How to build a cleric like a priest.

[Dankus Memakus]

So I've got a buddy who wants to play like a priest. He's never played before so i explained to him that d&d has a class like a cleric, but he said he wants to play an unarmored spellcaster, like a wizard but he wants it to be divine magic. So how can i build a cleric similar to a wizard as in a staff weilding robed holy man. Id tell him to not wear armor or use weapons but i think that would make his character a bit weak. Does anyone have ideas?

[Amazon]

So I've got a buddy who wants to play like a priest. He's never played before so i explained to him that d&d has a class like a cleric, but he said he wants to play an unarmored spellcaster, like a wizard but he wants it to be divine magic. So how can i build a cleric similar to a wizard as in a staff weilding robed holy man. Id tell him to not wear armor or use weapons but i think that would make his character a bit weak. Does anyone have ideas?

Why don't you try the "Archivist (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061212)"?

"Archivists seek out esoteric sources of divine lore, wherever those sources might be, securing those secrets for themselves and their fellow scholars."

[Dankus Memakus]

Why don't you try the "Archivist (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061212)"?

"Archivists seek out esoteric sources of divine lore, wherever those sources might be, securing those secrets for themselves and their fellow scholars."

Okay, im super bad at adapting stuff from 3.x to 5e because im only mildly experienced in anything before 4e so do you know of any homebrew that adapted this class for 5e.

[foolinc]

Assuming the group is fine with it, you could swap out the cleric's armor proficiencies for the monk's unarmored defense.

[Dankus Memakus]

Assuming the group is fine with it, you could swap out the cleric's armor proficiencies for the monk's unarmored defense.

Thats true. Ill talk with the group about that.

[JackOfAllBuilds]

Cleric works fine for priest, just focus on Wis, ranged spells, and maybe try to avoid the subclasses that add to weapon attacks at lvl 8.

If you're worried about AC being abysmal with Wis primary Dex/Con secondaries, maybe dip 1 level monk
(monastic priest?)

[Dankus Memakus]

Cleric works fine for priest, just focus on Wis, ranged spells, and maybe try to avoid the subclasses that add to weapon attacks at lvl 8.

If you're worried about AC being abysmal with Wis primary Dex/Con secondaries, maybe dip 1 level monk
(monastic priest?)

Thats what i suggested but he doesnt want to multiclass

[JackOfAllBuilds]

Robes of the Archmage, but add Cleric to the Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard attunement requirement?
It is legendary so I'd say hold it back til later levels.

Or as others have said, trade armor shield and weapon proficiencies for Unarmored defenses

Edit: wizard-ish spellcaster unarmored priest? Theurgist arcane tradition

[ZorroGames]

Amazon,

In your sig you say you want more strong women/female characters. There is nothing I see in 5th Edition (unlike earlier) that prevents such.

OP, Monks can be priests - I really suggest the one level dip - heck, now I am thinking of doing it in a character!

[Dankus Memakus]

Ill talk to my buddy, try to re convince him

[Luccan]

Are any of the Favored Soul Sorcerer's from UA divine? If so, one of those (keep in mind pretty much all of them are disliked and they all function differently, so you'll need to be clear which one is being used and be sure it fits your group.)

Edit: Alternately, if he's trying to play a western priest, most of them don't and didn't do combat. You could just remove his proficiency if he's concerned about it feeling authentic. Sorc and Wiz can survive without them and the cleric gets some defensive spells and more health. I would give him something in exchange though. Medieval clergy were the best scholars, so you could give him extra skill proficiency or something.

[Dankus Memakus]

Are any of the Favored Soul Sorcerer's from UA divine? If so, one of those (keep in mind pretty much all of them are disliked and they all function differently, so you'll need to be clear which one is being used and be sure it fits your group.)

Edit: Alternately, if he's trying to play a western priest, most of them don't and didn't do combat. You could just remove his proficiency if he's concerned about it feeling authentic. Sorc and Wiz can survive without them and the cleric gets some defensive spells and more health. I would give him something in exchange though. Medieval clergy were the best scholars, so you could give him extra skill proficiency or something.


Thats what i thought. I think he should have the ability to fill the skill monkey role.

[Luccan]

Thats what i thought. I think he should have the ability to fill the skill monkey role.

