Author Topic: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!  (Read 5356 times)

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Rejakor

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2011, 12:24:01 PM »
Prestige Paladin + Battle Blessing is pretty lol.  Even only paladin spells is still pretty cool, cause that's still stuff like Holy Svord and Bull's Strength, stuff you don't really want to persist but it's still nice to have.  Protection from Evilz.  Etc.

Radiant Servant is just nice, although perhaps you want Bone Knight levels instead.

Healing spells are meh, but a radiant servant dip for double turning is easy money.

For your persistent spells you probably want Divine Power, Recitation, and Something Else.  Not mass lesser vigor.  Wands of lesser vigor > mass lesser vigor.  Unless you're vigorously circling and giving everyone fast healing they actually CARE about DURING combat, you can heal everyone up to full with a fistful of 750gp wands for free.  I'd even rate magic circle against evil as higher than mass lesser vigor.  There's got to be another group buff spell other than rightwards wrath of the facefall.

Tshern

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2011, 08:52:19 PM »
Righteous Wrath of the Faithful?

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CrimsonDeath

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #22 on: April 05, 2011, 09:47:29 PM »
Vigorous Circle is a good call, if you can cast it.  Especially if you also have Healthful Rest up (which doesn't need to be Persisted, since it has a duration of 24 hours already).  Why?  Healthful Rest doubles the subjects' natural healing rate, and Fast Healing (according to MM 309) "is just like natural healing".

Barring that (or until you can cast it), there's also Mass Shield of Faith.

Amoren

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #23 on: April 06, 2011, 12:59:58 AM »
Righteous Wraith of the Faithful is a 5th level spell from Spell Compendium which grant those affected one extra attack during a full attack (like haste) and also gives a +3 moral bonus to melee hit and damage rolls.

Good advice about the Vigorous Circle/Healthful Rest combo, I'll probably try to use this once I can use Vigorous Circle.  Is there a mass version of Healthful Rest though?  Or should I just grab a metamagic feat or rod to allow it to be mass'd?

Also, still waiting on DM feed back about Prestige Paladin and modifying the Apprentice feat to allow ride.  Till then, I've got a question.  My original intent for this character was for him to raise and awaken undead (via the Animate Dead and Awaken Undead spells).  However, I've found out that Awaken Undead is an arcane spell only.  So, is there any way for a divine spell caster to awaken undead?

CrimsonDeath

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #24 on: April 06, 2011, 01:47:31 AM »
Healthful Rest already hits one creature/level.  To get more massive than that, you need the Insignia spells from Races of Destiny.  (None of them help with your concept as such, but it's not bad to be familiar with them, especially Insignia of Healing.)

Awaken Undead happens to be on the Deathbound domain, and at a lower level than the arcane version.  Clerics really are better necromancers than actual Necromancers.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2011, 01:50:58 AM by CrimsonDeath »

Tshern

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #25 on: April 06, 2011, 10:26:31 AM »
I know what Righteous Wrath of the Faithful is, it was a suggestion for the character.

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Amoren

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #26 on: April 06, 2011, 11:50:31 AM »
I know what Righteous Wrath of the Faithful is, it was a suggestion for the character.

Ah right, sorry.  Thought I mentioned it in the first post (or something after that) about spells for him to persist...  Once he can cast 5th level spells. :P  Might have been on one of the earlier threads I made for this concept back on the Giant forums however.

Also, didn't catch Healthful Rest affecting one person per level, my bad.

And yeah, I noticed that Awaken Undead was in the Deathbound domain, but I don't know if there's room in the character for it.  And even then, that only means he can cast it once per day in his domain slot, doesn't it?  I suppose I could use the Deathbound Domain, but since I'm dropping Ordained Champion I have even less domains to work with...  Actually, that's going to be worse enough as it is, trying to choose between war, undead, or planning to drop as it is...  Trying to work in Deathbound is going to be hell, but its domain power does at least seem interesting (even though I should have plenty of undead levels with Bone Knight's extra HD controlled).

It'll probably be planning, unless I get to use prestige paladin or another early cleric prestige class dip that lets me keep caster levels and gain martial weapon proficiency for the greatsword (in which case it'd be war)...  Of course, I could always ask my DM if he'll allow a divine version of the spell to exist outside of the domain.

And before you say that an Archivist could learn Awaken Undead via a scroll, DM already said no to Archivist.  He's only allowing base classes that he's familiar with, which pretty much means anything that was in Neverwinter Nights 2. :P

vilenatas

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #27 on: April 06, 2011, 12:00:42 PM »
1 level in contemplative or 4 levels of divine disciple could get you another domain (the 5th level of divine disciple also makes you an outsider if you are interested).

