Cleric/Kensai 3.5

[txhazard]

Okay so we are running a game with two new players and two experienced players, we are being ran through a pre-made game 1 thru 20 thats not a super easy game.. The idea is to let the two new players play whatever they want regardless of tier level and we will help make each build as viable as possible without confusing them. We have a Rogue type and a Barb type, there builds are not relevant to this situation just details.

The two players with experience will be playing a druid and a cleric to help keep the group up. Cleric going to myself.

My issue is I have never played a clericzilla and in fact I am not a fan of the clericzilla per say its been played a lot in out group to say the least. If I really wanted to go cheese whiz I would just go cleric of obadai and and call it a day however I am wanting to make something different.

What I have brewing in my mind is an arcane flavored cleric with kensai, I do want to persist eventually with DMM but it does not need to happen quickly.
ACF Divine Magician and grab some abjuration spells to persist. Ill take Cleric to 10 so i can get some 5th level spells, Divine Might, Righteous Might yada yada. Hit Kensai for all that loving.

Thoughts?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A Cleric has nothing to gain by taking Kensai levels, considering Greater Magic Weapon and being able to craft your own magic weapons. You have two combat characters in the party already, making a Clericzilla will only upstage them and make them feel less useful. My advice for this situation is to play a Cleric who buffs the party and crowd controls the opponents. Divine Magician is a decent choice, but it won't really give you anything to help the rest of your party.

Go Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) since it would fit with the arcane flavor you're looking for. Get DMM: Persistent asap, use it to put Elation (BoED), Mass Lesser Vigor, and eventually Righteous Wrath of the Faithful on the entire party. Make the character a Water Halfling (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#racesOfWater), and see if you can combine that with Strongheart Halfling in FRCS which trades the racial +1 to all saving throws for a bonus feat like Humans get. Get the Cold and/or Slime domain with the PH2 spontaneous domain casting ACF for either one for decent offensive spells, namely crowd controls.

The para-elements of ice and ooze (Cold and Slime domains) are made by combining water with air and with earth respectively, so a theme of water alchemy would be fitting over selecting a particular deity. You could also try to integrate the quasi-elements of steam and salt, made by combining water with positive energy and negative energy respectively. Frostburn has plenty of cold themed spells, and Sandstorm has a fair share of salt effects. If you want offensive capability, Ice Axe from SC (can even be DMM: Persistent) always deals the same damage regardless of your size and won't care if you make strength a dump stat. Try to get a Lesser Rod of Extend to use with Sleet Storm and other short duration crowd controls.

You'll get tons of skill points each level, and decent enough domain abilities if you keep taking Cleric levels, so I would recommend three or four levels of Paragnostic Apostle and maybe one or ten levels in Contemplative. Divine Oracle is a superb class for four or ten levels, and you can get its feat prerequisite via the Frog God's Fane in CS without spending a feat on it.

Alternatively, an Archivist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) is a divine caster that plays very similarly to a Wizard. You can get nearly every spell in the game (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1023251), its class features are so good that you'll want eleven levels in the base class, and you can still gain Turn Undead for DMM: Persist by dipping Sacred Exorcist.