3.5 Cleric Build Suggestion

[Burnt Offering]

Greetings

Cleric build recommendation needed - not so much optimized just a solid build. Current group is 6 - level 3 players.

2 in the group use heavy scouting/sneak in advance of main group.

Includes - halfling -warlock/scout, Human -rogue, Elf -ranger, Raksasha, Barbarian, gnome- wizard. Other than barbarian group is not heavy in melee support.

All 3.5 source books are available
Forgotten Realms based
No undead so far in campaign
DMM allowed
Historically, this group will see the campaign through level 10 to 13 - but could go higher.

Cleric Stats to distribute 18/17/16/15/14/12 – Alignment – LG, NG, or CG.

I would like to mix it up in battle as melee support - need some ability to turn and buff at some point.
Each player responsible for own in-combat healing or pulling to safety when needed – scout has CLW wand and most players carry 2 potions. The group sees the the value in CLW wands and will invest.

Was thinking along the lines of Red Knight - Planning/War Domain.

Thoughts?

[Dusto]

Those are crazy good stats! With planning domain you'll have Extend Spell for free, so you should be able to pick up Persistant Spell and DMM - Persistant spell pretty quick. Going Human helps out with the extra feat, though if you're planning on already wearing heavy armor and getting into melee, dwarf might not be a bad idea.

If you are looking to get into the thick of melee, I would look at something like this.

Human
STR:16
DEX:12
CON:17
INT:14
WIS:18
CHA:15

Depending on your money situation, getting some full plate, heavy steel shield, longsword or whatever other 1h weapon you like, this is a good start. If you can get a +1 CHA item, and then put your stat point at 4th level into Con, that should be good.

Dwarf
STR:16
DEX:12
CON:18 (20 with +2 racial)
INT:14
WIS:17
CHA:15

This build I actually like a little better. You will be one less feat, but you will get the stat bump and all the other goodies you get with dwarf. You also are going to have a really nice amount of hit points and bonus to the fort save. Similiar gear, full plate, heavy steel shield and the awesome dwarven waraxe. Also again try grabbing a +1 CHA item, and now put your level 4 stat into WIS to top it off at 18.

Starting out you will be giving yourself Divine Favor, and then working up to Divine Power.

I'm also a fan of dropping a spirtual weapon behind the baddie I'm fighting. While you do not get a flank bonus for it, it does get the bonus from you, so it'll be hitting quite a bit.

[missmvicious]

Ruby Knight Vindicator isn't a bad way to go.

A friend of mine in a campaign we're playing took the Cleric/Crusader gateway into RKV and has been mopping the floor: bypassing damage reduction, ignoring (delaying, really) damage, passing along HP to the rest of us while he fights and generally smashing his way through everything the DM throws at us.

In fact, all of us are starting to fade into the background as support characters. He's a class act about it, and we have a feeling he holds back occasionally so we can feel like we're contributing, because every time it looks like we're definitely not going to win the encounter, he swoops in and destroys whatever is in front of us. And when he doesn't show up to a session, we definitely feel it, because none of us know how to play his character. When we have to play his character, we call it Bruce Banner. When he shows up to play, we say he goes "Hulk."

Don't get me wrong... it's not because RKV is the greatest EVAR (though it is a really good base to build on if you need another tank)! We're all just terrible at optimizing, except the guy who plays as the RKV, so by comparison, he's like a golden god amongst tiny, tiny children.

[Elboxo]

Once you have 5 BaB, with the Weapon Focus: Warhammer Feat and some ranks in craft armour/weapons, you could take a dip ( 1 level ) in Battlesmith from Races of Stone, Dwarf only, but it gives you BaB, Craft Magical Weapons and Armour, on top of Wisdom to damage with Warhammers. Warhammer with 16 Str and 18 Wisdom is 1d8 + 7, in one hand, add Power Attack and you'll be doing more serious melée.

A build I had designed was Earth Dwarf ( +2 Str, Con, -2 Dex, Cha ) Cleric 7 ( For full casting up until the 5 BaB requirement of Battlesmith ) Battlesmith 1. You could easily enter Battlesmith earlier if you dipped in a full BaB class like Crusader, anyway, my feats were Weapon Focus: Warhammer, Ancestral Knowledge ( Dwarf only, uses Wisdom for Knowledge skills ), Knowledge Devotion ( Roll a knowledge check, gain bonuses to hit and damage, minimum bonus of +1, max bonus of +5 on a check 35 or above), and for a flaw: Power Attack.

With 16 Str, 6 BaB, and a +1 warhammer with Weapon Focus, assuming you roll a 1 on Knowledge Devotion ( 20 Wisdom, 11 ranks gives you +2 to hit and damage minimum ), will net you +13 to hit and damage around 2d6 ( Large Warhammer, Strongarm Bracers ) + 11, Power Attacking can bring that to +7 (2d6 + 17) , there's also nothing stopping you from dropping your shield and Power Attacking with two hands for 2d6 + 23 if you really want to melée.... Of course on top of this you get your spells for buffs.