Mixster

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #28 on: April 06, 2011, 01:43:27 PM »
Radiant servant of Pelor gives all Martial weapons, and thus greatsword.
Monks are pretty much the best designed class ever.

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Amoren

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #29 on: April 06, 2011, 02:24:01 PM »
I suppose I should put up a quick note.  I'm kind of shying away from Radiant Servant of Pelor because, well, it doesn't exactly mesh with the Bone Knight concept, and because the warlocks most recent previous character was a Radiant Servant of Pelor cleric.  So for the same reason I'm avoiding druid I would like to avoid RSoP.  That, and ya know, worshiping Pelor...  When I've actually got some fun brain storming with a friend of mind creating the country and religion this bone knight comes from (such as his armor and equipment being forged from the bones of a dracolitch to enhance his necromatic power, I don't suppose there's an armor enchantment that would give a mechanical bonus to this fluff?).

Edit (Big): Alright, so I think I'm just going to go with a somewhat simple Cleric 3/Church Inquisitor 3/Bone Knight 2 build, taking the Apprentice feat with the soldier archetype refluffed to have Riding rather than knowledge (local) and calling it knight.

This makes the character's stats (using rolled ones)..!

Human
Str 16, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 20, Cha 17

BAB: +5, Fort 9, Ref 2, Will 6

Domains: Planning, Undead (or Deathbound and Undead), Inquisition (traded for Knowledge Devotion)
Feats: B) Knowledge Devotion, B) Extra Turning, B) MM: Extend, 1) Persist, Apprentice, 3) DMM: Persist, 6) Practiced Caster/Power Attack?
Casting as a level 7 Cleric

Rebuke Undead 10 times per day, Detect Evil, Immune to Charms, Pierce Illusions, Bonecraft Armor, Bone March, Summon Skeletal Steed

Skill Ranks: 74
Concentration 11, Craft: Armorsmithing 6, Craft: Weaponsmithing 6, Riding: 6, Spellcraft 11, Knowledge: Religion 9, Knowledge: Arcane 9, Knowledge: The Planes 8, Knowledge: Nature 8

I know the intelligence is high, but this will give me 6 skill points/level in the Cleric and Bone Knight levels to continue advancing his knowledge skills - which is really needed since no one currently in the party has knowledge skills.  I like the strength of 16 since with Divine Power this would boost it to 22 Str, a +6 mod which would give +9 damage with his greatsword.

Now assuming no one can find a way to optimize the above, I'm a bit lost on what to spend my huge pile of gold on.  Standard WBL rules, so 27,000g.  I believe my DM will ok him starting with a bonecraft weapon, and just not get the extra damage against living targets until he gets the ability.

Items of note I'm thinking of grabbing: +1 Animate Heavy Shield (9,000g), +1 Bonecraft Greatsword (2,000g), +1 Bonecraft Full Plate (1,000g), Fortifying Bedroll (3,000g). This would burn up 15,000g already, and adding a Nightstick would strain that to 22,000g.  I'm wondering if the 4,000g for a +2 wisdom item is worth it or if I should just burn the rebuke attempts on persisting owl's wisdom for a +4 total mod.  I know there's a holy symbol which add rebuke/turn attempts per day?  I'm not sure how much gold or where its located, but it'd probably replace the first nightstick.

Also, assuming I can get 14 turn/rebuke attempts per day (by picking up a night stick), I'd be able to persist four spells per day (persisting two, then sleeping for an hour, then persisting another two).  Lets persist 3 so that I have some rebuke attempts left over in case I need to expand my undead army.  Spells to persist would be: Recitation (group buff), Divine Power (self buff), and likely some third level spell or other good party buff.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2011, 03:56:48 PM by Amoren »

CrimsonDeath

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #30 on: April 06, 2011, 06:52:04 PM »
Reliquary Holy Symbol (1800g?) is an amulet that gives one bonus turn attempt for each of the following:  5 or more ranks in Knowledge: Religion, any Divine feat (such as DMM), and the Improved Turning feat (better spent on Extra Turning if that's what you're after).

The Sacred armor/shield enhancement (+2 price modifier in A⪚ is there a more recent version?) gives +2 to effective turning level.  Expensive, but the best answer I could think of for your bone armor question (and with magic Vestment it's not like you need your money for actual armor plusses).

I seem to remember heretical clerics in Ravenloft continue getting spells the same as in Eberron.  Am I remembering correctly?  If so, I'm imagining a Radiant Servant of the Burning Hate (pretty much the only situation so far in which Pelor the Burning Hate has actually amused me).  I understand and respect that you're avoiding RSoP for metagame reasons and don't really expect you to take the suggestion; I just thought it was funny.

