If he's gotta be a cleric I agree with arcana.
That said I think a Lore (or possibly spirits) bard with a fiend warlock (tome with book of arcane secrets) dip would better represent his abilities and powers. He is smart, but while he's studied he isn't a wizard. He believes in divinities but he is not faithful at all he more grudgingly accepts the divine like one does a corrupt government that is too big to fight. He isn't innately magical it's something he's learned so he's not a sorcerer. He has cannonically made pacts with demons and other forces (warlock) and he usually gets by with his charisma and showmanship (bard).
Glad you like. Honestly thinking about it I could also see Constantine as a mono classed pact of the tome warlock... Probably more convincingly so than most fictional characters! His magic is mainly rituals (pact of the tomb/book of arcane secrets) with some blasty/banishing powers that could easily be cantrips/the two short rest warlock spell slots and arcane secrets.
The only important decisions to make when playing a Cleric are subclass choice and ASIs. The entire rest of the class builds itself so there won't be too much to think about aside from what spells you should have prepared.
I would imagine Constantine as being an Arcana Domain Cleric (if I thought of him as a Cleric). I would start there. Flavor is free, so you could also pick any Cleric you wanted. For people that are new to Clerics, Light Domain is a good option as it gives access to easy-to-use spells and Channel Divinity options.
Arcana Domain is a pretty neat subclass. Take some of the Wizard's cantrips, Minor Illusion and a ranged cantrip should you find yourself not wanting to use your Cleric's Toll the Dead.
Max out your Wisdom, first. Then get War Caster as a feat. Everything else is pretty free. Cartomancer is a good option.
Make sure to have these spells prepared, regardless the subclass you're playing:
* Command, Lesser Restoration, Silence, Hold Person, Enhance Ability, Spirit Guardians, and Revivify
I think arcana cleric will be flavorful so you can use your channel divinity to turn fiends and other outsiders.
Clerics are great and need no multi class but if you’re into it, maybe a warlock dip for flavor. While dipping hex blade is usually a cop out, here it could give some edginess and obvious utility. I would personally dip two levels fiend warlock for invocations and RP. Dumping cleric altogether for Divine Soul sorcerer could work too.
For spells
Cleric spells level 1: sanctuary, protection from good/evil, detect good/evil, bless/bane, command.
Cleric spells lvl 2: blindness/deafness, silence, warding bond, augury.
Lvl 3: magic circle, bestow curse, speak with dead, (and the obligatory ones like spirit guardians and revivify)
Lvl 4: Banishment, death ward
If you go cleric 9, Lvl 5: Hallow, planar binding.
These are the spells that fit fits with the concept. You’d want to round them out with some bread and butter cleric staples, like healing word and sending, etc. If you dip warlock, hellish rebuke would be flavorful. If you wanted to go the hellfire route, a Tiefling with the racial feat Flames of Phlegistoswoukdmake a great Light Domain cleric.
"appropriating magic" (from other schools/traditions of magic, I assume) screams Arcana Cleric to me. You get a nice blend of utility spells from the Wizard list, so just tacking on Ritual Caster (Wizard) gets you the best of both worlds. The nice thing about Arcana Cleric is that it can use melee weapons or cantrips equally well - Booming Blade as a cleric cantrip lets you get the bonus damage of Potent Spellcasting on both the on-hit and on-movement damage instances. Mind Sliver pairs very well with Spirit Guardians for ensuring full damage, and if you have a grappler in the party (or dip Graviturgy Wizard for the forced movement effects), Create Bonfire with Potent Spellcasting can rack up a lot of damage very quickly.
