Help building a Pathfinder Cleric

[Sorcerer Blob]

I am about to play my first Pathfinder Cleric in my on-going Kingmaker campaign after the unfortunate death of my much-beloved Inquisitor. I've played 3.x Clerics, but I know Pathfinder is a slightly different animal.

I am mainly wanting to stick to the Core Rulebook and the Advanced Player's Guide, but have no problem dipping into Ultimate Magic if I must. I don't own Ultimate Magic though, so I'd prefer to stick to the two books I do own unless there is something ultimately cool mentioned elsewhere.

A little background on the party/kingdom:

We are a Lawful Neutral kingdom, so the party floats around there with the strict rule of "no evil!" My last character was Lawful Neutral, so I'd like to stick in that alignment (again, unless there is something cool mentioned elsewhere that would make me rethink that..) As far as deities go, either Erastil or Iomedae is what the majority of the party follows. Mainly because Erastil is a sexist and it's kind of funny...

We have a player currently working towards Mystic Theurge, so he has some levels of Cleric (as well as Sorcerer) but his heals leave something to be desired at the best of times. Granted, his character in general leaves something to be desired until he actually hits that "sweet spot" when he can take his PrC.

There is one big caveat for this build, it must have Leadership as a feat so I can keep my old cohort (a much needed member of the party, it's the only Rogue!)

Thanks in advance!

[Unseenmal]

There are really only minor differences IMO from 3.5 to PF. The biggest is with Turning. You now get the channeling feature instead which when channeling positive energy, you can heal your party mates and damage undead. I would suggest the Selective Channel feat for when you need to heal in battle, this lets you choose people up to your CHA mod to NOT heal (like the bad guy you're fighting).

I personally don't like those deities due to their domain choices but Iomedae seems to have the better options (Glory, War and Sun particularly)

What level would you be? And what role do you want to be spell-wise? Damage dealer, Battlefield Control or Buffer? Also do you need to get into melee?


EDIT: I am also currently playing a PF cleric so I am interested in other peoples ideas too (3rd lvl cleric)

[McSmack]

Well as with many clerics a lot depends on your choice of diety/domains. I don't have my Core book with me so I can't look up the dieties.

Personally I like Fire and Healing as domains.

Healing because you said you wanted to buff the party's healing ability.

And Fire, because burning things is fun.

I like the Restoration Subdomain from the APG. And the Tactics Subdomain for the War domain. The Fire subdomains aren't really that whippy honestly.

Healing is less of an issue in PF, both because the character's are usually heartier (increased HD for the squishy classes), and they have Channel Energy, which pretty much removes the need to prepare/use healing spells in most situations.

Get the Selective Channeling and you can use it during combat without worrying about healing your enemies.

And if you want to heal and be a bit different than other clerics, take a look at the Oracle class from APG. They have nice features and require less bookkeeping than clerics.

[Sorcerer Blob]

Whoops, thought I had mentioned the level in my post. We are currently at level 7. I see in my post where I mentioned the Leadership feat (which you have to be at least level 7 to take) so apparently I thought I had. Whoops, again!

I am wanting to build a mobile, heal-laden Cleric with the ability to be up front if needed. We are kind of sparse on full-fledged front-liners, so the ability to be there if needed is a definite plus.

Our party consists of:
-Fighter/Rogue (6/1)
-Witch (7)
-Sorcerer/Cleric (4/3) (going the Mystic Theurge route)
-Ranger/Wizard (6/1) (going the Arcane Archer route)
-Rogue (5 - Cohort)
-Monk (5 - Cohort)
-Minotaur Paladin (I believe only 1st level Pally.. - Also a Cohort)
-My proposed level 7 Cleric

[Unseenmal]

Sorry I must have missed the whole leadership line. I see it now.

As for beaing heal laden, that's less of a problem with the channel energy to heal members by 7th lvl it's 4d6. That's pretty good and it's usable 3+Cha Mod times/day. So you can prepare other spells like self or party buff spells and save the healing to your channel feature. As I said in my previous post, get the selective channeling feat and you're golden.

