what is a good set of spells for a standard cleric??

[dehro]

I am new at playing a spellcaster, and need some help

to go into further detail, the character is as follows:

level 6 dwarven cleric of the traveller (the name Fharlaghn goes by in the kingdoms of Kalamar setting), is one of a party of 5 also including
an elven sorcerer
a human ranger/explorer
a gnome druid
a half-elven bard
he is a buffer/tank.. the main damage dealing PC being the ranger, him doing a some damage but mostly being there to take hits and allow the others to deal damage. (well.. they would if they rolled better dice)
oddly enough, so far, he's not the main healer, being the one who takes most of the damage and being healed by others by means of wands of healing.
accordingly, he wears +1 full plate and heavy shield.
his stats are pretty good
STR 16
DEX 12
CON 18
INT 12
WIS 18
CHA 10
and he has the following feats:
Power Attack
Divine Vigor
Extend Spell (newly acquired during the last session when we levelled up... I might get away with trading it in for another feat, start next session,s if I find a better one)

the spell domains I chose are:
TRAVEL and LUCK

now.. not being much of an expert in magic users, I selected the following spells:
lv. 0
Detect Magic
Detect Magic
Light
Resistance
Resistance
lv. 1
Command
Summon Monster 1
Divine Favor
Remove Fear
Entropic Shield (domain spell)
Command (bonus spell due to pearl of.. wisdom? lets me recast one prepared and cast spell of 1st level)
lv. 2
Lesser Restoration
Hold Person
Bull's Strength
Aid (domain spell)
one spell still to pick (we just levelled)
lv. 3
Prayer
Wind Wall
Fly (domain spell)
one spell still to pick.

according to the other players, my spell selection sucks.
any suggestions as to what spells would be better suited for the role?
Ring of Blades has been mentioned to me.
I have a feeling that all non-third-party sources would be accepted.

[ArcturusV]

Well, Light is kind of a bum choice. Light USED to be better for Clerics, because you could use it to blind people by casting it at their eyes. This doesn't work anymore in 3rd edition. So I'd drop it for something like Create Water. Creation spells are always useful. It can be everything from Anti-Invisibility (Spread thin layer of water over the floor, watch for foot steps in the water) to sustenance, to bargaining (Calm a Plant Monster by watering it's roots), to pathfinding (Ah ha, water is flowing that direction, that branch is actually leading downwards into the mountain).

Second level slot? Augury. Divinations are always useful. And Augury is basically an excuse to call up your DM and ask if someone is about to do something stupid or not.

I'd drop Summon Monster I from your list, and prep a Summon Monster II or III instead. A single monster from the level 1 list isn't going to do a lot for you. However, spawning a horde of monsters from the level 1 list can be useful.

[dehro]

that makes sense..
then again, we have a druid who has a feral badger companion and usually summons one or two bears to support him.. so maybe I could do something different instead..
we've been plagued by a dose of the stupids, occasionally.
uhm... is mace of Odo limited to Helm clerics? (we play 3.5)
because it looks like a totally awesome, almost broken, spell..

[ArcturusV]

I can't think of the spell off the top of my head. But generally yeah. If the book isn't banned by your DM? If the spell doesn't have an Alignment Tag that you're not (Evil spell and you're not evil, etc), then it's fair play.

[dehro]

yeah.. I got over my lazyness and researched it.. must be initiate of helm..3 levels, no less..
so, that's a no go.

[SlyJohnny]

Those spells are mostly good picks, though I'd drop Remove Fear unless you know you're going to be facing fear-causing monsters. Likewise with Less Restoration; it's fairly situational. Those are the kinds of things you carry around as scrolls for when the situation is urgent, and tell your party "just sleep it off, I'll cast restoration in the morning" the rest of the time.

Cause Fear is a good staple, less versatile than Command, but punishes the enemy even on a successful save. Ready an action to cast it when the first enemy comes within melee range of one of your party: they'll lose their "hitting you" action, and provoke an AoO when they leave your threatened area.

Spiritual Weapon may serve you better than Summon Monster II. Force Damage is always nice to have to hand.

Summon Monster III can summon some useful stuff, particularly if you're morally neutral enough that you have no qualms about using the whole list.

Close Wounds (http://www.imarvintpa.com/dndlive/spells.php?ID=5040) from spell compendium is a must, in my eyes. Cast as an immediate action, so at any time, during anyone's turn; prevent a party member from dropping unconscious and out of the fight, or turn a killing blow into them just being unconscious but stabilized. Or get in that last bit of damage to kill the undead. Fantastic.

I'm partial to Crown of Protection (http://dndtools.eu/spells/players-handbook-ii--80/crown-of-protection--3008/) as a self-buff; doesn't stack with any magic items you pick up that gives a similar bonus, but the ability to discharge it in order to make that Really Important Save you only just failed, or dodge that lucky enemy power attack is brilliant, in my eyes.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Your spell list looks pretty solid. You might consider dropping the single target combat buffs spending an action and a spell to add a few points to one person's attack rolls and/or damage generally isn't good.

