Looking for a healer class, but something not so Christiancentric as the 'Cleric' class.

Any suggestions ?

I don't know if this question is grounded in the way Clerics are presented in the present edition, or prior editions for that matter besides the original which was vague regarding from where the Cleric (and Paladin)'s divine magic came.  While sure the Cleric class and the Paladin too probably draws their origins in the game from the christian idea of Cleric, most Dungeons and Dragons pantheons in almost all editions are far more Pagan or pre-christian religion inspired.  Plus, you're familiar with the domain portfolio's Cleric's choose, right?  There's a healing one right there, and by no means do you have to port a character to that domain in a Christiancentric fashion.  So play a cleric with "divine magic" derived from whatever published or home brewed faith system you like.  If you want to go even more "pre-religion" you could go with a Druid.  There's a lot of overlapping in both classes' spell lists insofar as healing and nourishment magic.    

If you want a class that has magical healing ability not derived from some sort of theism or faith based magic, only Warlocks, Wizards and Sorcerers lack access to healing magic in RAW.  Clerics, Druids, Paladins, and Rangers can use healing magic.  

So I guess I'm not sure if that helps, since the question seems to be asked with the presumption of real world religious underpinnings whereas in actuality there's no need to play the cleric class that way in your game.  Are you trying to find a way to incorporate magical healing that isn't derived from divine magic?   

Divine Soul Sorcerer

As midnightplat implied Christianity doesn't exist in D&D, there are a wide variety of gods NS  cleric can serve any of them or even make on up. If you don't eant to play a cleric in fact Midight underplayed your options.

I would also say that in D&D players take on a variety of roles so while the party should have at least one person capable of healing they can also be capable of dealing decent damage, buffing and de-buffing, acting as the party face and any of a number of other neeeds the party has.

As well as Clerics Druids and bards are full casters that have decent access to healing abilities all subclasse are capable healers but if you want to concentrate on healing then Circle of dreams druid and glamour bard have extra healing features.

Paladins, Artificers and Rangers as half casters have less spells but are still quite capable at healing. Paladins have more healing due to the lay on hands feature. In 5e paladins do not need to serve a god and get their power from their oath.

Celestial warlocks get access to cure wounds , lesser restoration, revivify, and greater restoration as well as their healing light feature which gives them a significant amopunt of healing

Divine soul sorcerer gets access to the entire cleric spell list (though does have a limited number of spells known), empowered healing can help increase the healing that party members receive.

Any class can also get healing abilities through the healer feat

Quote from MidnightPlat >>

I don't know if this question is grounded in the way Clerics are presented in the present edition, or prior editions for that matter besides the original which was vague regarding from where the Cleric (and Paladin)'s divine magic came.  While sure the Cleric class and the Paladin too probably draws their origins in the game from the christian idea of Cleric, most Dungeons and Dragons pantheons in almost all editions are far more Pagan or pre-christian religion inspired.  Plus, you're familiar with the domain portfolio's Cleric's choose, right?  There's a healing one right there, and by no means do you have to port a character to that domain in a Christiancentric fashion.  So play a cleric with "divine magic" derived from whatever published or home brewed faith system you like.  If you want to go even more "pre-religion" you could go with a Druid.  There's a lot of overlapping in both classes' spell lists insofar as healing and nourishment magic.    

If you want a class that has magical healing ability not derived from some sort of theism or faith based magic, only Warlocks, magic in Wizards and Sorcerers lack access to healing RAW.  Clerics, Druids, Paladins, and Rangers can use healing magic.  

So I guess I'm not sure if that helps, since the question seems to be asked with the presumption of real world religious underpinnings whereas in actuality there's no need to play the cleric class that way in your game.  Are you trying to find a way to incorporate magical healing that isn't derived from divine magic?   

This is mostly correct.  However, there are subclasses for Warlocks and Sorcerers that can make them adept healers.  Bards are also able to be healers as are Artificers.

Here are the healers in the game:

• Cleric - Any domain.  For non christian flavored clerics, look at Grave, Death, Nature, Tempest, or all sorts of other domains.  Honestly, Grave might even be among the best healers in the game.  It just means you'll likely let people fall unconscious before you heal them.
• Paladin - Any domain.  Not a great primary healer but it does the job just fine.
• Druid - any domain.  Dreams or Shepherd are the best healers but honestly you can pick any to do the healing for your party.
• Bard - any subclass works.
• Ranger -Any domain.  More of a backup healer with access to lower level spells similar to the Paladin.
• Warlock - Celestial patron.  
• Sorcerer - Divine soul lineage.  
• Artificer - Any of them can heal but the Artificer does it best.  The other subclasses are more like the Ranger or Paladin in terms of healing output.
• Monk - Way of Mercy  (Unearthed Arcana meaning it's not official yet).  This can work as a healer on par with a paladin or Ranger.

