Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Demonwolf 02-11-04, 05:09 PM	i have a friend who is playing a cleric w/ leather armor. He has an average dexterity, doesn't dual wield, can't tumble, etc. but he is a cleric of Chauntea and a farmer so he wants to wear light leather armor. Not to mention he is using a 2-handed trident(pitchfork), a piercing weapon that's gonna suck against undead and keep him away from valuable AC that could save his life. Is there any way he can make the best of this situation? maybe a prestige class that would fit him?
Dauntless 02-11-04, 09:06 PM	He'll either live or die. If he wants to be a farmer, he should be a farmer, not an adventurer. Either he has to adapt to survive or he should strongly reconsider his goals in life.
ManTimeForgot 02-12-04, 01:33 AM	Not all adventurers have to wade into melee to be useful. Clerical healing alone means that most parties are going to want to have a cleric around, for similar reasons as to why most people like to have a blaster mage at their back. Getting healed to full hps after getting trounced in combat is incredibly useful. Watching the enemy disintegrate at long range after the mage waves his hands a few times is also extremely cool. I don't see people complaining about the usefulness of wizards because they can't fight. A cleric without weapons is still going to be useful. There is no question about this. It sounds to me like people are getting used to the obvious clerical bias. Thank You all and have a nice day. Signed, The Man Time Forgot
CrimsonRyoko 02-12-04, 02:08 AM	Sounds to me like this boy need Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty, it seems to fit well. . .
Derlwyn 02-12-04, 02:09 AM	I think its an interesting.......if somewhat unusal.............take for a cleric the rest of the squad will probably just have to try and make up the slack
bg2soatob 02-12-04, 10:47 AM	If he's a farmer, what's he doing on the road? I don't see why a cleric of chauntea has to wear leather. I'm sure the nature goddess would be fine with plate mail emblazoned with a rose. That aside, MTF is right. Clerics have an image of wading into combat and casting their spells from there, but that doesn't have to be. Also, it sounds like he's covering up his minuses instead of boosting what he already has. That is, he already can turn undead, so why not take a piercing weapon? He already has abjuration spells that protect him, who needs armor?
Tony Vargas 02-12-04, 01:16 PM	There are a few things you or he could do to help keep the character viable. That weapon of his - what are you counting it as? If it's long, it could count as a longspear, giving him a bit of reach to protect himself. Or, he could go for the even more agricultural - and much more deadly - scythe... there are actually a lot of agriculturally derived weapons, besides the sickle and scythe: Flails (the farming version is all wood and leather - no chains and spiked balls) Ransuer (basicly a giant pitchfork) Guisarme (derived from a pruning hook) Plenty of other pole-arms even Axes His light armor will give him mobility and won't get in the way of his skill checks, so, while the party may be covering for him a bit more in melee - he'll be in the back, with the arcanists, most likely - they won't have to rig up pulleys when he needs to make a climb check, or save him from drowning in shallow streams (typical cleric = heavy armor, big shield, 0 ranks in Climb/Jump/Swim/etc). His best tactic would probably be to avoid melee - he should step up if the only alternatives are himself or the party arcanist - using his spells for support or offense, if you have plenty of healing, or using whatever missle weapon he's comfortable with, and saving his spells for healing. He should use his unencumbered movement to stay out of trouble, and to quickly come to the aid of badly injured party members. I'm guessing he has the plant domain - isn't Barkskin in there? That'd help his AC, and Sanctuary could also help keep him from getting attacked while he's doing ambulance duty. As DM, you could give him the option of trading out his medium and heavy armor proficiencies for other feats - you normally have to be careful with that sort of thing, but I don't think it'd be abusive in this case. You could give him martial weapon proficiency with his pitchfork - it could count as a trident (allowing him to use a shield) or ransuer (giving him reach).
Demonwolf 02-12-04, 09:48 PM	As far as what a farmer is doing on the road... i asked the guys portray level 1 characters as still young and finding themselves so that as beginner players, they could start with simple and related backstories and develop. we have a farmer's and father's son (the priest), a local hunter (the ranger), a miner (the monk), and a traveling jester (the rogue/mage). I'm starting them out w/ sunless citadel, and the plague of the gulthias tree is starting to affect their village, and when they find miners around the region start becoming terminally ill, young men and women from the village volunteer to adventure into the citadel, the suspected source. After this quest, they're gonna decide that it's the life they want for themselves. As far as why a farmer can't wear fullplate... flavor. simple as that. It was the guy's decision and not mine. There's no rule, but he's at heart a simple farmer boy. Thanks for the vow of poverty idea btw. what does sacred vow do again?
Dave1001 02-12-04, 09:55 PM	what? A player not min/maxing?! Sacrilege! Ah, let the kid take VoP and then everyone but the bad guys wins.
bg2soatob 02-15-04, 07:39 AM	Just because he doesn't fit the typical cleric doesn't mean he sucks. Giving him feats sounds very reasonable, but even without it, I'm sure he would be a fine cleric.