Please note that the following answers are from my and my thoughts alone. It's the answers I have come to conclusion after asking them to myself during the time playing my own cleric of Aeridin. It's most probably not the "stereotype/official" view.Problem number one: death and raise deadThis was so much simpler before, when everyone was called by Ozlo. The calling set forth a purpose in a character's life, which also could be used to define "untimely death" and the permission to use the Raise Dead/Resurrect spell.
Now, with that gone, it's much, much more difficult to tell. If a group of people are traveling through the forest and some bandits ambushed them, killing one before withdrawing. What gives you the right to decide "this should not have happened". Maybe "it should have happened"? If it was a PC that died, the first is most probably true. If it was a NPC that died, the second is most probably true instead. But, as one's character have no way of telling whether someone is a PC or a NPC, it's most probably better to stay inactive in this case.
Raising someone that shouldn't be raised is one of the biggest crimes, if not -the- biggest crime, according to the dogma of Aeridin. A cleric of the Lifegiver would most probably not dare to perform the raise, if there would be any doubt of doing wrong.
Heh, to put it simply, if one did wrong and Aeridin was specifically watching one, do expect a lightning-bolt from the sky or withdrawal of all gifts!
My general policy (which... isn't 100% followed nowadays, as Alleina is slowly drifting away from her faith):
1. Raise only people I know that are Dragoncalled.
2. Raise only people with soulstones present.
3. Do not raise people following an enemy deity unless there are some extraordinary reason which hasn't happened yet.
Problem number two: following groupsNo where in the dogma says that one has to stick to the local temple for the rest of one's life because one is a cleric of Aeridin. One is allowed to travel. One is allowed to defend oneself if being attacked, though it should be used as a last resort, preferable talk the way out or flee first.
It does touch the border of "excuse" instead of "reason". Walking into the big mine with huge signs saying "Warning! Danger! Ogres attacking on sight!" would most probably be... kind of... double-moral ("I cannot start the fight... but... what if... I taunt them into fighting me...?"), though, even that can be fixed with a completely valid IC-reason also:
"*She looks impatiently at the others present.* We can't just let the ogres terrorize the poor townspeople here! We have to do something! I know... We go in... and we tell them this is wrong and ask them to leave! What do you think about that?"
Same goes for CNR spawns:
"*She takes a firm grip of her amulet and glances at the cave opening before turning back to face the others.* How many coins do we have? I have heard that the bandits here are very greedy ones. Maybe if we can negotiate with them? Coins for the coal they have no use of..."
Simply use one's imagination! The dogma leaves a lot of wriggle-room and isn't half as strict as one can believe. It's surely a lot more effort to play a cleric of Aeridin in these situations than the Barbarian Half-Orc of Vorax ("BATTLE! FOR HONOORRR!! RAAAAWWRRR!"), but that's what one has signed up for, if one wishes to play the first, right?
Point number three: the fun factorAs a cleric of Aeridin, one -is- going to level slower. The "XP dry" periods are much, much longer and more common than what could be with any other class/deity combination. One -is- going to get less XP from combat, simply because one -is- going to attend fewer of them.
If one is a very level/XP oriented person, then I would suggest one not to play a cleric of Aeridin, as it will most probably going to give out a "boring" feel. One's mouth is most probably going to be one's primary weapon and not one's sword/claw/teeth/spellbook/whatever!
Is it less fun than the other class/deity combinations?
Absolutely not! The theological crashes stemming from this is something I would never want to miss. I've spent hours (in game)... not just one hour or two, but to the level of 50+ hours arguing back and forth on this topic. It surely gives one's character an aura of arrogance around him/her. Yes! Even for Alleina if she's in her really, really preachy mood! Though... that's how it should be. Aeridin is an elven god, after all.
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I don't want to reveal too much, but please note that there are some changes to the dogma of Aeridin that might out-date the responses about the elements...