Faith protects all.

[ExemplarofAvg]

Paladin
Cleric
Favoured Soul

All of these are the Divine Casters, but is there a Divine Caster that believes in his god enough, that he doesn't feel the need to wear armour? That Faith alone will protect him? I'm just wondering because I prefer Divine over Arcane, and yet Arcane casters don't need armour (Yes I realize that the ability to wear armour and not suffer casting failure is one of the main reasons to play a Divine Caster) I'm just wondering, is there any?

[rmg22893]

Paladin
Cleric
Favoured Soul

All of these are the Divine Casters, but is there a Divine Caster that believes in his god enough, that he doesn't feel the need to wear armour? That Faith alone will protect him? I'm just wondering because I prefer Divine over Arcane, and yet Arcane casters don't need armour (Yes I realize that the ability to wear armour and not suffer casting failure is one of the main reasons to play a Divine Caster) I'm just wondering, is there any?

Vow of Poverty Druid. 'Nuff said.

[Greenish]

What, exactly, do you want? None of those classes come with armour stappled to their skin. Do you want something without armour proficiencies? Something that can't use it's class features in armour? Something that gets X stat to AC when unarmoured?

[Geigan]

Druid. 'Nuff said.

Fixed that for you.

Sacred Fist(C. Divine) can be alright as it's essentially a cleric monk. On the upside you're part cleric, on the downside you're part monk, though you at least don't have to wear armor like you wanted.

[Urpriest]

The Book of Exalted Deeds has the Luminous Armor series of spells that are perhaps even better than normal armor, and are available to divine casters.

[Thiyr]

Cleric + shirt + magic vestments + shield of faith? all cleric only, so it seems to fit the bill. Alternatively,

"My faith protects me. My kevlar helps."

[Psyren]

For lack of armor proficiency, I think Cloistered Cleric and Apostle of Peace are going to be as close as you can get.

Archivists lack heavy armor too, but their fluff seems to indicate they aren't very faithful either.

[FearlessGnome]

Healer! A Healer's armor & shield restrictions are considerably worse than a Druid's, and they get no fancy wildshape to shore up defences, either. VoP is almost worth it for a Healer, since they can't wear useful armor or a shield anyway, and the only way to expand their Spell list is to go for Sanctified spells.

[ExemplarofAvg]

"My faith protects me. My kevlar helps."

Heck Yes, Dresden Files.

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour. If you go into a church, the priest isn't up to the front preaching before the masses, in a metal suit, nor is he when you see him at the grocery store (which is weirder than you might think)

[rmg22893]

Heck Yes, Dresden Files.

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour. If you go into a church, the priest isn't up to the front preaching before the masses, in a metal suit, nor is he when you see him at the grocery store (which is weirder than you might think)

Vow. of. Poverty.

[Psyren]

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour. If you go into a church, the priest isn't up to the front preaching before the masses, in a metal suit, nor is he when you see him at the grocery store (which is weirder than you might think)

D&D doesn't do "cloth-wearing priest" very well. The assumption, even for the bookish archivist, is that you're strapping on some variety of mail because you lack a lot of the toys that the arcanists get at early levels.

You're free to simply take your armor off and rely on magic vestment, shield of faith etc. to protect you.


Vow. of. Poverty.

...has significant drawbacks, far beyond merely restricting the sources of your AC as you level. And not all priests that forego a metal cage want to forego every other possession with it, some enjoy donning robes of fine silk and jewelry.

[Thiyr]

Heck Yes, Dresden Files.

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour. If you go into a church, the priest isn't up to the front preaching before the masses, in a metal suit, nor is he when you see him at the grocery store (which is weirder than you might think)

I think the problem with that is that these priests also aren't wading into combat on any kind of basis. If you see a combat chaplain who is getting ready to go into combat, I get the feeling they'd have armor on.

Heck, were it not for PCP, you'd get far fewer people doing their daily chores in full armor and all.

PC Paranoia, not the drug.

[Shadowleaf]

Cloistered Cleric seems to fit what you want.

[Greenish]

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour.Buy Monk's Belt for your cleric. Or dip Monk 1, in a pinch. Use Magic Vestments on your robes. Cast (Greater) Luminous Armour. Combo them all.

