[3.5] Non-Weapon Reliant Cleric Build Help

[AsteriskAmp]

I'm going to be playing with a rather optimized party which consists of a Warforged Warblade (Meatshield), a Ranged Ranger/Scout (Ranged and Skillmonkey) and a Druid intending to take Planar Shepard. The setting is Planescape so everything is setting related, including Forgotten Realms, Eberron et al. All non LA races are acceptable.

We are starting at level 7 and odds are the campaign will last 5 levels at most.

Unassigned scores are 11 13 15 16 16 18

My intention was to play a cleric based on mainly buffing/debuffing but I saw that most builds to that point end up throwing the cleric into a melee role by virtue of buffing himself and then charging (with the difference being when the buffing is done with the intelligent clerics persisting it at the start of the day).

The more I searched the more I noticed almost every build ended up being either an archer cleric or a melee cleric while I was looking for something more spell focused. The only thing near what I had in mind was chaining buffs (which there aren't many of) or the idea persisting Cloud of Knives (which is a free action per round and would still leave me with much things to fill in).

I am looking for a cleric build focused on buffing and using spells either for control or direct damage rather than rushing into combat with weapons after buffing himself. I'm lead to believe Cloistered Cleric helps in making the cleric more spell based rather than the rushing into melee powerhouse and that Dweomerkeeper (which my DM has allowed) is when allowed the best thing to happen to a cleric after Divine Metamagic; but please feel free to prove me wrong.

Up until now I had:

Cloistered Cleric 3/Church Inquisitor 2/Dweomerkeeper 2 (and planning on going until 10)
Taking Planning and Undeath as Domains, and using 1/3 of my WBL in a Nightstick to get DMM (Persist) to a functional degree. Race being either Human for the bonus feat or Lesser Aasimar for the increased Cha and Wis. Inquisitor for trading Inquisition Domain into Knowledge Devotion.

But I'm not fully aware of how much this would work beside fueling metamagic and persisting buffs on the party while having to go into melee anyway (which is what I have been trying to avoid).

[BowStreetRunner]

If you are going to be the party buffer, there are a few feats you should consider. There are actually two directions you can go with this.

Option 1 is to use feats like Quicken Spell (PHB) and Reach Spell (CDiv) to be able to cast your buffs more easily in combat.

Option 2 is to use feats like Extend Spell (PHB) and Persistent Spell (CArc) to put up buffs that will last longer.

Either of these will benefit from Divine Metamagic and anything that gives you extra turn attempts. [Check with your DM about his ruling on whether the turn attempts granted by things like the Air domain can be used to power Divine feats. If your DM allows it, then a cleric of Obad-hai taking the air, earth, water or fire domains can pick up a lot more turn attempts. In fact, with levels of Contemplative (CDiv) this cleric could eventually have all four elemental domains.]

Really, beyond this it is just a matter of spell selection - taking spells that benefit your party rather than ones that just benefit you.

[mattie_p]

My standard advice for a cleric looking for DMM is to take the destroy undead ACF from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft at level 1 (by RAW can be used for DMM), then take Sacred Exorcist (must be good) to explicitly gain turn undead (also good for DMM), then dip a level in Death Delver to gain rebuke undead (also good for DMM). Three turn pools for DMM = awesome. I personally like quicken spell rather than persist, as buffs are easier to cast if you are not looking to engage in melee.

[AsteriskAmp]

If you are going to be the party buffer, there are a few feats you should consider. There are actually two directions you can go with this.

Option 1 is to use feats like Quicken Spell (PHB) and Reach Spell (CDiv) to be able to cast your buffs more easily in combat.

Option 2 is to use feats like Extend Spell (PHB) and Persistent Spell (CArc) to put up buffs that will last longer.Quicken costs almost the same as Persistent in terms of attempts; if I could persist it at the start of the day at almost the same cost for all combats for the day, why bother with the ability of having it for a short time on demand at the same cost.

Either of these will benefit from Divine Metamagic and anything that gives you extra turn attempts. [Check with your DM about his ruling on whether the turn attempts granted by things like the Air domain can be used to power Divine feats. If your DM allows it, then a cleric of Obad-hai taking the air, earth, water or fire domains can pick up a lot more turn attempts. In fact, with levels of Contemplative (CDiv) this cleric could eventually have all four elemental domains.]

