Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Brother_Kendo 01-29-08, 09:38 PM	I am getting ready to start a game with some friends and have never played a cleric before. Upon finding out that out party will consist of everything BUT a healer I have decided to try one out. I am just wanting some Char Gen ideas for a cleric whos' primary skills are Healing/Defence. I would like to keep most of the concepts practical and relevant to a character lvl 2-5 atm. I will most likely be human of a good alighnment, but open to other races that might work better. We will be playing in Eberron also. Thanks ahead of time for those of you that offer up some advice!
Drackthor 01-29-08, 09:41 PM	Tell your party you're making a Cleric to get their hopes up, then pick Hextor as your deity and go Destruction/Evil. :P Only kidding.
pigknight 01-29-08, 10:59 PM	Actually Drackthor has some good ideas. Be LN, pick Hextor, get Destruction and War, prepare a couple cure spells, get your flail and heavy shield and your good to go...I pitty the monster that thinks that the healer can't defend himself. And maybe go Half-Orc because it dosn't have a Wis penalty. Now people are going to tell me "Hey Piggy! Half-Orcs have a Cha penalty! WTBB (What the Bacon Bits)!!!11eleven1!1!!one!shiftone!1!!" Now really when does turn/rebuke undead really affect the party in the long run in a standard campain?
JulesCARV 01-29-08, 11:08 PM	I think that a cleric of the Sovereign Host would work okay. Protection and Healing would work fine for domains, received from Boldrei and Olladra respectively. Given the particular goddesses this cleric's domains come from, I picture this fellow as an easygoing kind of cleric. He's not Mr. Destroy-all-Evil, Dol Arrah will judge you through my sword type. He tends to revere more the cultivation of good than the destruction of evil -- families, pleasure, good food, communities. Maybe a sort of Joel Osteen type cleric. Heh. Feats for the 2-5 level range? Well, first, you could always take improved initiative and extend spell. Perhaps at 3rd level, craft wondrous item? What sources do you have access to?
dman11235 01-30-08, 12:09 AM	My favorite cleric for a healer/defender is Radiant Servant of Pelor by far. Also, it's in the spell selection that makes a cleric, make sure to pick your spells wisely, and you shall profit. Take the healing and sun domain (sun is a prereq, and healing just helps), and take the augment healing feat as early as possible. One of the best ways to both conserve spell slots and get more buffing in is to make sure your healing spells heal the most amount of damage as possible. Another method of this is by killing the opponents as fast as possible (by extreme buffing), and another is by not getting hurt (also extreme buffing, and killing the monsters fast). Another feat you could look into is the reserve feat for healing spells (CChamp).
JulesCARV 01-30-08, 01:50 PM	If you have access to Complete Divine, then Radiant Servant of Pelor is, indeed, good, and good for the protection/healing role you want too. It's fairly easy to get into, with one caveat: Pelor isn't an established deity in Eberron. With a flexible DM, this isn't too much of a problem. You could just be an NG cleric of the Sovereign Host who grabs the sun domain from Dol Arrah and the healing domain from Olladra, but be sure to check with your DM first to make sure that a cleric of the Sovereign Host with Pelor-style domains actually can get into the PrC.
dman11235 01-30-08, 02:00 PM	Is there a sun god who does a lot against undead? If so, then use that one. They do tell you about possible adaptations in the class. Also, make sure to take the purification domain when you get the chance. +1 CL for abjuration.
Belkar 01-30-08, 02:03 PM	Dude, I'm playing a cleric in Eberron right now. Let me tell you about a build that rocks... ;) There is a PrC in the Faiths of Eberron book called Sovereign Speaker. 9 level PrC, and you loose 2 levels of spellcasting... but... Every level, you gain a bonus domain. Every. Level. You have to be a devoted cleric of the Sovereign Host (ie: worship no one diety over another), and take a feat called Worldly Focus (basically, you can cast spells without a holy symbol - which is more usefull than you'd think), and have 8 ranks in Knowledge (Religion). This means you can take this PrC as early as level 6. There's also a feat in the FoE (also in Complete Divine) called Domain Sponteneity. This lets you sacrifice a turn undead attempt to spontaneously replace a prepared spell with a domain spell (the way you can replace it with a cure/inflict spell). Think about having access to 11 domains by the time you're done with the PrC - then think about what this feat could do for you. The only caveat is that you have to specify which domain the feat applies to when you take it - and you'll thusly be taking it mutiple times to reap the most benefit. But... man... I love this build. It triples my effectiveness as a cleric. And as a cleric of the Host - you get access to any domain in the players handbook (except for Evil), and half the domains in Complete Divine. I'd honestly say you can avoid the War domain - simply because a 1st level Sovereign Speaker gains proficiency with every favored weapon of every diety in the host. It's a lot. Free Weapon Focus is nice, but your spells will make up for it. Honestly - take the Healing Domain - but don't take Domain Spont. for it. Kind of "duh", since you can spont. convert to cure spells anyway - but learning a new domain each level, you won't be able to take enough Domain Spont. feats for each one. The +1 Caster Level for healing spells is totally worth it. The Travel Domain is fantastic, not only are the domain spells nice - but the domain power is one of the best in the game. Remeber - domain powers are what make domains so incredible. My own feat progression: Level 1: Worldly Focus, Extra Turning Level 3: Domain Spont. Level 6: Domain Spont. Level 9: Domain Spont. Level 12: Domain Spont. Level 15: Domain Spont. Level 18: Domain Spont.
