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This is based on Mockingbard, Kirth Gersen and Dragonmann’s non-generic cleric for 3.5. It came up in a thread somewhere on this site and I thought it was interesting, so I went to work on it. This version is updated to pathfinder, expanded and tweaked.
This class turns many of the cleric's compulsory features in to options and adds new things you can take in their places.
The idea is that you can use it to play a wise priest with divinely inspired magic without being an armoured head-smasher, play a quick, skilful character as easily as a tough one, or even be a heavy armoured warrior, if that's your thing, all while being recognisable as a Pathfinder cleric.
Don't worry about the low-looking stats! You can use the menu to re-build the normal cleric with ease.
The Non-Generic Cleric
Clerics function just as they do in the books, except for the following changes:
• d6 Hit die
• Poor Base Attack Bonus
• Poor Fortitude save
• You're only proficient with light maces, heavy maces, clubs, quarterstaves, slings and light armour.
• Choose only 1 domain from your deity’s list.
• You get a choice of spontaneously casting cure spells, inflict spells, or spells from one of your domains. You must be non-evil to spontaneously cast cure spells and non-good to spontaneously cast inflict spells. Once you make this choice, it cannot be changed.
Pick five options from the list below. Unless otherwise stated, each option may only be selected once.
• Good Fortitude Save
• Good Reflex Save
• Skilful: Choose two new class skills. You gain 2 extra skill points each level. You may take this up to twice.
• War Priest: Medium armour proficiency, shield proficiency (except tower shields), proficiency with all simple weapons and proficiency with your deity’s favoured weapon. If your deity’s favoured weapon is a simple weapon, gain weapon focus with it instead.
You must have Combat Cleric to take this.
• Righteous Defender: Heavy armour proficiency, tower shield proficiency, weapon focus with your deity’s favoured weapon. If your deity’s favoured weapon is a simple weapon, you get +1 damage on attacks using it instead.
You must have War Priest, Good Fortitude Save and Combat Cleric to take this.
• Domain: Access to any additional domain. This option may be selected up to three times.
• Spontaneity: Add an additional spontaneous casting option to your repertoire. This option may be selected up to twice.
• Dual Channelling: You can channel both positive and negative energy.
You can’t take this unless you are morally neutral.
• Sage: You get a bonus to AC equal to your wisdom modifier. You lose this bonus while you wear armour or use a shield.
At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a +1 enhancement bonus to your AC. When you prepare your spells, you may swap points of enhancement bonus for magic armour properties as long as you keep at least a +1 enhancement bonus. You cannot choose alignment based properties unless you have the matching alignment. You lose these bonuses while you wear armour or use a shield.
• Undead Lord: Gain all the abilities of the Undead Lord archetype from Ultimate Magic.
You do not have to give up a domain; instead, this option counts against the maximum number of times you may select the Domain option. You must have the Undeath sub-domain to take this.
• Theologian: Gain all the abilities of the Theologian archetype from Ultimate Magic and apply them to a domain from which you can cast spontaneously.
You do not have to give up another domain; instead, this option counts against the maximum number of times you may select the Domain option. You may take this multiple times, improving a different domain each time.
• Cloistered Cleric: Choose three knowledge skills. These skills are class skills for you.
You get the features of the Cloistered Cleric archetype from Ultimate Magic, not including the two additional skill points per level. Your Breadth of Knowledge feature only applies to knowledge skills which class skills for you.
You do not have to give up any spell slots, proficiencies or domains. Instead, this option counts against the maximum number of times you may select the Domain option.
If you choose an additional domain that’s not from your deity’s list, channel the wrong kind of energy or spontaneously cast the wrong kind of spells, you interpret the will and nature of your deity in radically different ways to most of his or her followers. Mainstream followers of your deity tend to think you're mad, heretical or at the very least misguided. How they react to you depends greatly on the church in question and the manner in which you deviate from their expectations.
You cannot be a member of the church in good standing, but there are no associated mechanical penalties.