Really, beyond this it is just a matter of spell selection - taking spells that benefit your party rather than ones that just benefit you.So I just take domains and maximize turn attempts in general?

My standard advice for a cleric looking for DMM is to take the destroy undead ACF from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft at level 1 (by RAW can be used for DMM), then take Sacred Exorcist (must be good) to explicitly gain turn undead (also good for DMM), then dip a level in Death Delver to gain rebuke undead (also good for DMM). Three turn pools for DMM = awesome. I personally like quicken spell rather than persist, as buffs are easier to cast if you are not looking to engage in melee.How exactly does the pool number work? Seeing as the Sacred Exorcist has no mention of the amount of turns acquired, just the level stacking.

Isn't the Death Delver problematic due to Caster Level lost?

[mattie_p]

Sacred exorcist grants turn undead "as a cleric," so 3 + cha mod + any extra turning feats. It only stacks if you have it already, which you don't, because you traded it away.

Losing one caster level through death delver hurts a little, but gaining a third turning pool, especially with extra turning, means you can quicken + standard a spell almost every round of combat.

[BowStreetRunner]

Quicken costs almost the same as Persistent in terms of attempts; if I could persist it at the start of the day at almost the same cost for all combats for the day, why bother with the ability of having it for a short time on demand at the same cost.

There are two advantages to the quicken/reach method. 1) you can wait and see what sort of buffs are needed before casting, and 2) if your buffs are dispelled you are set up in a way that you should be able to recast them in combat regardless of where everyone is standing and without wasting lots of rounds doing so.

[docnessuno]

There are two advantages to the quicken/reach method. 1) you can wait and see what sort of buffs are needed before casting, and 2) if your buffs are dispelled you are set up in a way that you should be able to recast them in combat regardless of where everyone is standing and without wasting lots of rounds doing so.

Also:
3) You can DMM quicken some battlefield control and/or save-or-suck during battles, increasing your threat.
4) Some buff are just not meant to last all day long and might incure in RP problems (IE: rightous might).

That said, anoter key to increasing your Persist buffing potential is to increase your caster level, some highlights:
Ankh of Ascension [Item, 9.0000, MIC, +4]
Ioun Stone (Orange Prism) [Item, 30.000, DMG, +1]
Adept Spirit [spell, MoI, +1]
Elder Giant Magic [Feat, SX, +3]
Reserves of Strength [Feat, DLCS, +3, GREAT]

Having lvl20 equivalent buffs at level 12 is quite handy.

[eggs]

I am looking for a cleric build focused on buffing and using spells either for control or direct damage rather than rushing into combat with weapons after buffing himself.
My first thought is that Planning Domain and Knowledge Devotion are much less appealing if you aren't going a persist/attack on your own approach: The Inquisition Domain's granted power is excellent for Cleric Counterspellers (with Divine Defiance and Battlemagic Perception, this is one of the Cleric's easiest buy-ins toward action economy abuse), and the part Planning Domain plays in cheapening DMM: Persist isn't worth as much when you're focusing on a cleric's casting and the spells involved.

My second thought was that I don't see any arcane casting for Dweomerkeeper entry on there. You'll probably need to either burn a feat on Magical Training or pick Initiate of Mystra or Spell Domain (neither of which is exactly a major penalty).

I mentioned that DMM: Persist is cheapened if you aren't sticking to personal-range buffs. This is because there are only a handful of party buffs that qualify for DMM: Persist: Recitation, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful and Mass Lesser Vigor are the normal lineup; there might be a couple more, and Ocular Spell can widen the options a ways, but it's nowhere near the layers-on-layers-on-layers of buffs that make Persist so appealing on Clerics who want to be Fighters (at least until ECL 15 or so, when Bracelets of Spell Sharing become reasonably priced).

[AsteriskAmp]

Sacred exorcist grants turn undead "as a cleric," so 3 + cha mod + any extra turning feats. It only stacks if you have it already, which you don't, because you traded it away.

Losing one caster level through death delver hurts a little, but gaining a third turning pool, especially with extra turning, means you can quicken + standard a spell almost every round of combat.So ideally, to maximize the amount of turns and my amount of metamagic-able repertoire I should consider something like the Sovereign Speaker.


Also:
3) You can DMM quicken some battlefield control and/or save-or-suck during battles, increasing your threat.
4) Some buff are just not meant to last all day long and might incure in RP problems (IE: rightous might).Save or suck have the problem that I would have been investing in being able to pull things fast and filling up in turn attempts making the save mediocre to pass, unless I'm missing something.

