For my first Pathfinder game, I've decided to make a cleric. However, I'm not sure what route I should be taking with him. I understand that being a heal-bot is generally considered a sub-par choice, so naturally I want to be more than that. Also, I've more or less locked my race in as Dwarf. My character's theme will be "Beard power," so no other race really makes sense.
To reflect this in-game a bit, I also want my first feat to be Spell Thematics: Beards (the DM has approved a divine version). However, I'm willing to do without it if some other mechanic can bring this flavor to life.
The game starts at level 4, the DM says he plans on us going all the way to 20 (with our track record, though, I'm skeptical). Game is set in Eberron. So far, the only other party members I know of are a Dwarf Fighter/Monk, and a necromancer of some sort. We will have more party members than that, I just don't know what they are.
I'm considering a summoner route to prevent some damage to the party, to play around with PF's slightly looser summoning rules, and because I can play around with Spell Thematics that way. However, I feel like I might be stepping on the necromancer's toes a bit with that, so if possible I'd like to find another niche. What can clerics do well from level 4? If it matters, the DM has told me that Channel Energy counts as Turn Undead for meeting prereq's and powering divine feats.
