Wizard/Cleric Questions

[Solace of Tides]

My group and I have recently started a new campaign, and this time I decided to start as a level 1 wizard. I do not seem to care for it.

I normally play a cloistered cleric and really plan on switching back.

The catch is, I cannot reroll my level 1, but I am coming up on level 2 the next time we play. I plan to start back on the path of the cloistered cleric.

I know this will really hurt my spell progression for a while, but the answers to a few of my questions/concerns will greatly help my decision making process.

1.) Will my previous arcane spells still be arcane when cast, or since I would now be a cleric, would they count as divine when cast? My gut feeling says no, but I hope it's yes.

2.) I normally pick the Magic domain for the granted domain ability, but I was wondering if the 1 level of Wizard would somehow replace this in some way, shape, or form.

3.) Would having the extra spells per day (albeit low level wizard spells) require one additional hour of preparation each day?

4.) If this is a bad idea, if I do it anyways is the character somewhat salvageable? Are there any advantages to this?

5.) would my divination spec. grant me one more cleric divination spell per level as well?

I would appreciate any and all feedback.

[dextercorvia]

1) Your Wizard spells will still be cast as arcane (and possibly suffer ASF)

2) 1 level of Wizard (almost) completely replaces the granted ability of the Magic domain, unless you used a lot of scrolls. Wands don't care about your class level.

3) Yes. You would need to spend an hour preparing Wizard spells, and an hour preparing Cleric spells.

4) It's not a great idea -- that wizard level will probably hang around your character's neck like a weight after a while. Some things you can do: What do you like about being a Cleric?
- It is possible to build your wizard that you have into something that plays more like a cleric. If you tell me what you have and what you want I will try to help.

5) No, your specialist slots only apply to your wizard side, just as your domain slots only apply to your cleric side.

[Andezzar]

3) Additionally your cleric preparation is still required to be at a certain time of the day.

4) I second dextercorvia's answer. Except for Turn Undead and possible preaching wizards and clerics don't play that differently. Both are great at battlefield control debuffing and buffing, with more emphasis on BFC and debuffing for the wizard and more buffing and BFC for the cleric.

How high is the optimization level of your group? If it is low you may have fun with the Mystic Theurge (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/mysticTheurge.htm) or similar hybrids. If you want cleric casting spells without weakening your wizard casting, the Rainbow Servant PrC (CD p. 54 f.) is a nice choice. Be sure to follow the "text trumps table" rule though.

[Inevitability]

Maybe you can talk your DM into allowing Precocious Apprentice to replace one of your first-level feats? Then you take 3 levels in cleric and just move along to Mystic Theurge.

[Solace of Tides]

Thanks for all of the replies.

What I enjoy most about being a cleric is the Lore ability - being able to know really important things about people or places has always proven to be fun and helpful. I also enjoy DMM Persisting once I can, because gives me more of a sense of safety in overcoming situations when I know I have guaranteed stability and health regen (usually run lesser vigor and death ward or something similar if I can). Also as a side note, I think it's safe to say one of my favorite spells of all time is Divine Insight. Especially since in this campaign we are bluffing and using skills a lot (pretending to be otherworldly beings - very 'ancient aliens'). We're big MTG players and we kind of get a 'Jace Beleren' vibe from how this character has been developing.

The optimization level of my group is fairly low. We are playing with some nephews and it's one of the first serious campaigns the current DM has done, so there is no optimization, but I find that we are often in situations way above the possibilities of a few level 1s - and that's one of the first things that made me think about switching back over to the cleric; I knew that after a while I could potentially save my group from disaster.

[dextercorvia]

Lore is good, but it doesn't offer a substantial bonus over what a Wizard with suitably buffed knowledge checks or the proper divination can already do. There are other ways to heal and other ways to persist spells. I don't know what feats/spells you currently have, but consider this:

There is nothing stopping a Wizard from being an active member, even the leader of a church. Get involved in your local church of magic/knowledge/etc. It probably has a local chapter of the Paragnostic Assembly. Spend your skill points to max out as many Knowledge skills as possible (don't neglect Spellcraft and Concentration) but make sure you have at least 1 rank in all the Knowledge skills. By level 2 you should have enough affiliation score to qualify as a Paragnostic Scholar (CChamp p 72). Spend some downtime researching, and get a +5 on all your knowledges (and spellcraft).

If you can manage to run afoul of a group that hates knowledge you might get thrown into an Otyugh Hole. The latter will get you Iron Will for free. Hopefully you took Extend Spell at 1st (it is a common metamagic feat and if you were used to persisting anyway I can hope). If not take that for your level 3 feat.

At level 6 take Incantatrix. It has a high optimization ceiling, but you don't have to crank it up to 11. If you have managed any UMD ability, you might consider picking up a wand of Wieldskill to help hit those Spellcraft Checks, but you can probably make the basic ones no problem. At level 7 you get cooperative metamagic. Buy a wand of Mass Lesser Vigor, and have someone in the party that can activate it. (Hopefully someone took UMD). Use Cooperative Metmagic to Persist that on everyone.