Some other advice, if he's gonna be a priest: Either Acolyte or Sage for a background (Acolyte for the church connection, Sage for more knowledge skills). I'm not sure he needs physical skills offered, but you could give him Investigation, other knowledge skills, and maybe Survival and Animal Handling as additional options if you think it's appropriate.

[Giegue]

As others have said, a Cleric works fine as a ranged caster. the Knowledge, Light and Arcane domains all make fine backrow spellcasters, though they do need medium armor to get anywhere near decent AC. That being said, Favored Soul is an option, and is likely the best for what he wants. There is also the theurgy wizard, which is strictly better than the Favored Soul mechanically but doesn't get to do anything particularly priestly until level 2 + when the wizard actually gains their archetype. However, at the same time, the theurgy wizard is vastly superior mechanically to the favored soul sorcerer, so if your starting at level 2 + then theurgy wizard is by far the best WOC-created option, while Favored Soul sorcerer is the best option by WOC if your starting at level 1.

Also, I am not going to lie...the main reason I felt obliged to post here because I wanted the same thing your friend did, and I made my own homebrew cleric domain to facilitate this exact thing. It's called, ironically enough, the Priest domain (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?520694-Divine-Domain-Priest-(Cloth-wearing-charismatic-preacher-for-5e-)), and it pretty much does everything your looking for. It takes the cleric, makes them into a robe-wearing spellcaster, and can focus on being either a healer (for priests of good deities) or a necromancer (for priests of evil deities), respectively. It also casting-stat swaps the Cleric from WIS to CHA, but lets them use WIS in place of DEX for AC (In fact, while unarmored and with no shield, their AC equals 13
+ WIS mod, and they lose their armor/shield proficiencies.) so if he wants the WIS for flavor, he will need it, and it makes the domain the only menal/mental class (as in you become CHA/WIS instead of WIS/DEX, WIS/STR or WIS/CON like most clerics.).

So, If your group is open to homebrew, this does pretty much exactly what your friend is looking for, and the forums said it was balanced enough so if your table is fine with it I'd certainly appreciate the playtest. If they are fine with everything but the casting stat change, just remove the casting-stat swap feature, replace it with a bonus proficiency in the priest's choice of persuasion or intimidation, and make the "armor of faith" feature work off CHA mod instead of WIS mod, re-flavoring it as the priest's conviction/zeal protecting him/her. If you do end up showing it to your friend and he likes it, and your group is ok with the homebrew, you are totally free to use it, just be sure to do me the favor of letting me know how it plays out in an actual game if/when you have the time. (though if this is an online or PBP game I'd certainly love to be able to sit in and see my subclass in action, though that is by no means required for you to use it.)

Hope my homebrew could be of use. Otherwise, if homebrew is off the table just have him Favored Soul or theurgy wizard it up, as it really does work the best for what he wants even if the flavor may not be entirely fitting.

[DragonSorcererX]

I would recommend either Favored Soul or that OP Theurge Wizard.

[stollfy]

Did this once and me and the Dm fluffed up a studded leather armor as battle robes same could be done for any armor. So that way he doesn't fall behind if he doesn't want the one level dip in monk

[Sir cryosin]

Has he picked a race yet? If not he can play a vhuman feat magic initiative. Go wizard pick mage armor as 1st lv spell. Cantrips mage hand and prestidigitation. And if he is still feeling squishy he can just add 2ac with shield of faith.

[Findulidas]

I think it would be much harder to balance than what you initially think. I would just say to him that there currently is no such class and he would just have to pick life, knowledge or arcane cleric, which is what he wants except in medium armor.

Otherwise you would have to pick the wizard and change all the spells for divine ones which would leave him with less good spells than the normal wizard.

Its also good to point out that you cant really be an effective PC as a dedicated healer in 5e. Its much better to do something else and also have healing spells prepared when it needed.

[ZorroGames]

I think it would be much harder to balance than what you initially think. I would just say to him that there currently is no such class and he would just have to pick life, knowledge or arcane cleric, which is what he wants except in medium armor.

Otherwise you would have to pick the wizard and change all the spells for divine ones which would leave him with less good spells than the normal wizard.

Its also good to point out that you cant really be an effective PC as a dedicated healer in 5e. Its much better to do something else and also have healing spells prepared when it needed.

Yeah, agree but sometimes you can only say, "I don't advise that course," then let the player try it. Might work.