Resistence generally isn't useful since it only lasts a minute.

I actually like light, I cast light on a pebble or a copper piece whenever I want to illuminate a remote area like the bottom of a pit. A torch could go out or light something on fire.

Detect Magic-good go to place holder.

Mending is also a strong utility option.

You don't have to pre pick the spell to recast with pearl of power.

Command is good CC on a single target, make sure the target is high value though.

Summon monster I-It's for a trap monkey right?

Divine Favor-as strong as this buff is for a 1st level spell you may consider dropping it. It's action cost makes it really only worthwhile if you cast it immediately before a fight.

Remove Fear-excellent status removal

Entropic shield-Again the whole issue of losing an action for a buff. Consider Longstrider for a minor all day buff.

Lesser Restoration-Good status Removal

Hold Person-Good single target CC

Bull's Strength-maybe drop again single target buffing at the cost of an action. Compare 4 unbuffed attacks to 3 buffed.

Aid (domain spell)-Decent, but consider Locate Object

Prayer-decent party buff

Wind Wall-An excellent spell. Maybe not the best choice since if your ranger is an archer your group has decent ranged attacks.

Fly- Another excellent spell.


Your group may not be good at spell lists, your list could benefit from som tweeking, but it by no means sucks.

[dehro]

I tend to be the first to go in any gallery, or cave, or open any non-trapped/locked door, on account of high AC and darkvision. (our ranger would possibly be better suited but would need a torch, which is a bit crap if you're archer or dual wielding as she is).
this, coupled with crap initiative rolls, means that I usually end up being attacked quite early and somehow find myself unable to use most of my spells, such as resistence.
light is another waste, according to my mates.. all but the ranger have some sort of improved vision, and we have an eternal torch.

remove fear would have been useful yesterday when our main melee fighter (again, the ranger) failed her fear save.. except she ran off at full speed and by the time I could cast remove fear she was nowhere in sight and I had enemies piling up on me :smallbiggrin:..and it was the first time remove fear was needed.

detect magic really is a placeholder..both druid and sorcerer have it. trouble is cleric don't have much else in terms of cantrips that is of any use.

I had not considered mending.. good call.

You don't have to pre pick the spell to recast with pearl of power.

really?
I understood you had.
good to know

summon monster 1 is again a placeholder.. don't quite know what to swap it for

longstrider is.. goodish. I have yet to be in a situation where I'd go "if only I had longstrider"... travel domain already gives me a few good bonuses as is

lesser restoration.. I have yet to use

others have locate object...

wind wall is situational.. our main baddy has a habit of chucking alchemist fire and other nasty stuff at us.. I'm waiting for the chance to blow it all back in his face :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

Fly is also situational.. we're in what looks like a cross between venice and amsterdam..and I have terrible negatives should I fall in the water with my armor on...which has happened once to me and 3 times to the gnome. I aim to either keep dry or get on dry land real quick, should it happen again :smallamused:

[Der_DWSage]

I wouldn't say your spell selection is lame by any means, but let's take a moment to examine these more fully.



lv. 0
Detect Magic
Detect Magic
Light
Resistance
Resistance
Yeah, your resistances are a little...lame. Might I suggest Guidance for that +1 to skill checks which can be used outside of battle, or Create Water as others have suggested? Light is normally a good standby, but if everyone has advanced vision, that's another matter.

That said, these are cantrips. You're unlikely to use them often.

lv. 1
Command
Summon Monster 1
Divine Favor
Remove Fear
Entropic Shield (domain spell)
Command (bonus spell due to pearl of.. wisdom? lets me recast one prepared and cast spell of 1st level)

Command is a good choice. Summon Monster I...if you're using it as trap bait, certainly.

However, Divine Favor and Remove fear should be replaced-the former is too small a bonus unless you know you're getting into a fight, and the latter is far too situational-and like you already saw, your allies will run out of your casting range anyway.

Just out of Core, and since you were talking about being attacked, might I recommend Sanctuary? A good 'get out of whomping free' card if used right, and it sounds like you might need it on occasion. And as has been mentioned, Cause Fear is an excellent debuff to your opponents.


lv. 2
Lesser Restoration
Hold Person
Bull's Strength
Aid (domain spell)
one spell still to pick (we just levelled)

Ah, getting to the meat of things now. Hold Person is always a good second-level staple if you commonly fight humanoids, but you might consider swapping it out for Sound Burst if you commonly fight groups, especially since it's not dependent on type. That's really an either-or choice, but either one should work for your purposes.

