Anyone ever had a problem with playing a cleric in a campaign or one shot without undead so your Turning abilities…

Anyone ever had a problem with playing a cleric in a campaign or one shot without undead so your Turning abilities…

Anyone ever had a problem with playing a cleric in a campaign or one shot without undead so your Turning abilities were useless? Few classes have such a specific ability or theme as the Cleric.

12 thoughts on “Anyone ever had a problem with playing a cleric in a campaign or one shot without undead so your Turning abilities…”

  1. I agree with Joseph F. Russo​. To me it falls under the principles to be a fan of the players and give them a chance to let their class shine.

  2. I’ve been thinking of just using it as a general “abjure” ability that gets a bonus vs. undead, and/or a penalty against things that are still truly evil/against your deity but less clearly abominations of nature.

  3. Turn Undead isn’t a focal point of the class, his connection to his god and faith are. If the priest doesn’t feel useful because there are no undead around, that’s the players fault for not engaging with the world. The GM shouldn’t be forced to include undead just because the cleric has a move that specializes in fighting undead. Clerics have plenty of tools at their disposal to make themselves relevant.

    That’s like saying you have to place the setting in the woods where they need to find the enemy, because the ranger has a “hunt and track” move.

  4. It’s exactly like that, yes. And if you have a Ranger, I’d say the same thing: you should have trails to follow every now and then, just like Wizards should run into Places of Power and Thieves should have traps to disarm. These things don’t have to show up every scene, or even necessarily every session, but characters should absolutely be given opportunities to show off every facet of their class.

    That said, to the original question: a one shot isn’t that long, and you probably won’t get to highlight everything about every character, so just do your best to make sure everyone has fun. But in a campaign, yeah, throw them an undead bone every now and then.

  5. I guess another way to look at this is:

    The default setting assumes undead are common enough to make that move worth having. If you are using a different setting where undead are uncommon or absent, consider revising or replacing this move.

  6. Had a couple times as the GM I regretted not retcon some minions to be undead so the Cleric player could use that move. However, the Cleric was sooooo clutch in other previous encounters. Literally was the difference between victory and defeat for the party and was a ton of fun to see.

  7. Cody FromSideThree They felt powerful and that the party relied on them, without having undead around. There for your scenario was well built that you didn’t have to specifically cater to one class over the rest of the party to do it.

    This is how you GM. If you have to have traps because there is a thief in the party, then you aren’t making actual interesting gameplay for the players to interact with. You’re just checking boxes so everyone can get their participation trophies.

    Being a fan of the characters even specifies that they fail some times. Sometimes the Fighter isn’t going to have a big enemy he can hit with his big sword. There won’t be traps for the thief to disarm, or places of power for a mage to exploit. Your goal as a GM though is to make sure they still have equal opportunity to be engaged with what is happening.

    The cleric faces off against the priest of an opposing god in a public debate, or battles a cult that antagonizes his church, for example.

  8. I don’t think it’d a problem if everyone’s abilities don’t come into play all the time. Wizard’s Ritual, Fighter’s Bend Bars, Bard’s Port are all moves are great when they come up, but not all moves are created equal. Feel free to start implementing, but don’t have a bifercated story just to spam zombies into the game.

  9. I mean, I’m going to put in more traps if there’s a thief, because the thief cares. More undead for the cleric. More favored enemies and woodlands for the ranger.

    That’s how you GM. Give the players what they enjoy, duh.

  10. You can tweak the core classes. It’s in the book. If you see the problem far enough on the horizon, and you think it’s significant enough to justify resolving, consider replacing the move.

    Zealot : When you mindlessly pursue your deities interest, you turn undead. Disease, magical mind control, blood loss, darkness, drowning, and loss of limb are bearable as long as you maintain your fervent commitment.

    … My half abandoned current DW project is coming up with a whole mess of these replacement moves for the base classes, so they can be printed on label stock and over laid on the character sheets.

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