Mixster

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #31 on: April 06, 2011, 07:16:33 PM »
Bunkos Bargain basement is the fastest way to spend leftover gold.

If you worship a deity with the war domain, there's the gauntlets of war from complete champion that adds +3 to damage, at 4k gold, which is pretty good IMO.
Wand of Lesser Vigor is a decent way to heal everybody up when you run out of spells, just be sure everybody pitches in.

Lesser true-death crystal is a cheap way of getting Ghost Touch on your weapon.

Also, Tooth of Savnok costs 2000 gold, is from Tome of Magic, and gives you the ability to run full speed, and even tumble in medium or heavy armour.

Also there's the special holy symbols from complete champion, depending on who you end up worshipping, they could be useful.
Monks are pretty much the best designed class ever.

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vilenatas

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #32 on: April 06, 2011, 08:42:00 PM »
Divine Bard4/Ftr1/UrPriest2/Bone Knight10/Hierophant3.

or
 
Bard4/Ftr1/UrPriest2/Bone Knight8/Abjurant Champion5.  Depending on how your dm determines caster level this one could be a nice boost to ur priests caster level as your bab is 18 so you would have bard caster level 18, ur priest 9 effective levels, 1/2 bard makes that 9 + 9 or 18 as well, so practiced spellcaster boosts it up to 20.

Amoren

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #33 on: April 07, 2011, 04:10:34 PM »
The Ur-Priest Bone Knight build seems interesting, but I'd want to use something other than bard for the base class...  Maybe Duskblade if the DM would allow it, but I think I'll stick with a standard cleric for now.

The DM's okayed having Ride as a class skill, so I don't need the Apprentice feat.  This means I get a feat to spend at level one..!  So I could get Power Attack at level 1 and Practiced Caster at level six, if one caster level is worth a feat (if it gave spells known and cast, I would definately take it, but oh well).

So now all that's left to decide is items.  So far I've got +1 Bonecraft Greatsword (2,000g), +1 Animate Heavy Shield (9,000g), +1 Bonecraft Full Plate (1,000g), Fortifying Bed roll (3,000g), Nightstick (7,500g), Reliquary Holy Symbol (1,000g), Artificer's Monocle (1,500g), Ruby Skull of Wee Jas/Custom Diety (360g).  This leaves me with 1,650g to spend...  Not much.

CrimsonDeath

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #34 on: April 07, 2011, 04:28:13 PM »
I don't think I've ever regretted a cloak/vest of resistance.

Tshern

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #35 on: April 07, 2011, 05:58:35 PM »
Until Superior Resistance kicks in.

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vilenatas

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #36 on: April 07, 2011, 07:02:15 PM »
The Ur-Priest Bone Knight build seems interesting, but I'd want to use something other than bard for the base class...  Maybe Duskblade if the DM would allow it, but I think I'll stick with a standard cleric for now.

The DM's okayed having Ride as a class skill, so I don't need the Apprentice feat.  This means I get a feat to spend at level one..!  So I could get Power Attack at level 1 and Practiced Caster at level six, if one caster level is worth a feat (if it gave spells known and cast, I would definately take it, but oh well).

I would have definitely gone with a different full bab base, but you mentioned base phb classes only, so I limited myself to those.  Duskblade was one choice for sure, especially for the wonderful channeling of harm or something into an attack.

I don't think practiced spellcaster is worth the feat for 1 caster level.  Maybe head for one of the power attack chains that can't give you heedless charge or something.

Rejakor

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #37 on: April 08, 2011, 12:32:47 AM »
Since you want to be a Bone Knight... I can't think of any feats that are useful to a mounted character/aren't superceded by gear.

Mixster

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Re: Character (likely melee cleric) Help!
« Reply #38 on: April 08, 2011, 08:39:31 AM »
The Ur-Priest Bone Knight build seems interesting, but I'd want to use something other than bard for the base class...  Maybe Duskblade if the DM would allow it, but I think I'll stick with a standard cleric for now.

The DM's okayed having Ride as a class skill, so I don't need the Apprentice feat.  This means I get a feat to spend at level one..!  So I could get Power Attack at level 1 and Practiced Caster at level six, if one caster level is worth a feat (if it gave spells known and cast, I would definately take it, but oh well).

I would have definitely gone with a different full bab base, but you mentioned base phb classes only, so I limited myself to those.  Duskblade was one choice for sure, especially for the wonderful channeling of harm or something into an attack.

I don't think practiced spellcaster is worth the feat for 1 caster level.  Maybe head for one of the power attack chains that can't give you heedless charge or something.

Monk is another option for an Ur-Priest build, you could then add neat things like Enlightened fist afterwards.
Monks are pretty much the best designed class ever.

JaronK

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