If as in my last post we are assuming clerics of different gods will have different spell lists to reflect their patron's domain then what if any spells are common to all clerics?
We can assume there are three categories of spells on the default cleric spells list then, spells shared by all clerics, spells which may be shared and spells which are likely not shared. For the moment I am only interested in the first category.
| 1st level | cure light wounds* |
| detect evil |
| detect magic |
| light* |
| protection from Evil |
| purify food and water |
| remove fear* |
| resist cold |
At first level you can make a definite case for detect magic to be shared, it is the most utilitarian of spells, cure light wounds seems like an obvious one as well although that may be partly a tendency for players to have an ingrained feeling that clerics should be heal bots. I suppose I could see the case for putting the fear of your god into someone and there by removing it too, this is not exactly how the spell is written even if it could be imagined that way. Detect evil and protection from evil feel like they could be shared spells although they may be not fit with some domains or gods, does the god of death really care about evil or do they have bigger concerns beyond mortal morality? The remaining spells all seem to be of the type that is not necessarily shared.
| 2nd level | bless* |
| find traps |
| hold person |
| know alignment |
| resist fire |
| silence 15' radius |
| snake charm |
| speak with animals |
I can see a really solid argument that none of these spells should be shared between all cleric types. Know alignment is the only one that seems to me it could be an always shared spell however again, some domains may be above mortal morality.
| 3rd level | continual light* |
| cure disease* |
| growth of animal |
| locate object |
| remove curse* |
| striking |
Considering level three I think that to curse or remove a curse would be something all faiths could do and I am leaning towards curse disease being on the list too but could be convinced otherwise. Healing the faithful be that wounds or disease seems like a common trait to most domains, again death being an obvious one where I could see an argument that a tenant of the faith that it is forbidden to interfere with the coming of the inevitable or some such.
| 4th level | create water |
| cure serious wounds* |
| neutralise poison |
| protection from evil 10' radius |
| speak with plants |
| sticks to snakes |
At level 4 I think we are really only faced with arguments for cure serious wounds and possible protection from evil 10' radius.
| 5th level | commune |
| create food |
| dispel evil |
| insect plague |
| quest* |
| raise dead* |
Finally we hit the big ones. All clerics should be able to commune with their god or compel a quest in my opinion, those both just seems like pillars of being a cleric regardless of who the boss is. A case can be made for dispel evil depending on where you fall on the whole issue of the spells in those evil targeting grouping.
To raise the dead is a thorny one, it could be a common spell, certainly popular with players once they attain it however of course the spectre of the death domain hovers where they spell would certainly be heretical. A cleric being able to strike their god's enemy dead in a single spell with finger of death certainly feels thematic, we must remember though that it is already limited to only being able to be used if drastic situations as written.
Ultimately I suppose this all comes down to what is the common fantasy of being a cleric.
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