Lesser Restoration...is one I would swap out. If you fight mages at all, take silence. For the love of pete, take silence. You see someone in robes and a funny hat? You wait until he starts casting, and then cast silence on a pebble next to him. No save, just suck, and he turns into a commoner with a smelly pet.

I'd also highly recommend Spiritual Weapon for that last empty slot, simply because it's a ranged attack-you lack in those, and it's one of those things that are hard to resist, due to it being Force damage.


[/I]lv. 3
Prayer
Wind Wall
Fly (domain spell)
one spell still to pick.

Fly is not situational. Trust me. Doubly so if any of your allies like to focus on ranged attacks. Cast this on them, and they become literally untouchable by opponents that can't fly-especially if you harry your ranged opponents with that Spiritual Weapon from before.

Prayer is...a little meh, considering what else you have at your disposal. Summon Monster III and start bringing bears down on people, (Or my personal favorite-summoning Hippogriffs, telling them to initiate a grapple, and fly up until the spell duration runs out...) or use Bestow Curse and Blindness/Deafness for permanent crippling of your enemies.

If getting dunked is a common problem for you, you might start casting Water Breathing at the start of the day, and turn that potential killer into a mere inconvenience.

I'd recommend swapping out Wind Wall, if only because it's pretty situational from the sounds of it. At your level, you start getting the big critters for Summon Monster, and what would you prefer-blowing some 1d6 alchemist fire back in the bad guy's face, or summoning a bear right behind him to give him a hug until he cries for mercy?

I do hope these help your choices a bit. I focused on core just in case the non-core sources don't turn out so well for you, and because I honestly prefer to stick mostly to core.

[dehro]

interesting...I'll have to think things through
I do feel like I should do something to buff my allies, but the bard is a new entry and I'm not yet accustomed to having him around.. maybe he can handle the buffing.. which sounds like something dirty.

also, my god is neutral but my cleric is neutral good.. he tends to shy away from the evil spells.. so.. must check on how evil it is to bestow crippling damage on people

[Piggy Knowles]

I'd probably go with something like...

Level 1
Ice Slick (Frostburn) x2
Cause Fear
Protection from Evil
Longstrider/Entropic Shield

Level 2
Cloud of Knives (PHB2) x2
Silence
Shatter
Locate Object

Level 3
Shivering Touch (Frostburn)
Dispel Magic
Magic Circle Against Evil
Fly

...although I would probably shift things up from day to day, depending on what I expected to face.

Ice Slick is good generally crowd control and debuffing (ie, forcing balance checks to make foes flat-footed). Cause Fear is, in my opinion, far more useful than Command - if they fail their save it lasts longer with an equally devastating effect, and if they make their save, it still debuffs. Protection from Evil is a little save/AC boost and also a nice way to suppress mental control if it comes up.

Cloud of Knives gives you a swift-action ranged attack each round, which is pretty nice. It allows you to focus on utility, buffing/debuffing, etc., and still put out a little damage each round. Silence is an excellent anti-caster debuff (cast it on someone or something near the opposing caster so you don't allow them a save), and also has some solid utility purposes. Shatter is something that you can pretty much always find use for.

Shivering Touch is the cheesiest spell on this list, and could easily be dropped if your DM rightly bans or nerfs it, but it's pretty much an auto-kill against low to mid Dex opponents, and a MAJOR debuff against high Dex opponents. Touch range kind of sucks, but you're a cleric, so you're beefy enough to pull it off. Dispel Magic is more or less essential unless you've got someone else covering it - there are few spells with as many uses. Disable magical traps, debuff enemies, counter opposing spellcasters, remove harmful effects on allies, etc. Magic Circle is the same as Prot/Evil, but you can effect most of the party and it lasts for an hour, so you can precast it when you start dungeon delving.

Of course, this is only one sample spell list. I could also give you a party buffing list, or a self-buffing list, or a summoning list, or a "rogue's got the day off" list, or whatever you need, if you'd prefer.

EDIT:


That said, these are cantrips. You're unlikely to use them often.

Not really sure I agree here. I use cantrips all the time.

Detect Magic in particular is my favorite - in addition to the standard uses, by the middle levels, it's also an excellent way to spot hidden enemies, spy through doors, etc. Remember, it takes a foot of stone, or three feet of wood or dirt, to block it. Go ahead and use it to peer through doors before you go.

Detect Poison combined with the craft skill and/or Guidance of the Avatar/Wieldskill/Divine Insight is a nice way to find, harvest and craft poisons. Not a terrible move for clerics of a more nature-y bent, although it doesn't really seem like what you're going for.

Others have mentioned Create Water, but it's worth repeating.

No Light is my other favorite cantrip, which lets you turn out existing lights. It's from Book of Vile Darkness, but it is NOT an evil spell and does not have the [Evil] tag.

My clerics mostly load up on Detect Magic, with splashes of No Light and maybe Create Water, but it's rare that I go a day without using up my cantrips when I play casters.

