Clerical Domains

Clerics seem extraneous in most games I've played. It seems more often than not people play them to fill out the role in the party for tanky support guy, or a stockier wizard.

And this doesn't really feel satisfying to me. I feel it needs something more distinct.

I think what can best define Clerics is that they are a go-between, a middle man. They are a medium between People and that which is inaccessible to them. This can encompass everything from history to the divine to the un-explainable to science.

The Cleric, more so than other classes, is defined by how they interact with other people. This is also what differentiates them from other magical ilk - say, an ascetic, or a wizard, who don't need (or want) to mediate their knowledge for the advancement of others.

After all, what's the difference between a Cleric who doesn't share their talents, and a Wizard? Spell selection? Armor and weapons? How they acquire their magic? The first two are subjective on the game system, and usually there's enough overlap to muddy the waters. The third one happens "off screen" and has virtually no impact on play.

My point is that there should be a more concrete distinction.

To that end...

Divine Domains are how the gods of the campaign interface with the world. Clerical Domains are how the Cleric interfaces society with the unknowable, the complex, or the divine.

Clerical Domains should be more important for play than Divine Domains, because Clerical Domains describe how the Cleric interacts with NPCs and the other Players.

Divine Domains are great and all, but they don't really tell you what your cleric does, only what their god lords over. So here's a table for what your cleric does.

I wanted to make this a d12 or d20 table, but failed. Some of these domains can be endlessly split or combined, but I said 'fuck it' and stopped worrying halfway through making it.

What Is Your Cleric All About?

(Clerical Domains)

Clerical Domain	The Cleric Mediates Between People And...	Responsibilities	Cleric Examples
1. Judgement	Proper Morality	Judgin' stuff	Asshole Paladin Judge/Jury/Executioner
2. Divination	The Not-Present, Not-Here.	Augury, scrying, foresight	Ceremonial-Chicken-Killer Necromancer
3. Diplomacy	Other People	Mediating, negotiating	Neutral Arbiter Heretical Turncoat
4. Conversion	The Virtues of Orthodoxy	Coercion, persuasion	Fallen Paladin Alignment Jockey
5. Purification	Their Disgust	Being clean and making others so	Heretic Purger Mr. Clean
6. Oathkeeping	Their Logical Lack of Trust	Upholding and remembering oaths and oathbreakers	Grudgewielder Friendship-Is-Legally-Binding Cleric
7. Scholarship	Other People Across Space and Time	Record keeping, cataloging, library diving	Library Navigator
8. Ritual	Symbology	Knowing and utilizing rituals	Techno-Pope Secret Society Leader
9. Communication	The Unfamiliar	Talking to ghosts, animals, rocks.	Speaks With Literally Everything Cleric
10. Politics	Power	Rhetoric, propaganda	Religious leader
11. Pilgrimage	Spatially-Bonded Holiness	Knowing the way and the journey	Guide Hospitalier
12. Funerals	Death	Interment of corpses, cremations, funerals	Undertaker
13. Initiation	The Community	Initiation rituals, education	Hazer Cleric Educator
14. Bureaucracy	The Endless Machinations of Man	Record keeping, loophole engineering	Spirit Lawyer Divine Tax Man

Notes

To facilitate this role of the Cleric as a medium between the unknowable and the layfolk (all non-Clerics, essentially), I think the best procedure is to subtly encourage in-character dialogue between the Cleric and everyone else. Some ideas to do this without being heavy-handed:

Secret DM Communication
This is why I think secret communication between the DM and the Cleric player is critical. When everyone at the table has access to what the Cleric knows (usually by the DM telling the results of the Cleric's doings in front of the whole table) it shortcuts the interaction between the Cleric and the other players. This translation of information is valuable to the Cleric's role as medium.

This can be applied to all classes, of course, but I feel it's more important for clerics than others.

Funerals
More than the other domains, I feel like this is where the Cleric shines best, especially in OSR games with a high PC drop rate. Taking care of the recently dead is a responsibility best done with a focused light at the table. It can have a functional impact on play, too. Like:

• Character who had a proper funeral don't rise as undead the next full moon.
• Those who witnessed a death are physically stained until they reconcile with it by purification.
• Funerals are great for networking with NPCs.