Crash course in CoDzilla, please

[Kazyan]

I'm in a "shenanigans" gestalt game, playing with a skillmonkey Cloistered Cleric/Geomancer build. We recently had an encounter with an archon, and I was rather useless because I prepared no combat-relevant spells. It occurred to me after the fight that I didn't know how to play CoDzilla or assist my allies with divine spells.

What sorts of spells should a cleric prepare in order to help out a party? (Divine Power is one, I know.) The other players are a Wizard//Warblade and a Warblade//Rogue, so I'd like to help them, not overshadow the best melee class, if possible.

[Tvtyrant]

The requests you are making are contradictory. The CoDzilla means Cleric or Druid Godzilla, and it refers specifically to their ability to outshine normal melee in combat.

The Cleric does this by using Divine Metamagic to lessen the cost of Persist Spell and so persist high level buffs all day long. Divine Power gives them full BaB all day and so removes the point of melee characters, Righteous Might boosts you size and strength, Iron Body makes you immune to everything, etc.

[Flickerdart]

If you want to help the melee instead of overshadowing them, 'zilla isn't for you. Try summoning instead - Clerics are very good at it.

[Calanon]

If you want to help the melee instead of overshadowing them, 'zilla isn't for you. Try summoning instead - Clerics are very good at it.

Cleric of Asmodeus, congratulations your Greater Planar Ally is a Pit Fiend.

Anywho! Most gods have crappy Planar Ally summons... I recommend throwing your lot in the Nine Hells or the Abyss... Summoning Demons and Devils is definitely better then summoning an Elemental :smallbiggrin:

[Flickerdart]

Cleric of Asmodeus, congratulations your Greater Planar Ally is a Pit Fiend.

Anywho! Most gods have crappy Planar Ally summons... I recommend throwing your lot in the Nine Hells or the Abyss... Summoning Demons and Devils is definitely better then summoning an Elemental :smallbiggrin:
Planar Ally isn't summons - it's a Calling spell. You also don't get to choose what you summon, it takes 10 minutes to do so, and have to pay it tons of money to do anything. And if you're using anything but the Lesser version, it costs you a pretty chunk of XP too.

[The Mentalist]

Cleric of Asmodeus, congratulations your Greater Planar Ally is a Pit Fiend.

Anywho! Most gods have crappy Planar Ally summons... I recommend throwing your lot in the Nine Hells or the Abyss... Summoning Demons and Devils is definitely better then summoning an Elemental :smallbiggrin:

You are aware that I read all of your posts and I am cataloging them into my files for our game right?

CoDzilla:
Step 1: Persist Divine Power via DMM
Step 2: Sprinkle other buffs to taste
Step 3: ??
Step 4: SUFFERING FOR ALL MANKIND! (or at least those who have the testicular fortitude to oppose you)

[Calanon]

Planar Ally isn't summons - it's a Calling spell.

Ooo so its better to use for Demons, very good to know actually...


You also don't get to choose what you summon, it takes 10 minutes to do so, and have to pay it tons of money to do anything.


Lets be frank, how many other creatures with 18HD serve Asmodeus?
Ooo "He" can also send 3 Bearded Devils :smallamused:. Honestly the Pit Fiend idea was just for its Wish and since the terms of his "contract" would be:



To appear before [insert clerics name here] for at minimum 15 minutes.
Use one spell like ability (Wish) for the sake of the caster (Hereby refered as the "The Caller")
The wish in question will be used to spread the ideals of Law and Evil
The creature in question (Hereby referred as "The Called") will NOT engage in any sort of combat for the sake of The Caller Unless the in some sense of mortal danger


With all of those terms the price would be 500xp and at maximum 900gp (at minimum being free) My only desire is that I cared enough to make a much more detailed and one-sided contract.


And if you're using anything but the Lesser version, it costs you a pretty chunk of XP too.

It beats paying 5,000xp for a Wish :smallannoyed:


You are aware that I read all of your posts and I am cataloging them into my files for our game right?

Oh come now, would I really post my own personal tricks (On a side note: That Pit Fiend into free wishes trick has been done to death and back...) Besides... I find the who CoDzilla scheme to be overdone into death... I prefer Summoning and Undead Armies :smallbiggrin:

[eggs]

Going melee with a Cleric is cool, but inefficient.

