Making a somewhat un-optimized character useful?

[Chilingsworth]

Ok, I've got a challenge I'd like some help with.

I'm about to start playing a 1st level cleric with the following Characteristics:

32 point buy

Race: Homebrewed elf - +2 int, -2str Low-light vision, Sleep Immunity, Enchantment Resistance, Standard elven weapon profficencies, +2 on Caster Level checks vs SR. No elven skill bonuses/secret door detection.

Stats: Str 6, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 10

Feats: Extra Turning, Spellcasting Prodigy (Wisdom) (He get's an extra feat for his culture, as do all characters in my DM's world.)

Domains: Homebrewed: Fate: Gives 1 Luck reroll/5 cleric levels and Uncanny Dodge as barbarian of class level; Time: Gives improved iniative and a bunch of tasty spells.

We're using something that's basically the Pathfinder version of Turn Undead, aka "Channel Energy." He channels positive.

The character's backstory and basic concept were provided by the DM. He's a "Scholarly" cleric of the campaign world's god of death, fate, and time. The scholarly bit is why I put points into intelligence.

Variant classes and ACFs aren't on the table. I'm not sure about divine metamagic being on the table, but highly doubt it. Assuming I can't use it, what can I do to make this character useful to the party?

Also, he has max gold for a 1st level cleric, plus 10% So 220gp starting budget.

I might be able to get my DM to let me rework the character, or even outright replace him, but I'd actually like to attempt the challenge.

EDIT: My character's god is True Neutral. His alignment therefore must have a neutral component.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get a domain with decent offensive spells, such as Cold, Slime, Windstorm, or Fire, and use the spontaneous domain casting ACF in PH2 for it instead of spontaneously casting Cures. If you don't get Slime, be sure to prepare Ice Slick a few times, it's found in Frostburn. Get some decent armor and a heavy shield, and play the character as an armored offensive caster. Get max ranks in Craft: Alchemy to make acid flasks, alchemist's fire, and tanglefoot bags at half cost (cast Guidance and take ten on the check, only make what you'll always succeed on).

[herrhauptmann]

Question: Which version of spellcasting prodigy are you using? The one in Forgotten Realms campaign book was updated to 3.5, and isn't horribly broken anymore.

Your spells are going to be great very soon, unfortunately, I can't think of any advice to give you besides avoiding incombat healing. Lesser Vigor will be better than Cure light wounds out of combat. Especially if you DMM:Persist it. (Extend spell-> Persist spell-> DMM:Persist)
But with that low of a strength, you're really limited to your melee combat. If you really want to be a bonus in melee, I'd say get a reach weapon and get into combat to provide flanking and use "Aid another" for your party members. At low levels, that +2 to hit, or +2 AC that comes of your aid another, in addition to flanking bonuses, is pure gold. At higher levels, it's not worth as much, but the rogue will still be grateful for a dedicated flanker.

EDIT:
Biffonacious (SP?), his strength is 6. That's a max load of 60 pounds. he's not going to be wearing much armor, especially at low levels when he can't afford a belt of strength, or keep a constant bulls strength going.

[Moriato]

I'm not sure I follow your logic here. Cleric is one of the most powerful classes in 3.5 and as far as I can tell there's nothing about this character that makes him any less so. What is it about this character that's so "unoptimized" that you're thinking of scrapping him? I just don't see it.

[Keld Denar]

Transition into Church Inquisitor after 3rd. Its a fun class for finding out crap. Requires LG, but that doesn't really sound like a problem. At 1st, it grants the Inquisition domain. Combine that with the feat Divine Defiance from Fiendish Codex II and you can counterspell with Dispel Magic reliably starting at 5th level as long as you aren't flat footed, and it gives you something cool to do with your Turn Undead attempts. I also highly recommend Divine Spell Powah, which is great for buffing.

After CI 6, the class kinda gets boring, but lucky Sacred Exorcist shoulda been available for a couple levels. Hop into that and ride it for at least 5 levels (this brings you to 14). That gives you a permanent Consecrate field, which makes the above mentioned Divine Spell Power feat really tasty. That combined with a decent Cha and maybe a couple of items will get your Turning check high enough to automatically get at least a +2 or +3, with a good chance for +4. Thats pretty potent.

Outside of that, the usual clericy stuff is ok. Quicken Spell should be somewhere in the mix, etc.

[tyckspoon]

You're a Wis 18 Cleric, and you're not sure how you can be useful? My mind, she boggles. So you don't have the Strength to go melee 'zilla. That isn't a problem- you're a full caster. So. Cast. 1st level Cleric spells are admittedly a bit lackluster, especially from core, but they're still yours to play with.

[CigarPete]

Little confused. You say it's a 32 point buy, but you've only used 24 points? Is that why you consider this unoptimized?

[Tvtyrant]

Grab a single level of Monk to get wisdom to ac and the inability to wear heavy armor doesn't matter anymore. Or just ignore it as you can hide behind your fleshy allies/summons.

[Chilingsworth]

Little confused. You say it's a 32 point buy, but you've only used 24 points? Is that why you consider this unoptimized?

I have the following: str 8-2 = 6, 0 points; dex 12 = 4 points; con 12 = 4 points; int 12 +2 = 14, 4 points; wis 18 = 16 points; Cha 10 = 2 points

0+4+4+4+16+2= 30 points Oh, I do have points to spare!

And I can't take any classes that require an alignment that lacks a non-neutral component, I'll add that to the above post.

My DM doesn't use the standard turn undead mechanic, instead using something that (I've been told) is basically Pathfinder's Channel Energy mechanic.

