Why Is Cleric Sometimes the Last Choice in D&D-Style Games?

[HashtagBryn]

Originally Posted by Auron3991

From my 5e experience, it's mostly because everyone's more interested in playing other things which are very similar to a cleric. A cleric's just not as mechanically interesting to a lot of people as something like a Divine Soul Sorcerer.

That's also a good point. 5E Divine Soul Sorcerers and Pathfinder Oracles often do thematically-cleric stuff better (or, at least, with more interesting architecture) than actual clerics.

[LordOfLemuria]

Finally, I think the whole idea of "cleric" is unappealing to a lot of people in RP-heavy games. People often play characters in which they can see something of themselves. Clerics are dedicated -- both in their magic and their life -- to a deity, and the deities in some of these settings can be very strange indeed. Not everyone wants their roleplaying experience to center around an abiding faith in a peculiar and unfamiliar god or goddess.

I can see this from a RP preference point of view. I personally find religion very interesting in reality and fantasy, so I can easily get myself into the devotee mindset. I love Tekumel, Glorantha and Harn foremost because of their funky religions and priestly organizations. I like things that are very much not-modern, so a lot of times I'm not looking for someone I personally identify with so much as someone I would want to read about in a good fantasy novel.

Regarding 3.5/PF, yeah, Clerics are bonkers. I personally try hard not to disrupt the experience if I play an OP character, but it can be hard to figure out how sometimes. I try to find ways to do things only I can do, and let other characters do what they can as best as they can. For example, give me Superman and I'm the one pushing the planet. I could super speed KO everyone in a round, but pushing the planet is a better use of my time, so I leave them to Batman. I've never really cared much about 'balance', I like wildly unbalanced parties in a lot of game. I tend to play Elves, too, and they're...top notch in a lot of games. But I find if you have the right players and scenario, it's still fun, even for Samwise.

[Horseman]

The most powerful aspects of clerics are not in the stat block.

If you are playing a properly developed world a cleric would wield enormous influence of members of a like religion. A cleric who has the word of God and some charisma, could build a network of supporters, a congregation and perhaps eventually an entire of army who would give him resources and power.

One of the smartest moves I've ever seen a character pull off was take one level as a cleric when he started then went Bard, and used his influence to become an Arch-Bishop in his church.

[Saratek]

I'm coming in late to this, and only really read the first half-dozen replies before skimming through the rest, so I'm probably going to echo a lot of others. I will only speak to 5e D&D, as it is what I'm most knowledgeable about at this point.

Cleric is the best class. If I had to make a character, and could only decide via class, I would make a Cleric every time. There are so many different options and ways to play a Cleric in 5e that I believe, and have said before, that a party of all Clerics could more easily handle an adventure than a traditional party of varied classes. Sure, there are some niche things they may have issues with, but a lot of the most (and even lesser) common "encounters" could be handled by one of the various Domains of 5e Clerics pretty sufficiently.

I have both played numerous 5e Clerics as well as DMed games where at least half of the party was Clerics, with each playing it differently. While, on the surface, it doesn't appear to be an exciting class like a rogue or warlock, it's always reliable.