Strange Aeons: Cleric Help

[Arassuil]

Well, here is the (kind of) long story. Here is the background:

Campaign Background:

I asked for advice for a Cleric for a group of 3 player, in which we'd be going through Carrion Crown. We had one session, and in between sessions, the GM decided he'd rather run Strange Aeons.

So, I started making up a new Cleric and Oracle (couldn't decide which). I narrowed it down to one build of each. All well and good.

Here is the curve ball though: The GM was talking about running through Baldur's Gate with a group of Halflings and Gnomes.

Player 1 (Fan of small races): Oh, I wish we could convince everyone to do that for Strange Aeons.
Player 2 (Me): Well, I don't normally play small races, but I'm up for it if Player 3 is ok.
Player 3: Sure, why not?

I'm not used to playing a Cleric/Oracle as a small race *sigh*. So I quickly rolled up a Cleric...

So, I rolled up a Gnome Cleric of Desna. We got a 25 point buy. So I went with the 13,13,13,13,13,16 stat array, made the Cleric middle age, and had the following stats:

STR: 10
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 14
CHA: 19

Feat: Selective Channeling (will be retraining this out for something else when we get some down time, I think).

I grabbed the Liberation and Travel domains, and gave up the Agile Feet power in order to grab Desna's Divine Fighting Technique from Divine Anthology (Desna's Shooting Star: CHA for attack and damage rolls with a Starknife). He's currently 2nd level now.

My plan was to focus on group buffing/support, and be an occasional melee attacker when needed.

Our group consists of a Halfling Rogue (CRB), a Gnome Titan Mauler Barbarian, my Cleric, and a DM-NPC Gnome Fighter (fights with a Gnome Hooked Hammer).

It went well so far, except when we ran into something that incapacitated the party (paralyzed), except for my Cleric. Thanks to some smart tactical play (retreating back to a doorway so that enemies would have to attack me single file; fight defensively action) for a few rounds until the paralysis wore off.

I was planning on multiclassing into Lore Oracle at 3rd, and grabbing the Sidestep Secret Revelation, as well as Extra Revelation (Focused Trance). I already took Magical Knack (Cleric) to make it sting less to multiclass as a Cleric.

Now, I'm thinking whether I need to be better suited for melee based upon recent events. But I'm not sure how much I can optimize a Gnome melee Cleric, even with Desna's Shooting Star. Any advice is certainly appreciated.

(Since he's level 2, it would be anything that can be done via Retraining when we get some down time, plus any future plans past level 2).

[avr]

The Channeling Force feat (not to be confused with Channel Force or Forceful Channel) is a relatively cheap way to increase your melee ability as a cleric. Of course sidestep secret will also increase it by adding 3 points of AC & more later on.

If you want to do more than that in melee it gets tricky with those stats. It might be best to just get scribe scroll and so make sure you have remove paralysis and other such condition removals available.

[Gummy Bear]

IMO, your party had some bad luck. With 2 dedicated frontliners and a rogue (no weapon specified), you shouldn't need to consistently wade into melee. Your focus of buffing/support should still be your focus.

Without further details, it seems to me that your party should just try to build those saving throws up a little. One thing you can do is prepare 'remove X' spells. Taking Scribe Scroll as a feat could go a long way in making sure that you always have a vital removal spell when you need it.

Being tanky never hurts, but personally I wouldn't dedicate myself to becoming better at melee.

[Arassuil]

Channeling Force was certainly a feat I was looking at as a possibility to take. Turn some of my channels into extra melee damage when I may need it. Another option was Bless Equipment plus upgrades. Good for a support function as well.

I suppose some bad luck might have been involved. Part of the reason why I took the Liberation domain was for Remove Fear at 1st and Remove Paralysis at 2nd. Both really good condition removal spells. Just wasn't high enough for Remove Paralysis.

I might take Scribe Scroll as either my 3rd level or 5th level feats:

1) Selective Channeling (retrained out to Channeling Force at 4th+)
3) Extra Revelation (Focused Trance) OR Scribe Scroll
5) Scribe Scroll OR Extra Revelation (Focused Trance)
7+) ?

Possible considerations: Bless Equipment chain, Leadership.
Almost certainty: Quicken Spell, Divine Interference.

Anything else?

EDIT: And is it just me, or is Strange Aeons more difficult than other adventure paths?