Idea for a Cleric, need help fleshing out a bit. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Idea for a Cleric, need help fleshing out a bit. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Cobra_Commander
09-30-07, 03:06 AM Alright, so it's been awhile since I've sat at the table and rolled some dice, and since finding a game is harder then I imagined it would be in a new city, I've decided to focus on spending the time to really create a character. And here is what I have so far.

Her name is Katrina Ravenhallow. She's a Cleric of St. Cuthbert. I basically wanted to play a Sister of Battle in D&D. If anyone doesn't know what that is, it's Warhammer 40k. Basically, nuns with guns and a fanatical devotion to their God Emperor. I took their whole ideology with their devout worship and prays to the Emperor, and tried applying that to a Deity in D&D. The closest I could really match it to was St. Cuthbert. He believes in stern revenge and punishment to the unlawful. Which is basically more or less how the Imperium works in 40k. He's Lawful Neutral, not Lawful Good. Sometimes the means to the ends may not always be good. And the respect and following of the law is top priority.

One of her major character traits, is that she's paranoid to the extreme. not so much "everyone is out to get me." but more " everyone has done something wrong." Basically, I took the persona of an Inquisitor from 40k, and applied it to her. A motto that I would more then likely think of her using would be "Innocence proves nothing." Eventually I'd want her to multi class into the Church Inquisitor PrC for obvious role playing reasons. She rarely smiles. Her idea of fun would be hours of prayer and contemplation. She always suspects everyone of wrong doing, even the other members of the party. I wouldn't play her this way to cause party friction though, I disdain from inner party conflict cause it slows the game down. She'd just be very watchful...Of everyone...At every moment...

For her overall clericness, I would probably tell the party outright, that she isn't going to end up being the band-aid, and she'd be using her spells for offensive means. I created the character at 3rd level, since that's usually the starting level of most games? I state this, so you guys know what I'm working with gamewise. I haven't done stats though. For feats, I took Monkey Grip, Weapon Focus (Heavy Mace), and Divine Vigor. But if my Charisma score isn't that great, I'll switch it out for something else. Any suggestions? I was considering Divine Metamagic. Maybe Extend, or Heightened...Even Quicken? Maybe not Quickened... Divine Spell Power maybe? I'm not sure. Suggestions? She's basically going to be a Combat Cleric, with other things thrown in. Zone of Truth and the like, for when interrogation's must take place. One thing though, I really liked the idea of Monkey Grip. Female cleric charging into battle with fullplate and a 4ft long mace screaming "Die Heretic!" is just so awe inspiring to me. and the One-handed 2d6 of damage is pretty cool as well.

So heres what I've put together so far. What I ask from the player community is basically some advice, and suggestions. Good spells that would fit this type of character? So far my background story is...going well. A bit cliche. She grew up in an orphanage dedicated to St. Cuthbert. She always spied and told on the other kids if they were doing bad things. Got beat up for it. Eventually studied to become a Cleric of St. Cuthbert. Short version anyways.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions in advance.
COOOBBBRRRRAAAA!!!!
draco1119
09-30-07, 03:50 AM For her overall clericness, I would probably tell the party outright, that she isn't going to end up being the band-aid, and she'd be using her spells for offensive means. I created the character at 3rd level, since that's usually the starting level of most games? I state this, so you guys know what I'm working with gamewise. I haven't done stats though. For feats, I took Monkey Grip, Weapon Focus (Heavy Mace), and Divine Vigor. But if my Charisma score isn't that great, I'll switch it out for something else. Any suggestions? I was considering Divine Metamagic. Maybe Extend, or Heightened...Even Quicken? Maybe not Quickened... Divine Spell Power maybe? I'm not sure. Suggestions? She's basically going to be a Combat Cleric, with other things thrown in. Zone of Truth and the like, for when interrogation's must take place. One thing though, I really liked the idea of Monkey Grip. Female cleric charging into battle with fullplate and a 4ft long mace screaming "Die Heretic!" is just so awe inspiring to me. and the One-handed 2d6 of damage is pretty cool as well.
Isn't a Heavy Mace a 2H weapon? If so, Monkey Grip doesn't do quite what you think it does, though it often gets house-ruled that way.

