What would it take to chanel both negative and positive energy?
not possible. you choose one when you take the class and it cannot be changed. there are feats to increase the number of times per day, and to allow you to select/exclude targets but you can't channel both types in the same person.
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You'd definitely have to create your own Feat or class ability.
In Golarion, I'd allow such a feat for Nethys, in particular, who has a dualistic destroyer/protector theme going on, as well as Pharasma. Other neutral gods, such as Gozreh, Calistria and Gorum, I could probably be talked into by a player with a good explanation, but they aren't as 'perfect' a fit for the notion.
The Feat wouldn't add *more* channelings per day (Extra Turning would still be required for that), but would allow someone who normally channels positive energy to channel negative energy (or vice versa). I might tweak it one way or the other, say, the opposed channeling requires a full-round action instead of a standard action, if I want to tone it down a little, or the Feat also gives +1 turning use per day if I wanted to tweak it upwards.
Since Clerics of any alignment can already draw upon positive energy (when casting Cure spells) or negative energy (when casting Inflict spells) without exploding in a matter/antimatter explosion, there doesn't seem to be an 'in-game' reason for why a Cleric who could *potentially* channel either energy (i.e. a Neutral one) couldn't develop the ability to channel one or the other, as the situation calls for.
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That was always my problem with 3.0+, why could a Cleric never do both, as that would make a better class all around. You are not a healer, you are a master of the energies that arcane casters typically can't touch. I really don't have a problem with the full round action for one, but I think thy should share the same pool, meaning that the player has to make the choice of either healing the party or damaging the enemy, because not only does this choice mean that you can't do so often this fight, but you might not be able to do the other if you really need it later that day.
As a side note, I also think that some Clerics, or rather some deities should strongly disapprove of Channeling one way or the other, or at least some uses of it. Not sure about the pathfinder deities, but I could see Pelor B*$ch Slapping a priest or Paladin for controling an army of zombies, even though they potentially could.
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Ok, I guess what I was looking into, and I already know the answer for my groups, is how "broken" is it really for all Clerics to do this? I understand that there are no rules for this.
It was pretty simple-minded in 3.0 and .5 actually. Good clerics could spontaniously do 1/2 of their job, but got left in the dirt for harm touching anything with a heartbeat, regardless of the fact you might be a preist of the deity of "smiting everything with a heartbeat with inflict spells".
Evil Clerics just got to normal healing for the minions they may or may not have, because there has never been a such thing as an Evil non-necromancer cleric.
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I really don't have a problem with the full round action for one, but I think thy should share the same pool, meaning that the player has to make the choice of either healing the party or damaging the enemy,
Yeah, that's why I limited it to, at best, one extra use of Turning with the Feat, instead of having two seperate pools (in 3.5, any Feat that allowed someone to burn Turn/Rebuke 'other' abilities to fuel it, such as Dragonfire Channeling, was just broken when taken with a Cleric who has the Earth and Fire Domains, and so gains two extra entire *pools* of Turn/Rebuke, for 9+3xChaMod Turn/Rebuke uses per day, *and* 12 more T/Rs per day with the Extra Turning Feat!).
Between Air, Earth, Fire, Plant, Scalykind and Water, a core Cleric already had tons of options to pick up extra Turn/Rebukes, and using non-core stuff, like the Sovereign Speaker prestige class and the Cold, Slime, Spider or Warforged Domains, a Cleric could end up many dozens of Turn/Rebuke uses per day, to fuel various acts of badwrongfun.
As a side note, I also think that some Clerics, or rather some deities should strongly disapprove of Channeling one way or the other, or at least some uses of it. Not sure about the pathfinder deities, but I could see Pelor B*$ch Slapping a priest or Paladin for controling an army of zombies, even though they potentially could.
Definitely, that's why I suggested it only for Neutral Clerics of Neutral Gods (like Nethys, Pharasma, etc.). I don't think it's appropriate for a LE Cleric of Zon-Kuthon or a CE Cleric of Rovagug to be able to channel positive energy, feat or no feat.
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What I meant was that all Clerics get it, (if not, no one would ever play a Good or Evil Cleric, and the rules say you don't have to regardless of deity). But negative energy is not evil. Positive energy is not good. I can see deities having a problem with controlling undead if they are against undead, or destroying tools that their followers could be using (if evil). But than again, many deities may not care about undead at all, good or evil. I fully advise restricting the Channel to either being benificial to or a hinderance to undead, its everything else that Channel Energy does, like the minor Inflict/Cure Mass.
Well if cleric was reduced to just channelling and all his effects where based off of his mastery of channelling it wouldn't hurt my feelings.
I'm a little leery of giving all clerics the ability to deal several D6 damage in a 30 ft radius as a supernatural ability with a DC that scales with class level AND the ability to heal the same amount of damage in the same radius with a supernatural ability with a DC that scales with class level, in addition to spells.
The wizard is "traditionally" supposed to be the one setting out magical waves of energy that hurt the bajebus out of people, and suddenly the cleric (who already has great spells, good BAB, HD, Saves, and can wear armor) can do the samething, without provoking an AoO with a scaling DC that stays strong unlike most wizard spells, and with an energy type that there isn't a resistance for.
I LOVE the channel positive energy ability, the negative energy one... well I'm waiting to see how it works in an actual game before I make a judgement.
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So what about toning it down a bit? Like say if you chose positive energy as your specialization, you do 1d6 + 1d6/2 Clerics Levels, right? Now in this option, the same Cleric would deal 1d6 + 1d6 per 4 Cleric Levels.
Not only that, but Channel Energy eminates from the Cleric, right? That pretty much means that to best use it, they have to wade into a group of baddies, unlike the Sor/Wiz which typically can toss thier spell at a distance. What it really doe is give the Cleric some more options, and that little extra punch when they really need it.