That said, anoter key to increasing your Persist buffing potential is to increase your caster level, some highlights:
Ankh of Ascension [Item, 9.0000, MIC, +4]
Ioun Stone (Orange Prism) [Item, 30.000, DMG, +1]
Adept Spirit [spell, MoI, +1]
Elder Giant Magic [Feat, SX, +3]
Reserves of Strength [Feat, DLCS, +3, GREAT]

Having lvl20 equivalent buffs at level 12 is quite handy.Ankh is quite useful despite the slot cost, but the Reserves of Strength prereq is horrible; the Elder Giant Magic has the issue with three checks, having to be sustained throughout and considering I'm not optimizing skills I think it would go beyond a comfortable success zone. An I can't buy the Ioun stone with my WBL yet.

My first thought is that Planning Domain and Knowledge Devotion are much less appealing if you aren't going a persist/attack on your own approach: The Inquisition Domain's granted power is excellent for Cleric Counterspellers (with Divine Defiance and Battlemagic Perception, this is one of the Cleric's easiest buy-ins toward action economy abuse), and the part Planning Domain plays in cheapening DMM: Persist isn't worth as much when you're focusing on a cleric's casting and the spells involved.So I should keep the Cloistered Cleric and the levels of Inquisitor but not trade the inquisitor domain and take something different from planning and magic?


My second thought was that I don't see any arcane casting for Dweomerkeeper entry on there. You'll probably need to either burn a feat on Magical Training or pick Initiate of Mystra or Spell Domain (neither of which is exactly a major penalty).I was looking into Initiate of Mystra for the nice spells it opens up and specially the persist-able holy star as well as access to anyspell.

Would Dweomerkeeper be productive to what I am trying to achieve or will I get no significant mileage out of it?

[docnessuno]

Dweomerkeeper won't have a particular sinergy with your concept, but it's one of the most powerfuls caster PRCs out there, so it won't hurt at all.
Another thing you might want to consider is War weaver, an amazing buffing prc from HoB, but needs some shenanigans to apply it to a divine caster.

The ankh won't really require an item slot, since you will be using it in the morning when persisting your buffs, then removing it and putting your alternative item back.

The EGM checks are not that hard to pass, topping at 18+spell level. I'd say take the feat when your concentration check (wich should be maxxed regardless) is around 20-22, unless you already bumped your CL previously.

Reserves of Strength prereq might be horrible, but the feat explicitly allows you to break level-based spell caps. Try to find something like that pre-epic.

With ankh, reserves and Adept Spirit your caster level would skyrocket to 20 during buff-time, and among other things that would grant you near-immunity to level-appropriate dispels.

[AsteriskAmp]

Dweomerkeeper won't have a particular sinergy with your concept, but it's one of the most powerfuls caster PRCs out there, so it won't hurt at all.
Another thing you might want to consider is War weaver, an amazing buffing prc from HoB, but needs some shenanigans to apply it to a divine caster.We are going to have a Planar Sheppard, there is no such thing as shenanigans if adequately explained.

The ankh won't really require an item slot, since you will be using it in the morning when persisting your buffs, then removing it and putting your alternative item back.I meant the spell slot you have to sacrifice for it to work on same level or lower spells.

The EGM checks are not that hard to pass, topping at 18+spell level. I'd say take the feat when your concentration check (wich should be maxxed regardless) is around 20-22.How can I even get to 22 by level 7?

Without significant investment I'll be at 12 maxing ranks, that's a 10 for a spell on my 4th slot, which I REALLY don't want to lose.

Reserves of Strength prereq might be horrible, but the feat explicitly allows you to break spell level-based caps. Try to find something like that pre-epic.

With ankh, reserves and Adept Spirit your caster level would skyrocket to 20 during buff-time, and among other things that would grant you near-immunity to level-appropriate dispels.So I'd mainly invest into being amazing in the morning... and I'd still need persist to make sure this buffs last, that or quickening and range to be able to buff at appropriate times.

[eggs]

Dweomerkeeper makes buffs undispellable, lets debuffs ignore SR and lets a Cleric cast more of its domain spells per day. I think it would help quite a bit here.