I assume you're going with Human as the race? (Another possibility would be Half-Giant [EPH] or Goliath [RoS] for the Powerful Build racial trait. Then you wouldn't need Monkey Grip.) As for combat, it's quite doable. It's just harder at lower levels. The true combat spells don't start kicking in until 4th and 5th spell level. At that point, you get Divine Agility, Divine Power, Righteous Might, and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. Until then, you'll have to muddle through with lesser spells like Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Conviction. :)
Hack and Smasher
09-30-07, 06:41 AM I think you would be better off with the warmace from complete warrior it does d12 and is a martial weapon two handed and exotic one hander and doesn't have a -2 to hit but does a a minus 1 to ac if your using it one handed. For feats if you can get divine metamagic persisant working i recommend it using either lesser vigor for fast healing one, divine favor or bull str otherwise i've found diehard quite useful in the past. Spell wise buffs and buffs favoring offense boosts since you faith will protect you from there attacks (divine favor, bull str, enlarge person if you got the strenght domain) but take at least one hold person if you can because it usally worth a shot. Item wise a wand of cure light should sort you out for healing. Background wise don't be be raised in an orphage be raised in a church.
Khadmus
09-30-07, 07:36 AM 'Eavy Mace is 1h, like morningstar.
DrMorganes
09-30-07, 08:54 AM Branching into Shadowbane Inquisitor from Complete Adventurer would fit this concept perfectly.
draco1119
09-30-07, 09:58 AM 'Eavy Mace is 1h, like morningstar.
Thanks. I was thinking it was 2H, like Heavy Flail. :)

Branching into Shadowbane Inquisitor from Complete Adventurer would fit this concept perfectly.
Not really. SI is Lawful Good. The Church Inquisitor (from Complete Divine, IIRC) idea the OP had is perfect, as it only requires a Lawful alignment. With the SI, it's too easy to fall... though that doesn't matter like it would to a Paladin.
FrostWolf
09-30-07, 12:23 PM For a weapon, try on the War Mace from Complete Warrior. one handed exotic (or two as a martial), 1d12, and so freaking big it comes with a -1 to AC!
VulcanStormwrath
09-30-07, 01:01 PM Actually sounds more like a Paladin of St. Cuthbert. Also there's an issue of Dragon that gives details for a Lawful Neutral Paladin called an Enforcer.

Her detect evil show even the tiniest trace of evil doing. Take Cuthbert's Smite allowing you to smite Chaos as well as evil. That gives you the battle prowess of a heavily armored fighter, a cloak of charisma (habit) that boosts your turning etc as well as the ability to use Lay On Hands offensively.

Prestiging into Shadowbane Inquisitor makes for the scary stylistic flavor of one whose Absolute Conviction(class feature) allows her to be truly and terrifyingly hard on lawbreakers without danger of falling.

Although Chuch Inquisitor may better serve your needs
RobbyPants
10-01-07, 04:00 PM I guess I'd lean away from the Monkey Grip idea myself, but that's just because it's not that solid of a feat (although the flavor can be cool). I guess warmace is an option, but the crit is terrible for it. Peraps a better alternative (as long as you're blowing a feat to use a weapon) would be the Maul form Complete Warrior. The damage will drop form 1d12 to 1d10 (average of one point), but you won't take the -1 AC penalty and your crit jumps form x2 to x3. All in all, I call that a good trade-off (again, assuming you want a big blunt weapon in one hand, and want to use a feat).

For the best solution, I'd suggest using a solid two-handed weapon (particularly the greatsword), but that might not match your flavor. Two-handers work great with Power Attack and similar feats.

As for DMM, if your DM allows it, I think you have two viable options:

Persistant Spell
Quicken Spell

The nice thing about Persistant Spell is that you can set up a single buff (or several if you have enough Turn attempts) on yourself all day. At level 7, you become a fighter with Divine Power. If your DM is the type to run four (or so) entounters per day, this is a good choice. One drawback is that it takes a minimum of three feat to set up (Extend Spell, Persistant Spell, and DMM).

Quicken spell is nicer if the DM leans toward fewer encounters per day. The versitilty of this is awesome. For a mere four Turn attempts, you can quicken any one spell, and that can really expand your options. One pro is that it only takes two feats to set up.

Feats I'd recommend:

DMM - As already mentioned. If the DM allows it, this one is a powerhouse.
Power Attack - This one gets you some serious milage if you're using a two-hander, and espescially once you have Divine Power to boost your BAB.
Combat Brute - If you're going the Power Attack route, you might as well go for this too. It will give you a 3:1 ratio on damage:attack penalty with your Power Attack after a charge. The downside is that you also need Improved Sunder as a prereq, so it gets a bit feat intensive.
Tequila_Sunrise
10-01-07, 04:25 PM I have trouble seeing how you're going to play this character without creating a huge amount of party friction. Sure, you could have her have a blind spot for the PCs but that would be...incredibly inconsistent if she's as psycho as you're describing.
RobbyPants
10-01-07, 04:36 PM I have trouble seeing how you're going to play this character without creating a huge amount of party friction. Sure, you could have her have a blind spot for the PCs but that would be...incredibly inconsistent if she's as psycho as you're describing.
Perhaps the party has to save her life at the time they meet so she feels she owes them some sort of "debt". Then (hopefully) as the group coheision builds, they'll save eachother countless times, and she'll learn to "trust" them in some sense, or at least cut them some slack with her judgements.