[GilesTheCleric]

I concur with what everyone has said so far, I think. Piggy's list is probably my favourite of them, but they're all good - it really just depends on what your party needs. You might consider my recent thread on this topic, but which was phrased a bit differently than yours: What spells saved your clerical bacon? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284509)

Just as a quick reference, here's what I've got prepared on my cleric for a new campaign I'm joining (lvl 5 cleric, 16 wis). My party is full up on melee-types, so I figured I'd grab a bunch of generally useful spells that would prevent me from outshining them.


0: summon holy symbol, detect magic x2, purify food and drink, no light
1: ebon eyes, ice slick, spider hand, protection from evil
2: close wounds, shield other, bear's endurance
3: mace of odo, celestial aspect


EDIT: looks like someone earlier also mentioned the mace of odo. It actually is available to all clerics: "some spells have an origin given in parentheses...this indicates the deity that initially provided the spell...since these spells have been created, others have duplicated the efforts, so that now the cleric spells created by azuth are available to all faiths...etc" (MoF 68).

[The Dodr Dragon]

Um, unless your DM is a nice guy, divine vigor has a duration of 0 minutes.... :/

[dehro]

Um, unless your DM is a nice guy, divine vigor has a duration of 0 minutes.... :/
because of the lack of charisma bonus, I know.. but he saw that too and still said minimum duration of 1 minute..so..yeah, he is a nice guy :smallbiggrin:

Gilesthecleric (nomen omen, lol).. that thread is an interesting read
that said, we've had altogether too many occurrences of some of us nearly drowning for me to prepare create water without someone protesting vigorously, lol

argh... too many choices!

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, if you have a Bard stepping in, the "Group Buff" category should be filled up pretty soon. If he hasn't, suggest your bard (If he's good) takes the feat Words of Creation (Book of Exalted Deeds). Buffs up all his Bardic Music abilities in return for dealing a little Nonlethal Damage to him. Very low impact, high reward in that fashion.

Since you have a bard covering that, things like Prayers, Bless, etc, aren't quite going to be your Go To stuff. Though to be fair, those spells tend not to be all that great unless you're dealing with larger numbers of allies.

Since you are of a Good alignment? Well... there's Lantern Eyes at first level. This could give you some ranged capability. If you picked up any Metamagic/Divine Metamagic feats you can get some decent mileage out of your Eye Beams (Gives you a 1d6 ranged ray attack for Rounds/Level). At the very least, for a first level spell you'll get some time spent out of melee with free ranged blasting, which is something that Clerics don't get too much of.

And as silly as it sounds? I like Estanna's Stew as a second level spell. Possible uses?

Avoiding Starvation. Gods this is useful, I can't count the number of times people in my party have forgotten basic things like Rations. So for a single spell you can end up feeding up to 5 people (3 at your current level).

Decent mileage to post battle healing. Each serving heals 1d6+1. Not much. But for a single spell that means you're doing 3d6+3 spread out in those packets. Which is generally more effective than you'd get out of a Cure _____ wounds spell at your level.

Undead Smiting. It's weird, but it works. And hell, brings a smile to my face to fling a splash of stew onto an undead to inflict up to 5d6+5 damage.

So it's one of those weird utility spells that I often end up having a use for. At the very least? It can help with post battle healing if your DM is pretty stingy with Potions, Wands of (Insert Healing Spells), etc.

[navar100]

Detect Magic
Detect Magic
Light
Resistance
Resistance
lv. 1
Command
Summon Monster 1
Divine Favor
Remove Fear
Entropic Shield (domain spell)
Command (bonus spell due to pearl of.. wisdom? lets me recast one prepared and cast spell of 1st level)
lv. 2
Lesser Restoration
Hold Person
Bull's Strength
Aid (domain spell)
one spell still to pick (we just levelled)
lv. 3
Prayer
Wind Wall
Fly (domain spell)
one spell still to pick..

Personally I only prepare a spell once, but that's a matter of one's personal taste.

Change Summon Monster 1. It doesn't help. Change it to Bless. Every +1 to hit matters.

Lesser Restoration can be swapped. It's 3 rounds of casting so useless during combat. Unless you absolutely know for sure you'll be facing enemies that target ability scores, it's a waste. The spell is better used as a scroll for when you actually do need it, a wand if its need comes up more often than comfortable. Shatter is a nice replacement. Target weapons, shields, enemy potion flasks as they're about to drink, lots of things.

Change Prayer. Bless is enough. Enemies having -1 to all rolls is nice, but there are better 3rd level spells to cast such as Dispel Magic. You can make it Summon Monster III if you still want to summon. Wind Wall is also niche. Unless you absolutely know you'll face archers it's a waste of spell slot. Now you can have Dispel Magic and Summon Monster III. Consider Blindness/Deafness. You have Command and Hold Person to target will. Blindness targets fortitude.

