In this post, I’ll guide you through my process for ideating a cleric character concept. The next Dungeons & Dragons adventure I’ll be playing in takes place in the northernmost region of Wildemount, in the fantasy world of Exandria. It’s going to be a short (4-8 sessions) of campaign discovery and a great chance to test out a new character concept for me.
A point of inspiration
Recently, I was fortunate enough to get a healthy dose of culture at a local art gallery. A section of the gallery was a gigantic room full of renaissance artwork. One painting in particular drew my attention. A gigantic, floor to ceiling painting of Saint Francis Xavier. He was wearing a thickly layered, collared black cloak; his eyes turned skyward; one hand grasped a cross he wore around his neck, and the other gripped tightly a scantly ordained golden staff. The background of the painting dark and stormy, giving off a menacing vibe. There was a slight part in the clouds over his head revealing a single beam of celestial light. My first thought when I saw the painting was: “that’s some good cleric inspiration.”
Good Cleric inspiration
I didn’t have a setting to place him in yet, but I began to do some research into who StFX was. Up until then, I just knew him as a prominent historical figure of the Catholic church, who’s name adorned at least one university in Canada. Without summarizing the whole of my research activities, I found out he was a missionary, and a highly successful one at that. He originally hailed from what now is northern Spain. Francis Xavier had travelled all across the globe, bringing forth teachings of his Lord and Saviour, and that many of his methods would be frowned upon today. Eventually, post-mortem, someone made him a saint.
There’s a lot in there that could be carbon-copied into a D&D 5e character, and so I started with that. “Maybe he’s a middle-aged fellow, well-travelled, and goes near and far trying to convert the heathens to his deity. He’d definitely be pious, and probably arrogant. How about, somewhat sensitive of other people’s cultures, but also doesn’t care much for them.” I mused. “Or maybe he’s a younger man. Freshly graduated out of his clerical training and excited to take on the new day. He’d be naive, but also self-righteous. Willing to do less savoury things in the name of his Lord; ultimately, whatever the cost for the ‘greater good’.”
Thinking about party composition
Not so long after I came up with this first glimmer of character inspiration, did my partner decide to kick off a new mini D&D adventure. We now had a group of players and an adventure hook.
We would be starting in Palebank, “a ramshackle village locked in eternal winter whose denizens make their living off the natural resources.”
Excerpt from the adventure hook for Wildemount northern adventure
I originally thought I would play a warlock concept for this adventure, but I was having trouble tying in a good reason for her to be all the way up in Palebank Village. Sure there were reasons, but they were stretching plausibility. Xavi (the name I had started calling my StFX-inspired cleric), on the other hand, would have ample reason to be way up in the middle of nowhere.
But, we were going to be playing with a couple folks newer to D&D. The more I thought about my original Xavi, the more I worried he might be too grating for new players to interact with. I didn’t want to introduce our friends to D&D by playing an annoying, pompous, douche bag. So I re-assessed this character.
Building Xavi the Twilight Domain Cleric
Starting with a subclass
When I’m creating a character, and once I’ve decided on a class, I’ll typically next look at the subclass options. This I may change as I get more into the backstory, the flaws and bonds, and sometimes even the gameplay itself – if we’re starting out at an early enough level (though not for a cleric, as the subclass option is decided at level 1). I’ve wanted to test out the Twilight Cleric from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything ever since I read about the subclass option, but haven’t had the chance to yet. There is a lot to like about it. It’s a very thematic subclass option: class features “Eyes of Night” (darkvision) and “Steps of Night” (flight); it’s melee friendly cleric option; you gain proficiency in martial weapons and heavy armour; you get the typical cleric option of “Divine Strike”; and it’s Channel Divinity is healing focused.
I originally thought about pairing a Twilight Cleric with a quiet, and kept to themselves hermit-esque cleric, which wasn’t really what I had been planning Xavi to be. But the more I kicked ideas around with my DM, the more I started to think this combination could work.
Choosing an alignment
The way my extended group typically plays, we don’t hold too much stock on player alignment. I encourage my players to have a minor think about it at the start, to help guide their roleplay decisions, but there’s rarely anything mechanical I’ll hold them to. All in all, it’s not a big part of our table. However, I usually do have a general alignment for my character at the start of any campaign. I play so the alignment, of course, can change throughout. My character may also make decisions controversial to that alignment, as long as the decisions are still in character.
