Ideas for my True Neutral Dwarf Cleric

[dasbif]

Hi all!

I have only ever played combat type characters, I've never cast a spell before.  So, I'm currently working on a character concept to play a Cleric the next time I begin a new campaign (or character, should I die horribly).  I have access to basically any book, and should be fine as long as I can argue why that ability works for my character.

I'm trying to figure out a progression that will make my capabilities effective at any given level, and am mainly looking for good, general advice on spell selection and on feat and domain selections.  I've been studying the Cleric Handbook, and am now trying to narrow down some choices.  I will probably buff myself and my party members and smash face with a morning star, with a longbow as my ranged fallback choice.  Are there powerful damage dealing spells for cleric?

The concept I am working with is that of a True Neutral Dwarf Cleric, no specific deity.  The character believes in the duality and necessity of extremes, and that power can be gained if you understand that doing good things for bad reasons or bad things for good reasons are not only necessary but essential for life.  Yin-Yang and such.  But enough fluff, on to the optimization!  I do have one question-how does being true neutral interact with casting alignment-based spells?

The progression I am currently thinking is
Cleric 5/Divine Oracle 6/Contemplative 6/? 3

Domains that are interesting me are Time, Luck, Force, Spell, Planning, and Travel.  (I automatically get Oracle at level 6, so I get 2 at first level, 1 at 12th, and 1 at 17th due to Contemplative.)  Which do you recommend?

Feats:  I'm probabally going to want Extend Spell, Persist Spell, and Divine Metamagic, and need Skill Focus: Knowledge Religion for Divine Oracle.  What else might be awesome?

I'm looking for an idea of at which level i should take which feats and domains.  Advice on spells (what they are, at what level, and what they do, particularly for low level spells) would be great.  Thanks for reading and considering my post, I know it's a bit long and rambling.. but thank you for your time and effort!

[Andion Isurand]

Don't overlook the Cloistered Cleric from UA....

Trade the extra Knowledge Domain it gives you for the Knowledge Devotion feat (Complete Champion).
You can also take the Ancestral Knowledge feat (Races of Stone) so you can use your Wisdom modifier for Knowledge checks which will help boost your use of Knowledge Devotion feat.
You could also try to ...wiggle... for the Bardic Knack ACF (Player's Handbook II pg 35) and trade your Lore ability for it.

The low BAB of the cloistered cleric is easily made up for by eventually persisting Divine Power.

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The Pride Domain (Spell Compendium) is one of my favorite domains..... "Whenever you roll a 1 on a saving throw you may immediately reroll the save. You must keep the result of the second roll, even if it results in the roll of another 1." 

This is icing on the cake for clerics who want to persist spells that boost their saving throws. Good crunch, but might not fit your concept.

Unless you wear medium or heavy armor, the Celerity domain is also a nice one to consider as a Dwarf, since it will boost your land speed by 10 ft.

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I would also look at the Planar Touchstone feat (Planar Handbook), and think about using it to forge a link with the The Catalogues of Enlightenment in the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment....  thus enabling you to gain the granted power of any domain of your choosing.  By performing the recharge condition, you can choose a different one if you want.

[dasbif]

OOH! I am liking the idea of Knowledge Devotion + Ancestral Knowledge!  Thank you!

I am concerned about Cloistered Cleric and Celerity Domain losing the proficiency with medium/heavy armor, as well as the lower hit dice.  I was liking the idea of being able to wear the best armor, full plate.

[Andion Isurand]

Actually, if heavy armor is your thing, Thaalud Stone Armor is ripe.

You could also play a small-sized dwarven subtype such as a Wild Dwarf (Races of Faerûn) so that your 20 ft speed doesn't feel slow compared to your size.  Of course their fluff would demand you offer an appropriate back story to explain how the character became a cloistered cleric.

[dasbif]

In an attempt to have the most useful spells and feats to augment them available at each level...

lvl 1 feat: Ancestral Knowledge
Knowledge Domain --> knowledge devotion feat
Planning Domain (grants extend spell)
lvl 3 feat: Skill Focus (Knowledge Religion)
lvl 6 feat: Divine Metamagic
Oracle Domain
lvl 9 feat: Persistent Spell
lvl 12 feat:  Quicken Spell
Time Domain
lvl 15 feat: Spontaneous Domains?
lvl 17: Luck or Travel Domain?  Other?
lvl 18 feat: ?

Thoughts?  Ideas on the late-level things?  Also, I'm not sure what class to take levels in after level 17. 

[Andion Isurand]

If you're going to take Ancestral Knowledge at level 1, you might as well replace it with Kami's Intuition (Dragon Magazine 318) which is a first level only ancestor feat that does the same thing, except it also gives a +2 bonus to Sense Motive checks.... plus any character can take it.

Or you can choose a flaw for Ancestral Knowledge, and choose another 1st level only feat instead.

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Also: switch Persistant Spell and Divine Metamagic, since the latter must be applied to a metamagic feat you already possess.

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Look at the Frog God's Fane magical location (Complete Scoundrel 145).... if you succeed on the check, you can permanently gain Skill Focus (Knowledge: Religion) from it, instead of having to spend one of your feat slots.