Although I see your point. This type of thing has to be carefully worked out so it both makes sense and doesn't destroy the game before it starts.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cobra_Commander 09-30-07, 03:06 AM	Alright, so it's been awhile since I've sat at the table and rolled some dice, and since finding a game is harder then I imagined it would be in a new city, I've decided to focus on spending the time to really create a character. And here is what I have so far. Her name is Katrina Ravenhallow. She's a Cleric of St. Cuthbert. I basically wanted to play a Sister of Battle in D&D. If anyone doesn't know what that is, it's Warhammer 40k. Basically, nuns with guns and a fanatical devotion to their God Emperor. I took their whole ideology with their devout worship and prays to the Emperor, and tried applying that to a Deity in D&D. The closest I could really match it to was St. Cuthbert. He believes in stern revenge and punishment to the unlawful. Which is basically more or less how the Imperium works in 40k. He's Lawful Neutral, not Lawful Good. Sometimes the means to the ends may not always be good. And the respect and following of the law is top priority. One of her major character traits, is that she's paranoid to the extreme. not so much "everyone is out to get me." but more " everyone has done something wrong." Basically, I took the persona of an Inquisitor from 40k, and applied it to her. A motto that I would more then likely think of her using would be "Innocence proves nothing." Eventually I'd want her to multi class into the Church Inquisitor PrC for obvious role playing reasons. She rarely smiles. Her idea of fun would be hours of prayer and contemplation. She always suspects everyone of wrong doing, even the other members of the party. I wouldn't play her this way to cause party friction though, I disdain from inner party conflict cause it slows the game down. She'd just be very watchful...Of everyone...At every moment... For her overall clericness, I would probably tell the party outright, that she isn't going to end up being the band-aid, and she'd be using her spells for offensive means. I created the character at 3rd level, since that's usually the starting level of most games? I state this, so you guys know what I'm working with gamewise. I haven't done stats though. For feats, I took Monkey Grip, Weapon Focus (Heavy Mace), and Divine Vigor. But if my Charisma score isn't that great, I'll switch it out for something else. Any suggestions? I was considering Divine Metamagic. Maybe Extend, or Heightened...Even Quicken? Maybe not Quickened... Divine Spell Power maybe? I'm not sure. Suggestions? She's basically going to be a Combat Cleric, with other things thrown in. Zone of Truth and the like, for when interrogation's must take place. One thing though, I really liked the idea of Monkey Grip. Female cleric charging into battle with fullplate and a 4ft long mace screaming "Die Heretic!" is just so awe inspiring to me. and the One-handed 2d6 of damage is pretty cool as well. So heres what I've put together so far. What I ask from the player community is basically some advice, and suggestions. Good spells that would fit this type of character? So far my background story is...going well. A bit cliche. She grew up in an orphanage dedicated to St. Cuthbert. She always spied and told on the other kids if they were doing bad things. Got beat up for it. Eventually studied to become a Cleric of St. Cuthbert. Short version anyways. Thanks for any advice or suggestions in advance. COOOBBBRRRRAAAA!!!!
draco1119 09-30-07, 03:50 AM	For her overall clericness, I would probably tell the party outright, that she isn't going to end up being the band-aid, and she'd be using her spells for offensive means. I created the character at 3rd level, since that's usually the starting level of most games? I state this, so you guys know what I'm working with gamewise. I haven't done stats though. For feats, I took Monkey Grip, Weapon Focus (Heavy Mace), and Divine Vigor. But if my Charisma score isn't that great, I'll switch it out for something else. Any suggestions? I was considering Divine Metamagic. Maybe Extend, or Heightened...Even Quicken? Maybe not Quickened... Divine Spell Power maybe? I'm not sure. Suggestions? She's basically going to be a Combat Cleric, with other things thrown in. Zone of Truth and the like, for when interrogation's must take place. One thing though, I really liked the idea of Monkey Grip. Female cleric charging into battle with fullplate and a 4ft long mace screaming "Die Heretic!" is just so awe inspiring to me. and the One-handed 2d6 of damage is pretty cool as well. Isn't a Heavy Mace a 2H weapon? If so, Monkey Grip doesn't do quite what you think it does, though it often gets house-ruled that way. I assume you're going with Human as the race? (Another possibility would be Half-Giant [EPH] or Goliath [RoS] for the Powerful Build racial trait. Then you wouldn't need Monkey Grip.) As for combat, it's quite doable. It's just harder at lower levels. The true combat spells don't start kicking in until 4th and 5th spell level. At that point, you get Divine Agility, Divine Power, Righteous Might, and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. Until then, you'll have to muddle through with lesser spells like Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Conviction. :)