On Cloistered Cleric/Church Inquisitor: I think that's a combination that most Clerics get a lot of mileage out of: Cloistered Cleric's extra domain is awesome (at worst you can use Substitute domain to swap it out for a better choice), and Church Inquisitor has absolutely no competition for a Cleric's 4th level.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

For a pure-casting Cleric, consider going with a Shadowcraft Mage build. Here's a handy guide (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872354/Shadowcraft_Mage_Handbook?pg=1) for that, though it would play more like a Wizard (Conjurer) who can also cast Cleric spells. Between Grease, Ice Slick, Web, Glitterdust, Stinking Cloud, Bands of Steel, Black Tentacles, and Solid Fog, it's got some of the best crowd control in the game. With DMM: Heighten and the PH2 spontaneous domain casting ACF plus Residual Magic (CM) you'll have spontaneous access to the best spell to use in any situation. You'll sort of need an encyclopedic knowledge of all the spells you can emulate with your Shadow Illusions to get the most out of it, but Shadowcraft Mage in general is among the top choices for power and versatility.

[AsteriskAmp]

Dweomerkeeper makes buffs undispellable, lets debuffs ignore SR and lets a Cleric cast more of its domain spells per day. I think it would help quite a bit here.

On Cloistered Cleric/Church Inquisitor: I think that's a combination that most Clerics get a lot of mileage out of: Cloistered Cleric's extra domain is awesome (at worst you can use Substitute domain to swap it out for a better choice), and Church Inquisitor has absolutely no competition for a Cleric's 4th level.So should I consider redistributing feats rather than chasis?

Take Reach and Quicken as suggested but keep the classes progression then?(considering one feat goes to Iniate of Mistra and another one will be a scribe scroll or craft feat to eventually be retrained to Craft Contingent Spel this leaves 4 slots and 1 domain left empty. Those four slots would be Reach and DMM Reach and Quicken DMM Quicken and I'd take a turn granting domain?)

For a pure-casting Cleric, consider going with a Shadowcraft Mage build. Here's a handy guide (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872354/Shadowcraft_Mage_Handbook?pg=1) for that, though it would play more like a Wizard (Conjurer) who can also cast Cleric spells. Between Grease, Ice Slick, Web, Glitterdust, Stinking Cloud, Bands of Steel, Black Tentacles, and Solid Fog, it's got some of the best crowd control in the game. With DMM: Heighten and the PH2 spontaneous domain casting ACF plus Residual Magic (CM) you'll have spontaneous access to the best spell to use in any situation. You'll sort of need an encyclopedic knowledge of all the spells you can emulate with your Shadow Illusions to get the most out of it, but Shadowcraft Mage in general is among the top choices for power and versatility.I find that Shadowcraft kicks in too late and forces you to be a gnome illusionist, and also has little in terms of cleric builds as entry; deviating rather much from my original concept and being more of an arcane class meant to be entered with an arcane character.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I find that Shadowcraft kicks in too late and forces you to be a gnome illusionist, and also has little in terms of cleric builds as entry; deviating rather much from my original concept and being more of an arcane class meant to be entered with an arcane character.

With the Trickery domain and flaws you can actually go Cleric 3/ Shadowcraft Mage, using DMM: Heightened Dark Way to qualify for the shadow illusion prerequisite. Between free spontaneous domain casting, DMM: Heighten with Residual Magic, and the general utility and survivability of the Cleric class, I think Cleric is even better than Beguiler as a base for a Shadowcraft Mage, though Wizard is still the most obvious choice. Starting at 7th and only going as high as 12th, you're right that it comes online strong a bit too late for this particular game, unless you're using that early entry trick. In that case you'll already have your shadow Silent Images online starting out, and with flaws you can even have Earth Spell.


For a strictly buffing/debuffing build that casts more than fights, I've found the Cold domain with spontaneous domain casting is a very strong choice. Keep in mind that Heat/Chill Metal should cause an opponent to drop a weapon it's cast on (it worked on Aragorn in Fangorn Forest!). DMM: Persistent is still better than Quicken for party buffing IMO due to Elation, Mass Lesser Vigor, and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. For debuffing opponents, fear effects (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809.0) are one of my personal favorites, especially in the low to mid levels. Get Dreadful Wrath and (DMM) Fell Frighten Spell, maybe even Leadership for a scary Bard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252815#4), and you should be good. Note that Fell Frighten should inflict/escalate its Shaken condition each round that the spell deals damage, so put it on a Chill Metal cast on the opponent's armor and then put Ice Slick under them the next round, armor check penalty applies to Balance checks so they'll probably cower for a while.

