace, there is a powerful draw to don the only role that doesn't require that you do harm to do well.
The deepest realization I had, and most revealing to my journey of faith, comes from what a Cleric is: a conduit of the divine. A Cleric knows God, is touched by God, and makes a difference in the world because of that relationship with God.
It was this final realization that germinated into the epiphany I made one fateful October evening. I was in the middle of a personal crisis - a realization of a lack of direction. For several years, I'd spent my life operating from project to project, interest to interest, fixation to fixation. Despite how each of these interests gave me reason to be enthusiastic, none of them gave me true orientation. None of them fulfilled me the way I wanted to be. None of them gave me meaning, or peace.
None of them...except playing a Cleric. Because during a game, I had defined direction, defined meaning. Certainly, it was all amplified into an epic world with an epic storyline, but I realized all the things I was looking for in the real world were there. And as my epiphany rolled over me, I was left with two choices - I could continue to look for escape from the real world, and play out being a Cleric in realms fantastic...or I could become a Cleric in the here and now.
And so I took a step forward, and chose the latter. And the journey I've taken in the short time since has been exactly what I've been looking for.
And it wasn't just pen and paper roleplaying games either. Whenever I'd start a game on my computer, or on a portable device, I was drawn to the Priest or the Paladin. There was something that inexplicably drew me to wanting to play a character who had such a deep connection with the divine. I couldn't explain the pull - all I knew is I had an undeniable need to play such a character whenever I had the chance.
The fact that I would play the Cleric became a little bit of an expectation amongst my gaming friends. My nickname "Friar Tuck" became more than a friendly moniker - it became gameplay vocation, one that I was more than happy to fill.
And for a while, I accepted it as just that - Cleric was my favorite class. However, a seed of change was planted when a friend of mine asked me why I always played a Cleric. I pondered the question deeply...and what I found out about myself was interesting.
The most basic reason I choose a Cleric is because it is the most helpful of the classes, a role that I very much enjoy. As a person, I like to be helpful - whether I'm offering my time and money for a charitable cause, or just giving someone a hand at my job, helping is something that is deeply fulfilling to me. The Cleric helps his party through the miracle of healing. Without the Cleric's supernatural ability to draw down the merciful light of the heavens, the adventuring party would not last long against the most epic of foes.
Going somewhat deeper, I love the Cleric because it is one of the only classes that can be both peaceful and effective. The strengths of the Cleric are in the aforementioned power of healing, and through a focus in the skill of diplomacy. A Cleric who cannot peacefully talk his way out of a battle need not raise a hand in combat. Now, while not all Clerics are played this way, I love that this is a feature for the class. As someone who endeavors towards a life and path of peace, there is a powerful draw to don the only role that doesn't require that you do harm to do well.
The deepest realization I had, and most revealing to my journey of faith, comes from what a Cleric is: a conduit of the divine. A Cleric knows God, is touched by God, and makes a difference in the world because of that relationship with God.
It was this final realization that germinated into the epiphany I made one fateful October evening. I was in the middle of a personal crisis - a realization of a lack of direction. For several years, I'd spent my life operating from project to project, interest to interest, fixation to fixation. Despite how each of these interests gave me reason to be enthusiastic, none of them gave me true orientation. None of them fulfilled me the way I wanted to be. None of them gave me meaning, or peace.
None of them...except playing a Cleric. Because during a game, I had defined direction, defined meaning. Certainly, it was all amplified into an epic world with an epic storyline, but I realized all the things I was looking for in the real world were there. And as my epiphany rolled over me, I was left with two choices - I could continue to look for escape from the real world, and play out being a Cleric in realms fantastic...or I could become a Cleric in the here and now.
And so I took a step forward, and chose the latter. And the journey I've taken in the short time since has been exactly what I've been looking for.
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