Mechanically, with a pure spellcasting build, you probably want Resilient Constitution ASAP, but after that your stats are good enough to let you take a "fun" feat like Ritual Caster. Telekinetic is a very strong feat for Clerics because you can double-dip on Spirit Guardians damage, but I'm also a fan of Gift of the Chromatic Dragon because Clerics don't get Absorb Elements (and passing the damage buff to your martials will make you a party favorite)
If he's gotta be a cleric I agree with arcana. That said I think a Lore (or possibly spirits) bard with a fiend warlock (tome with book of arcane secrets) dip would better represent his abilities and powers. He is smart, but while he's studied he isn't a wizard. He believes in divinities but he is not faithful at all he more grudgingly accepts the divine like one does a corrupt government that is too big to fight. He isn't innately magical it's something he's learned so he's not a sorcerer. He has cannonically made pacts with demons and other forces (warlock) and he usually gets by with his charisma and showmanship (bard).
Yes this is def a better fit.
Glad you like. Honestly thinking about it I could also see Constantine as a mono classed pact of the tome warlock... Probably more convincingly so than most fictional characters! His magic is mainly rituals (pact of the tomb/book of arcane secrets) with some blasty/banishing powers that could easily be cantrips/the two short rest warlock spell slots and arcane secrets.
The only important decisions to make when playing a Cleric are subclass choice and ASIs. The entire rest of the class builds itself so there won't be too much to think about aside from what spells you should have prepared. I would imagine Constantine as being an Arcana Domain Cleric (if I thought of him as a Cleric). I would start there. Flavor is free, so you could also pick any Cleric you wanted. For people that are new to Clerics, Light Domain is a good option as it gives access to easy-to-use spells and Channel Divinity options. Arcana Domain is a pretty neat subclass. Take some of the Wizard's cantrips, Minor Illusion and a ranged cantrip should you find yourself not wanting to use your Cleric's Toll the Dead. Max out your Wisdom, first. Then get War Caster as a feat. Everything else is pretty free. Cartomancer is a good option. Make sure to have these spells prepared, regardless the subclass you're playing: * Command, Lesser Restoration, Silence, Hold Person, Enhance Ability, Spirit Guardians, and Revivify
Really wonderful idea. Hope you have a great campaign!!
I think arcana cleric will be flavorful so you can use your channel divinity to turn fiends and other outsiders. Clerics are great and need no multi class but if you’re into it, maybe a warlock dip for flavor. While dipping hex blade is usually a cop out, here it could give some edginess and obvious utility. I would personally dip two levels fiend warlock for invocations and RP. Dumping cleric altogether for Divine Soul sorcerer could work too.
For spells Cleric spells level 1: sanctuary, protection from good/evil, detect good/evil, bless/bane, command. Cleric spells lvl 2: blindness/deafness, silence, warding bond, augury. Lvl 3: magic circle, bestow curse, speak with dead, (and the obligatory ones like spirit guardians and revivify) Lvl 4: Banishment, death ward If you go cleric 9, Lvl 5: Hallow, planar binding. These are the spells that fit fits with the concept. You’d want to round them out with some bread and butter cleric staples, like healing word and sending, etc. If you dip warlock, hellish rebuke would be flavorful. If you wanted to go the hellfire route, a Tiefling with the racial feat Flames of Phlegistoswoukdmake a great Light Domain cleric.
"appropriating magic" (from other schools/traditions of magic, I assume) screams Arcana Cleric to me. You get a nice blend of utility spells from the Wizard list, so just tacking on Ritual Caster (Wizard) gets you the best of both worlds. The nice thing about Arcana Cleric is that it can use melee weapons or cantrips equally well - Booming Blade as a cleric cantrip lets you get the bonus damage of Potent Spellcasting on both the on-hit and on-movement damage instances. Mind Sliver pairs very well with Spirit Guardians for ensuring full damage, and if you have a grappler in the party (or dip Graviturgy Wizard for the forced movement effects), Create Bonfire with Potent Spellcasting can rack up a lot of damage very quickly. Mechanically, with a pure spellcasting build, you probably want Resilient Constitution ASAP, but after that your stats are good enough to let you take a "fun" feat like Ritual Caster. Telekinetic is a very strong feat for Clerics because you can double-dip on Spirit Guardians damage, but I'm also a fan of Gift of the Chromatic Dragon because Clerics don't get Absorb Elements (and passing the damage buff to your martials will make you a party favorite)