For Xavi, I’m thinking he’ll be lawful good. Which I actually haven’t played before, so that’ll be interesting (I tend to trend towards neutral players). But we will also see if I change my mind while I’m writing this!
Choosing a background
Next, when building a character concept, I typically look at the backgrounds. What would Xavi had been doing before this adventure started? How would he make a living? Where would he be living? Who would he be interacting with? and why, why, why would it lead him to where the adventure would start?
Similar to Saint FX, Xavi is a missionary of sorts. Palebank is an isolated working-class village on the outskirts of civilization, so Xavi has probably come there specifically to preach his god to the good people of the north. He’d set up shop in village of Palebank, quietly nestled between mountains to the east and the Crystalsands Tundra to the south and west. Xavi, a seasoned missionary, would probably have a whole wagonload of supplies: food from the south; drinks from the west (if I decide that he is generally pro-alcohol); and stories and trinkets from the east. He’d meet with people in town, share good will, and somehow work on finding a way to spread the teachings of his deity. Being one for travelling far and wide, and it’s plausible at this point in his life he’s found his way up to the north end of the continent.
That’s relatively straightforward. So specifically what background makes sense for him?
Acolyte is a typical one for a cleric, so that’s an option. You get proficiency in the Insight and Religion skills, 2 added languages, and some basic supplies including a holy symbol (which can be the cleric’s spellcasting focus).
Sage could also make sense for one of the cloth with a slight affinity to the arcane side of magic. Gaining proficiency in Arcana and History skills, again 2 additional languages, and supplies more geared to a researcher or librarian.
Outlander could make sense since he’s quite the world traveller. With proficiency in Athletics and Survival, a musical instrument, one additional language, and some more adventurous traveller’s supplies. This one makes more sense if Xavi would be wayfinding himself, so another thing to think about.
Should he be on the charismatic side? Should he be more athletic? He’s not a merchant-type.
Should he have a Noble background, like Francis Xavier himself? That would be proficiency in History (again) and Persuasion, plus proficiency with one type of gaming set, an additional language, and some fancier supplies. He would likely have renounced any titles or inheritances when he took the cloth, but he would have grown up in a rich setting, tutors, table manners, refined education, and the sort.
I’m liking the Noble background idea, but let’s come back to that one.
What are his motivations?
Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws
What is the single most important thing Xavi strives for? What does he care about most? Is there one thing that would prompt him to make a sacrifice? What would he never sacrifice?
The most important thing for Xavi is definitely to bring more good than bad into the world. He does this by dedicating himself to his faith and helping others to see the light. This is probably a good time to start thinking about who his deity is, or at least, what kind of traits, commandments, or ideals themself would they exhibit.
In addition to his faith and general goodwill, Xavi cares about his looks a bit more than he’d like to admit. If he grew up in nobility, he’s never been able to completely shirk the importance of apparent wealth and power. For Xavi, he pays close attention to the quality of manufacturing of an item, the care someone’s taken in their appearance, and the air of which they hold themself. He can’t help it, it’s how he was raised, it’s been ingrained into his mind, and so he’s particular about his own appearance.
Whom does he care about the most? What place, setting, does he have a special connection to? If any? What is his most treasured possession?
He also cares about his fellow brothers and sisters quite dearly. Though he doesn’t see them very often, about once a year the siblings of the cloth gather again together under one roof to share stories of their successes and failures to curate the faith. He doesn’t agree with all their methods, but they share a kinship that he never had with his blood relatives. He would even consider committing heresy for them, if it came down to it.
The one thing of Xavi’s pre-clerical past he does hold dear, is the walking staff his father gave him when he told his parents of his plans to leave the safety of their lands to walk a new path. The staff had been in the family a long time, from the days when they were shepherds before they rose to nobility.
What enrages Xavi? What’s the one person, concept, or event that he’s terrified of? Does he have any vices?
I’m still not sure if I want Xavi to be for or against drugs and alcohol. But I think it would be interesting if he dabbled in gambling, more for the playing aspect than the winning of money. I think he’ll play games, but would never bet more than 1 gold piece. He’s more of a “the loser buys lunch” kind of gambler.
