Multiclass Archetypes

So, theres two things i love in this world: AD&D, and the flavor of high fantasy. Here's where the two clash. In AD&D, as many of you probably know, demihumans can take two classes at the same time and multiclass, etc etc. A lot of these fit more or less into a well existing archetype, ie Fighter/M.U. can be paralleled to a sword-mage, Fighter/Cleric To a paladin (even though paladin is its own class, bear with me here), a thief/M.U can be seen as a trickster... but what about cleric/thief? I honestly cannot think of any fantasy trope that it fits into, not even one as much of a stretch as trickster. What role exactly does a cleric/thief play? Let it be noted that i dont mean so much mechanically in the confines of the AD&D system, but more so in general. What roles does the concept of a cleric/thief have? Who is the cleric/thief? What is its motivation, its archetype, its flavor? Keep once more in mind that i extend this far beyond advanced dungeons and dragons and into fantasy roleplaying flavor in general, do not feel the need to limit yourself to such.

1. A cleric of a thief god.
2. An ex-thief who saw the error of his ways and became a priest, but still knows the tricks of his old trade and is not afraid to use them when needed.

What Tengu said, plus a cleric trained to infiltrate the ranks of the order's enemies.

I pretty much have to agree with both Tengu and Jade Dragon here. If the cleric is a combination of warrior monk/priest and living saint then a cleric/thief, rogue or whatever you call it is a a warrior monk/living saint/spy. Think of a combination of Alexander Anderson and James Bond or Michael Westen.

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Originally Posted by Jade Dragon

What Tengu said, plus a cleric trained to infiltrate the ranks of the order's enemies.

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This just screams Inquisitor to me. You have been taught the tricks of the thievery/sneakery trade to infiltrate the den of heretics and let them know the displeasure of your god through your holy smite.

Awesome. Now I want to play a Cleric/Thief.

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Originally Posted by Agrippa

I pretty much have to agree with both Tengu and Jade Dragon here. If the cleric is a combination of warrior monk/priest and living saint then a cleric/thief, rogue or whatever you call it is a a warrior monk/living saint/spy. Think of a combination of Alexander Anderson and James Bond or Michael Westen.

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I think i can work with the hellsing parallels, i beleive i do get what your going for. My only other problem then is putting a name to this holy spy. Zealot maybe?

How about templar agent or deacon inspector?

There's a reason that rogues don't have alignment restrictions. A good fantasy cop is just a rogue with a badge and good intentions. Enter the Rogue/Cleric. Paladins might be the strong enforcing arm of a church, but they don't have enough skillpoints to conduct an investigation that any God of Justice worth his salt would accept.

Also, there's always non-Good clerics. Have you noticed how fond Evil gods are of tightly secured McGuffins? There's got to be at least a few that are too proactive to sit around and pull a Tarquin on the protagonists.

Nakor, from Raymond Feist's novels, really does the C/T well.

He is, arguably, a wizard/thief, but consider that he may be an avatar of a deity driven slightly mad by another deity's artifact, while being a wily little con artist. Instead of coming off as a wizardly type, he "masquerades" as a monk of Dala (a third deity in the mix), and was responsible for restarting the temple of Arch-Indar and locating HER prophet.

He's a freelance cleric-for-hire, who passes time between that running cons.

Also an agile fighting-priest. Like Pathfinder's artwork of Desna's priest. (Desna is the goddess of travel and luck)

Spoiler

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http://s3.amazonaws.com/pathfinderwi...nan_cleric.jpg

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Originally Posted by Delvin Darkwood

I think i can work with the hellsing parallels, i beleive i do get what your going for. My only other problem then is putting a name to this holy spy. Zealot maybe?

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As someone else said, inquisitor, perhaps?

Some kind of Holy Assassin, maybe?

Hmmm....

A retriever of stolen holy artifacts

This is pretty much the exact role that the Shadowbane Stalker and Shadowbane Inquisitor 3.5 PrCs were designed to fill. The flavor of them is something I always liked and could fit well in what you want. (Mind you, I've never actually played ADND, only 3 and later.)

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Originally Posted by Strormer

This is pretty much the exact role that the Shadowbane Stalker and Shadowbane Inquisitor 3.5 PrCs were designed to fill. The flavor of them is something I always liked and could fit well in what you want. (Mind you, I've never actually played ADND, only 3 and later.)

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Ive never played 3rd, but i still see where your going. I like the look of the shadowbane classes, and i think i might go for some route similar for portraying a cleric/thief. A humble thank you for all the feedback.

A Surgeon.

Why is he good with daggers? Because he's a surgeon.

Why is he able to heal people? Because he's a surgeon.

Why is he good with poisons and medicines alike? Because he's a ****ing surgeon.

1. A Priest of a god of Merchants.
2. A Priest of the god of Thespians.
3. Padre to the Mob.

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Originally Posted by thereaper

A Surgeon.

Why is he good with daggers? Because he's a surgeon.

Why is he able to heal people? Because he's a surgeon.

Why is he good with poisons and medicines alike? Because he's a ****ing surgeon.

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A Barber surely, as in Barber-Surgeon.
So he's good with scissors and tongs also.

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Originally Posted by Tengu_temp

1. A cleric of a thief god.
2. An ex-thief who saw the error of his ways and became a priest, but still knows the tricks of his old trade and is not afraid to use them when needed.

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Maybe an Inquisitor type character? Using subterfuge and investigation where honor and open combat fail?

Low level Elminster.

What?

If I remember right (at work, can't check books), Elminster's first six levels for 3e were statted as Fighter1/Rogue2/Cleric of Mystra 3. He started as a thug, refined his skills as a thief to survive and then joined the ranks of the clergy.

After that he started learning actual Arcane magic and became the Uber-mage he would end up as. Starting out though, Elminster was a ridiculous and unoptimized combo of classes.

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Originally Posted by Sorcerer Blob

This just screams Inquisitor to me.

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Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!