Cleric of Ilmater

[SMac8988]

Hello all, friends and I started a new game and I'm looking for some advice for this character I'm rolling with.

I decided that I would fill for the group to help out, and after a wizard and barbarian was picked up I grabbed a cleric for some heals.

My back story I'm working with so far; the character was an indentured servant on a ship for a long time, giving him the sailor background. He spent his time being abused, beaten and forced to do the bidding of the crew. Looking for a way out, he felt suicide was the only choice, but was in a dream approached by Ilmater; god of suffering, and pushed him to rise past it.

Working out how he got free, but felt he needed continue to help those in his place previously. So he joined the "Broken Ones".

I went Life Cleric, but honestly have never played a cleric before. I was wanting to gear my spells towards my god, but am trying to figure that out.

Also was thinking of playing him as psudo sarcastic and feeling that what he is doing is a inconvenience but deals with the troublesomeness for his god.

Any advice for this character would be awesome.... thanks

[Specter]

Ilmater? You want all healing spells, as many buffs as you can get, and a willingness to put other party members before yourself all the time. I guess that covers the basics.

[JellyPooga]

Ilmater? You want all healing spells, as many buffs as you can get, and a willingness to put other party members before yourself all the time. I guess that covers the basics.

Don't feel obligated to pigeon hole yourself into a heal-bot role. Illmater isn't the god of healing, he's a god of suffering. Anything that can be fluffed as wracking someone with pain, from Inflict Wounds to Hold Person is within your remit too; take a leaf out of the Ghost Riders book and do the whole "turn the evil they've done back on themselves" thing.

[Herobizkit]

In previous editions, Ilmater's favored weapon was the open hand, aka the unarmed strike.

Sailor background nets you Athletics proficiency. Here's what I'm thinking:

If your DM allows Variant Human, beef up your STR score and take Tavern Brawler as your free feat. Yes, this gives you a D4 Unarmed strike, modified by Strength. This also allows you to use any improvised weapon you like. Thirdly, this puts you in line for a Grappler build.

In short, anytime you hit someone with an unarmed strike (and that's a kick, punch, head-butt, elbow, whatever) or an improvised weapon (like a broom, chair, big rock or a crowbar), you get a free chance to Grapple. Roll an Athletics check (yup, NOT an attack roll) versus your opponent's Athletics or Acrobatics (their choice). You win, you get your mitts on 'em. Why is this important?

Next turn, you can either drag a guy away from your pals up to half your move away, or try and knock him over. As an attack, you can choose to Shove a guy - again, your Athletics v. their Athletics/Acrobatics. If they fail, you can choose to push a guy 5' away (over a railing, into a fire, off a cliff?) or knock him prone.

Thing is, when a Grappled character is prone, their move is reduced to 0. That means they can't stand up, as they need half their move to stand up from prone. THAT means that all your melee buds can now wail on the poor guy on the floor with Advantage while he takes Disadvantage when swinging.

Remember, you also don't have to kill someone when you knock them to 0 if you're using melee attacks, so be sure and announce that you K.O. your foes rather than murder them... and be sure to care for the suffering they've endured under your beefy man-muscles.

Pro-tip: you have two hands... you could grapple two people (in two rounds) and drag them both off. ^_^

Here's the full Grapper's Manual (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?468737-The-Grappler-s-Manual-(2-0)-Grappling-in-5th-Edition) in case you're interested.

[Drackolus]

Warding Bond is probably Ilmater's favorite spell. Be wary that it requires both the caster and the target to wear 50gp platinum rings.

[SMac8988]

Warding Bond is probably Ilmater's favorite spell. Be wary that it requires both the caster and the target to wear 50gp platinum rings.

Oh I really like that spell. We are starting level 7, so I may need to pick that up.

I also forgot I had an extra feat, I took war caster for my varient human. So maybe tavern brawler would be a nice pick up.

I'm having a hard time deciding his personality. With his past I figure dark and brooding but that isn't normally a terribly fub person to be. I considered a pessimist that tries to force himself to be an optimist but it just comes off as sarcasm. "That's great. I'm so glad we are surrounded." Stuff like that.

My dm allows for flexibility in the character up till the third session and this character was made on the spot, so I can change some stuff if needed.

[Plaguescarred]

You could also go with the Protection Domain from Unearthed Arcana: Cleric if you want, Illmater is listed as one of the deities granting it.

[SMac8988]

You could also go with the Protection Domain from Unearthed Arcana: Cleric if you want, Illmater is listed as one of the deities granting it.

Does it give anything worth the switch?

[Plaguescarred]

Does it give anything worth the switch?Both gets Bonus Proficiency with heavy armor then it's about how they deal with the problem, Life is all about healing after damage is taken while Protection mitigate attacks, grant resistance.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/cleric-divine-domains

[SMac8988]

Both gets Bonus Proficiency with heavy armor then it's about how they deal with the problem, Life is all about healing after damage is taken while Protection mitigate attacks, grant resistance.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/cleric-divine-domains

That could be really helpful. My group is a evocation wizard and a frenzy barb, hoping to add another but that's why I went heal bot. I gotta look into it more and see what else I can do.

Like I said, I've never played a cleric and honestly normally run melee dps, so this is a change for me.