Some of the options on the list are cleric archetypes. They all work out the same with the exception of the Cloistered Cleric, who doesn't suffer from diminished spellcasting. If you think he should, again, it'll be no problem to simply declare that he does.
In the spirit of simplicity and expanding choice, I've ignored the Separatist archetype in favour of giving you unrestricted access to the domains of other deities, as long as you have at least one domain from your god's list.
How balanced does this look to you? Can you use it to build your ideal cleric yet? If you have any suggestions for changes or new options, I'd love to hear them.
Hi, Mortuum. Was wondering if someone would pick up the ball for Pathfinder... I'm glad you did.
For Pathfinder channeling, I'd present a menu of options as well: positive energy, negative energy, elemental energy (if you have the appropriate domain), command/turn elemental, command/turn undead, etc. This way a cleric of the God of Fire can channel a burst of flames, etc. -- serving to make the cleric even less generic. In my current houserules, there are variant channeling effects for almost all of the domains.
Hi. Glad you approve :)
That's a good and interesting idea, but for now I think the channelling variants from ultimate magic are going some way towards filling that role. I've not tried them yet, so this didn't seem like the time to tinker with them and I don't want this to replace any of the official rules (with the exception of the Separatist, for the reasons stated in the notes spoiler)
One part of this I'm not certain of is the Sage option. I'm not sure if it's quite balanced.
I'm also considering adding an unarmed combat option of some kind, but I'm not certain what it should be yet.
Here's a couple of new options for the menu: Ur-Priest and Masterful Ur-Priest. These option is not inherently evil, but if you use them to steal from evil deities, you gain only evil power, and if you use them to steal from good deities, you're stealing from the good guys. Understandably, pretty much all clerics hate ur-priests.
Ur-Priest: Unlike a true cleric, you do not select a domain from your deity's list or chose a spontaneous casting option. To prepare your cleric spells, you must steal them from a deity by performing a ritual using a defaced holy symbol.
When you prepare your spells, choose one domain belonging to the deity who's symbol you used. You have that domain until you next prepare your spells, but you do not gain its first power until 8th level, you never gain its second power and you do not gain any class skills from it.
You can cast cleric spells as though your alignment matches the alignment of the deity who's symbol you used.
Your Aura class feature reflects the alignment of the deity who's symbol you used.
If you last prepared spells using the symbol of a neutral deity, you channel whichever energy type you selected as normal, but if you used the symbol of a good or evil deity you channel positive or negative energy respectively.
You cannot take the Domain option. If you choose the Spontaneity option to cast spells from a particular domain spontaneously or take the Theologian option, they only function when you have stolen to Domain to which you applied them.
You gain the Spelldrinker's Aura power.
Spelldrinker's Aura: An ur-priest can make a touch attack as a standard action attempt to steal a prepared spell or spell known from another divine caster. When he does he is surrounded in an aura of grey fire which gives off the sound of a thousand softly whispered blasphemies in every language he speaks.
The target recives a Will save (DC 10 + the ur-priest's level + the ur-priest's Wis bonus) to negate the effect. The ur-priest may choose a spell to steal, but if the target does not possess the spell, the action is wasted. Otherwise, the spell is random, but it is always of the highest available level that the ur-priest can cast.
During that round and each subsequent round in which the ur-priest maintains his aura, the target cannot access the stolen spell and the ur-priest can sacrifice his prepared spells to cast it spontaneously.
Maintaining a spelldrinker's aura for a round is a free action which consumes one use of this ability.
An ur-priest can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3+his Wisdom modifier.
Masterful Ur-Priest: When you steal your prepared spells from a deity, you may select an addition domain to steal. Your uses per day of your Spelldrinker's Aura power increase by 3+your Wisdom modifier. You may take this up to 3 times.
You must be have Ur-Priest to take this.
Gah. I missed the edit window. Ur-Priests are supposed to have a spontaneous casting option like everyone else. The part where I say they don't get one is an artefact of an earlier version.
They should also add Bluff and Disguise to their list of class skills.