Is there any non-gameplay reason why a guy with innate magical ability (sorcerer) couldn't worship a god (cleric) and...

fpbp

Not my question.

Also, he's asking about the fluff, so while warlock class doesn't exist, warlock profession may.

Do you even know what fpbp stands for?

fourth post best post, duh

Ah of course.

Naisu. Very naisu.
I'm going to steal that and bait autists into giving me (you)s.

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Unimaginative DMs. Also fuck your multiclassing shenanigans, that shit's fluff only. You're either a cleric or a warlock, and your investigations are either feats, class skills or moar spells. And probably a couple extra things because i tend to get carried away.

What said, plus consider this:
In the world 'Level 1' usually doesn't mean you just picked something up, but month and years of study.
You don't become a Cleric by going to the Sunday service once, and you don't become a Wizard by scribbling you name on the first page of a spell book.

And, to circle back to your scenario, the combination of Cleric/Warlock is pretty difficult to explain.
I mean, either it's an angel of the clerics god and pales in comparison to it or it is not and the god gets angry. Pretty dicey.

Warlocks are in 4e though

>worship asmodeus
>one day he makes an offer you can't refuse

If the magic is source based and god are jealous it is easy to explain.

Arcane is stealing the power of creation and (almost) every god hates you, divine casters get power as a reward of faith and warlocks just make deals, too bad whatever they are selling the gods aren't buying so they have to do business with more shady types.

My mistake. I forgot it existed like the rest of Veeky Forums.

Medium armor, whiled, martial weapon proficiency, CHA to weapon attacks, a level scaling multihit cantrip with a damage bonus, short rest recovering spellslots?

No worries
We're not talking about it because we're only here to complain and there's not much to complain about in 4e

That only explains away the clerics. Shady types would probably have no qualms against arcanists. And the issue of sorcerors remains.

A better question: would sorceror-wizard-warlock-cleric antagonist fly? Easy to explain fluff wise, can be fearsome in combat, may require additional preparations to defeat (like persuading his patron/god to strip him of his powers).

I agree with you, but this is still bait of epic proportions.

>this is still bait of epic proportions
Thanks

When you put it like that, there really does seem to be an inverse correlation between how good the edition is and how much it's discussed on Veeky Forums.
But to finally answer OP's question, no, there is none. Just like there's no non-gameplay version why a 20+ HD Balor couldn't take class levels to improve his already powerful innate abilities even further.

Not if the gods are severed from/unable to manifest fully in the material plane. Their power seeps into our plane (and some people can channel it) but they're servants are not so bound, and can make pacts.

>Just like there's no non-gameplay version why a 20+ HD Balor couldn't take class levels to improve his already powerful innate abilities even further.

There could be lots of fluff reasons for that, but the most obvious seems to be that a Balor is the thing he is. He's not a creature of free will that can evolve and change over time, he's a monster made of darkness and fire who was created to serve as a monster of darkness and fire. It may scheme and have wants and all that kind of stuff, but in the end, it is still just a cosmic chess piece, nothing more. Not saying it's impossible for it to change, but it's very, very unlikely and probably involves changing its being on a fundamental level.

If I recall correctly, there are actual rules and fluff for giving Balors class levels to advance them in 3.PF. I think it was even encouraged in the first PF monster manual to do this to challenge higher level parties, as the only > CR 20 monster that time was the Tarrasque.

Oh yeah, absolutely, but that's possibly/probably a gameplay concession. That Balor probably wasn't going around killing dragons and lifting weights to get barbarian levels, it's just an especially strong Balor with ties to some demon overlord of rage and madness, which is represented with additional Barbarian levels.

I mean, that's how I'd run/explain it.

I thought everyone could make a deal with magical beings. You don't even have to be a warlock, the warlock just have more standardized relationship. Maybe the cost that nymphs, undead kings and outworld aberrations ask from innately magical people is too high for person still function?

And even the arcane casters don't have to hated. If they are literal bottom feeders and collect whatever echoes of creation or ambient magics are lying around no one probably cares. Unless they hate beggars and hobos.

Yes. It's called multiclassing.

You are right the it doesn't really make any logical sense that study, pacts, worship and raw innate ability all take the same level of commitment to each other. But nothing about class progression ever does.

Fluff-wise? No, that's perfectly reasonable.

Mechanically?
>innate magical ability (sorcerer)
Most spellcasters have this, sorcerers are specifically those who channel their magic from a touched bloodline.
>worship a god (cleric)
Being faithful isn't all it takes to be a cleric. The difference between a religious wizard and a cleric is that the cleric draws divine power from faith.
>makes a pact with an angel (warlock)
Legitimate, assuming the pact is one of the right nature. A god might find this usurpation of divinity unwelcome.
>study magic (wizard)
This is probably your actual class in this case.

>feudal High God
>only the highest officials of the church are actual clerics because they deal with the God directly
>everyone else is a shitty warlock who has to make deals with whichever celestial minister or angel happens to hire retainers.
>add rebellious celestial feudal lords

Seems pretty nice desu

>user invents the Chinese celestial courts
I'm in.

Bump

Because each method takes time to learn and would detract from the other?

Clerics are literal saints and prophets, so there's probably like a dozen of them in the whole world at best. Most high level church officials are adepts at best, most smaller churches just have an expert with Knowledge(religion) and enough know-how to run the holy water machine and brew some healing potions.

Warlock is a 3.5 class.

Your point...?

How powerful would a sorcerer/cleric/warlock/wizard with 20 levels in each class be?

Unplayable and never touched outside of autistic simulations.

Just one level 20 is about 10 levels too far

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