As for domains
Iomedae has Glory, Good, Law, Sun and War. While Erastil has Animal, Community, Good, Law, Plant. For your build and your deity choices, Iomedae looks to be better here.

I don't like the Alignment domains so Good and Law to me are not worth it unless you really see them being handy in your particular campaign.
So that leaves...

Glory is for dealing with undead, mostly. Decent spells that can do other things but mostly undead
Domain Spells: 1st—protection from evil, 2nd—align weapon (good only), 3rd—magic circle against evil, 4th—holy smite, 5th—dispel evil, 6th—blade barrier, 7th—holy word, 8th—holy aura, 9th—summon monster IX (good spell only).

Sun is also slighted towards undead destruction but the spells you get are also very handy for dealing damage in alot of other situations
Domain Spells: 1st—endure elements, 2nd—heat metal, 3rd—searing light, 4th—fire shield, 5th—flame strike, 6th—fire seeds, 7th—sunbeam, 8th—sunburst, 9th—prismatic sphere.

War is pretty self explanatory..its for fighting so I think this is one you should definitely choose
Domain Spells: 1st—magic weapon, 2nd—spiritual weapon, 3rd—magic vestment, 4th—divine power, 5th—flame strike, 6th—blade barrier, 7th—power word blind, 8th—power word stun, 9th—power word kill.

Also pay attention to the granted powers, as those can be very handy

So for your build, I'd say War and Sun look to be the best choices while you worship Iomedae.

For feats:
1st:Selective Channel
3rd: Whatever you like
5th: Ditto
7th: Leadership

For your 3rd and 5th Level feats, Extra Channel couldn't hurt for +2/day uses for one of them or if your Cha Mod is good, choose 2 combat oriented feats.

You can check the Pathfinder SRD for more info: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

[Smythen]

Make an Inquisitor! He can do everything.

[Frostblade]

Ok so im a complete pathfinder noob with experience in 4e dnd.
My wife really likes the art n classes of pathfinder so i thought wed get into pf.
I know its basically 3.5.

Im creating a human cleeric...
Worships gorum - chaotic neutral
Domains chosen: glory & war
My question is how the power selection works
The core rulebook is a little confusing on the power selection
For domains work... I chose glory n war, so i get all the abilities
From both? Do i get the lv.1 power from both?
I was looking at the pregen from the beginner box and trying to convert
To the non- beginner box pregen..

In advance, thanks for all input given

[Dayaz]

A Minotaur Paladin?

...Is this a PBP? if so, I humbly request a link so I can lol (I used to play a minotaur cleric in 3.5)

EDIT: realized I hadn't posted anything useful so I figured I'd toss this out there.

If you don't mind 'evil' deities, you could play as a Separatist Archetype Cleric of Asmodeus, using Separatist to get the Healing Domain. If you play LN (which is possible for Asmodeus since he's LE and you can be 1 step away) you can choose to Channel Positive. Put a rank or a few into Bluff/Diplomancy/Sense Motive and your character is a fast talking friendly 'Devil Worshiper'

On another note, I'm still trying to convince my DM to let me do it. If you want me to make the whole build for you (would take me no time but I'd need your stats) I will ^^

[Karoht]

Hilarious Combo.

Spiritual Weapon-Force Damage attack as a Move Action, multiple attacks per round (benefits from Haste), lasts rounds/level.
Spiritual Ally-Force Damage attack as a Swift Action, multiple attacks per round (benefits from Haste) lasts rounds/level.
Toppling Spell-If the target takes damage, fails its saving throw, or is moved by your force spell, make a trip check against the target, using your caster level plus your casting ability score bonus.

Up to 10 Trip attacks per round, as a Move + Swift Action.

Toppling Spell is a +1 adjustment Metamagic feat. Or just use a Rod, which is cheap enough. For added fun, try it with Wrathful Mantle. Get surrounded, then end the spell as a Swift action to knock down a bunch of people within 5ft of you. And who could forget Blade Barrier and Glyph of Warding. Oh the fun.