[AsteriskAmp]

For a strictly buffing/debuffing build that casts more than fights, I've found the Cold domain with spontaneous domain casting is a very strong choice. Keep in mind that Heat/Chill Metal should cause an opponent to drop a weapon it's cast on (it worked on Aragorn in Fangorn Forest!). DMM: Persistent is still better than Quicken for party buffing IMO due to Elation, Mass Lesser Vigor, and Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. For debuffing opponents, fear effects (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3809.0) are one of my personal favorites, especially in the low to mid levels. Get Dreadful Wrath and (DMM) Fell Frighten Spell, maybe even Leadership for a scary Bard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252815#4), and you should be good. Note that Fell Frighten should inflict/escalate its Shaken condition each round that the spell deals damage, so put it on a Chill Metal cast on the opponent's armor and then put Ice Slick under them the next round, armor check penalty applies to Balance checks so they'll probably cower for a while.There is no reference to such effect; considering creatures are damaged for holding it, I do not believe the rules even hint at them having to release grasp of the object.

The idea of absolute terror on ice is rather fantastic though; whilst Dreadful Wrath requires power attack (and I can't see how it ties in to the ice strategy at all), the other side would be possible with only two metamagic feats (or four, adding sculpt spell and DMM of it for allies to be able to do anything to the ice rink trapped men?). It does however feel slightly one trick pony-ish for the cost of 4 feats.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

There is no reference to such effect; considering creatures are damaged for holding it, I do not believe the rules even hint at them having to release grasp of the object.

The idea of absolute terror on ice is rather fantastic though; whilst Dreadful Wrath requires power attack (and I can't see how it ties in to the ice strategy at all), the other side would be possible with only two metamagic feats (or four, adding sculpt spell and DMM of it for allies to be able to do anything to the ice rink trapped men?). It does however feel slightly one trick pony-ish for the cost of 4 feats.

If what you're holding is suddenly painfully hot/cold, it's only natural that you would release your grasp on it. While it doesn't state that a held object needs to be dropped, that is the natural reaction to that situation. Do note that panicked creatures drop what they're holding anyway so Fell Frighten Chill Touch on an opponent's weapon will eventually cause them to drop it anyway.

Dreadful Wrath (PGtF) does not require Power Attack, its only prerequisites are race/region-based. You don't necessarily need (DMM) Fell Frighten, especially if you've got Leadership. There are plenty of fear spells on the Cleric spell list, plus fear effects from different characters will add up quickly.

[AsteriskAmp]

If what you're holding is suddenly painfully hot/cold, it's only natural that you would release your grasp on it. While it doesn't state that a held object needs to be dropped, that is the natural reaction to that situation. Do note that panicked creatures drop what they're holding anyway so Fell Frighten Chill Touch on an opponent's weapon will eventually cause them to drop it anyway.

Dreadful Wrath (PGtF) does not require Power Attack, its only prerequisites are race/region-based. You don't necessarily need (DMM) Fell Frighten, especially if you've got Leadership. There are plenty of fear spells on the Cleric spell list, plus fear effects from different characters will add up quickly.The idea of having so much metamagic-ed up spells be cancelled by a lucky save is a prospect I do not like at all, chill metal allows for a save to be made, unless I had a consistent way of making it impossible to pass I wouldn't like relying on it.

Dreadful Wrath is also limited to the radius around yourself, which is partially what I've been trying to avoid.

As for Leadership I'd much rather not touch it due to book-keeping involved and the chance of the DM reading the feat as him controlling the follower (which is not entirely unreasonable), in no place does it say you can stat him up either.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Fear effects are still excellent in general, even if you don't use those specific means. Fell Frighten can be used with any spell that deals damage, for example Sound Burst doesn't give any opportunity for a save to avoid its damage. You could get the Slime domain and use Fell Frighten with Acid Arrow and Black Tentacles, though I'd still keep the Cold domain because it's just so useful.