Slathering on multitarget buffs, multitarget debuffs, battlefield control effects and summons is more party-friendly and requires jumping through fewer hoops to get the action economy working.

The Spell Compendium has quite a few. Spells like Recitation, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Wall of X, Dispels, Waves of Grief, Summon Monsters (check out special abilities like SLAs and Spider webs), Doomtide, &c. are solid, as well as powerful-for-their-level long-term buffs like Girallon's Blessing and Magic Circle Against Whatever for the Rogue/Warblade.

EDIT:
On Planar Ally, just use the Substitute Domain spell (CChamp) for the Demonic domain (FC2) for Planar Binding access. It lets you pick your summon, doesn't restrict the options to a particular alignment and doesn't sap all your GP to use. With all the Cleric's various debuffs and Charisma priority, even the opposed ability checks won't hurt.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

DMM: Persist Righteous Might and Divine Power. Then DMM: Chain Spell things like Magic Vestments, Greater Magic Weapon, DMM Chain *AND* DMM Persist (since you are targeting yourself with secondary targets of the rest of the party, or simply use Ocular Spell for static range) Shield of Faith, Barkskin (Plant domain), Freedom of Movement, Death Ward, and DMM Chain Mind Blank.

You now are Large size, effectively full BAB, with effectively a higher HD, and everyone in the party now has major bonuses to:

* Enhancement bonus on attack and damage
* Enhancement bonus to armor and shield bonus to AC
* Enhancement bonus to natural armor that stacks with any current natural armor
* Deflection bonus to AC

Plus offers:

Immunity to: a bunch. Freedom of movement gives you immunity to grappling, slow, solid fog, and a bunch of other Save or Suck effects. Death Ward makes you immune to most Save or Dead and a lot of Save or Lose or No Save Just Suck/Lose like Enervation. Mind Blank makes you immune to the entire Divination school and Mind Affecting (so also a good chunk of Enchantment and Illusion schools).

So you, personally, are pretty decent in combat. Your party, as a whole, are nearly immune to just about anything your GM can reasonably throw at you short of a Mailman Sorcerer. Throw in DMM: Persist Mass Vigor and have a DMM: Chain Heal on tap in case your party gets hit in a surprise round with a bunch of damage.

[Voyager_I]

I'm not sure what Wizards was thinking when the allowed Divine Metamagic and Nightsticks to exist in the same game. Was this just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing? Because I can't imagine anyone seeing the two of these together and not expecting things to get broken wide open.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

A) CoDzilla does not help the party. The party is dead weight unless they are all tier 1's

B) check my build compendium. It has exactly

[Cor1]

I'm not sure what Wizards was thinking when the allowed Divine Metamagic and Nightsticks to exist in the same game. Was this just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing? Because I can't imagine anyone seeing the two of these together and not expecting things to get broken wide open.

You must be new here. It's a well-known fact that WotC did (almost) never publish a book with any regard to previously-published material.

[Andvare]

I'm not sure what Wizards was thinking when the allowed Divine Metamagic and Nightsticks to exist in the same game. Was this just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing? Because I can't imagine anyone seeing the two of these together and not expecting things to get broken wide open.

No, it's a case of the left hand being a moron.
DMM is plenty broken without nightsticks, with nightsticks it means that in addition to the shenanigans you can pull with DMM, you are the best fighter in the group all day, until someone hits you with a successful dispel magic (of course, there are ways around that as well).
There should be nothing that lets you cast meta magic on the cheap.

[Yuki Akuma]

I'm not sure what Wizards was thinking when the allowed Divine Metamagic and Nightsticks to exist in the same game. Was this just a case of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing? Because I can't imagine anyone seeing the two of these together and not expecting things to get broken wide open.

Are you implying that Wizards of the Coast wrote books without any regard to what existed in any other published book, except sometimes the three core rulebooks (and, later, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Tome of Magic and Complete Arcane)?

Gasp!

[Sturmcrow]

As has been suggested, Persist Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, watch your party fall in love with you... profit!