[Theodoxus]

Eh, I'd swap the armor profs for unarmored defense - you're looking at a max of 20 AC with a 20 in Dex and Wisdom. Something that will take time to accomplish (a lot longer than Plate and Shield for a typical heavy armored cleric). And, given that the best magic item for him are bracers of defence, that only provide a +2 AC bonus - you're looking at a max of 24 (with Bracers and Shield of Faith) - and that's going to be most likely third tier game play... where, for instance, my 9th level Life Cleric with +1 Plate and +1 shield could do the same thing (and it was a pretty hefty investment on my part to just get that...)

So yeah, UD is far from OP...

[Dankus Memakus]

As others have said, a Cleric works fine as a ranged caster. the Knowledge, Light and Arcane domains all make fine backrow spellcasters, though they do need medium armor to get anywhere near decent AC. That being said, Favored Soul is an option, and is likely the best for what he wants. There is also the theurgy wizard, which is strictly better than the Favored Soul mechanically but doesn't get to do anything particularly priestly until level 2 + when the wizard actually gains their archetype. However, at the same time, the theurgy wizard is vastly superior mechanically to the favored soul sorcerer, so if your starting at level 2 + then theurgy wizard is by far the best WOC-created option, while Favored Soul sorcerer is the best option by WOC if your starting at level 1.

Also, I am not going to lie...the main reason I felt obliged to post here because I wanted the same thing your friend did, and I made my own homebrew cleric domain to facilitate this exact thing. It's called, ironically enough, the Priest domain (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?520694-Divine-Domain-Priest-(Cloth-wearing-charismatic-preacher-for-5e-)), and it pretty much does everything your looking for. It takes the cleric, makes them into a robe-wearing spellcaster, and can focus on being either a healer (for priests of good deities) or a necromancer (for priests of evil deities), respectively. It also casting-stat swaps the Cleric from WIS to CHA, but lets them use WIS in place of DEX for AC (In fact, while unarmored and with no shield, their AC equals 13
+ WIS mod, and they lose their armor/shield proficiencies.) so if he wants the WIS for flavor, he will need it, and it makes the domain the only menal/mental class (as in you become CHA/WIS instead of WIS/DEX, WIS/STR or WIS/CON like most clerics.).

So, If your group is open to homebrew, this does pretty much exactly what your friend is looking for, and the forums said it was balanced enough so if your table is fine with it I'd certainly appreciate the playtest. If they are fine with everything but the casting stat change, just remove the casting-stat swap feature, replace it with a bonus proficiency in the priest's choice of persuasion or intimidation, and make the "armor of faith" feature work off CHA mod instead of WIS mod, re-flavoring it as the priest's conviction/zeal protecting him/her. If you do end up showing it to your friend and he likes it, and your group is ok with the homebrew, you are totally free to use it, just be sure to do me the favor of letting me know how it plays out in an actual game if/when you have the time. (though if this is an online or PBP game I'd certainly love to be able to sit in and see my subclass in action, though that is by no means required for you to use it.)

Hope my homebrew could be of use. Otherwise, if homebrew is off the table just have him Favored Soul or theurgy wizard it up, as it really does work the best for what he wants even if the flavor may not be entirely fitting.

We used yoir homebrew for about 6 hours yesterday, it worked quite well, the player wasnt too squishy and he was happy with his abilities thank you so much for this, and i will say, nicely made class.

[Giegue]

Glad to know my homebrew was of help! Once I playtest it a bit more myself, I think I may make it into a nice looking pdf and possibly throw it up on the DM's guild, so it can do some more people some good....it seems there is more of a need for this kind of thing in the game then I first assumed when I made it, since it was really just made for myself/my personal playgroup. Again, I am happy to know that it all worked out and if the game keeps going feel free to tell me how it holds up at higher levels!

Also, just out of curosity, did he keep Charisma as his casting stat, or did you apply the changes I listed and keep it as a wisdom caster, but using Cha instead of Wis for it's AC boost? I ask because I want to know whether or not the casting stat swap strikes people as too strange for an archetype, or if it actually worked out well.

[MrStabby]

I would recommend the lore bard. Great class for a preacher. Charisma based for moving sermons, healing powers, support abilities. Expertise for things like persuasion and intimidation (if you want to play the hellfire and damnation side of a priest). The overlap with the cleric list covers a lot - magical secrets lets the character pick up other cleric spells to fill a gap of some "domain" spells to flesh out a concept. Song of rest, bardic (divine) inspiration and similar all work well as a priest.