With the Slime domain you could even start out with several oozes you've commanded, such as Living Spells. Starting out (Cloistered) Cleric 5/ Paragnostic Apostle 2 (Divine Understanding and Energy Supremacy for Cold) you could have some 3 HD oozes under your control. You could have a few Living Enfeebling Kelgore's Grave Mist of Doom Doom Doom Doom Doom. Anyone hit by its slam would be automatically fatigued, take an extra 1d6 cold damage, take an extra 1d6+1 Str penalty, and have to make five separate saves vs shaken. Note that two hits from any of those automatically makes an opponent Exhausted until they get sufficient rest to remove it. They'll have DR 10/magic and SR 13, and since they have a Con score you can even use Cure spells on them. If you want it to get completely silly, have a Living Ray of Stupidiy x10 at caster level 3, which would deal 10d4+10 Int damage per hit. You could even have a 1 HD Living Mage Armor Endure Elements Cure Light Wounds that serves no purpose but to touch everyone (including the other oozes and even itself) at least once per hour.

Have everyone in the party buy a 1st level Pearl of Power, and have everyone but the Druid go in thirds for a Lesser Rod of Extend, those should all be given to the Druid. The Druid should buy his own Lesser Rod of Extend, and you should get one for yourself as well. You and the Druid should each prepare the spell Obscuring Snow once each day, from Frostburn. The Druid should prepare the spell Snowsight once each day, also in Frostburn. He should cast Lesser Rod of Extended Snowsight on everyone in the party, himself, and his animal companion, using the Pearls of Power to recover it after each casting so he only spends one 1st level spell slot on it. You and he should both have Lesser Rod of Extended Obscuring Snow active as well. This gives your party an extremely unfair advantage in any encounter which sadly still won't protect you from thrown books. Your oozes will have Blindsight 60 ft. so they won't be hindered by it at all.

[AsteriskAmp]

Fear effects are still excellent in general, even if you don't use those specific means. Fell Frighten can be used with any spell that deals damage, for example Sound Burst doesn't give any opportunity for a save to avoid its damage. You could get the Slime domain and use Fell Frighten with Acid Arrow and Black Tentacles, though I'd still keep the Cold domain because it's just so useful.

With the Slime domain you could even start out with several oozes you've commanded, such as Living Spells. Starting out (Cloistered) Cleric 5/ Paragnostic Apostle 2 (Divine Understanding and Energy Supremacy for Cold) you could have some 3 HD oozes under your control. You could have a few Living Enfeebling Kelgore's Grave Mist of Doom Doom Doom Doom Doom. Anyone hit by its slam would be automatically fatigued, take an extra 1d6 cold damage, take an extra 1d6+1 Str penalty, and have to make five separate saves vs shaken. Note that two hits from any of those automatically makes an opponent Exhausted until they get sufficient rest to remove it. They'll have DR 10/magic and SR 13, and since they have a Con score you can even use Cure spells on them. If you want it to get completely silly, have a Living Ray of Stupidiy x10 at caster level 3, which would deal 10d4+10 Int damage per hit. You could even have a 1 HD Living Mage Armor Endure Elements Cure Light Wounds that serves no purpose but to touch everyone (including the other oozes and even itself) at least once per hour.
Are this oozes summoned or are they actual "followers"? In general how do I get living spells under my command or get to add descriptors to living spells? Would ooze leading compete with consuming of turns for divine metamagic?

As amazing as the idea of commanding an ooze platoon is with them laying an icy wasteland of brain death and catatonic muscleless creatures I don't believe my party would feel comfortable walking with Slime Commander if they were followers; or the in general the problem with minions being the way the things would get to drag out considerably when two party members have more turns of commanding creatures than the DM. But this idea is so amazingly awesome I'm going to try to run it through just with the hope of becoming the Oozemaster.

Have everyone in the party buy a 1st level Pearl of Power, and have everyone but the Druid go in thirds for a Lesser Rod of Extend, those should all be given to the Druid. The Druid should buy his own Lesser Rod of Extend, and you should get one for yourself as well. You and the Druid should each prepare the spell Obscuring Snow once each day, from Frostburn. The Druid should prepare the spell Snowsight once each day, also in Frostburn. He should cast Lesser Rod of Extended Snowsight on everyone in the party, himself, and his animal companion, using the Pearls of Power to recover it after each casting so he only spends one 1st level spell slot on it. You and he should both have Lesser Rod of Extended Obscuring Snow active as well. This gives your party an extremely unfair advantage in any encounter which sadly still won't protect you from thrown books. Your oozes will have Blindsight 60 ft. so they won't be hindered by it at all.If the idea of the ooze commander is approved by the party (more than the DM considering they are the ones that have to bear the longer rounds and the additional actions) this is probably going to be the nuke button for when he releases the bigger aberrations. This is simply amazing.