[dehro]

stupid question... can spellcasters.. touch themselves?:smallamused:
by which I mean, a touch spell is usually targeted at someone else.. but does it have to?

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, you can touch yourself. So you can cast Cure ____ Wounds on yourself, or anyone that you are next to.

[GilesTheCleric]

Don't forget that you count as your own ally as well.

[dehro]

derp... the cure spells should have answered that question for me..
I'm stooopid.

[dehro]

so..something funny happened the last session we played.

we were (again) target for several bottles of alchemist fire.
I ignored the flames and kept fighting because we had also a monk opponent that jumped around and constantly hit one or the other in the back. for this reason my cleric was soon at less than half his strength, his clothes mostly consumed in flames (not the armor).. this happened also because at each round I simply forgot to douse the flames with water.

anyhoo, things got to a point where I had only a few rounds worth of hitpoints left and the monk was still jumping around like Skippy...
so I got fed up with him (her actually) and asked the GM if I was still in flames and if she was next to me.
when he replied affirmatively, I told him I was embracing/tackling the monk, sharing my fiery wrath with it.
finally we managed to kill off the monk that way.

so.. I'm kind of wondering, what would a self-combusting, fiery wrath, spell look like?

I'm thinking
cast the spell (3rd level?), take 1d6+4 damage per round until you douse the flames, get a +2 to grapple checks and if successfull, do an equal amount of damage to the target (1d6+4).. for every round he remains grappled.

would that be workable/balanced?
adding the naked-flaming dwarf spell to my repertoire might become a recurring joke in this campaign

[Gwendol]

Protection from Evil (and magic circle against evil) is likely one of the best protective level 1 spells in the game.

[Gerrtt]

[QUOTE=dehro;15361330]stupid question... can spellcasters.. touch themselves?:smallamused:/QUOTE]

Depending on your alignment and deity, touching oneself is sometimes frowned upon, even if science has determined that there is no medical harm in doing so.

Couldn't resist.

[ArcturusV]

I would do it like this instead:

Holy Flaming Dwarf:
2nd Level Cleric Spell
Components: V, DF
Target: Personal
Duration: 5 rounds + 1/level
Saving Throw: Reflex Half (See Below)
Spell Resistance: Yes

When you cast this spell, you are immolated in holy flames, damaging yourself and those around you. This spell deals 1d8+1 per caster level (Thus caster level 5, it would deal 5d8+5) to yourself, and all targets within 5' of yourself at the end of your turn, half this damage is Fire, half is Holy. (Note: Larger than Medium Clerics will effect a wider area, a Large Cleric will effect out to 10 feet, a Huge Cleric will effect out to 15', etc)

You are not entitled to a saving throw to avoid the damage from Holy Flaming Dwarf, only those adjacent to, or sharing a square with you are, UNLESS they are being grappled by you. Creatures which are grappled by you are not entitled to a saving throw. In addition whenever you choose to deal damage with a grapple, you inflict this spell's damage upon the grappled target again.

This spell cannot be canceled before it's duration runs out unless the spellcaster is submerged in water, doused with at least 8 gallons of water or similar liquid (More should be required for a larger than Medium caster, less for a smaller), subject to a Dispel effect, or the death of the caster.

[dehro]

it does look funny, but my GM said no, that it doesn't fit with my PC's style.. and he's right.. mine was mostly an act of desperation, lol.

[dehro]

so.. in a couple of in-game weeks, our party is supposed to start a long trip by sea to a faraway island with potentially dozens of sidequests along the way and little chance of returning anytime soon.
since our present location is the only city where I'm likely to find a major temple of the Traveler (fharlanghn), I'm thinking that if I want to get my hands on some item that is related to him, this is my best shot... so I looked up relics and stuff..
the Boots of the Unending voyage seem to be in my grasp in that I can afford to actually buy them and in not too much time (definitely before our long trip starts) I'll be able to unlock their full potential.
however.. the question is.. should I waste a 4th level spell slot (at 7th I gain 2+1 of those), or should I wait a bit longer (8th level) and select "true believer" as my next feat? the latter would allow me to not waste further spell slots on other relics I might put my hands on...but I can not see many other advantages to that feat.
then again, as I go over potential other relics tied to this god, I'm a bit stumped by the Rapier of Unerring Direction. it looks like an awesome weapon but requires the ability to use a rapier in the first place.. yet as a cleric whose god favours a quarterstaff.. how do I go about that?
multiclassing just for the sake of flavour seems a bit extreme.. so maybe I should just get the stuff that works best with an efficient selection of feats instead of selecting feats and skills to work towards those background driven items?? (also, we're playing kingdoms of kalamar kind of setting where Fharlanghn is called the Traveler and might have entirely different stuff lying around for all I know)..

I'm overthinking this, aren't I?

