RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
|
A first level cleric with the air domain can use a touch attack at will o do 1d6 points of damage and it scales with level. Why would he ever choose to melee anything? A typical cleric might have a 16 strength, so his mace would do 1d8+3 and the attack roll will be harder to make.
Once per day per 3 levels would be much better.
In general, they wouldn't, and that's the point. The system makes spellcasters (arcane or divine) able to use magic a lot more. If you want to play a mace wielding cleric, pick the war domain and/or multi-class with fighter.
As to your question about why would he ever choose to melee if he does have the air domain, the answer is for things that he doesn't WANT to touch - many oozes come to mind, not to mention wizards with fire shield or similar effect (if the cleric grabs a longspear instead of his mace). Also, in cases where he needs to physically damage an object, like breaking down a door, or against a creature with high resistance or immunity to the damage from the air domain attack.
|
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
|
As to your question about why would he ever choose to melee if he does have the air domain, the answer is for things that he doesn't WANT to touch - many oozes come to mind, not to mention wizards with fire shield or similar effect (if the cleric grabs a longspear instead of his mace).I don't have the rules set in front of me, so I can just ask. Is it a ranged touch? Does the caster actually have to touch the target? "Touch attack" frequently does not mean "lay your hands upon it", as many ranged attacks are touch attacks and I'm pretty sure that you're not cutting off your own hand to make them.
I don't have to rules handy at work either, but I went with touch = melee touch, which I've seen used before, while ranged touch is almost always specifically called out as ranged.
|
|
Lightning Arc (Su): As a standard action you can unleash an arc of electricity targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The lightning arc deals 1d6 points of electricity damage +1 for every two caster levels you possess.
It is in fact a ranged touch attack. I'm about to start playtesting a dwarven cleric of Gozreh with the Water and Weather domains which have similar 1st level abilities. Between those abilities and the ice gauntlet spell (Spell Compendium), I'm hoping he'll rarely have to resort to manufactured weapons.
|
|
As it stands, he won't. And that's just wrong. A cleric has always been a warrior priest, now he'll be throwing lightning around like a mage. A cleric should be ENCOURAGED to melee, not discouraged, else why does he get plate mail? With a d6+1/2 levels as a ranged touch there's no reason for him to EVER engage in melee. He'll just stand back and nuke stuff. We already have a class to do that, the wizard. The cleric should be wading into melee and throwing an occasional flamestrike or whatever to augment his abilities.
It's not "a cleric."
It's "a cleric of a god of the storm or elemental power."
Clerics of sun deities or death gods won't be dong anything of the sort.
All clerics should not be alike.
My post got eaten, but in a nut shell I agree Shisumo.
If you have domains tied to specific gods, then this gives the clerics of those gods a certain flavour and helps to differentiate between them. I am all in favour of that.
The problems arise if you allow the player to choose his domains and build a god and religion around them, if done wrong, it can be a form of min maxing. Down to the DM and players playing styles, but anything that allows characters to get out of their pigeon hole is great in my eyes.
|
And I wouldn't have a problem with that if there was a balancing factor like leather armor only. Some of the other domains have similar abilities, as well. It's not just having an option for a non melee cleric. It's going to be the default. Most clerics will now have an at will power that's better than a melee attack. That's not where I'd like to see the cleric go.
It's not "a cleric."It's "a cleric of a god of the storm or elemental power."
Clerics of sun deities or death gods won't be dong anything of the sort.
All clerics should not be alike.
It is not better than a melee attack, especially at later levels. Even on level 11 1d6+5 is pathetic. Clerics in melee tend to use spells like righteous might and divine power. The power is nice on the first few levels, but it gets weak pretty quick. The lightning arc is also a standard action, so the cleric won't be able to make multiple attacks a round. Even a level 11 fighter can unleash a devestating blow wth a scythe as a standard action, dealing four times his normal damage should he hit. And that is harmless compared to things optimized clerics are capable of.
You should also take into account that even 5 points of energy resistance greatly reduce the effectivity of this power.I like the new cleric powers, especially kickboxing plant clerics (who, by the way, have a much better domain power (and it's melee))