But I'd also like having a less risqué build just in case. Going through the previous recommendation of focusing on Quickening and Reach rather than Persist but remaining on the track of getting to Dweomerkeeper but not trading out the inquisitor domain and dumping planning for a turn giving domain, but it doesn't seem to generate much synergy and just give nifty doodads on top of cleric (but lacking martial weapons and armour).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

The Ooze domain gives you the ability to rebuke and command creatures of the ooze type, just like a cleric who channels negative energy can rebuke and command undead. If your effective level for that rebuke ability is twice the ooze's HD, it's under your control permanently or until someone else steals control of it by similar means. Paragnostic Apostle levels get added to your Cleric levels for purposes of Turn Undead and domain powers. At 7th level, you can have 7 HD of oozes under your control, or two 3 HD oozes and one at 1 HD. Keep in mind that oozes are malleable and moist, so you could dress them up to look like big cakes or similar if you really want to, or have them shape themselves and maneuver like snakes or oversize worms.

Starting out with creatures under your control when starting at a higher level than 1st is usually something you'll need to clear with your DM. Just like Cleric who rebukes undead could have found some skeletons and zombies and taken control of them and still had them with him up to this point, a character with the ooze domain could have found some oozes and taken control of them and still have them following him. Living spells give an extreme level of customization in this case, similar to if a Cleric had found skeletons and zombies with several variants from Libris Morits p162, 173. A Cleric could start play with a Bloodthirsty Fast Unkillable Zombie instead of a normal one and a few Vicious Fiery Nimble Skeletons instead of the standard versions. None of those increase its HD so those are no more difficult to control than normal MM versions of skeletons and zombies. Similarly, a Living Spell's HD is equal to its caster level, but its CR is based on the number and level of spells it's based on. You could have a Living Cure Light Wounds x100 that heals for 100d8+100 per hit (or deals as much damage to undead), and it will only have 1 HD but be around CR 50. It's similar to customizing a cohort via Leadership, but you can freely dismiss and replace these minions so you can keep retrying until you find one you like, provided there are more that you haven't met yet.

[AsteriskAmp]

The Ooze domain gives you the ability to rebuke and command creatures of the ooze type, just like a cleric who channels negative energy can rebuke and command undead. If your effective level for that rebuke ability is twice the ooze's HD, it's under your control permanently or until someone else steals control of it by similar means. Paragnostic Apostle levels get added to your Cleric levels for purposes of Turn Undead and domain powers. At 7th level, you can have 7 HD of oozes under your control, or two 3 HD oozes and one at 1 HD. Keep in mind that oozes are malleable and moist, so you could dress them up to look like big cakes or similar if you really want to, or have them shape themselves and maneuver like snakes or oversize worms.

Starting out with creatures under your control when starting at a higher level than 1st is usually something you'll need to clear with your DM. Just like Cleric who rebukes undead could have found some skeletons and zombies and taken control of them and still had them with him up to this point, a character with the ooze domain could have found some oozes and taken control of them and still have them following him. Living spells give an extreme level of customization in this case, similar to if a Cleric had found skeletons and zombies with several variants from Libris Morits p162, 173. A Cleric could start play with a Bloodthirsty Fast Unkillable Zombie instead of a normal one and a few Vicious Fiery Nimble Skeletons instead of the standard versions. None of those increase its HD so those are no more difficult to control than normal MM versions of skeletons and zombies. Similarly, a Living Spell's HD is equal to its caster level, but its CR is based on the number and level of spells it's based on. You could have a Living Cure Light Wounds x100 that heals for 100d8+100 per hit (or deals as much damage to undead), and it will only have 1 HD but be around CR 50. It's similar to customizing a cohort via Leadership, but you can freely dismiss and replace these minions so you can keep retrying until you find one you like, provided there are more that you haven't met yet.Leaving me to the whims of the DM, which is something I'd much rather not be under. If my original oozes die then I'd have to go Ooze hunting, even worse with my living spells.

[gallagher]

You are in an optimized party with no arcane power. You want to do spells that deal damage, be a cleric, and fill that niche, yes?

Mystic Theurge with Ur Priest for double 9's