[ArcturusV]

Odd. A few things jump out at me. One that you can just "buy" Relics... it's not how I'd DM myself, I'd keep them as treasures, or perhaps a Loan: "Thou on thy holy quest may use _____ to guide you on your way" (Or: You don't just BUY a Holy Avenger Longsword, you EARN it)... or the like. But if you're DM is cool with just buying them, I'd say go for it. General market rules: You don't get a second chance at buying stuff like that, so grab it when you can.

[dehro]

Odd. A few things jump out at me. One that you can just "buy" Relics... it's not how I'd DM myself, I'd keep them as treasures, or perhaps a Loan: "Thou on thy holy quest may use _____ to guide you on your way" (Or: You don't just BUY a Holy Avenger Longsword, you EARN it)... or the like. But if you're DM is cool with just buying them, I'd say go for it. General market rules: You don't get a second chance at buying stuff like that, so grab it when you can.

oh, I don't know that he'll let me buy it.. he may very well say no, for all I know at this time.
that said.. I'm still wondering, should I in one or the other way get my hands on relics relevant to "my" god, whether the best course of action would be to invest a spell slot (or more than one in case of multiple relics).. or take a feat that seems largely pointless compared to the alternatives.

[GilesTheCleric]

See here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284509) for a thread on the same subject, just with a differently-worded title. Hopefully it'll help.

Edit: If you're looking for a spell to set yourself on fire, there's a few already published.

Handfire 1 MoF
Balor Nimbus 2 SC
Divine Flame 2 DotU
Darkfire 3 SC
Energy Vortex 3 SC
Flame of Faith 3 SC
Furnace Within 3 RoE
Crown of Flame 5 BoED
Fire in the Blood 5 HoH
Vengeance Halo 6 BoED
Planar Bubble 7 PlH

Heat Metal (Druid spell)

And of course you could use Energy Substitution with anything like Aura of Cold or similar. If you're a monk/use unarmed, there's many spells that will make your weapon fiery, too.

Cloak of the Salamander will let you be on fire all of the time, which is pretty neat. It's a little overpriced, though (I think it's in the DMG).

[ArcturusV]

The value judgment is just that, a value judgment, and hard to rate outside of particulars about the campaign and the character in question. I wouldn't say the feat is worth it. You get so insanely few feats. And between general feats, metamagic feats, and item creation feats you have a lot more demand on your Cleric's feat list than you have spaces to fill it.

But otherwise? Just hard to tell. I mean if you're going to cap out your level soon, losing a 4th level spell might mean losing a significant amount of your raw power as a spell caster. If you're going to be leveling for quite a long while... not so important. You'll end up with more 4th level slots than you really ever need. Not because 4th level spells are useless, heavens no. Just that you won't really be doing enough in a single "Day" to really worry about running out of spells, even if you're down one slot.

In general, I'd say go for it. Plus the in character factor might cave in. I mean really what sort of guy/gal who's so devout to their God that they get to chat them up regularly and become a conduit for their sheer awesome powers is going to give up a chance to snag an item holy to his/her faith?

[my13]

1. just because you are good aligned does not mean you have to shy away from spells that inflict damage, you can use spells (even some necromancy) as long as it does not have the evil descripter and it will not effect your alignment.
2. talk to the other pcs... there are a lot of spells on their end that would work wonderful in combination with yours (great ex... you cast obscuring mist and druid cast faerie fire you can see the bad guy, but he cannot see you) also, the bard can buff the party as a whole so its kind of a waste for you to do so on just one or take up multiple spell slots. as far as fly goes, its useful but again, if the druid uses control water and say makes a dry path for you to walk through or wild shapes into something the whole party can ride on then you wouldnt have to worry about flying over water.
3. there are some more useful spells that would be beneficial or great use in combination with the other pcs spells. or you could think more outside the box with the ones you do have.
detect magic - good, but it lasts for a while so i would only pick it once. to use for situationally, otherwise, you have a bard for appraising. also 4 other casters that probably picked that for the day
light-always useful. be creative, you can always cast it on an arrow head to see down hallways. or cast darkvision on the fighter instead so your not incriminated by the light you cast.
resistance-good idea, but guidance is more beneficial. i would pick this one only once
command-good spell, be creative with it. one fellow player used this and his command was obey. that fight ended quickly.
summon monster 1... you have a druid... (they can wild shape, probably have an animal companion and can spontanous cast sna)
devine favor-good stuff if you plan on being more melee, considering the party not a bad idea,
remove fear- too situational- and again, bard is able to do this on mass scale, save the spell slot
entropic shield-unless your constantly getting pelted with arrows, might take more time than its worth
command-good, especially if they pass the will save the first time
lesser restoration- great spell, however, if you open this slot for something different, you can always pick it the next day to fix your fellow pc
hold person- awesome
bulls strength-only useful if your going to go more melee, otherwise let the bard do it
aid-good stuff
prayergreat, the entire party benefits
windwall-good, i used this while falling 50 ft (passed reflex saveto cast it) and it made it so that i didnt take falling damage. read the spell... some things can get through it and some cant... ex. if someone is shooting arrows at you, they will be deflected, but the druid can cast giants wrath and her ranged attacks will be considered as a giants boulders and that will get through
fly- dont just use it to fly over water, drop bombs :) magic stones (if blessed with holy water -which you could make- does even more damage to undead)

