Help with a pathfinder Cleric Build-New to dnd

[Popo]

Hello.

I recently delved into the Pathfinder dnd rules and dnd as a game in general.So i would ask that the answers are given in a simple easy to understand format.

I was always fascinated with the idea of a cleric.After reading a bit into Tarkz guide on different builds, i decided i wanted to try a cleric build that would have some channeling prowess and be focused in debuffing the enemy.

I rolled my stats and got 15 14 14 14 12 10
Planning to use human for extra skill.
I love geting in close and personal but also being able to demonstrate divine wrath-meaning spell casting destruction.
My questions are as follows:

1.Imagine a heavily armored cleric with a tower shield and no weapon.He focuses on touch attacks and general spell casting debuffing to control the battlefield.Utilising the travel domain to add to his survivability and mobility.Second domain something related debuffing/controling his enemies.H is also supposed to be able to take some punishment.
I would also like to be able to channel energy to a small amount at least either neg or pos energy.
Would it be viable and even doable?

2.How important is the creation of magic items through craft skills&feats.Is it something i could leave to a companion or a second character so my cleric does not sacrifice possibly combat usefull skills/feats?

3.Artifice domain:I LOVE the theme idea of a crafter cleric-especially animate object and fabricate.However i m afraid as much as i win in RP i lose in actual combat value.Is the animate objects worth casting and maybe even making permanent as a boyguard/combat support(i know it can get dispelled).

I understand i might be sounding a bit divided in what i want.

[Hamste]

It is possible to do what you want to do. First off though you will need to dip into something that gives you proficiency in tower shields and heavy armor (fighters are good dips for this). It will set back a level of casting and channeling but if you really want it this will probably be easier than spending feats on the armor and shield.

Creation of magic items is always great as it can allow you to break wbl if done right and to better choose what gear you want. If you can get a cohort have them craft it but if not check with the DM about how much free time there will be between adventures (you can craft while adventuring but it is very inefficient). There is very few times where craft wondrous items can go wrong.

Permanency makes it too expensive to bother making permanent constructs with animate objects (only really useful in ambushes). Undead are almost always better to use but that might not fit the theme you want. There is always the craft construct feat (they are still weaker than other things and it takes longer but atleast there is more choice and you can actually use them in combat without them dying right away)

A note though, Pathfinder is similar in just about everyway to D&D but it is not D&D as it is not printed by The Wizards of the Coast. Just pointing this out for clarity's sake.

[Popo]

That is very interesting.

If i did not dip into tower shield and heavy armor and just used my cleric proficiency equipment-would it be a bad idea>

Any suggestions on domains to help me defensively and/or offensively on the debuff/touch/control setting?

Will i be completely useless in damage dealing department by playing without a weawon?

Are spiked gauntlet and plant domain:wooden fists good choices to back that weakness?(plant domain has some crowd control spells afaik)

I will leave the construct in favor of undead then though are we talking about the usual cleric summoning or something else?

Any advises/suggestions on domains skill feats?i am reading them on the rule book but damn they are many.

In the character sheet under skills list there are 2 Craft skills.I choose 1 or 2 types here(for example carpentry and/or blacksmithing)i havent found an official ruled list of these choices)

How do these interact exactly with the craft feats?Can i only make basic non magical items without the feats?

How does fabricate come into all this i read it removes the need for craft checks, but i have yet to find a simple enough guide that does not confuse me.

Regarding ability scores i was thinking:
14Str 12Dex 14Con 10Int 14+2 (human racial)Wis 15Cha

Tnx a lot for the answers i know im asking quite a lot

[GilesTheCleric]

I rolled my stats and got 15 14 14 14 12 10
Planning to use human for extra skill.
I love geting in close and personal but also being able to demonstrate divine wrath-meaning spell casting destruction.
My questions are as follows:

Note that in PF, being human isn't what gives you bonus skill points. When you take levels in your favoured class, you get a choice of gaining one additional hp or sp.

Crafting skills allow you to take pretty much whatever you want. Note that they're not typically very useful, though. Magic is almost always a better solution.

In terms of domains, there's a few that are decent. in my WLD game, I took Liberation (FoM is always good) and Exploration (good in limited situations and until you get scrying/divination). I'm afraid I don't have all of the best domains memorized, since I don't play PF that often.

Grabbing heavy armor and a tower shield is unnecessary unless you're wading straight into battle, and even then, the tower shield will lower your damage potential. If you really want to go melee, grab Power Attack and a two-hander.

Your ability point allocation is fine if you're planning to channel energy often. I personally recommend swapping the 15 cha for the 12 dex, though. Healing in combat is sub-optimal.