And when I said the character was unoptimized and needed help surviving, I guess I meant more like: crap, he can't wear armor worth much and will be a prime target for anything that realizes what he is!

Also, remember I said ACF's and variant classes are not on the table, sadly.

[Telonius]

Little confused. You say it's a 32 point buy, but you've only used 24 points? Is that why you consider this unoptimized?

I'm coming up with 30, actually - apply racial bonus/penalty after you distribute the points.

[Tvtyrant]

Like I said; Summon Monster allows you to make meat shields, and at summon monster II you can get 1d3 meat shields a turn. Summon monster III gets you an average of three admittedly low level meat shields in a turn, but meat shields they are.

Besides, why would you have melee allies if not to hide behind them?

[Greenish]

And I can't take any classes that require an alignment that lacks a non-neutral component, I'll add that to the above post.Church Inquisitor can be entered with LN.

[Keld Denar]

Yea, my bad. I was expecting something more like a Wee Jas, Lawful Neutral with slightly ebil tendancies. Technically, you could have a LG Cleric of Wee Jas, which is why I suggested it.

Um, Divine Oracle might be a good call for the cleric. Gets Evasion+, Uncanny Dodge, and eventually what amounts to a slightly watered down Persistant Foresight. Thats...pretty nice.

Survivability will be 90% dependant on gear and spells, both of which are rather limited at level 1 but something you CAN plan for.

[Moriato]

And when I said the character was unoptimized and needed help surviving, I guess I meant more like: crap, he can't wear armor worth much and will be a prime target for anything that realizes what he is!


Penalties for wearing heavy armor and for carrying a heavy load don't stack, you use the worse of the two. This character wearing full plate will have the same penalties as a STR 18 character would, he just doesn't have a lot of carrying capacity left over for other stuff. That's what donkeys are for. Or fighters.

[Keld Denar]

Also, wear Monk robes and carry a quarterstaff. Hopefully your foes will think you are a Monk and thus a non-threat until you start casting spells.

[Chilingsworth]

Also, wear Monk robes and carry a quarterstaff. Hopefully your foes will think you are a Monk and thus a non-threat until you start casting spells.

lol!

I changed the thread title, since (as has been mentioned) few full-caster classes with good scores in their primary stats can be called "etremely unoptimized."

Also, I was thinking about the Paragnostic Apostle PrC from Complete Champion.

The character's current alignment is true neutral. This is for two (albeit related) reasons: 1. My Dm often gives out decent rewards for good RP. As I'm not certain yet how I want to RP this character, playing TN will go a ways towards giving me breathing space until I figure it out. 2. Since his diety is TN, if I switch to an alignment without a neutral component, I fall and become a low-strength chunck of meat with some knowledge skills. My Dm, while not nessicarily draconian, does keep track of alignment-altering actions. Being TN makes it twice as hard for my character to fall.

[Particle_Man]

Another advantage of being a TN cleric is that you don't have to worry about not being able to summon certain monsters, as none will be diametrically opposed to your alignment (assuming you also have a TN deity).

Boccob is nice as a TN god. You get the Magic domain (sweet, sweet uses of arcane wands, staves and scrolls) and maybe Trickery or Knowledge for class skills. And Boccob doesn't really care what you do (being the Uncaring, after all). :)

[Chilingsworth]

Another advantage of being a TN cleric is that you don't have to worry about not being able to summon certain monsters, as none will be diametrically opposed to your alignment (assuming you also have a TN deity).

Boccob is nice as a TN god. You get the Magic domain (sweet, sweet uses of arcane wands, staves and scrolls) and maybe Trickery or Knowledge for class skills. And Boccob doesn't really care what you do (being the Uncaring, after all). :)

My diety is already decided as the homebrewed TN god of Death, Time, and Fate (that's both his portfolio and his domain list.) You're definately right about Boccob, though!

[faceroll]

Ok, so you can't hit things with a stick. Clerics were never that efficient at that without metamagic abuse. Not until about half way through the game, anyway. You can still spend your in combat actions tossing out Bless's, Divine Favors, and the emergency heals. You can always resort to your crossbow.

Magic weapon is a great 1st level spell.

How much can you deviate from Neutral Alignment? Neutral Good lets you cast Luminous Armor on yourself, which is lolsy.

The first 5 or so levels, your spell slots and actions will be better spent on buffing other people rather than wasting all your time putting spells on yourself until you're competently a fighter. If you want to hit things, play a fighter. If you want to be a combat multiplier, play a cleric.

After level 5, I would go into that summoning prestige class from Complete Scoundrel everyone gets all wet in the pants for. I can't remember the name. But flooding the battlefield with summons that you then buff with haste, prayer, bless, etc, will be awesome.

[Keld Denar]

Malconvoker is the PrC. Its pretty awesometastic.

[Jack_Simth]

Ok, I've got a challenge I'd like some help with.
Challenge?

How useful do you want him? +1 on attack rolls for the entire party (Bless) is useful to everyone. Including you. You don't have much strength, so melee is out... but a light crossbow works great for you. Prepare nothing but Bless and utility osirons (Mending, Detect Magic, Light), get a light crossbow and a bunch of quarrels, and you'll do fine.

Round 1: Standard: Bless. Move: Make sure you're not in melee range of anything.
Round 2+: Standard: Fire crossbow. Move: Reload crossbow.

You'll want to have at least one potion of Cure Light Wounds (this is not for them! This is for you if you go down), and if you can get it, a partially-charged wand of Cure Light Wounds (if not, a few scrolls). You'll do fine.