nmitchell2
2018-03-02, 04:35 AM
A bastard child of a Dwarven noble family is eventually driven to leave out of frustration at the expectations placed upon his shoulders despite the obvious lack of respect compared to his half-brothers. On his travels through a small human settlement, he finds a small shrine to Caylen Cailean at the inn he stayed the night at. The beliefs and ideals preached by this god struck a chord with the Dwarf, who set about finding out as much as he can about 'the accidental god'. The more he learned, the more inspired he felt and the more motivated he became to worship and follow the gods teachings. Now, he is a fully fledged cleric of Caylen Cailean who adventures and celebrates in his name.
The family that this Dwarf came from lives close to an entrance to the uppermost layer of the Darklands and are often charged with defending their lands against Duergar attacks, hence this Dwarf adopting the Spell Smasher racial trait. He was given the same combat training as his half-brothers and was one of the best among them, despite the punishment for failure being much harsher for him, hence my decision to start with 1-2 levels of Fighter. He wasn't trusted with a lot of the responsibilities that his half-brothers were and had more time to indulge in casual pastimes, one of which was reading and learning about the other races and monsters in the world, he will have the Lore Warden archetype of Fighter. In keeping with his responsibility to help defend the lands owned by his family against Duerger, he had a weapon of his choice forged, he wields a Dwarven Longhammer.
From a game mechanics standpoint, the decision to start Fighter gives me an early leg up on the feats race and the Lore Warden archetype gives me two additional skill ranks in knowledge-based skills; I should be useful in the early game both in and out of combat and the benefits of this dip will continue to be useful throughout the game. It won't make up for the slowed spell progression but the Magical Knack trait makes sure the spells I do have are as effective as they can be. I will also have the Fate's Favoured trait because Divine Favour and later Divine Power. I will be taking the Travel domain and the Ferocity subdomain of Strength.
The part I am struggling with the most is feat selection. Early on I need Combat Reflexes and Power Attack to function, I kinda need Toughness and Improved Initiative as well, I want Steel Soul. My 11th level feat (Cleric level 9) is Sacred Summons, I really want Superior Summoning as well which is at the end of a 3-feat chain. Lunge at level 9 is great, Dazing Assault at level 15 is amazing. Quicken Spell and Quick Draw with a (Lesser) Rod of Quicken is something I want to try out in the mid-levels. I don't know how to fit it all in early enough, even with a two level dip in Fighter.
I would also like some advice for spells; I know I want Divine Favour and/or Divine Power prepped along with things like Greater Magic Weapon and Magic Vestment. I know 5th level spells are kinda crowded with Summon Monster V and Wall of Stone, 6th level spells are even more crowded with Heal and Summon Monster VI. Do I prep random things like Comprehend Languages on the off chance it will be useful and convert it to a Cure Light Wounds if not? This isn't even taking into account domain spells like Enlarge Person and Longstrider, Fly and all sorts of teleportation spells. Help?
The family that this Dwarf came from lives close to an entrance to the uppermost layer of the Darklands and are often charged with defending their lands against Duergar attacks, hence this Dwarf adopting the Spell Smasher racial trait. He was given the same combat training as his half-brothers and was one of the best among them, despite the punishment for failure being much harsher for him, hence my decision to start with 1-2 levels of Fighter. He wasn't trusted with a lot of the responsibilities that his half-brothers were and had more time to indulge in casual pastimes, one of which was reading and learning about the other races and monsters in the world, he will have the Lore Warden archetype of Fighter. In keeping with his responsibility to help defend the lands owned by his family against Duerger, he had a weapon of his choice forged, he wields a Dwarven Longhammer.
From a game mechanics standpoint, the decision to start Fighter gives me an early leg up on the feats race and the Lore Warden archetype gives me two additional skill ranks in knowledge-based skills; I should be useful in the early game both in and out of combat and the benefits of this dip will continue to be useful throughout the game. It won't make up for the slowed spell progression but the Magical Knack trait makes sure the spells I do have are as effective as they can be. I will also have the Fate's Favoured trait because Divine Favour and later Divine Power. I will be taking the Travel domain and the Ferocity subdomain of Strength.
The part I am struggling with the most is feat selection. Early on I need Combat Reflexes and Power Attack to function, I kinda need Toughness and Improved Initiative as well, I want Steel Soul. My 11th level feat (Cleric level 9) is Sacred Summons, I really want Superior Summoning as well which is at the end of a 3-feat chain. Lunge at level 9 is great, Dazing Assault at level 15 is amazing. Quicken Spell and Quick Draw with a (Lesser) Rod of Quicken is something I want to try out in the mid-levels. I don't know how to fit it all in early enough, even with a two level dip in Fighter.
I would also like some advice for spells; I know I want Divine Favour and/or Divine Power prepped along with things like Greater Magic Weapon and Magic Vestment. I know 5th level spells are kinda crowded with Summon Monster V and Wall of Stone, 6th level spells are even more crowded with Heal and Summon Monster VI. Do I prep random things like Comprehend Languages on the off chance it will be useful and convert it to a Cure Light Wounds if not? This isn't even taking into account domain spells like Enlarge Person and Longstrider, Fly and all sorts of teleportation spells. Help?