Hack and Smasher 09-30-07, 06:41 AM	I think you would be better off with the warmace from complete warrior it does d12 and is a martial weapon two handed and exotic one hander and doesn't have a -2 to hit but does a a minus 1 to ac if your using it one handed. For feats if you can get divine metamagic persisant working i recommend it using either lesser vigor for fast healing one, divine favor or bull str otherwise i've found diehard quite useful in the past. Spell wise buffs and buffs favoring offense boosts since you faith will protect you from there attacks (divine favor, bull str, enlarge person if you got the strenght domain) but take at least one hold person if you can because it usally worth a shot. Item wise a wand of cure light should sort you out for healing. Background wise don't be be raised in an orphage be raised in a church.
Khadmus 09-30-07, 07:36 AM	'Eavy Mace is 1h, like morningstar.
DrMorganes 09-30-07, 08:54 AM	Branching into Shadowbane Inquisitor from Complete Adventurer would fit this concept perfectly.
draco1119 09-30-07, 09:58 AM	'Eavy Mace is 1h, like morningstar. Thanks. I was thinking it was 2H, like Heavy Flail. :) Branching into Shadowbane Inquisitor from Complete Adventurer would fit this concept perfectly. Not really. SI is Lawful Good. The Church Inquisitor (from Complete Divine, IIRC) idea the OP had is perfect, as it only requires a Lawful alignment. With the SI, it's too easy to fall... though that doesn't matter like it would to a Paladin.
FrostWolf 09-30-07, 12:23 PM	For a weapon, try on the War Mace from Complete Warrior. one handed exotic (or two as a martial), 1d12, and so freaking big it comes with a -1 to AC!
VulcanStormwrath 09-30-07, 01:01 PM	Actually sounds more like a Paladin of St. Cuthbert. Also there's an issue of Dragon that gives details for a Lawful Neutral Paladin called an Enforcer. Her detect evil show even the tiniest trace of evil doing. Take Cuthbert's Smite allowing you to smite Chaos as well as evil. That gives you the battle prowess of a heavily armored fighter, a cloak of charisma (habit) that boosts your turning etc as well as the ability to use Lay On Hands offensively. Prestiging into Shadowbane Inquisitor makes for the scary stylistic flavor of one whose Absolute Conviction(class feature) allows her to be truly and terrifyingly hard on lawbreakers without danger of falling. Although Chuch Inquisitor may better serve your needs
RobbyPants 10-01-07, 04:00 PM	I guess I'd lean away from the Monkey Grip idea myself, but that's just because it's not that solid of a feat (although the flavor can be cool). I guess warmace is an option, but the crit is terrible for it. Peraps a better alternative (as long as you're blowing a feat to use a weapon) would be the Maul form Complete Warrior. The damage will drop form 1d12 to 1d10 (average of one point), but you won't take the -1 AC penalty and your crit jumps form x2 to x3. All in all, I call that a good trade-off (again, assuming you want a big blunt weapon in one hand, and want to use a feat). For the best solution, I'd suggest using a solid two-handed weapon (particularly the greatsword), but that might not match your flavor. Two-handers work great with Power Attack and similar feats. As for DMM, if your DM allows it, I think you have two viable options: Persistant Spell Quicken Spell The nice thing about Persistant Spell is that you can set up a single buff (or several if you have enough Turn attempts) on yourself all day. At level 7, you become a fighter with Divine Power. If your DM is the type to run four (or so) entounters per day, this is a good choice. One drawback is that it takes a minimum of three feat to set up (Extend Spell, Persistant Spell, and DMM). Quicken spell is nicer if the DM leans toward fewer encounters per day. The versitilty of this is awesome. For a mere four Turn attempts, you can quicken any one spell, and that can really expand your options. One pro is that it only takes two feats to set up. Feats I'd recommend: DMM - As already mentioned. If the DM allows it, this one is a powerhouse. Power Attack - This one gets you some serious milage if you're using a two-hander, and espescially once you have Divine Power to boost your BAB. Combat Brute - If you're going the Power Attack route, you might as well go for this too. It will give you a 3:1 ratio on damage:attack penalty with your Power Attack after a charge. The downside is that you also need Improved Sunder as a prereq, so it gets a bit feat intensive.
Tequila_Sunrise 10-01-07, 04:25 PM	I have trouble seeing how you're going to play this character without creating a huge amount of party friction. Sure, you could have her have a blind spot for the PCs but that would be...incredibly inconsistent if she's as psycho as you're describing.
RobbyPants 10-01-07, 04:36 PM	I have trouble seeing how you're going to play this character without creating a huge amount of party friction. Sure, you could have her have a blind spot for the PCs but that would be...incredibly inconsistent if she's as psycho as you're describing. Perhaps the party has to save her life at the time they meet so she feels she owes them some sort of "debt". Then (hopefully) as the group coheision builds, they'll save eachother countless times, and she'll learn to "trust" them in some sense, or at least cut them some slack with her judgements. Although I see your point. This type of thing has to be carefully worked out so it both makes sense and doesn't destroy the game before it starts.