That pretty much covers it.  

One thing to note is that you don't need a perfect party composition to play D&D.  You don't need to have a tank, healer, and dps roles filled to be successful.  It does make things easier though.  You can all fill many roles.  Moon Druids, for example, can literally fill all three of those rolls at the same time.  

Another useful tidbit in addition to what was said above is this: 

Classes like paladins and clerics do not even need to have a religion (or a God, for that matter) to function. 

Paladins draw their power from the strength of their Oath, almost as if they're channeling divine power through sheer force of will.

Clerics draw their power from the strength of their faith, which aside from "faith in Lolth" or "faith in Bahomet" could be in more philosophical/ metaphysical concepts; faith in humanity, faith in order, faith in freedom, that kind of thing. 

There are worlds like Ravnica that have no gods, so paladins and clerics exclusively follow philosophy rather than religion. Then there are worlds like Ebberon where the gods are not as involved, and their existence is more left up to faith, so you have some people who serve religious organizations, but then you have other people who believe in the Silver Flame, less a religion in the gods sense but more in the "positive force shielding the world from demons" sense. Or you also have organizations like The Blood of Vol, who believe in the intrinsic divinity in all life, which access divine magics by channeling it from within themselves or their communities. 

Basically, while yes at the roots these classes are bogged down by judeo-christian influences, there's a lot of other different ways you can take them.

Quote from CharlesThePlant >>

 

Basically, while yes at the roots these classes are bogged down by judeo-christian influences, there's a lot of other different ways you can take them.

 I'm pretty sure Lolth isn't any kind of Christian...

Quote from Tisifoni12 >>

Looking for a healer class, but something not so Christiancentric as the 'Cleric' class.

Any suggestions ?

 Please explain this assumption.

I don’t see anything about the cleric or life domain that is particularly or specifically “christian” anymore (or less) than it’s hindu or islamic or any other real world religion 

Quote from DM_Domination >>

Quote from Tisifoni12 >>

Looking for a healer class, but something not so Christiancentric as the 'Cleric' class.

Any suggestions ?

 Please explain this assumption.

I don’t see anything about the cleric or life domain that is particularly or specifically “christian” anymore (or less) than it’s hindu or islamic or any other real world religion 

Yes, that articulates what I was asking as well.  FWIW the word cleric is christian in origin, and the original inception with it's "turn the undead" powers seemed very much subtextual christian.  But while nebulous in original editions, from second on, the cleric is far more analogous to pre-modern polytheistic pantheons than any Modern religions.

Quote from MidnightPlat >>

Quote from DM_Domination >>

Quote from Tisifoni12 >>

Looking for a healer class, but something not so Christiancentric as the 'Cleric' class.

Any suggestions ?

 Please explain this assumption.

I don’t see anything about the cleric or life domain that is particularly or specifically “christian” anymore (or less) than it’s hindu or islamic or any other real world religion 

 

Yes, that articulates what I was asking as well.  FWIW the word cleric is christian in origin, and the original inception with it's "turn the undead" powers seemed very much subtextual christian.

Though the idea that a holy person could banish evil spirits with the power of their faith predates Christianity by thousands of years.

Why is the term 'cleric' and the class 'Christian-centric':

• A cleric is a member of the clergy; one who has been ordained for religious service in for example the Catholic or Anglican Church
• The Cleric is limited in choice of weapons and cannot use edged weapons because Bishop Odo of Bayeux fought at the Battle of Hastings with a mace, supposedly to avoid spilling blood, which led to an erroneous belief that there was a general proscription against  Christian Clergy using edged weapons

Tell the latter to Robin Hood's associate 'Friar Tuck' (obviously a literary figures) who is described as 'skilled with a sword', or to ordained members of crusading orders the Templars, Hospitallers, and the Teutonic order.  I guess the latter are models for paladins.

I find online references to the latter limitation having been dropped in D&D3e, but when I create a healer character using the cleric option in D&D Beyond's D&D5e character creation framework I don't seem to have any kind of sword come up as an weapon option.  Paladin seems to grand a title for an itinerant healer, someone more like a friar, but not affiliated with any great, monotheistic, religious, structured, institutional church.

