Follow up to Anima Mage

[rgrekejin]

I'm playing in a campaign in which I'm playing a character who is using the Divine adaptation of the Anima Mage class from the Tome of Magic. I entered the class as a Cleric 3/Binder 1 using the Improved Binding feat to qualify for being able to bind 2nd level vestiges, and I got Extend Spell from the Planning Domain (my other domain is Inquisition). I've mostly been using the Vestige Metamagic ability to further the Divine Metamagic/Persistent Spell shenanigans I've already got going on. The thing is, I'm about to run out of levels in Anima Mage, and I'm wondering what to take now. For various campaign-related reasons, Tenebrous Apostate is out (and I'm good-aligned anyway). Legacy Champion is of questionable legality even if I had a legacy weapon, which I don't. If I can't convince my DM to let me homebrew a class that continues advancing both Binder and Cleric levels a la Anima Mage, what would be best for me to take? Presumably I'd prefer to continue advancing my Cleric casting levels rather than my Binder powers, so is there a good Cleric prestige class I could take that would combo well with what I've already got? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Psyren]

Contemplative is usually a good choice to finish up Cleric builds as it basically gives you more cleric. Paragnostic Apostle isn't bad either.

Ur-Priest might be a better choice than Cleric though since you can get 9 levels of casting in 10 levels, giving you more room for Binding; the fluff synergy is also very strong.

[Akal Saris]

The ideal solution would be to work with the DM to homebrew a version of Tenebrous Apostate for whichever vestige your character is closely aligned with, but obviously that depends on how flexible your DM is about such things.

James Jacobs (lead designer for Pathfinder and a former 3.5 designer) shared one of his home campaign vestiges a while back, as well as a cleric PrC based around Wee Jas for it. If your DM is willing, perhaps this could be an option, or an inspiration for how to homebrew a Tenebrous Apostate variant.
https://forgotten-realmsd20.obsidianportal.com/wikis/the-green-lady
http://alcyius.com/USRD/srd/classes/prestigeDunmag/apostleOfTheGreenLady.html

Otherwise, I'd agree with Contemplative being a good default '1 level or 6' option. Paragnostic Apostle and Ruathar are easy to qualify for. Church Inquisitor as well (though the domain would be wasted on you). Most other options either lose more caster levels or are from Eberron/Forgotten Realms sourcebooks that might not apply to your game (Bone Knight, Sovereign Speaker, etc.)

[Dagroth]

The ideal solution would be to work with the DM to homebrew a version of Tenebrous Apostate for whichever vestige your character is closely aligned with, but obviously that depends on how flexible your DM is about such things.

James Jacobs (lead designer for Pathfinder and a former 3.5 designer) shared one of his home campaign vestiges a while back, as well as a cleric PrC based around Wee Jas for it. If your DM is willing, perhaps this could be an option, or an inspiration for how to homebrew a Tenebrous Apostate variant.
https://forgotten-realmsd20.obsidianportal.com/wikis/the-green-lady
http://alcyius.com/USRD/srd/classes/prestigeDunmag/apostleOfTheGreenLady.html

Otherwise, I'd agree with Contemplative being a good default '1 level or 6' option. Paragnostic Apostle and Ruathar are easy to qualify for. Church Inquisitor as well (though the domain would be wasted on you). Most other options either lose more caster levels or are from Eberron/Forgotten Realms sourcebooks that might not apply to your game (Bone Knight, Sovereign Speaker, etc.)

I believe the rules state that if you already have a Domain that a Prestige Class grants you, you get to pick a different domain offered by your deity (or that fits in your ethos, if you don't follow a specific deity).