Need a fancy word for "cleric"

[F5]

Hi, all.

I'm planning on tweaking the cleric class in my homebrew. The core Cleric class, as I use it, is someone who has opened themselves to divine energy. They don't have a patron god, but get their power from the entire pantheon. Eventually, if they earn enough respect, a patron god chooses THEM. I'm writing up a Prestige Class for each god, and if a player wants to be a priest of a specific god, they have to earn the right.

So, my dilemma is: what do I call a plain ol' cleric? I'm at a loss for clever terminology, but I don't want to keep the name "cleric". Any ideas?

 

[hammymchamham]

I used an online thesaurus and typed in cleric, here are some entrys that came up:


Entry: clerical
Function: adjective
Definition: clergy
Synonyms: apostolic, canonical, churchly, cleric, ecclesiastic, ecclesiastical, episcopal, holy, ministerial, monastic, monkish, papal, parsonical, parsonish, pastoral, pontifical, prelatic, priestly, rabbinical, sacerdotal, sacred, theocratical, theological
Antonyms: secular, lay
Concept: religious entity

Entry: chaplain
Function: noun
Definition: minister
Synonyms: clergyman, cleric, pastor, preacher, preacher man, priest, rabbi, sin hound, sky pilot, sky scout
Concept: religious entity

Entry: clergyman
Function: noun
Definition: minister
Synonyms: abbey, archbishop, bible thumper, bishop, blackcoat, cardinal, cassock, chaplain, chaplain, churchman, cleric, cleric, clerk, curate, curate, dean, devil dodger, divine, ecclesiast, ecclesiastic, evangelist, father, harp polisher, missionary, monsignor, padre, parson, pastor, pontiff, preacher, predicant, priest, primate, primate, pulpitarian, pulpiteer, rabbi, rector, reverend, sermonizer, shepherd, sky pilot, sky scout, the rev, turn-around collar, vicar
Antonyms: layman, layperson
Concept: religious entity

Entry: minister
Function: noun
Definition: church head
Synonyms: abbot, archbishop, archdeacon, bible-beater, biship, chaplain, churchman, clergyman, cleric, clerical, clerk, confessor, curate, deacon, dean, diocesan, divine, ecclesiastic, glory roader, gospel pusher, lecturer, missionary, monk, padre, parson, pastor, preacher, preacher man, prelate, priest, psalm singer, pulpiteer, rector, reverend, saddlebag preacher, shepherd, sin hound, sky pilot, vicar
Concept: religious entity

Entry: preacher
Function: noun
Definition: churchman
Synonyms: Holy Joe, bible thumper, churchman, clergyman, cleric, clerical, devil dodger, divine, ecclesiastic, evangelist, evangelizer, glory roader, minister, missionary, padre, parson, pulpiter, reverend, revivalist, sermonizer, sky pilot
Concept: religious entity

Entry: priest
Function: noun
Definition: churchman
Synonyms: Holy Joe, churchman, clergyman, cleric, curate, divine, ecclesiastic, elder, father, father confessor, friar, holy man, lama, monk, padre, pontiff, preacher, rabbi, rector, sky pilot, vicar
Concept: religious entity



Personally, I like Holy Joe

 

[WayneLigon]

Deist (dee-ist)
Aspirant (aspires to being chosen)
Unchosen
Mendicant
Godsman
The Hopeful
Diviner
Channeler
Touched
Pantheist

 

[Gez]

Blessed Arse. Litterary translation of "cul-bénit", French slang for sanctimonious peoples. Seems appropriate enough.

Stoupfrog, or fontfrog, for "grenouille de bénitier", same thing.

 

[Damon Griffin]

Well, novice describes someone who as not yet taken the vows of a religious order, and might be used to describe someone in your game who has not been inducted into one of the orders specific to individual deities.

Lay minister describes unordained ministers; again, could be used to describe clerics that have not been "ordained" by being selected to join a specific order.

Pantheist describes someone who believes in multiple gods.

Sadly, "cleric" is already pretty much the most generic term you're likely to find. One not devoted to a specific order, denomination or deity could be called an ecumenical cleric or even a catholic cleric (lower case "c"), with those serving a particular deity being dedicated clerics or some such thing.

 

[F5]

Personally, I like Holy Joe

My picks out of your list were "sin-hound" and "sky-pilot", but that's not QUITE the direction I was aiming for...

WayneLigon, I had thought about "pantheist", but didn't like the sound of it. I like "Aspirant", though...that's exactly the tone I wanted. Thanks!

I hoped to come up with a real-world religious term that meant basically the same thing, though. Any more ideas?

 

[diaglo]

Holy Roller.

 

[mmu1]

Acolyte?

 

[F5]

Acolyte's good, but so far I'm liking Aspirant best.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Divine Adept.