Rise of the Runelords Cleric build


Advice


My group is going to be playing Rise of the Runelords and I've decided to roll a cleric. I have an idea as to what I want to create I'm just having a hard time sitting down and writing it down. I've been using Tark's Cleric guide for most of my advice. The chances of him seeing this are slim but thank you Tark for laying out all the options (at the moment) for clerics and giving your honest opinions on them. It's helped me to focus on how I want to build the character

She will be a human NG Cleric of Desna with her domains being Good and Luck or maybe Travel. Kinda on the fence. I want her to support and be a secondary fighter if need be. I'm considering having the bonus feat be Heavy Armor Proficiency or Scribe Scroll. Also on the fence with that.
I might dip a few levels of fighter (which would give me heavy armor proficiency, so I wouldn't need that feat). I still continue my fence-sitting posture.

It's a Twenty Point Buy
Str 12 (+2)
Con 15 (+7)
Wis 16 (+5) +2 human racial trait
Int 14 (+5)
Cha 11 (+1)

Is this good enough? I really do not want to disappoint my friends because I built a bad cleric.


Personally i would put a couple more points into cha for the channel (at least 12) I would probably lose a couple points from int and con for str (for when you need to smite the foes) Then take toughness if you really want the hp. I'm a fan of both, scribe scroll is awesome for a cleric..oh where is dex? One thing i always have a tough time deciding on is if it is worth taking that lvl of fighter for the heavy armor and additional combat feat. I would also go travel +10speed is nothing to sneeze about


ekibus wrote:
Personally i would put a couple more points into cha for the channel (at least 12) I would probably lose a couple points from int and con for str (for when you need to smite the foes) Then take toughness if you really want the hp. I'm a fan of both, scribe scroll is awesome for a cleric..oh where is dex? One thing i always have a tough time deciding on is if it is worth taking that lvl of fighter for the heavy armor and additional combat feat. I would also go travel +10speed is nothing to sneeze about

Normally I just rolled d6's to create my characters. The point system is something I guess I need to get used to. I just forgot about Dex.


Depending on how much fighting you wish to do, I'd suggest the Crusader archetype and stat out like this:

Str 14
Dex 10
Con 14
Int 8
Wis 16 (14+2)
Cha 14

and take the Travel domain (you only get 1).

-- david

edit: and consider variant channeling, disease. saves on spells.


My brother suggested this to me.
Str 12
Dex 10
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 16 with Racial 18
Cha 12

As for weapons I think I'll stick with a Morningstar.


With those stats you wont be much of a combatant, so spend most of your time with the aid another action, as it will increase your fighter's damage more than you just swinging away


The thing is I don't really know who the fighter is going to be. We have a ninja, a dervish dancer, and a summoner. They all seem kinda squishy to me. And just spending the whole campaign aiding another makes me feel like everyone else will be having fun and I'm just the boo-boo tender.


If you're worried about being a healbot, take Quick Channel and Selective Channel. This way you don't need to expend your move action on using a touch spell (have wounded allies move to you)... you instead use your move action to heal, and your standard action to do whatever it is you want. You don't have to have the latter feat, but for obvious reasons you don't want to be healing allies.

Also get a Wand of Cure Light Wounds and take Craft Wand as soon as possible. Since you'll be healing the other PCs, getting them to split the costs of buying or making a wand is fair game. (You definitely want the feat if you can't visit a magic shop.) Use the wands to cheaply heal outside of combat, and save in-combat healing only for emergencies (and even then, you can use Channel Energy if your allies are mobile and not too far away). This way you can use your spell slots the way you want.

If you're worried about being an off-tank (standing in for a potentially poorly-built or even non-existent fighter), I suggest the stats DM Papa gave you. You don't need to top up Wisdom, not if you're planning on buffing yourself (and others?) instead of casting save-or-suffer spells.


I think I'll just discuss it with the DM and the others. As I said before I'm more used to rolling dice until I get results I feel that I can use to be an effective member of the team. I just don't want to be the guy that caused a TPK because he didn't have his character made just so. I thank you all for your efforts in trying to help me unravel this Gordian knot.


Alrighty, let's see.

I think you might be overthinking it a bit.

DM papa has the right idea on stats, though I'd take Intelligence down to 7 since it's functionally the same for you in that regard as 8 and nets you two more points to toss into Dex for a total of 12 meaning you can easily think about combat reflexes as a second feat for human.

Heavy armor proficiency is just fine and I'd take Travel with it since a 30ft movement speed in heavy armor is pretty nifty.

Weapon wise I'd seriously consider the Longspear/Cestus combo and taking combat reflexes. This grants you a surprising amount of area to cover with a two handed weapon and when combined wiht your mobility and heavy armor make you a rather formidable combatant in the early game.

By third level I'd grab scribe scroll. I wont spoiler details about RotRL but I will say it may come out invaluable to you if you consider and plan ahead what you want to do. Fifth level is where power attack can start to get good for you since you'll have access to some fairly significant buffs.

As for general strategy? Early on just bless, divine favor, whatever else you want to do and take your time to slowly move into melee combat. Squishy is relative as you and the summoner alone can handle most of the encounters by yourselves.


Check out the Varisian Pilgrim from Inner Sea Magic. it's an archetype that really fits the Desnan cleric, and lets you use domain abilities on your traveling companions. it does trade out medium armor and shields for this, but you can gain that back with a multiclass if you wish.

the Spherewalker prestige class is another good option for increasing your versatility, though you'll need to talk with your DM about it to ensure you can meet the entry requirements. Having played through RotRL, I can think of several places that would count as Holy to Desna, and there is sufficient distance traveled to make it possible.

I had a blast with a half-orc inquisitor of Desna in Serpent's Skull, which might be a better option for combat medic than pure cleric if you want some more oomph. Judgements are limited in times per day, but early on it makes up for being a 3/4 BAB class, and once you can toss bane on your attacks it's icing.

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