Cartigan 01-30-08, 02:08 PM	Regardless of what you are doing, keep in mind the only class special ability you get straight is Turning/Rebuking and look up how that works. Also as pointed out, there are feats that replace turning uses with cool/broken abilities
dman11235 01-30-08, 02:19 PM	You did forget a couple things Belkar, 1: augment healing is even more useful than the healing domain special ability, and 2: domain spontenaity isn't actually that good, unless you have domain spells that you can't normally get as a cleric (arcane spells) and are actually useful (timestop for luck and time domains). Also, I think divine might is a much better use of turn attempts than domain spontenaity, as well as divine shield.
Belkar 01-30-08, 02:32 PM	You did forget a couple things Belkar, 1: augment healing is even more useful than the healing domain special ability, and 2: domain spontenaity isn't actually that good, unless you have domain spells that you can't normally get as a cleric (arcane spells) and are actually useful (timestop for luck and time domains). Also, I think divine might is a much better use of turn attempts than domain spontenaity, as well as divine shield. Point taken. But Divine Might and Shield are "combat cleric" builds - which isn't what the OP requested. Half the domains in the PHB (and most all in complete divine) have 50% or more of their spell lists as arcane spells. And I'm still going to disagree with your main point - even if domain spells were all normal cleric spells - Domain Spont. still rocks. You simply don't have to prepare those spells. You become a swiss-army knife of cleric spells. All I can do is speak from experience. I'm currently lvl 8 with this build - and it's amazing. With judicious domain selection - I've always got what the party needs. ;)
dman11235 01-30-08, 06:22 PM	Sorry, got my threads mixed up, I thought I was responding to someone who wanted a combat cleric. Sacred Healing would be the feat you want. Well, I've looked at dom. spon. before, I haven't played it, and it didn't look too useful unless you actually had useful domain spells. There's also the PHBII variant for spontaneous domain casting. And I've put that one to good use with the healing domain. Also, most domain spells are divine and normal cleric spells. A few are druid only, and then some domains have wiz/sorc only spells, but not that many. At least, that's what I see.
Drackthor 01-30-08, 06:48 PM	Dude, I'm playing a cleric in Eberron right now. Let me tell you about a build that rocks... ;) There is a PrC in the Faiths of Eberron book called Sovereign Speaker. 9 level PrC, and you loose 2 levels of spellcasting... but... Every level, you gain a bonus domain. Every. Level. You have to be a devoted cleric of the Sovereign Host (ie: worship no one diety over another), and take a feat called Worldly Focus (basically, you can cast spells without a holy symbol - which is more usefull than you'd think), and have 8 ranks in Knowledge (Religion). This means you can take this PrC as early as level 6. There's also a feat in the FoE (also in Complete Divine) called Domain Sponteneity. This lets you sacrifice a turn undead attempt to spontaneously replace a prepared spell with a domain spell (the way you can replace it with a cure/inflict spell). Think about having access to 11 domains by the time you're done with the PrC - then think about what this feat could do for you. The only caveat is that you have to specify which domain the feat applies to when you take it - and you'll thusly be taking it mutiple times to reap the most benefit. But... man... I love this build. It triples my effectiveness as a cleric. And as a cleric of the Host - you get access to any domain in the players handbook (except for Evil), and half the domains in Complete Divine. I'd honestly say you can avoid the War domain - simply because a 1st level Sovereign Speaker gains proficiency with every favored weapon of every diety in the host. It's a lot. Free Weapon Focus is nice, but your spells will make up for it. Honestly - take the Healing Domain - but don't take Domain Spont. for it. Kind of "duh", since you can spont. convert to cure spells anyway - but learning a new domain each level, you won't be able to take enough Domain Spont. feats for each one. The +1 Caster Level for healing spells is totally worth it. The Travel Domain is fantastic, not only are the domain spells nice - but the domain power is one of the best in the game. Remeber - domain powers are what make domains so incredible. My own feat progression: Level 1: Worldly Focus, Extra Turning Level 3: Domain Spont. Level 6: Domain Spont. Level 9: Domain Spont. Level 12: Domain Spont. Level 15: Domain Spont. Level 18: Domain Spont. I read your posts, though it's somewhat pointless. Anyone who did the battling it required to get the name Belkar on a DND forum has my undying respect, agreement, and loyalty.
dman11235 01-30-08, 07:04 PM	One more thing, taking the class variant for healing domain spontaineous casting helps out a LOT, since you can now spon cast heals and mass heals. And at lower levels, you hardly feel the difference, since the first four healing domain spells are cure spells.
Belkar 01-31-08, 09:07 AM	I read your posts, though it's somewhat pointless. Anyone who did the battling it required to get the name Belkar on a DND forum has my undying respect, agreement, and loyalty. :blush: Um. Thank you? [pssst.... will you be my minion? :evillaugh ]