[gbprime]

Buy Monk's Belt for your cleric. Or dip Monk 1, in a pinch. Use Magic Vestments on your robes. Cast (Greater) Luminous Armour. Combo them all.

If you're not limited to a low/med point buy system, you could also take levels in Mystic Wanderer (Magic of Faerun). They get CHA to AC, which stacks nicely with WIS to AC.

Air and Plant Devotions are also good defensive buffs.

[Madcrafter]

Or the paladin ACF that trades their CHA to saves for CHA to AC.

[dextercorvia]

The simple variant Druid from UA loses Wildshape, and armor and shield profs, but gains Monk AC and some other stuff.

That's about as close as you get to being hardwired in the crunch.

After that, it is Cloistered Cleric...

[ExemplarofAvg]

I think the problem with that is that these priests also aren't wading into combat on any kind of basis. If you see a combat chaplain who is getting ready to go into combat, I get the feeling they'd have armor on.

Heck, were it not for PCP, you'd get far fewer people doing their daily chores in full armor and all.

PC Paranoia, not the drug.

PC's on PCP, with PCP... Why did the city I imagined just burst into flames?


Cloistered Cleric seems to fit what you want.

Seems so, Oh well, Lore is Good, as is Knowledge Devotion, Collector of Stories and what not.

[Tvtyrant]

What about Monk/Ur-Priest/Sacred Fist? It gets you Wisdom to AC, 9th level casting, and punches things. Add in Superior Unarmed Strike and Snap Kick and you can do reasonable damage.

Or just play any divine casting class with a Monk's Belt.

[Shadowleaf]

Cloistered Cleric tend to perform fairly well if you hang back and sling buffs and debuffs, and out of combat they are terrific skillmonkeys.


In an actual campaign, I actually feel like the Cloistered Cleric's biggest advantage comes from his background - having a church (which you are almost certainly on good terms with) behind you tends to give you a favour in a ton of situations. That depends on your campaign and playstyle, of course.

[Knaight]

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour. If you go into a church, the priest isn't up to the front preaching before the masses, in a metal suit, nor is he when you see him at the grocery store (which is weirder than you might think)
Historically speaking, actual heavy infantry and heavy cavalry troops tended not to wear armor unless they were actually going to be involved in combat. If they are just in a town, going to churches and buying groceries they aren't going to be armored at all. Modern soldiers tend not to go around armored for their daily business unless they are actually at war as well. So on and so forth. Armor isn't a lifestyle, it's clothing you can take on and off.

That said, the Cloistered cleric can't wear armor, and has a few edges over the normal cleric. Still, nothing is stopping you from just taking a divine class and not wearing armor. All of them need wisdom, so you can even dip monk and call it a day.

[Shadowleaf]

Historically speaking, actual heavy infantry and heavy cavalry troops tended not to wear armor unless they were actually going to be involved in combat. If they are just in a town, going to churches and buying groceries they aren't going to be armored at all. Modern soldiers tend not to go around armored for their daily business unless they are actually at war as well. So on and so forth. Armor isn't a lifestyle, it's clothing you can take on and off.

That said, the Cloistered cleric can't wear armor, and has a few edges over the normal cleric. Still, nothing is stopping you from just taking a divine class and not wearing armor. All of them need wisdom, so you can even dip monk and call it a day.You can also go straight Fighter and dual-wield wands in a robe. The point is there is little reason to do so.

Most of the classes who don't get armor profeciency gets some type of defense bonus to compensate. As an example, Wizards get Shield spells.
A Paladin or a melee Cleric (barring cheese) without armor is going to be seriously hurting unless they rely on other methods of defense (miss chance, for instance).

[Knaight]

You can also go straight Fighter and dual-wield wands in a robe. The point is there is little reason to do so.

Most of the classes who don't get armor profeciency gets some type of defense bonus to compensate. As an example, Wizards get Shield spells.
A Paladin or a melee Cleric (barring cheese) without armor is going to be seriously hurting unless they rely on other methods of defense (miss chance, for instance).

That's largely irrelevant to the quality of "look at the civilian doing civilian things in a civilian area, see the lack of armor" as an argument.

