Poll of the Day > How is Sticks to Snakes a Cleric spell (yay, gaming topic)

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's in the transmutation school in D&D, but honestly - it seems more like a prestidigitation, or an illusion (people only think the sticks are snakes, and could even include other snake-like thingies like ropes)

Also, not sure why - but my keyboard sometimes has been double-pressing letters recently...
---

because god did it
---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecU-FrrI0lE" data-time="&start=35

It's literally a reference to Moses. So it's basically an example of a god pouring power directly into one of their agents in the moral world an empowering them to do miracles. ie, it's a Cleric.

Though, even though D&D differentiates between divine and arcane magic, that doesn't really change the mechanics of the magic - you can still have Transmutation spells piped directly in from your god that count as Cleric spells, as opposed to learning Transmutation magic that taps into the underlying magical currents of the universe as such (and in the same vein, this is why Clerical spells like Raise Dead and Resurrection technically count as Necromancy).

To make things even more complicated, keep in mind that there are some spells that can be cast either as divine magic or as arcane magic, depending on who is doing the casting (and even more complicated scenarios when you take things like the Bard or Divine Soul Sorcerer into consideration). And that technically, an arcane magic Fireball cast by a Wizard is itself considered different from an arcane magic Fireball cast by a Sorcerer.

A lot of the "crunch" gets simplified to make the rules playable, but in the "fluff" any given spell can actually represent multiple versions of the same spell cast in different ways using different energy by different methods.


---

Clerics worship all different kinds of deities in D&D

Including those that love trickery and illusions
---

Mead posted...

Clerics worship all different kinds of deities in D&D

Including those that love trickery and illusions

Trickery is literally a Cleric Domain, and has been since at least AD&D 2e (ie, the 1980s).


---

I was also thinking because Jesus...
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's literally a reference to Moses. So it's basically an example of a god pouring power directly into one of their agents in the moral world an empowering them to do miracles. ie, it's a Cleric.

Though, even though D&D differentiates between divine and arcane magic, that doesn't really change the mechanics of the magic - you can still have Transmutation spells piped directly in from your god that count as Cleric spells, as opposed to learning Transmutation magic that taps into the underlying magical currents of the universe as such (and in the same vein, this is why Clerical spells like Raise Dead and Resurrection technically count as Necromancy).

To make things even more complicated, keep in mind that there are some spells that can be cast either as divine magic or as arcane magic, depending on who is doing the casting (and even more complicated scenarios when you take things like the Bard or Divine Soul Sorcerer into consideration). And that technically, an arcane magic Fireball cast by a Wizard is itself considered different from an arcane magic Fireball cast by a Sorcerer.

A lot of the "crunch" gets simplified to make the rules playable, but in the "fluff" any given spell can actually represent multiple versions of the same spell cast in different ways using different energy by different methods.

In the Conan movie, which isn't D&D but ignore that, when James Earl Jones shoots a snake arrow - I always thought it was an interpretation of the sticks to snakes spell
---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3t_8QtwWCM" data-time="
---

Caduceus?
---

Never really thought about it, but it is a bit weird.

But that said, the first explanation that came up in this topic actually makes perfect sense.
.
---

Lokarin posted...

In the Conan movie, which isn't D&D but ignore that, when James Earl Jones shoots a snake arrow - I always thought it was an interpretation of the sticks to snakes spell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUdmetykD6o" data-time="&start=676


---

I only know of pathfinder and I was mainly into healing and other support type stuff.
Seems legit though
---

LinkPizza posted...

I was also thinking because Jesus...

Uh, you mean Moses? >_>
---