these are ones that i would pick, probly not correct in numbers for what you can do but just trying to narrow the list for you :)
purify food and drink- never have to worry about what you eat and drink
create water- create water over your enemys head (use rules for downpour) or mouth(use rules for drowning). at later levels, fill 100ft trench and go over it instead of failing a saving throw and falling down it. can create water then turn it to holy water for extra damage on undead (fill bottles with it ahead of time even days earlier so that spell slot is freed up use as bombs for undead)
detect magic- always good dont forget to keep track of time, you may still have it going if youwant to use it again.
guidance- you can use it on others. say on the bard so he can get +1 on his next roll to buff everyone
light- cast on arrow. or cast it on the bad guy, cast obscuring mist, then play hide and seek.
mending- you can fix stuff or maybe sew the bad guys pants legs together(use rules for being bound-flatfooted)
bless water- afore mentioned. bless nearby body of water then bull rush undead into it.- bull rush damage, plus possible falling damage, plus holy water damage, then let him make swim checks while party gets upper hand in starting a spell or ready action.
command- see aabove... very useful with the right command
magic stone- you can never have enough of them. think of things that could stack with it. ex the holy water.
obscuring mist- combined with light or fairie fire bad guy cant see you but youcan see him
magic weapon- very useful and will last a little while .
sanctuary- get out of jail free card- once protected, youcan cast your healing spells, buffs (cast on bard) and battlefield control
align weapon- can overcome damage reduction. cast it on the rangers arrows. it can also stack with magic stone.
concecrate- useful if you are in an area with a lot of undead
darkness- most of your party could see and again giving the advantage if your foe cant
find traps- would be handy since you guys dont have a rogue
hold person- great for if you need to interegate someone. cast hold person and tie them up so when your spell has runout of time your still good. somethimes useful on other party members when they are about to do something that puts you all in danger.
make whole- very useful in lots of situations.
shatter- very useful... iron door, gone. need to get something in the bottom of a lake, have the druid freeze it then shatter it. locked box... shatter lock
silence- bad guy a spell caster- cast this and he wont be able to cast spells with a verbal component.
sound burst- useful multiple bad guys at once
spiritual weapon- very very useful, it is able to do extra damage to certain things and overcomes damage reduction, and your doing extra attacks at a range
contagion- awesome- do ability score damage, that changes lots of things
create food and water- just generally a good idea just in case. but dont put it on your picked spells for the day, you can pick it and use it first thing in the morning your not going to starve tonight.
daylight- useful if you know your going against undead
dispel magic- always very useful on people or objects
searing light- good stuff.
stone shape- terrain control- but the druid should have that under control.
wind wall- see above
domains:
longstrider-helpful if your speed is not that great, also if a party member cant keep up
aid-obvious, but if you find that the bard ends up being a good buffer, not quite as necessary
fly- just generally cool and useful in and out of combat. on yourself or cast it on the bard, let him fly above danger, and buff the rest of the party, or cast it on the ranger, let him make his ranged attacks airborne, or let him fly into melee.



also, the new revised spell compendium just came out a few months ago and there is a great variety of new spells

[dehro]

that's something that has me a bit confused.. do you or don't you need to use holy water to bless water? chicken and egg much?? :smallconfused:

[buttcyst]

nope, the 5 lbs of powdered silver make it possible to holy the water with bless water spell.

[ArcturusV]

Or rather "25 gp of silver". The Holy Water alchemical item in the book is actually listed at Cost (Minus spellcasting services), because Good aligned temples want Holy Water to be as cheap as possible and as plentiful as possible.

Because it's only capable of hurting things that they want to have hurt anyway, like Undead and Devils/Demons.

[dehro]

Got it..that makes more sense. I don't know where I got the "need holy water to make more of it" from.
anyhoo..
yet another conundrum:
EBON EYES (http://dndtools.eu/spells/spell-compendium--86/ebon-eyes--3544/) this spell says, and I'm quoting from the spell compendium:
"The subject of this spell gains the
ability to see normally in natural and
magical darkness, although it does
not otherwise improve the subject’s
ability to see in natural dark or
shadowy conditions."

wtf?:smallconfused:
so.. the subject of the spell can see through darkness.. except when it's dark?

