Building A Cleric

[IntenseWizardry]

Hello kind people of the forums. I wanted to build a cleric, but I'm not sure how. I have an idea of what i want him to be, but not how to build him. He doesn't have to be optimized, but I want him to be at least effective. His name is "The Traveller." He has devoted his life to learning the secrets of the mad gods of the Void. He doesn't worship them so much as he tries to harness their power. I want him to use a scimitar. He won't be in the front lines, but having a good enough strength like a 14. The domains I'm considering are Fire, Madness, and Darkness. I like Darkness and Fire mostly. Are there any good subdomains I should take? Feats? Etc? Thanks!


EDIT: I am now trying to decide between a cleric and oracle. What are the pros and cons of each?

[GilesTheCleric]

Disclaimer: I'm better versed in 3.5 than PF.

Of those domains, madness is the best, darkness is the second best, and fire doesn't do much. With domains, you either want access to a good domain power, or spells that aren't already on your list/aren't similar to other spells on your list. Madness's domain power is useful, and the spells are alright. Darkness has a poor power, and a few moderately okay spells. Fire has both a poor power and spells.

To make an effective cleric/oracle, all you need to do is make sure you don't drop any caster levels, and that you don't forget to cast spells when they would be useful to cast. The difference between the two classes is the difference between being a spontaneous or prepared caster. Generally, prepared is better, but PF might have some archetype or other PF options that make oracle a better choice depending on your goal.

I recall the oracle in my last game being able to destroy/repair items by touch, which is pretty neat.

[khachaturian]

not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish with this, but here are my thoughts about a few points

1. darkness and madness are great debuff domains, but the gods who grant these domains are pretty specific, and you are going to have to pick zon-kuthon or lamashtu respectively. or you could worship one of the old ones

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/aberrations/great-old-ones

however, from what you are describing, it sounds like the separatist archetype is more up your alley thematically

2. the fire domain is a little suboptimal compared to others. if you want to be a blaster, you could pick the theologian archetype and go to town with this, maybe with the ash subdomain. but really, if that's what you want, why not just be a wizard?

3. not sure if burning a feat or picking sarenrae is worth it for getting scimitar proficiency. if you do pick up a debuff domain, a conducting weapon with reach would probably be much more useful. my experience with clerics is that one-handed weapons are problematic. you can't really use a shield if you plan on casting, so you might as well use a two-hander or a spiked gauntlet

[Corvino]

This Priest is "The Traveller" and you haven't considered the Travel Domain? It's got a movement boost as standard and some nice fly/teleport type spells as domain spells.

The Pros of a Cleric are that you have access to the full Cleric/Oracle list of spells as well as Domain powers and spells. This can give you a lot of flexibility when combined with the ability to frontline well. Having an Alignment Aura that matches your deity means you can use Sacred Summons to get summons of the same alignment as a standard action, which is very useful. The Cons are that you can't use spells of opposed alignment to your deity and need to memorise spells. Clerics can be bloody powerful played right. A Full-On Melee Beast (tm) still has full spell progression and can buff and heal well, and a caster-focused Cleric can still do alright in melee with the right buffs.

Oracles get the same proficiencies as Clerics and access to the same list of core spells (though limited in the total number known). They get combined drawback/advanges due to their curse and access to other spells and special abilities through their Mystery. They cast spontaneously which can be a big advantage, but get access to each spell level slightly later than the cleric. From a Flavor point-of-view an Oracle might make sense, as they don't have to worship a specific god. The Dark Tapestry mystery gives you a few very nice Arcane spells and is full of revelations that support the entire "eldritch and unspeakable knowledge" theme.

Both can be played similarly, but have significant customisation options based on the domains or mystery chosen.

[duboisjf]

You might want to take a look at the variant channeling from Ultimate Magic.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/cleric/variant-channeling

You'll only heal (or damage) 50% of normal channeling but an effect apply.

Example for Madness:
Heal—Creatures gain a channel bonus on saving throws against confusion, insanity, rage, and similar effects.
Harm—Creatures are confused until the end of your next turn.

[Corvino]

It might also help to know about the makeup of the rest of your party. Clerics and Oracles can fill quite a lot of roles depending on archetypes and domain/mystery choices. If you're the only summoner then that can drive feat choice, if you don't have a Bard then the Evangelist Cleric archetype brings inspire courage to the table etc.