Ogre Mage Cleric

[Skjaldbakka]

I am running an Ogre Mage with 4 levels of cleric as an antagonist. how do I get the most out of those cleric levels? with only 4 levels of cleric, most of his threat is coming from being an ogre mage. should I reserve spells for healing? What are the good buffs for the ogre mage to cast from cleric? any other advice there?

[arguskos]

Why only 4 levels? If he had another level, he'd have 3rd level casting which would help out somewhat.

Also, what are his Domains? They might be relevant.

[Wizard of the Coat]

Assuming 3.5 here and keeping to the SRD I'd say the stat boosts (eagle's splendor) are excelent for they increase the DC of his special abilities.

You coul really use this with the flavour of being a cleric, stating that he invites the favour of his gods to strengthen his abilities.

Still I'd give the ogre mage a few more levels of it, like 7. You clould consider cleric a non associated level, so he'd get 2 of them for every point the CR went up (capped at the Ogre mages own natural Hd, bus still good enough to make the total CR of the Ogre mage no higher then 11 and a half). That would give him the spell 'imbue with spell ability' which is a great thing for an ogre mage. Using his natural charm he'd be able to give his minnions some minor spellcasting.

Example encounter would be a few charmed peasants attacking the PC's with the invisible mage standing back as the PC's try to subdue the peasants. Once a peasant starts casting cleric spells they might think of them as cultist (if you flesh out the scenario enough that's certainly believable) and slay them. Naturally the heroes won't be loved quite so much when the other villagers hear about the slaying of their loved ones...with only the PC's words that these people were using unholy magics.

The local lords might get involved too to punish them, or a group of paladins might want a word.

Ogre mages make great schemers in the background, naturally invisible, charm, shapechange etc...

[MammonAzrael]

Depending on the alignment of the party, Protection from Good/Law could be quite good.

Can it spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells?

• The animal buffs are always a nice bonus.
• Death Knell could work, even if it would be a giant d*ck move.
• Hold Person is always a strong option.
• Resist Energy is good if your players make heavy use of elemental damage.
• Shatter is another fun d*ck spell, to break the wizard's Spell component pouch, or the cleric's holy symbol.
• Silence could be devastating.
• Sound Burst could be useful if your players are heavy on ganging up in melee (and low on Fort saves)
• Spiritual Weapon is a decent option.

[Skjaldbakka]

That was some great advice, thanks guys. Resist Energy on this guy will be great idea.

[trehek]

Going for stat buffing spells and some nice select domain powers is probably a good idea, since the cleric level is still pretty low.


If you have the Spell Compendium, some nice extra 1st and 2nd level spells could be:

*Living Undeath, -4 cha & crit/sneak immunity on Touch, 1 mins/level. Good to buff some ally.
*Sign, 10 mins/level, +4 on next Initiative roll. Nice passive bonus.
*Close Wounds, Cures 1d4 points +1/level, Immediate action even on another's turn. Great use of cleric power while focusing on Ogre Mage main powers. Also, soaking up some potentially lethal damage as an interrupt is always nice.

[Zaq]

Either give him a spy network (so he can see the PCs coming and buff accordingly) or prepare spells with lengthy durations that you can be expected to already have on when the PCs meet him. The action economy is usually against enemies to begin with, so spending precious turns buffing up is a bad idea. Maybe give the players a chance to stop this process without knowing it... for example, have one of the group of mooks they fight before him run away (at the first sign of combat, ideally) to warn him that adventurers are coming, and thus he buffs himself accordingly. Have a trap with a silent Alarm spell that tells him trouble's on the way. Something like that. Be sure to justify it (some players get really pissy, justifiably so, when their opponent is just sitting around with all his nice short-duration buffs on even if they get a surprise round), but be sure to give him the chance to cast what you need. You won't have a chance in battle to cast Eagle's Splendor, but forewarned is forearmed.