[Giegue]

He specifically didn't want armor, and bards usually like at least leather, if not studded leather. Likewise, while the bard is a great option if it can be heavily refluffed, not every DM is keen on allowing players to drastically refluff a class as drastically as the bard would have to be refluffed to feel even remotely "priestly", let alone describing armor as robes. Refluffing is great, but not every table allows it or really even grasps the concept that a "bard" does not have to be, you know, a bard. Without knowing what his table is like, recommending dramatic reskins of classes is just something I do not feel comfortable with, since unlike some players I know what it's like to play with groups that don't allow or even grasp the idea of reskinning classes. Thus, recommending the Theurge wizard or Favored Soul Sorcerer is the "safest" bet here, even if the bard reskinned would be mechanically stronger for the concept.

Either way, the OP's concerns have been addressed to his liking. He's using my priest domain cleric homebrew, and likes it quite a bit. It remains to be seen how it will hold up at higher levels, but since we're in contact through this forum I can suggest quick patches for high level play if the homebrew needs it.

[kingheff1]

It's could be a lot of work but home-brewing some decent new spells and restricting them to no armour and simple type weapons.
The easiest way might be to re-flavour other class spells such as lightning bolt but with radiant damage in place of lightning damage or take bard spells for a more buff focused priest.

[RickAllison]

I also agree with the Bard suggestion. The armor will be fine as the priest will only wear it while traveling in dangerous territory, and it is less thick armor than a protective traveling clothes. Let the priest play up that he doesn't like wearing the armor because it feels like he doesn't trust in his deity's protection. For spells:

1st: Cure Wounds, Healing Word, Heroism (blessing a person with your god's favor), Charm Person (the scripture is very persuasive)

2nd: Calm Emotions, Enthrall, Lesser Restoration, Zone of Truth (God is watching...)

3rd: Fear, Tongues, Bestow Curse

The Bard list has so many spells that are perfect for an itinerant priest, and Song of Rest and Bardic Inspiration are perfect as the priest singing a hymn or reading inspiring scripture passages.

Monks and scholars are the ones who are pure Wisdom, those who read the word of the deity continually and are expected to be fonts of divine wisdom. Priests need to be wise enough to counsel their flock, but also to guide and keep their flock while temptations and fear abound. It takes great Charisma to inspire faith when life seems set on crushing the masses, but that is when a priest is most expected to convince them of divine aid.

[Dudu]

I'd settle with a knowledge cleric, really. Wield a quarterstaff.

He says no to multiclass (what a demanding guy), so scratch the monk multiclassing.

Rework is always easy too. A light cleric who loses his medium armor prof and shield for monklike AC. Or switch medium armor prof for something more creative than raw AC. To achieve a priest the rework could be light enough.

[Belzyk]

Unearthed arcana 5e sorcerer specialty being the favored soul..... it's a divine caster who's cloth and unarmored. And casts divine magic

[Theodoxus]

He specifically didn't want armor, and bards usually like at least leather, if not studded leather. Likewise, while the bard is a great option if it can be heavily refluffed, not every DM is keen on allowing players to drastically refluff a class as drastically as the bard would have to be refluffed to feel even remotely "priestly", let alone describing armor as robes. Refluffing is great, but not every table allows it or really even grasps the concept that a "bard" does not have to be, you know, a bard. Without knowing what his table is like, recommending dramatic reskins of classes is just something I do not feel comfortable with, since unlike some players I know what it's like to play with groups that don't allow or even grasp the idea of reskinning classes. Thus, recommending the Theurge wizard or Favored Soul Sorcerer is the "safest" bet here, even if the bard reskinned would be mechanically stronger for the concept.

Either way, the OP's concerns have been addressed to his liking. He's using my priest domain cleric homebrew, and likes it quite a bit. It remains to be seen how it will hold up at higher levels, but since we're in contact through this forum I can suggest quick patches for high level play if the homebrew needs it.

I really like your take. The only real drawback I see is lack of at will damage. It's not a build you want to be frontlining with. I would probably grant Chill Touch to the Unholy and either Vicious Mockery (for a different save) or Firebolt (for an AC attack) to Holy.

