Help with class ideas, clericish??

[swccgf]

Hey all,
first time on here and I was wanting some help on a class for the character idea I had. I'm trying to make a cult like leader, rebelling against the established church but doing so in a rather dubious means, using drugs, deception and force/ threat of force. If anyone has seen the FX series justified, this character is loosely based on Boyd Crowder's character in season 1. My problem is I don't know how to build him to be optimal, I thought about bard at first and discarded that fairly quickly. And I've thought about straight cleric. Lately I've been looking at mystic theurge builds (with DM approval for some of the 3.5 feats that make it viable). Mechanically I've thought about doing a bad touch with a little bit of necromancy as the character continues down the road. We're starting at lvl 2 but this will be fairly long term and I'm wanting a long -looking build. I appreciate any input that you all have.

[The Trickster]

I would also look into Ur-priest, if you are going with the whole "down with the church" thing. Might be worth a look.

[Feralventas]

Hey all,
first time on here and I was wanting some help on a class for the character idea I had. I'm trying to make a cult like leader, rebelling against the established church but doing so in a rather dubious means, using drugs, deception and force/ threat of force.

Sounds like a Rogue to me. Maybe pick up the UA variant, trade Sneak Attack for Combat Feats. Use drug-laced weapons in combat, and simple drugs and poisons and simple machinations. Throws most players for a loop when they hear "Religious Leader" because it almost always means they prep for a divine 'caster rather than someone who happens to have religious convictions or thematic traits.

Remember, this is a Brute, but he's not automatically stupid. Pick up some Egg-shell grenades out of Oriental Adventures. Poisoned weapons. Drug-addled but otherwise innocent body-shields. Plenty of ways to make PC's think twice about attacking directly.

And of course the Rogue has UMD as a class skill, so some wands,s crolls or such might be worthwhile.