Sneaky cleric?

[kulosle]

How is this done? I know all tier 1 classes are suppose to be able to fill any role. And the cleric has some sneaky oriented spells i see. But I don't see them being all that good at it. I looked at the cleric handbook and it mentions that it's doable but doesn't point out how. So far all i can think to do is use divine metamagic to persist sneak oriented spells instead of combat ones.

[Kraken]

A cloistered cleric with the kobold and trickery domains should be a good start. The gets you trapfinding, more skill points, and more relevant class skills.

[HolyCouncilMagi]

Specifically, for a Cleric that can fill the Rogue role in pretty much every way except Sneak Attacks, go Cloistered Cleric (Unearthed Arcana) and take the Trickery Domain plus something else to help fill out your skill list. If you don't intend to cast spells with saving throws, add in the Academic Priest feat from Dragonlance, and pump Intelligence instead of Wisdom for lots of skill points. Only thing that isn't really fun is that there's no easy way to get Move Silently, but as long as you avoid Anti-Magic Fields and such, well... Silence is a second-level Cleric spell, and the Will Save is irrelevant if you cast it upon yourself.

[WeaselGuy]

Dip rogue and go with either blackflame zealot or shadowbane stalker. I recommend the stalker; 8/10 casting progression (giving you 9th level spells), 3d6 sneak attack progression, and a few other shiny sneaky things. Have to be LG, but hey, you're a sneaky cleric, not a divine thief (for that, check out Temple Raider of Olidammara, best for rogue entry, has it's own casting progression)

[goto124]

Just wondering, what sort of personality will your sneaky cleric have?

Random Person: Hey, there's 20 more gold here than I remembered! Who are these reverse pickpockets?

[Psyren]

I know all tier 1 classes are suppose to be able to fill any role.

What you have to understand is that "fill any role" doesn't necessarily mean "do so in the exact same way another class would do it." Even T1 casters doing a lower-tier mundane's job would still do things differently than they would (typically, by casting spells.)

So for example, you need to sneak down a hall past some guards and get past a locked door at the end without being discovered. The rogue would accomplish that with a series of skill checks. The cleric could do the same if his skills were high enough (removing his armor if necessary) - or he could cast No Light/Invisibility (w/ domain) + Silence, stride down the hallway like it was his own front porch, and use any number of ways to get through the door - Guidance of the Avatar with improvised picks, or Gaseous Form through the jamb, or Divine Power prior to the Silence to hulk smash the door's lock without making a sound, or teleport behind it, or ring something up from an outer plane to teleport him behind it, or paralyze/kill the guards etc. And a druid can do a lot of that as well as just turn into a rat or snake and skitter/slither down the hallway in plain view before squeezing under the door at the end.

The end result is what actually matters - they both get through the door without the guards raising an alarm.

[Oko and Qailee]

---This---

Basically this, many people forget the goal is the role, not the exact method.

Also, spells like Divine Insight giving +yes to skill check.

Ofc, Cloistered Cleric (as mentioned before) with the right domains supplemented by spells does barely worse than a rogue at level 1 and quickly surpasses him at his own job later (honestly, what he lacks in skill points he makes up with Divine Insight on checks he really needs to make).

[kulosle]

There is a paladin variant called corrupter from a drag mag that specializes in killing his gods rivals. It gets smite heathen and it's alignment and thoughts are hidden. They typically join other churches and when they get the chance kill the highest up person they can. I really liked the idea but wanted to do it without drag mags and actually have some sneaking capabilities.

I was thinking maybe human paragon to get move silently i needed. although all the other decent prestige classes seem to want you to be elf.

If I could get hunter's eye on my spell list i could sneak attack to.

Also is there any nifty way of being able to apply silent spell for free without divine metamagic.

[Flickerdart]

Just wondering, what sort of personality will your sneaky cleric have?

Random Person: Hey, there's 20 more gold here than I remembered! Who are these reverse pickpockets?
Not all clerics are charitable, and not all stealth types are thieves.

[Deadline]

I was thinking maybe human paragon to get move silently i needed. although all the other decent prestige classes seem to want you to be elf.

Or just cast Silence and Invisibility.


If I could get hunter's eye on my spell list i could sneak attack to.

At higher levels, you could pick up Assassin's Stance from the Shadow Hand discipline via the Martial Stance feat (assuming you meet the prerequisites).


Also is there any nifty way of being able to apply silent spell for free without divine metamagic.

Sudden Silent feat, Complete Arcane I think? Also, metamagic rods of Silent spell.

[Telonius]

Shape Soulmeld (Theft Gloves) would help a bit.

[Chronos]

Another option: Human with Able Learner, go Ninja 1 / Cloistered Cleric 19. All the skills of a ninja, nearly all the casting of a cleric.

Rogue, Factotum, or any other skillful class could be used instead; I picked ninja for the Wis synergy.

[DarkSonic1337]

Gonna pipe in Ruby Knight Vindicator.

8/10 casting, full initiator level progression, access to the Shadow Hand school (for your all day short range teleports, sneak attack damage, and other generally sneaky stuff), Divine Impetus (go over how this will work with your DM. A reasonable limit would free action be once per round). It's even got Armored Stealth in case you want to hide in full plate or something.

Worshiping Wee Jas may or may not be a problem for you. Again you should talk with your DM about substituting any appropriate god of death.