If you're using the equipment option for clerics, you can't select a sword because clerics by default don't have proficiency with swords.  If you want to start with a sword, either because you have a racial proficiency or because you picked a domain that gives it, choose gold to start with and purchase one.

Quote from Tisifoni12 >>

Why is the term 'cleric' and the class 'Christian-centric':

• A cleric is a member of the clergy; one who has been ordained for religious service in for example the Catholic or Anglican Church
• The Cleric is limited in choice of weapons and cannot use edged weapons because Bishop Odo of Bayeux fought at the Battle of Hastings with a mace, supposedly to avoid spilling blood, which led to an erroneous belief that there was a general proscription against  Christian Clergy using edged weapons

Tell the latter to Robin Hood's associate 'Friar Tuck' (obviously a literary figures) who is described as 'skilled with a sword', or to ordained members of crusading orders the Templars, Hospitallers, and the Teutonic order.  I guess the latter are models for paladins.

I find online references to the latter limitation having been dropped in D&D3e, but when I create a healer character using the cleric option in D&D Beyond's D&D5e character creation framework I don't seem to have any kind of sword come up as an weapon option.  Paladin seems to grand a title for an itinerant healer, someone more like a friar, but not affiliated with any great, monotheistic, religious, structured, institutional church.

 It's the name of the class. It's a holdover from the very origins of the game nearly 50 years ago. You can easily be a cleric of Bane, Baal, Lolth, Asmodeus, Gond, Waukeen, Oghma, and many many more none of which are the Christian God.

The reason IN GAME that you cannot use a sword is because swords are Martial Weapons and clerics start with only knowing Simple Weapons. Daggers, Hand Axes, Javelins, Sickles, and Spears ALL have cutting edges and are weapons any cleric in the game can use.

Also, the idea that Christian priests can't use edged weapons specifically comes from a single, rather obscure source.  The much more mainstream idea is that they can't use weapons at all.

Christianity?

My Death Domain Goblin Shaman of Maglubiyet disagrees!

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

If you're using the equipment option for clerics, you can't select a sword because clerics by default don't have proficiency with swords.  If you want to start with a sword, either because you have a racial proficiency or because you picked a domain that gives it, choose gold to start with and purchase one.

I 'think' I found only one domain available to me "Choose Life" (like the T shirt)

Racial proficiency, erm human, humans not sword users ?

Chose gold and all manner of weapons are available, except swords, including various weapons with sharp edges like axes . . .

And we circle back to "you can't select a sword because clerics by default don't have proficiency with swords" which is based on assertion made, probably, by Victorian historians about 'clerics' based on the representation of one Bishop on the Bayeux tapestry.  An assumption supposedly dropped from D&D at 3e . . .

Quote from Tisifoni12 >>

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

If you're using the equipment option for clerics, you can't select a sword because clerics by default don't have proficiency with swords.  If you want to start with a sword, either because you have a racial proficiency or because you picked a domain that gives it, choose gold to start with and purchase one.

I 'think' I found only one domain available to me "Choose Life" (like the T shirt)

Racial proficiency, erm human, humans not sword users ?

Chose gold and all manner of weapons are available, except swords, including various weapons with sharp edges like axes . . .

And we circle back to "you can't select a sword because clerics by default don't have proficiency with swords" which is based on assertion made, probably, by Victorian historians about 'clerics' based on the representation of one Bishop on the Bayeux tapestry.  An assumption supposedly dropped from D&D at 3e . . .

 Life domain is the only domain availaible in the basic rules free content on DDB, if that is what you meant? There are much more domains.

Only dwarfs and elves have 'species specific' weapon proficiencies, humans don't.

You have various weapons directly evailable for clerics as by the simple melee weapons list.

The rules changed from AD&D 1st Edition, where clerics were limited to non-edged non-pointed weapons, which was later broadened again. 

Quote from Tisifoni12 >>

Why is the term 'cleric' and the class 'Christian-centric':

• A cleric is a member of the clergy; one who has been ordained for religious service in for example the Catholic or Anglican Church
• The Cleric is limited in choice of weapons and cannot use edged weapons because Bishop Odo of Bayeux fought at the Battle of Hastings with a mace, supposedly to avoid spilling blood, which led to an erroneous belief that there was a general proscription against  Christian Clergy using edged weapons

Tell the latter to Robin Hood's associate 'Friar Tuck' (obviously a literary figures) who is described as 'skilled with a sword', or to ordained members of crusading orders the Templars, Hospitallers, and the Teutonic order.  I guess the latter are models for paladins.

