Cleric of Heironeous

[haplot]

Soon I'm going to be playing a cleric of Heironeous and would love some pointers. Firstly, for some RP ideas for backstory etc. Secondly, traits etc for actually playing a cleric of Heironeous (ie they all about honour and chivelry etc?) And lastly, should I change my last feat and equipment from Combat casting to two weapon fighting.

Str 13, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 18, Char 17. Female btw. Starting out at lvl 3. Domains Inquisition and War

Maxed out skills for concentration, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), and Spellcraft.

Currently equiped with a MW longsword, MW heavy steel shield, and a magic breastplate, plus assorted travelling gear. Got a mount too, so was wondering about picking up Mounted Combat at some point.

As for stat increases, Str will be going up, as will Cha and Dex, order of which depending on how i feel at lvl 4, and how combat is going.

if i dont go down the mounted combat route, was thinking of trading in my mount and getting some sort of house instead considering how much I spent on barding and saddle etc.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[Florian]

Their main shtick is "romantic chivalry". That means they understand that "chivalry" and "Honor" come in many forms, from Knights to Paladins to Samurai, as well as that Honor can mean a lot, from a paladins code to a blackguards code. They also see and understand the appeal the "pragmatic chivalry" as proposed by Hector has.

So, "romantic chivalry" is more in the vain of the original King Artus (by Mallory). It sets a standard on what a "proper knight" should be and how he should conduct his affairs, showing by doing that this kind of behavior is the right one, always better for the greater good than the ruthless pragmatism that other versions of chivalry offer.

So, for RP, it´s always you first duty to be a fully functioning combatant and professional about it.
Beyond that, you want to showcase why your believes are better, for the individual as well as overall society. You respect your peers. You engage in courtly acticity. You´re a student of the arts and value learning, and so on.

I can only be a bit vague about the concrete build, my 3.5E days are long over, I just chimed in because I used to play a similar character back in the days.

Mainly basing it on a Cleric and aiming for the UA Prestige Paladin is not the worst thing you can do. Mounted Combat ain´t bad, but you will want to have the special mount, else you´ll have too many horses die beneath you by simple fireballs. The usual DMM Persist shenanigans will actually work fine when you want to focus more on CHA over WIS.
That leaves skills and part of that is a bit influenced by how your GM sees some of them, especially Profession. Profession (Soldier) has some blanket abilities that are tied to that profession, check that out.

[haplot]

Many thanks.

Your feedback is very much appreciated.

[ATHATH]

You might want to pick up Divine Metamagic (Persist) and use it on Divine Power.

Dipping into Prestige Paladin (for a single level) and/or going into the Ordained Champion PrC seems like a good option.

[Gildedragon]

You might want to pick up Divine Metamagic (Persist) and use it on Divine Power.

Dipping into Prestige Paladin (for a single level) and/or going into the Ordained Champion PrC seems like a good option.

I'd do a 2 dip in PrePal, get the Serenity feat.
Swap Dex and Cha
Also re. Armor: luminous armor and GLArmor are probably better. For pluses use bracers of armor + magic vestment

As to clerics of Hieroneous:
I think there's a core beliefs article in a Dragmag
Remember
Good is Good.
Right is Might.
From each according to their capacity.

When you come before your god you want to be able to stand right and proud and say: I did what I could and no less.
There is no greater shame to know that one stood idly by while evil ran rampant and the structures that protect all of us fell.

[Maximum Carnage]

The three cardinal rules of Heironeous as I understand them are as follows (from most to least important.):

1. People - protect the people and uphold the rules of law. Watch out for the week, and keep in check the tyrannical.

2. Evil - destroy evil where it resides, and do not fall victim to it's dark temptations.

3. Woman - uphold chivalry and treat women as equals.

Like I said, that's how I understand it, and depending on your GM, you may or may not have to clothe every beggar, destroy every lich, and swoon over every woman, but that's just a basic guide. I'm sure you could go into as much depth as you want.

[haplot]

Thanks for the replies, its very much appreciated.

Havent tried this type of cleric before, usually play healbots for clerics and thought id try something a lil different.

I can see RPing it will be fun, with the chivious (sp?) behaviour. Only thing is, im playing a female character :D

Hadnt thought about dipping into Paladin so all good

Thanks again

[ATHATH]

Hadnt thought about dipping into Paladin so all good
Prestige Paladin, not normal Paladin.

[haplot]

Duley noted, thank you

[Thurbane]

There is the code of the Knight Protector from UA/SRD:


Code of the Knight Protector
The Knight Protectors, a loose organization of chivalric-minded warriors described in Complete Warrior, hold to this code of honor. It makes a fine code for lawful knights.
Courage and enterprise in obedience to the Order.
Defense of any mission unto death.
Respect for all peers and equals; courtesy to all lessers.
Combat is glory; battle is the true test of self-worth; war is the flowering of the chivalric ideal.
Personal glory above all else in battle.
Death before dishonor.

http://dndsrd.net/unearthedHonor.html#sample-codes-of-honor

[Florian]

@haplot:

We´re talking about the "Prestige Paladin" here. A lot of people complained that the Paladin fluff and actual class don´t really match. It´s a bit hard to imagine someone being chosen by "Good" to be their champion for their acts, when a level 1 character hasn't´t acted at all until the first session starts.
So WotC went on to recreate the Paladin to be a PrC, so the crunch finally fits the fluff. You can find it here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/prestigiousCharacterClasses.htm

Notice that you need ranks in "Knowledge: Nobility and Royalty" as well as Mounted Combat as prereqs, so that fits the overall fluff and character concept.

Persistent Spell is a meta-magic feat that allows you to extend a spells duration up to 24h. Divine Meta Magic is a feat that let´s you sacrifice uses of Turn Undead to "pay for" the additional spell levels with uses of Turn Undead instead of increasing the spell level. You usually activate what you think is best for the day, from Divine Power for a combat-heavy day to some social or divination spell for court/intrigue day, and so on.

Female "knights" are actually no real problem. It´s important to understand that the feudal system was based on fealty and continuation of bloodlines as "contract holders", something that is not a thing in D&D.

[haplot]

I'd have to say you guys are amazing.

Sooo much info and brilliant things to read up on.

You guys rock.

[Florian]

Ok, some final tipps, because you wrote that you´ve always played the Healbot role so far.

Playing it like this, you´re 1) Teamplayer 2) Solo Combatant 3) Healing Support. Because yes, you´re still basing it on a cleric.

Make sure that you always prep some group buffs like Bless, Magic Circle against Evil or Good Hope.
Reserve some Divine Favor and similar spells for yourself, but make sure to always prep at least one slot with the most important restorative spells, beginning with Lesser Restoration.

Keep in mind that you always can spontaneously swap a slot for a cure spell, so no need to prep one.

What you´re not is a healer and especially not an in-combat healer. As long as you´re still standing in battle, there´s hope of victory, you can always revive the fallen after battle.

Get comfy with using a Wand of CLW and Lesser Vigor, but be skeptical about you being in charge to pay for it. If others can´t hold themselves in battle, that isn´t your responsibility. But don´t fret about healing them afterwards.

[Gildedragon]

Possibly get Craft Contingent Spell and get everyone to pitch into getting a Revivify... Or Revenance slapped on.
Party incantatrix can persist-extend revenance. You'll revivify them in a couple day's time (or keep revenance-ing them until one can get the diamonds)