This is a melée-focussed build with strong casting, you need the Knowledge Domain and it will use all your feats up to this level ( 8 ), but with the Planning Domain you can get DMM Persist by 12th level. As a boon you will be crafting your own Magical Armour and Weapons thanks to the feat of that namesake, taking the dip in Battlesmith also increases your caster level for crafting by 3 per level in Battlesmith, IIRC.

Taking Crusader levels before Battlesmith will lose you some casting, but will set you up nicely for RKV after the 1 level dip in Battlesmith.

[Fyermind]

The Persistent Grappler:

Because everyone hates the cleric that does everything very well, here is a cleric that does one thing very well... that inhibits his spellcasting. It is sub-optimal by far, but DMM persistent carries wacky builds a long way. This is no exception. Note you lose at least two caster levels by level 6, so third level spells will be a long time coming.

Race: Dragonborn Earth Dwarf (+4 con, -4 dex, +2 str, -2 cha)
18 str, 10 dex, 21 con, 12 int, 18 wis, 13 cha
Domains:
Strength
Planning
Feats: (beg for flaws, specifically for extra turning when your DM bans nightsticks)
P 1) Extend Spell
C 1) Persistent Spell
C 3) DMM
Skills
Knowledge(religion) max
Do what you do with the rest but consider heal for healing lorecall and spellcraft if that's what the game calls for

Soon if not now you will be DMM Persisting Balor Nimbus for +6d6 fire damage to grappled opponents. With that in mind, we are targeting Sacred Fist PrC from Complete Divine.

Your job will look like this: Buff everyone, enlarge person (self), grapple the BBEG. While he burns to death, cast battlefield control spells if you're cheeky, or just pound him in some more (ask your DM about stunning fist with opposed grapple check to keep up the heat). Your wisdom is amazing, but that doesn't mean you won't get an armor bonus to AC. If you can handle the strength damage at the end of the duration, Luminous Armor and it's Greater associate are great, at might not even need to be persisted at higher levels. On the subject of persisting, persist lesser vigor for fast healing 1 all day. When you get it, persist Mass Lesser Vigor to give all your pals fast healing. This frees up all your other spells for sillier things. (Classic cleric healbot? oh yeah that one spell)

Certain items will really help you out:

Nightsticks: whoever came up with these should have been talking to whoever came up with Divine Metamagic. Your DM should ban them or say they don't work that way. If they don't they are a cheap way to persist every buff you want. Stock up, cast most of your spells right after you get them, and everybody is buffed for the day. This will be great as action economy in combat will be tight for you. These are worth taking item creation feats for and making them yourself if your DM allows them but doesn't sell them or leave them as loot.

Anything that makes you better at grappling is great.

I haven't really mentioned it yet, but you have a breath weapon as a dragonborn. Draconomicon has some draughts and stuff you might enjoy.

Rod of Bodily Restoration: (MIC) to counteract luminous armor or greater luminous armor, also frees up spell slots so you can use extra spells for crazier things

Orb of Mental Renewal: Surely you hate it when someone damages your wisdom. Especially when it powers so much.

Monk's Belt: Not necessary, but nice

Domain Icons: These are runestaves for divine spellcasters. Look for the buffy domains that clerics can't normally prepare, the pseudo-arcane domains with blasty magic, and the boring ones with utility spells or dis* spells you don't want to prepare.

Wand of lesser vigor/healing belt: If you're not persisting vigor spells, this is the way to go for healing.

Advancement:
The next three levels should combine Monk 2 and cleric or it's spellcasting equivalent 1 to qualify you for Sacred Fist. If you are willing to let your casting slide a bit, you can instead take a level of Crusader and two levels of monk. I wouldn't unless I was making madness with nightsticks and didn't use spells for anything but buffs.

For Debuff madness consider taking Entangling Exhalation (Races of the Dragon) which entangles anything damaged by your breath weapon. That plus grappling and fast healing should let your friends slaughter with relative impunity.

Augment healing is great if your DM let's you use it on the vigor chain. Take it when you can to keep fast healing relevant in combat (fast healing 3 at level 13? you have around 130 HP that is about 2% per turn, and useless in 5 turn combat. Fast healing 15 at level 13? that is serious business.)

Practiced Spellcaster: for those times that being two to three levels behind is unacceptable (Divine Power)

Extra Turning: power DMM without nightsticks. Take it with flaws early if you can.

*Dis refers to dispel. A "dis" spell dispels or removes an effect, magical or otherwise ranging from ability damage, to fear, to Bestow Curse. It is introduced in Races of Ebberon as a Warforged colloquialism. I like Warforged, I like this phrase. I haven't seen it enough so I thought I'd preach here about it.