[bassic_camel]

Note that in PF, being human isn't what gives you bonus skill points. When you take levels in your favoured class, you get a choice of gaining one additional hp or sp.

Actually, the skilled racial trait that Humans have in Pathfinder still gives them the extra skill point at 1st level and every time they gain a new level. The skill point/hit point is something that you gain from your favored class levels regardless of race.

[Hamste]

Plant domain is ok, particularly if you want control. Entangle is pretty good for battlefield control. Protection Domain is pretty good for being overly defensive and controlling the battle field if that is what you want. If you want to use a shield and still cast I would suggest spikes on your shield and the gauntlet thing (Don't dual wield it just allows you to do multiple types of damage and it does more if your proficient with it somehow). 2 handed weapons are generally better as you can keep holding it while casting but you want max defense so fist and board is probably what you want to go into (You can also try to talk your DM into letting you scribe a holy symbol into your shield so that you can use an actual weapon if you wanted to).

You are looking to be pretty useless in damage area at low levels but you you are focused on Battle Control not damage so once you have more spells per day it doesn't matter you if do much damage (your undead can also help cover this weakness). When talking about undead I'm referring to http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/a/animate-dead and the other dead raising spells. You can also get more if you get the command undead channel feat.

Craft skills have actually very little to do with craft feats (Though yes, you can only make mundane things with craft skills, though alchemy is possible without a feat). There is a crafting section in the srd which you might want to look in. Craft Wondrous item is one of the best craft feats. Fabricate is just a fast way to use craft skills (but not magical things that use feats)


Also to repeat Bassic Camel, Humans get the bonus skill point and the choice descibed for the option of another skill point.

[RaviStrife]

Welcome to Pathfinder!

Glad to hear you're playing a cleric. They're considerably more friendly for a new player than the older style from 3.5.

Your stats are very solid. Not overpoweringly so, but enough to make you a very definite threat throughout the game.

It's worth mentioning Clerics have an exponential growth pattern. At levels 1 and 2 you won't feel particularly amazing...but as soon as you hit level 3 you become immediately more effective, and it becomes a steeper jump every odd level after that.

These "jumps" are generally because of your channeling feature advancing (which provides huge amounts of healing Out of Combat), as well as your new spells coming online at every odd level. It's for this reason you will be discouraged from multiclassing out of Cleric- the spells become INCREDIBLY strong compared to say...A tower shield.

As a quick primer, there are two main ways of playing a cleric at level 1.

A) The mace and board fighter. Everyone is familiar with this version, very simply carry a shield, swing your morningstar at the enemies face until they stop moving. Heal up via channeling after, rinse, repeat.

B) The "Reach" Cleric. Many people forget that Longspears are simple weapons, and therefore you are automatically proficient with them. Any enemy approaching will provoke an attack from you before he even gets into striking range of you. The REAL fun happens when you hold an action for him to provoke an attack from you.

In combat, this would mean you first get a free attack of opportunity as he passes through the 10 foot reach of your longspear. With your stats this would be a longspear strike at +2, with 1d8+3 damage on your foe. Now your held action occurs, with you stepping 5 foot out of his range again and hitting him AGAIN at +2 / 1d8+3 before your opponent can even get into melee range with you.

This attack sequence should be more than enough to finish off any creature of your level.

As a new player, I would recommend laying out your stats as:
STR 14
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 15
CHA 12

Clerics excel at being able to beat in the face of your enemies as you advance levels.

As far as domains, I would personally recommend the Restoration Domain (Subdomain of Healing) and the Luck Domain. As long as you play a cleric with no particular deity, you can select whatever domains you like freely.

Restoration is handy because the ability allows you to cancel many debuffs, including fatigue. This is significant because it means you NO LONGER NEED TO SLEEP. Bwaha! Just hit yourself with the ability in the morning and volunteer for watch!

Luck is more of a long term plan- While the Bit of Luck ability is indeed useful, the real gold here is the Reroll of saves starting at level 6. You may not be expecting it now, but I guarantee there will be at least one point in your career where you roll a 1 on a save vs a death effect. This second ability allows you to laugh off such a situation and take another stab at it.

Lastly, I strongly recommend Aasimar as your race. The Wis and Cha bonuses are fabulous, and the Darkvision will help you on those long nights at watch... not to mention the bonus to perception as a racial.

Altogether, you can expect a fun time as a cleric. Just be careful your first few levels, and you'll be smiting enemies with godly fury in no time!

[Xerxus]

If you like the crafting cleric with artifice domain, I suggest taking a look at the forgemaster archetype. It requires you to be a dwarf, but no other cleric is as good at crafting.