He has a lot of patience, and has been this way since he was a small child. More of a watcher than a talker, it takes a lot to make the man angry. But he used to have nightmares as a child. He was scared of the dark, and demons visited him in his dreams. As he grew into teenhood, the nightmares ebbed, and would return only scarcely. Then one day, his best friend from childhood fell suspiciously ill. The nightmares returned in full. And when it looked like all the magic, potions, and natural remedies in the world couldn’t save his friend, Xavi turned to prayer.
And when it looked like all the magic, potions, and natural remedies in the world couldn’t save his friend, Xavi turned to prayer.
Prime deities further explored
The main pantheon of Exandria consists of the Prime Deities and the Betrayer Gods, and is further explained much better than I ever could in the official material. For more on this I suggest watching Exandria: An Intimate History.
It makes the most sense to me that Xavi is a follower of one of the Prime Deities, so lets go through some of them.
Pelor, the Dawn Father, symbolized with the eight-pointed star, rules over sun and summer. He commands his followers to be ever vigilant of evil; help relieve the suffering of the innocent; and deliver his light where darkness dwells with kindness, compassion, and mercy. Pelor, associated with healing, could be a god young Xavi turned to in prayer when his friend fell ill.
The Raven Queen, the matron of death and mistress of winter, could have a synergy with a Twilight Cleric. But if young Xavi had prayed to her to spare his friend from death, that wouldn’t have landed so well. Her commandments include no pity for the fallen, as death is the natural end to life; death and fate shall not be interfered with no matter what; and, undeath is an atrocity.
There’s Sehanine, or the “Moon Weaver”. She’s the god of moonlight and the autumn season, associated with illusion, moonlight, and the night. This god also has an affinity to the Twilight Cleric and leaves more room for why Xavi may have fallen into faith, more than the first two. She commands of her followers to seize their own destiny by pursuing their passions; to utilize the shadows as protection against both good and evil; and to walk unbridled and untethered in life.
When the Dawn Father and the Raven Queen did not answer Xavi’s prayers, he would have looked perhaps past the gods known to him in the Dwendalian Empire. He would have reached out, desperately, to anyone who may be listening. A silent but powerful prayer into the unknown.
It would have been Sehanine, who had eyes and ears in unlikely places, who would have heard the pleas. The noisy sea of worship across the Empire would be loud and roiling. But a different kind of prayer, a sincere hopefulness, childish yet full of strength, would call her to him in his darkest hour. She would listen, and she would comfort him, and she would give Xavi his first lesson in the powers of the divine. “I cannot help your friend, my powers aren’t strong enough where you are. But I can help you to prevent more suffering like his in the future.”
“I cannot help your friend, my powers aren’t strong enough where you are. Bu I can help you to prevent more suffering like his in the future.”
Sehanine to Xavi in their first encounter
Making an appearance
With the majority of Xavi’s backstory fleshed out, you’re probably wondering what he looks like? and so am I. When I wrote down my first notes about playing a Twilight Cleric, I was planning on playing him as a drow. But, as you’ve probably read, I just wrote his backstory to be linked to a noble family in the Dwendalian Empire. There are no drows who live free and high class lives in the Empire.
Xavi could be a human, which was my next thought. Humans are common throughout the Empire and can typically move quite freely across the continent of Wildemount. An elf, dwarf, or halfling could make sense too for similar reasons. The nobility piece lends the most flexibility to being a human though. A noble elf in the Empire would likely be confined to being from Zadash or Rexxentrum; and a noble dwarf or halfling in the Empire would be ever more rare.
The last option would be to make Xavi a Hollow One. With a ‘supernatural gift’ allowing the dead soul to be replaced by a mysterious and strange magic; kind of undead, and creepy. This adds more layers though and for a 4-8 session adventure, it’s probably too much.
So let’s set Xavi as a human.
More specifically, what does he look like? I think this is where I’ll take the most direct inspiration from Francis Xavier. He’ll be average height and build, with short but not buzzed dark brown hair, tanned skin, and a full but trimmed beard. I’m going to give him piercing blue eyes, light and almost a silver-blue frosty colour, to complement his connection to the Moon Weaver. She’s often depicted with light-blue skin and white hair. He’ll start the adventure somewhere between young and middle-aged; which would have him travelling the lands for the past 15 years, carrying word of Sehanine across the continent.