As for other types of defenses, armor isn't really that great anyways - there's a reason that classes like rogues are quite often best off with none. Plus, dipping monk remains an option.

[Shadowleaf]

That's largely irrelevant to the quality of "look at the civilian doing civilian things in a civilian area, see the lack of armor" as an argument.

As for other types of defenses, armor isn't really that great anyways - there's a reason that classes like rogues are quite often best off with none. Plus, dipping monk remains an option.I wasn't responding to that :smallwink:.

Armor does make a huge difference on lower levels, especially if you go melee. On later levels you kind of have to either optimize your AC (since some monsters tend to rock between +10 and +20 to hit at ECL 9 or even earlier) or just drop it and go for other defenses (miss chance and mirror images being the obvious ones).

[Knaight]

I wasn't responding to that :smallwink:.

Armor does make a huge difference on lower levels, especially if you go melee. On later levels you kind of have to either optimize your AC (since some monsters tend to rock between +10 and +20 to hit at ECL 9 or even earlier) or just drop it and go for other defenses (miss chance and mirror images being the obvious ones).

At low levels, yes, and only at low levels. Even then, you're better off with dexterity.

[dextercorvia]

That said, the Cloistered cleric can't wear armor, and has a few edges over the normal cleric. Still, nothing is stopping you from just taking a divine class and not wearing armor. All of them need wisdom, so you can even dip monk and call it a day.

Cloistered Cleric can wear armor. They are only proficient with light armor, but they can wear all armor without (class) penalty.

[Knaight]

Cloistered Cleric can wear armor. They are only proficient with light armor, but they can wear all armor without (class) penalty.

Yes, but you give up far less AC by choosing not to use it.

[NOhara24]

Or the paladin ACF that trades their CHA to saves for CHA to AC.

Where can this be found, exactly?

[Frosty]

Psh. As someone in the Dresden Files says, "My Faith protects. My kevlar helps."

[Greenish]

Psh. As someone in the Dresden Files says, "My Faith protects. My kevlar helps."Someone just got swordsage'd. A lot.

[Tyndmyr]

Heck Yes, Dresden Files.

And I just want a character that won't lose anything by not wearing armour. If you go into a church, the priest isn't up to the front preaching before the masses, in a metal suit, nor is he when you see him at the grocery store (which is weirder than you might think)

He's also not punching out dragons while doing so.

Right tools for the job...

[dextercorvia]

Where can this be found, exactly?

Champions of Valor -- It isn't as good as it sounds. It is an activated ability, limited times per day, and IIRC, only against the designated opponent. I may be misremembering the last one, I don't have CoV.

[NOhara24]

Champions of Valor -- It isn't as good as it sounds. It is an activated ability, limited times per day, and IIRC, only against the designated opponent. I may be misremembering the last one, I don't have CoV.

Agh, damn. Thought I found a band-aid for my terrible Reflex Save.

[dextercorvia]

Agh, damn. Thought I found a band-aid for my terrible Reflex Save.

The default Divine Grace ought to do that.

[Agrippa]

He's also not punching out dragons while doing so.

Right tools for the job...

Exactly, which was why most priests in older editions weren't members of the cleric class. Infact clerics were meant to be a very rare combination of warrior priest (perhaps monk or nun) and living saint. Think less Father Forthill and more Paladin Father Alexander Anderson. See here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_and_influences_on_the_development_of_Dunge ons_%26_Dragons#Cleric) for more details.

[Greenish]

Exactly, which was why most priests in older editions weren't members of the cleric class. Infact clerics were meant to be a very rare combination of warrior priest (perhaps monk or nun) and living saint. Think less Father Forthill and more Paladin Father Alexander Anderson. See here for more details.Same for Eberron - most priests are experts with a few adepts in the mix.

In fact, I should think it default for 3.5, too. That's why the adept exists, after all.

[Rubik]

Does it have to be a default divine class? Play a psion, grab Inertial Armor, Defensive Precognition, (Greater) Concealing Amorpha, and Force Screen, then go around evangelizing.

Just because you're [psionic] doesn't mean you're not holy. PrC into meditant or something.