Regarding Wis vs Cha - I agree that whatever the casting stat is, the AC should be opposite, just to keep from making it too SAD. The advantage of Wis as casting, is you're not getting better mileage from Spellsniper/Magic initiate, which would let you grab some decent spells from the Bard/Sorcerer/Warlock lists. (One reason I suggest granting another Cleric based attack cantrip is to avoid the desire to dip or take feats for Cha based casters.)

I might be wishfully thinking about older systems, but I really like the 3.P cloistered priest. Which the Knowledge domain emulates very well, though the medium armor goes against the spirit of that class... I think an unarmored feat would work well for such niche builds. Not sure exactly how it would work... I'd still prefer a more modular take when it comes to Cleric weapon and armor proficiencies... Allowing the player to choose UD (Wis/Dex) or Med Armor+Shield, with Heavy reserved for Tempest and War only (Life, (and Nature even more so) just feel weird getting heavy proficiency).

[Findulidas]

Unearthed arcana 5e sorcerer specialty being the favored soul..... it's a divine caster who's cloth and unarmored. And casts divine magic

Its also the most op subclass there is, banned by many people.

Choosing the sorc, you get less spells but awesome modifiers you can put on the ones you have.

Subclass favored soul. Gives loads of spells and also awesome features. No.

[MrStabby]

Its also the most op subclass there is, banned by many people.

Choosing the sorc, you get less spells but awesome modifiers you can put on the ones you have.

Subclass favored soul. Gives loads of spells and also awesome features. No.

Actually the latest version is ok (to me anyway). It was the early version that gave loads more spell known that was screwy-broken.

[Findulidas]

Actually the latest version is ok (to me anyway). It was the early version that gave loads more spell known that was screwy-broken.

Fair enough, I didnt know they had updated it.

[coredump]

Magic Initiate: Mage Armor

Done.

Or let MA be a domain spell

[Giegue]

I really like your take. The only real drawback I see is lack of at will damage. It's not a build you want to be frontlining with. I would probably grant Chill Touch to the Unholy and either Vicious Mockery (for a different save) or Firebolt (for an AC attack) to Holy.

Regarding Wis vs Cha - I agree that whatever the casting stat is, the AC should be opposite, just to keep from making it too SAD. The advantage of Wis as casting, is you're not getting better mileage from Spellsniper/Magic initiate, which would let you grab some decent spells from the Bard/Sorcerer/Warlock lists. (One reason I suggest granting another Cleric based attack cantrip is to avoid the desire to dip or take feats for Cha based casters.)

I might be wishfully thinking about older systems, but I really like the 3.P cloistered priest. Which the Knowledge domain emulates very well, though the medium armor goes against the spirit of that class... I think an unarmored feat would work well for such niche builds. Not sure exactly how it would work... I'd still prefer a more modular take when it comes to Cleric weapon and armor proficiencies... Allowing the player to choose UD (Wis/Dex) or Med Armor+Shield, with Heavy reserved for Tempest and War only (Life, (and Nature even more so) just feel weird getting heavy proficiency).


Yeah, if I keep the casting stat as Wis (Which I am highly considering, BTW), the Cha-based AC worries me as being too good a dip for Bards and Sorcerers. If you don't think it is then I may go that route, otherwise I'll keep it as a Cha caster and have the AC work on Wis. Either way, the free cantrip is a good call. If the OP is still reading this you can let your friend know that I'll be making that errata if he wants to use/apply it.

[Naanomi]

Lore Bard with the acolyte background; choose whatever iconic cleric spells you want with your bard bonuses?

[Potato_Priest]

You could also just tell your player to not worry about armor and go without it if he wants to. There's no rule saying that you must have a decent armor class, and when he gets to high levels the armor won't really matter anyway. (not when enemies are throwing saves out like candy and have +16 to hit)

[KorvinStarmast]

What about the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide Arcana Class cleric was unappealing?

[MeeposFire]

Just play whatever cleric works best and just not wear armor. If you don't want to wear armor then don't. Yea you won't have a good AC but that is what the player really wants right? If not and you want to make the character have a decent AC create a nice thematic version of mage armor or something similar. Stay away from melee much like a sorcerer and it should work okay.

Lore bard is actually a great option and realize that some types of armor can be worn under your robes or again just do not wear any armor which nets you a -1 or 2 to your AC but you will live with careful play.