Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tdswihart Sep 18, 2015 6:28:19	Hey All,    So I am joining an on-going campaign and I am starting at lvl 4. For our first character the DM wants to keep it as close to core as possible (since everyone seems to be new to D&D).  The DM also gave us insane starting stats which you will see below. I have most of it planned out but could you some advice if it is good enough and pointers on prepared spells and skills.   Human Cleric CG (Odin) or N (Kelanen) Domains: War and Travel   Str:   17 Con: 16 Dex: 13 Int:   14 Wis: 18 Cha: 15+1 (at lvl 4)   Flaw: Inattentive-You take a -4 penalty on Listen checks and Spot checks   Feats: Lvl1- Extend Spell Human- Extra Turning Flaw- Persist Spell War Domain- Martial Proficiency: Greatsword (he is letting me change Odin's preferred weapon) War Domain- Martial Focus: Great Sword Lvl3- Divine Meta Magic: Persist Spell   Skills: Concentration- 7 Diplomacy- 7 Knowledge (religion)- 5 Knowledge (arcana)- 5 Spellcraft- 7 Ride- 1   2 skill points remaining   Items: +1 Greatsword +1 Full Platemail Heavy Steel Shield Morning Star Dagger    Backpack Bedroll Flint and steel Belt Pouch Silken Rope (50ft) 10 Trail Rations Whetstone Flask Silver Holy Symbol Spell Component Pouch Clerical Vestments Cold weather outfit Explorers Outfit   Light Warhorse (Party is about to get mounts and I wanted to make sure I was limited by location) Military Saddle   Gold 150 Silver 8 Copper 5   Are there better skills to have? Craft may be worthwile depending on magic item sparcity. The 3 outfits are because the DM said to make sure we have several.   DM is not calculating encumberance as long as we are not trying to carry 3 full plate sets to sell.   The Party is composed of a Ranger, Monk, Sorcerer, and Barbarian
#2 Tempest_Stormwind Sep 18, 2015 8:57:53	Your DM does know that 'as close to core as possible' and "ability scores so high they're in low orbit" are contradictory, right?   Answering your specific questions:   Skills are unimportant to a cleric, beyond Concentration and possibly Spellcraft. Everything else is gravy, used to round out your concept or meet a prerequisite. Craft as a skill is not used in magic item creation at all. You can't have unspent skill points. Persistent Spell and Divine Metamagic aren't core, and actually break the game's assumptions so strongly that what you're playing won't have any semblance of core left in it. With Divine Persist, you've basically won, as no one else in that party except possibly the sorcerer has a chance of doing something that you can't do better. You can't use a greatsword and a shield at the same time. That's about it. You've got a juggernaut and you're worried about potentially scuffing the paint.   Just read this and make sure your teammates understand that you're not a box of band-aids.
(Reply to #2) tdswihart	Tempest_Stormwind wrote:
#4 StevenO Sep 18, 2015 10:54:27	Not much to add but perhaps to repeat:   1.  Having ability scores equivalent to PB 58 (game assume scores of 25-28 points) is absolute nuts especially at low levels.   2.  Although some people support them I see flaws, which are NOT in the PHB, as cheese especially when used like this.  You don't care what your Spot or Listen checks are going to be and then you get an insane WIS score which just negates that flaw right from the start.   3.  If you're just looking for somewhere to dump Skill Points (that's such a nice option to have) pick up a rank in some of those skills you must be "trained" in to use such as Tumble; so what if you don't have a GOOD chance to succeed but you may still have a chance as opposed to none when you can't roll at all.  Also consider the prereqs for any PrCs you may be looking at entering later down the road.   4.  Divine Metamagic is a popular variety of cheese.  The Persistent DMM even more so.   5.  Greatsword and most shields do NOT work together.  You could still use the greatsword with a Buckler although if you attack you wouldn't gain the Buckler's AC bonus and the bucker will penalize your attack; there is a feat to keep the buckler's AC and it isn't hard to reduce the attack penalty to -1.   6.  I'm trying to remember how much wealth/equipment a 4th-level character is supposed to have.  5400 gp after looking it up.  I guess you've got a 2650 gp suit of armor and a 2350 gp primary weapon which is only 5000 gp so I guess you're good there.