Cleric spell question

[Garrsi]

I noticed on another thread about Mystra and necromancy about the alignment tag on certain spells. I know there is no mechanical effect from this description and it has no impact on mages but for clerics...

- Mystra is a good aligned deity with LE clerics. For the sake of clearing that one up while there is nothing in her Dogma about undead being bad would an Animator Cleric of Mystra be frowned upon by the staff? As much as I hate the black and white approach to good and evil in PnP forgotten realms I'm not sure if it applies here or not.

-If so, are Evil aligned clerics to refrain from using spells with the Good descriptor? None come to mind but I'm sure there is probably at least one.

Thanks!

[Lorkas]

Couldn't Mystra turn off necromancy spells if she really wanted to? She believes in Weave Neutrality more than she hates necromancy, if she hates it at all.

[Garrsi]

I thought so, but I've heard a few things in tells and on the forums lately saying Clerics of of deities with rather wide cleric alignments Mystra can't cast Animate Dead by virtue of Mystra being NG. I've heard this for neutral deities with a more benevolent or not obviously evil portfolio like Helm, Shardunkul and Oghma as well.

[zeylin17]

Necromancy is not inherently bad. Animation is.

I would argue wholly she's not fond of animation. and depending on the timeframe she is usually neutral more than anything else. I really don't see a mystran using animation as a way to use the weave responsibly but that is just my opinion.

p.s. Mystra has from everything I have gathered has always leaned toward good than evil in her "neutral" position.

"To answer the question, no matter what Mystra personally might have thought of Necromancers in life (and remember, even a cure wounds spell is technically 'necromantic' in nature, necromancy does not necessarily equal evil or undeath) as a deity, she can only discriminate between proper use of the weave and improper based on factors which have nothing to do with good or evil."

It wouldn't be easy to do, but it would certainly be interesting. B/c you can still be of any alignment and do nearly any function and try to protect the weave even with undead in tow. Getting others to agree with that might be entirely another thing.

[The Rambling Midget]

I really don't see a mystran using animation as a way to use the weave responsibly but that is just my opinion.

That's moral responsibility. Responsible use of magic, as far as Mystra's dogma seems to imply, is about efficiency and maintenance, meaning that magic should not be overused or used in any way that might damage The Weave as a whole. Whether it hurts someone's feelings doesn't enter into a logical argument. None of that will stop a Cleric or Paladin of Mystra from acting in accordance with their personal beliefs, though.

[KregorRanger]

Whether NWN code prevents it from happening, casting any spell with the Evil alignment descriptor would, according to D&D rules, not be granted to clerics of good aligned deities. Thus, Mystra would not grant Animate Dead to her priesthood, nor Protection From Good, etc. Deference to older Mystran LE clerics aside, even they would not be able to gain the spells from Her, because her alignment would preclude her from granting them.

Clerics differ from Mages, even for the Goddess of the Weave. Arcane magics tap directly into, and manipulate the weave to gain their effect. Divine magic is channeled directly from the deity Herself to Her vessel. Thus while an arcane caster could summon forth the energy to cast an Evil descriptor spell, being not under the direct control of the Goddess, she has full control over what her priesthood casts.

Now... if your PC is a Cleric/Mage, and casts it as an arcane spell, that's a whole different story.

And yes, this same restriction applies to any deity, of any alignment, with any alignment descriptor that applies to any spell - thus an evil aligned deity wouldn't grant Protection from Good to His clerics, and (diverging to PnP spells not found in NWN) Protection from Chaos wouldn't be granted by a Chaotic deity, same with Dispel *insert alignment*, and etc.

[zeylin17]

I concur with Kragor. Arcane = do whatever b/c all have access. Divine = Gods choice. So if she doesn't approve she wouldn't grant.

Try to find more information pertaining to Mystra in this timeframe and see what she would and wouldn't do. I am sure there are still aspects of her that can still allow you to walk the line of good and "bad" even divinely. But! I don't know.

Cleric/mage would be an interesting way for you to try and portray that ingame. Others are going to have a hard time knowing it's Arcane or not and you can always manipulate things to your liking (just don't expect others to accept it if they don't want to)

[DestroyerOTN]

Azuth remains a possible alternative. Subservient to mystra, but capable of granting spells on the lawful evil axis, in being lawful neutral.

You could easily state yourself to worship both, though you'd likely need a stated favorance of him, and your prayers would need to be devoted accordingly.

Really, though, in the longrun Azuth was just their way of allowing easy conversion of the older mystra anyway