I find online references to the latter limitation having been dropped in D&D3e, but when I create a healer character using the cleric option in D&D Beyond's D&D5e character creation framework I don't seem to have any kind of sword come up as an weapon option.  Paladin seems to grand a title for an itinerant healer, someone more like a friar, but not affiliated with any great, monotheistic, religious, structured, institutional church.

 

I think your goal posts for satisfaction in this thread are wobbly if not on sleds.  You don't like "cleric" because of its association with christendom, and you're offering up a "friar" ... which if you follow the definitions and historical etymologies as your argumentative style is wont to do ... is pretty christian specific.  The thread's acknowledged the roots of the cleric class in the game's origins, but has provided you ample examples of how clerics are actually played in service to faiths far removed from modern real world religions.  Look into the domains available through the PHB, and all those are skeletons to flesh out into whatever walks well in your world.  

For what it's worth, my party has a Cleric who dual wields a pair of sickles (the players prefer a more cinematic/theatrical form of combat that what's to your documented liking) and serves a "life god" with both Apollonian and Dionysian aspects (more in the Nietzschian vein than any sort of "true" representation of Classical Greek myth) and this cleric was generated within DND Beyond.  So the Rules as Written aren't quite as bluntly derivative of the Bayeux Tapestry or wherever that offensive illustration of mace-wielding comes from.     

Now your complaint about swordplay prohibitions.  Sword is a "martial weapon" and clerics (and others) don't get to wield them _unless_ (for clerics) they take the Tempest or War domain (in PHB, I imagine expanded rules have some more).  And it's not that they "can't" wield them, they can use them just without proficiency bonuses unless in one of those aforementioned domains.  When you hit fourth level you can go for a feat that allows you to use martial weapons proficiently, and you can role play levels 1-4 as the training levels most games treat them as.  

I'm wondering, I know you came here by MERP and a few other "crunchier" games.  Have you looked at Pathfinder?  I think it might be more compatible to making the armor and weapon and tactics distinctions you're looking for beyond what 5e really allows for in the mechanics.    But ultimately it comes down to you doing whatever you want to do as long as your players have the patience for it.  You can add in levels of historical realism etc, home-brew up "my world healer class" home-brews that allows for swords proficiency etc.  I'm just at a bit of a loss as to why you lead with christendom, most respondents note the origins of the word "cleric" and consequently the class, but have also illustrated time and again that the class just isn't played that way and point out that in the current edition "Clerics use blunt weapons per the tapestry" isn't really true, but rather broad swaths of weapons were removed from proficiency from the full spell users in the name of game balance, and press on with the historical pontification (and yes I see what I did there going papal with the last word).

A few points that might hopefully make you feel more comfortable with playing cleric:

• Cleric means a religious leader of any faith, just most commonly Christian or Muslim. It's not term held exclusively by Christianity, but used by all faiths.
• Clerics have access to maces and hammers as more of a 'signature weapon' type affair than any IRL grounding. A lot of classes get certain types of weapons available, be it heavy swords or light swords, bows or crossbows, hammers or axes. It's a differentiation thing more so than IRL grounding
• If you want access to a sword, there are several domains that give you martial weapons. There are also some races that do, including variant human which lets you take a feat to access certain weapons
• As pointed out, clerics don't have to follow a deity, and if they decide to, they don't have to follow just one. Clerics have 'domains', ways of living their life and dedicating their purpose. For example, a forge domain cleric could be dedicated not to a god or goddess of creation, but just the act of creation itself. A unity domain (playtest material) cleric is dedicated to the idea of community and cooperation.

However, if you're still not enamoured with the idea of a cleric for healer, some alternate suggestions:

• Artificer (Alchemist)
• Sorcerer (Divine Soul)
• Paladin
• Druid
• Bard

Ultimately, it's down entirely how to you flavour things. That's my favourite things about D&D, with a little bit of reflavouring, you can turn anything into anything else.

The OPs gripe about swords is possibly a misunderstanding on their part. 

Clerics are not a martial class. They are a caster class. They don't get the training to use swords like Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers, and such.

You can be a Sorcerer that can heal and STILL not get sword proficiency.

You can be a Warlock that can heal and not get sword proficiency.

I recommend looking through the rules and find a class that can use swords, then see if it can heal. OR play an Elf. They get sword proficiency as a racial bonus.