Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nicholas the Paladin 08-08-07, 07:54 AM	On of my fellow players is playing a human Cleric if Kelemvor (FR), which is a god of Death/the dead. This god is very much against undead and such. This character is 4th level at the moment. This priest will most likely cats spells and turn undead the most. Fighting is a second but probably nescecarry option. What feats would you suggest? We have no experience with playing a full-cleric, so any help is welcome.
Aubri 08-08-07, 11:08 AM	I don't know what books your DM allows and don't have an encyclopedic memory of feats, so I'll stick mostly to Core. A straight-up cleric's biggest advantage is flexibility -- via buffs, he can tank and deal melee damage; via spells, he can do light artillery work. He can, obviously, obliterate undead. Via divination, he can even do odd things like track opponents. (Notice I didn't mention healing in that list -- see this thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=900345).) That's the nature of CoDzilla, but I assume you don't intend to abuse it to that degree! At any rate, choosing one of those to be best at is a great idea. Turning: Extra Turning, Improved Turning, etc. Grabbing a couple of Metamagic feats plus Divine Metamagic is a nice way to burn turning uses that he doesn't need today. (It's from Complete Divine -- spend turning attempts instead of extra spell levels for metamagic.) He should also skim CDiv for other anti-undead feats that look interesting, like Disciple of the Sun (2 turning attempts, acts like the sun domain power). There are also several "Sacred X" spells in the PHB2 that allow you to spend turning for other effects. Melee: It sounds like he's looking to have melee as a secondary option, so I wouldn't spend many feats on it -- his primary melee tactic should be to get in front and go on the defensive (if you need a secondary tank to block while other casters and archers play artillery) or cast a short-term buff like Righteous Might and bust some heads. It might be worth it to pick one combat trick that he has the stats to pull off, such as Trip or Disarm, grab the feats for it, and use that whenever he doesn't have a spell he wants to cast. My brother had a blast playing a buff-oriented cleric who would cast a couple buffs, then wade into combat with just his shield and hammer. Buff Spells: For a buff-focused caster, Divine Metamagic + Extend Spell is an excellent choice. Combat Casting would allow him to easily buff and give emergency heals to allies from the front ranks (where, after all, his heavy armor gets its best use). Attack/Debuff Spells: Extend is good for debuffs, but Empower will get more mileage with attack spells. Attack and debuff benefit greatly from Spell Focus and Spell Penetration. Spell Focus (Conjuration) and Augment Summoning are a good choice for a back-lines cleric if he would enjoy summoning creatures a lot. Naturally, you can mix and match between these roles!