[Pathfinder Society] Clericzilla

[kalaskaagathas]

I'd like to build a Pathfinder Society legal Cleric.  I've been thinking about playing a sword-and-board character (with a longsword or rapier and buckler, inspired by the Rotelleros of late 15th-16th century Spain), if I can find a way to make it effective within the rules.  I think this means I'd have to play an Elf in order to get the weapon proficiencies.

Can this concept be optimized?  What feats, domains, and deity should I choose?  As far as stats go, they use the Pathfinder 20 point buy, and I need a Wisdom of at least 15 (since the level cap is 12) - would it benefit me to have it be higher?  Or is 15 enough?

[juton]

I'm not that familiar with the Pathfinder Society, so my advice may be a little bit general. As a Cleric your most important choice is going to be your deity (if you can't choose an ideal). A brief glance shows that Desna gets both the Luck and Travel domains, which are still two of the better domains, so I'd recommend choosing Desna to be your patron. If you are allowed sub-domains the Travel sub-domain exploration could be kind of useful to let you see through doors, but the regular domain power is OK too.

While I understand the appeal of the rapier it's not purely optimal, if you want your cake and to be able to eat it too say you have a Schiavona, which is a beautiful type of venetian basket-hilted long sword (the URL says rapier but sources differ). And you don't want to spend the points on dex and take weapon finesse, so longsword is a lot better. With a buckler on your other hand you can choose to give up its AC for extra damage on a power attack, you won't always go with power attack because your attack bonus isn't that great without buff spells.

For 20pts I'd recommend the starting stats (pre-racial mods) of : 16,12,12,10,15,9. You're right, you can't really afford anything higher in WIS to begin with, but every attribute increase should go into it. Feat-wise you're pretty lucky in that a Cleric doesn't really need any feats to be effective. Power attack, even in Pathfinder can help with the damage, toughness can help with HP and weapon focus can help to hit, but if you really want to be effective choose feats that synergize with spell casting. If you don't want to be an Elf you can be a human and use one of your starting feats to choose a martial weapon proficiency, it may not be the most optimal use of a feat but if you want to melee with style it could be worth it, you could also shift your racial stat bonus to strength or willpower depending on what you want out of your character.

[kalaskaagathas]

Alright, then I'll use a Longsword and Buckler. The build I'm considering would be either straight Cleric or Cleric 11/Holy Vindicator 1 for the Holy Vindicator's Vindicator's Shield ability. One question on that, does it have a duration? Or do I get to simply channel energy into it once and have it last all day? Also, is it worth 1 fifth and 1 sixth level spell per day?

As far as Deities and Domains go, I'm thinking Besmara, Trickery (or Thievery), and War. The character would be Chaotic Neutral, spontaneously cast Cure spells, and channel Positive Energy.

I'm thinking of taking the traits Reactionary and Adopted (Human Bonus Feat) or Magical Lineage (some spell which I'll often want to extend).

For my feats (I'll get 6, or 7 with the Adopted trait) I'm thinking Extend Spell, Power Attack, Alignment Channel (if I go Holy Vindicator), and maybe Lunge. What else should I look into?

And finally, for my race and stats, I'm thinking Elf and the following stats (before racial modifiers):
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 15
CHA 12

I would then put my two stat increases into WIS.

How can this be improved?

[Nemain]

Unfortunately, Adopted doesn't do what you think it does (although that'd be awesome).

from the Pathfinder FAQ http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/pathfinder-faq

Q: After picking the adopted trait are we limited to traits in the companion Pathfinder products? I.e. can a character select a race trait listed in the Player's Handbook. Good example Human Rogue takes adopted trait, and is dwarven adopted, could they choose Darkvision under the Dwarven Race Trait tree. With the current wording of the trait and the lists in the PHB it seems sound.
A: (James Jacobs 2/26/10) Race traits and racial traits, despite similar names, are different things. Racial traits are the abilities you get for being a race, like darkvision or stonecunning. Those are locked in and cant be swapped around. RACE traits are a category of character traits that, like regional traits and religion traits, appear regularly in the Pathfinder Companion line. You'll want to check those books out for the various race traits you can swap out for by taking the Adopted basic trait. If you don't have or don't use Pathfinder Companion products, then just ignore the Adopted trait because it does nothing for you.

[kalaskaagathas]

Ah, bollocks.  Well then, what spell will I most want to extend (for free)?  Or is there another trait I should look at (instead of Magical Lineage)?

[Nemain]

Magical Knack, if you plan on losing any caster levels; Desperate Focus, if you're worried about concentration. The best spell for Magical Lineage would probably depend on what levels you're likely to be playing the character at.

[Ivory Knight]

First: Pathfinder Clerics are proficient with the favored weapon of their god, simply find one that grants Longsword(Besmara & Cayden Cailean grant Rapier). No need for Elf, but it's not the worst race you could pick(I'd prefer Human, but that's just because Pathfinder does not have Corellon or any other classic elven deity from 3.5).

Some of the Sub-domains look good for melee: Ferocity(Strength) & Rage(Destruction) strike me as good, extra damage never hurts and even a weak Barbarian Rage is better than the Aura it replaces.
Cayden Cailean does have Strength(swap for Ferocity) & Travel(always a favorite of mine), you could use a Rapier until Holy Vindicator and thereafter switch to Longsword.

Holy Vindicator is 7/10 spellcasting, which means you'll end up with 9th level spells at ECL 20.
Probably would use 4-8 levels, even if the shield doesn't last all day for only 1 channel energy.

Magic Lineage: How about Divine Power, if you can't think of any other buff yuo'll want to reatin for longer?

[kalaskaagathas]

I'll be playing this build from level 1 through level 12 (the level cap).  If I go for Holy Vindicator 1, I'll be losing one caster level (and one fifth and sixth level spell per day).  I'll look at Strength, Destruction, and their subdomains.  And I was thinking Divine Power as well, for Magical Lineage.

Edit: What do you think of Tactics Subdomain instead of War?  And what feats do you think would benefit the build (I've got Extend Spell, Alignment Channel, Power Attack, and Lunge, so far, and i get two more)?

[kalaskaagathas]

Ok, so looking through the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, it would seem that Besmara is not an available Deity for me to choose.  I had wanted Trickery and War, but it seems that this is no longer an option.  Should I go with Cayden Cailean, and the Strength and Travel domains?  Or is there another option for a martial Cleric?

[Ivory Knight]

It may be the best option, if you stick with your Rapier/Longsword & Buckler Style(actually I'd keep both weapons).
I chose Erastil, but so far my Archer Cleric is clearly inferior to his concept in D&D 3.5:
No Zen Archery, Enlarge Person doesn't affect Arrow-damage, going for high Wis & Dex in Pointbuy reduced my Strength & Con.