[ArcturusV]

Seems like it by RAWness, which we always know is silly. If I was trying to be more reasonable with the reading... guh... I dunno. Seems like it just means that it prevents Magical Darkness, and miss chances from anything other than cave darkness. The odd, contradictory phrases probably has to do with some sort of interaction with Low-Light Vision, by intent as near as I can guess?

[dehro]

Seems like it by RAWness, which we always know is silly. If I was trying to be more reasonable with the reading... guh... I dunno. Seems like it just means that it prevents Magical Darkness, and miss chances from anything other than cave darkness. The odd, contradictory phrases probably has to do with some sort of interaction with Low-Light Vision, by intent as near as I can guess?

so, would it be reasonable, if I should cast this on a human ranger, that she'd get a darkvision which can see through magic darkness as well for..what.. 30 feet??

the full spell description:
EBON EYES
Transmutation
Level: Assassin 1, cleric 1, sorcerer/
wizard 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
You feel, more than see, a black haze form at the corner of your eyes. Upon touching your intended subject the haze disappears and the creature’s eyes become shrouded in blackness.
The subject of this spell gains the ability to see normally in natural and magical darkness, although it does not otherwise improve the subject’s ability to see in natural dark or shadowy conditions. The subject ignores the miss chance due to lack of illumination other than total darkness. While the spell is in effect, a jet-black film covers the subject’s eyes, a visual effect that gives the spell its name.
Material Component: A pinch of powdered black gemstone of any type.

[GilesTheCleric]

I think by 'improve' they mean 'gain +x ft to the range of your yvision'. I use that spell almost literally all the time, but I never realized how poorly worded it was until you just brought it up. Hmn.

[dehro]

Drat... I was kinda hoping to find a spell to use for the aforementioned ranger, which would solve a few strategical issues we got..Ebon Eyes kinda looked like it.

[erikun]

I'm thinking
cast the spell (3rd level?), take 1d6+4 damage per round until you douse the flames, get a +2 to grapple checks and if successfull, do an equal amount of damage to the target (1d6+4).. for every round he remains grappled.
Resist Energy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm) is a 2nd level spell. (It also protects clothes, too.) Alchemist Fire is 20gp for 1d6 damage a round. Cast spell, lather yourself up, and have fun. :smallbiggrin:

As a dwarf, you should definitely look into Boots of Striding and Springing (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bootsofStridingandSpringing). Not only does it fit well with the deity of Fharlanghn, but that speed increase isn't affected by heavy armor - meaning you will still be moving at 30' per round in medium or heavy armor.

If you still haven't gone on your ocean voyage yet, then I'd highly recommend Water Breathing and Water Walk as you do. It might not matter (meaning you'll just swap back to your regular list after landing) or it might mean the difference between surviving or sinking to the bottom of the ocean if knocked overboard.


Drat... I was kinda hoping to find a spell to use for the aforementioned ranger, which would solve a few strategical issues we got..Ebon Eyes kinda looked like it.
Wizards learn Darkvision as a 2nd level spell. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/darkvision.htm) And once you're at 10th level, it can be made permanent (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/permanency.htm) for the ranger. Ask your party wizard to resolve that issue, or buy a wand of Darkvision for the wizard to use for the ranger.

[dehro]

Wizards learn Darkvision as a 2nd level spell. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/darkvision.htm) And once you're at 10th level, it can be made permanent (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/permanency.htm) for the ranger. Ask your party wizard to resolve that issue, or buy a wand of Darkvision for the wizard to use for the ranger.

I should have thought of that.. I'll ask our sorcerer..hoping she can do that..

another question...
can magic effects stack on items, weapons or armor? I was thinking of adding the blueshine and called effects on my full plate armor..or is it going to implode?

[dehro]

well...

that sucks....


my dwarven cleric just died due to a string of horrible dicerolls followed by perfect rolls on the DM's part, leading up to being shoved off a bridge by a skeletal dragon, into a river of molten gold (which, admittedly, once appraised by someone who doesn't roll 1s, will probably turn out to be pyrite)

it gets better

this happened on the verge of our party levelling to 7th level.
now being seventh level, the druid in our party (a gnome) reincarnated me on account of how that's all we can do whereas resurrection seems to be out of our current reach.

guess what he reincarnated me in?

a gnome.
It could actually have been worse, the first roll of the dice said goblin..the master took pity on me and made me pick at random between Druergar, Drow, Goblin and Goliath..of course my luck ran out, again, and I ended up stuck in the tiny body

this also comes at a loss of 1 level, of course, so now I'm "almost 6th level but in fact 5th) whereas the rest of the team are 7th level...and that's before I even start piling up all the damage that this does to my, admittedly well above average, stats, and to my already not over the top offensive capabilities.
the net result is that now we don't have a tank, I'm stuck in a gnome's body but with a dwarven personality, leaving me in a role that doesn't suit my new abilities and that makes sticking to the character and "path" of the character very hard to do.

woe me!