RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I had this idea a while back, but never fully developed it. Now it's striking me again, so I'm gonna take another look at the possibilities.
I've got a race boon allowing me to play an undine in PFS. A water-themed PC makes me think of knowledge, divination, misdirection, illusion, vision, and so forth. I've been curious to try a casting-focused cleric, and undines get a bonus to WIS, so why not? I discovered a deity named Sivanah, goddess of illusions and secrets. Perfect!
So! Now I need to figure out this build. Let's start with stats:
STR 08 (10-2)
DEX 14 (12+2)
CON 14
INT 13
WIS 18 (16+2)
CHA 10
The INT opens up the possibility of Spell Specialization, which is intriguing. Are there good cleric options for that feat?
I'm liking the spell marid's mastery, to use as a debuff rather than a buff. I'm even considering starting at 1st level with Magical Lineage and Reach Spell; too much?
I'm not quite sure on domains; I like the Trickery domain (largely for invisibility and confusion as domain spells). Also, how do I find out which inquisitions she grants? I ask because the Fate inquisition seems on-theme for this character, with that augury SLA. Any thoughts on that?
Finally, I have no idea what feats/traits to pick. Any guidance appreciated.
Thanks!
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Visions of Madness is a fantastic debuff or buff as needed. Use it in combat on enemies to give a -1/2 your cleric level to attack rolls and saves for three rounds when the boost to skills is irrelevant. Use it out of combat on allies to boost a key skill roll by +1/f your cleric level when the penalties to saves and attacks are irrelevant. The best part is that there is no save.
Aura of madness is a great aoe confusion effect.
It has some great save or suck spells on top of that.
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For a Water-theme, you could go Separatist archetype and pick up Water Domain [or a Sub-Domain] as your second. While not as great as Madness, you get +1 level to it, and a semi-decent ranged ability at low levels. It also grants some nice Control spells, though they might prove slightly problematic in PFS.
Madness is also great, especially with Aura of Madness not affecting allies allowing you to confuse without screwing the party over.
I'd definitely take the alternate racial trait that grants you Amphibious special quality, since you basically make yourself great in the aquatic-themed PFS scenarios. If you were to take the Water domain [and not the Ice Sub-Domain] you also might want to trade out the Cold Resistance trait. I personally like the one that lets you change your skin tones.
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Separatist ain't worth it though. PFS legal gods that include water to their domain portfolio are Gozreh, Pharasma, Besmara (god of Pirates and such, also includes Trickery, interesting choice), Hanspur (also includes Travel), Naderi, Geryon, Kelizandr (NE, includes Travel), Ylimancha, Tolc (includes Travel), Jalaijatali, Charon (horseman, NE), Bokrug, Aegirran (includes Travel), Hei Feng, Yamatsumi.
Well, the OP wanted to be a cleric of Sivanah, so going with another god might be troublesome. Still, Besmara would be better than Separatist, but it is a rather large difference in flavor.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Ran a version of this character yesterday, and it went pretty well.
Here's the stats I used:
Ulam, NG male undine cleric of Sivanah
STR 09
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 14
WIS 18
CHA 10
1st-level feat was Toughness, traits were Birthmark (encircling his right eye) and Seeker. Went with sort of a knowledge/learning theme, so I put my FCB into skills and trained Perception, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Kn(arcana) and Kn(religion).
Took the Trickery and Memory domains (the latter being a subdomain of Knowledge). Didn't do much with Trickery, but I got a few good uses out of the Memory ability, including using it on myself to go from "you don't know what that incorporeal thing is" to "that's an allip, and you know everything about it".
I was wearing a chain shirt for armor, but that only left me 5lbs for gear if I wanted to keep full movement speed. I'm looking at switching to the 8lb lamellar cuirass, though that's only a +2 armor bonus, so I'm almost thinking of just dropping the armor altogether and just relying on range and copycat to stay safe; would that be suicidal? Or should I eat the movement reduction and take medium armor/encumbrance for at least moderate AC?
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Staying away with range/copycat/(soon)Invisibility is great as a plan A.
But as soon as Zyphus throws a wrench into your plans, it's nice to have a bit of AC for the inevitable ambush. Do note, that working as a caster-focused cleric, you don't need to be that close to the battle. A little movement speed hit isn't that big of a deal (and as you level, you can worry less and less about it, eventually eschewing it for, say, Mithril Breastplate and/or Magic Vestment?).
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Hrm... I suppose I could wear an agile breastplate and just eat the movement reduction; since I'd be looking at medium encumbrance, I'd have another 35lbs left over for gear, which seems doable. And 18 AC seems pretty solid for 2nd level.
Maybe later when my AC starts to become irrelevant anyway, I can ditch it.
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I'd also carry a shield around, which makes for an AC 20 @ first level so you pretty safely use touch spells in combat.
I'm liking the spell marid's mastery, to use as a debuff rather than a buff. I'm even considering starting at 1st level with Magical Lineage and Reach Spell; too much?Well, Madrid's Mastery is a first level spell that allows a save and only affects enemy attack bonus. IMO, its kinda weak compared to your other options like Bestow Curse, Hold Person, or most of the other cleric debuffs you get at high level. I'd spend Magical Lineage on one of those instead, so that you can put things like Persistent on them.
The INT opens up the possibility of Spell Specialization, which is intriguing. Are there good cleric options for that feat?
Hold Person
Dispel MagicFlame Strike
Invisibility Purge
Heal
Chain of Lights
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I'm liking the spell marid's mastery, to use as a debuff rather than a buff. I'm even considering starting at 1st level with Magical Lineage and Reach Spell; too much?Well, Madrid's Mastery is a first level spell that allows a save and only affects enemy attack bonus. IMO, its kinda weak compared to your other options like Bestow Curse, Hold Person, or most of the other cleric debuffs you get at high level. I'd spend Magical Lineage on one of those instead, so that you can put things like Persistent on them.
First of all, marid's mastery is -4 to attacks and damage. Think about the impact that has against, say, a ghoul.
That said, I ended up not going with Magical Lineage anyway, so it's a moot point. I might pick up a Reach rod for 3k; seems like a decent low-resource option for if I've already used or want to save my higher-level spells.
The INT opens up the possibility of Spell Specialization, which is intriguing. Are there good cleric options for that feat?Hold Person
Dispel Magic
Flame Strike
Invisibility Purge
Heal
Chain of Lights
Um... half of those don't seem to get any meaningful benefit from +2 CL.
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Um... half of those don't seem to get any meaningful benefit from +2 CL.
Hold Person=Round/Level. Add 2 rounds.
Dispel Magic=Caster Level Check. Add 2
Flame Strike=1d6/caster level. Add 2d6.
Invisibility Purge=5ft/caster level. Add 10ft.
Heal=10HP/Caster Level. Add 20HP.
Chain of Lights=Round/Level. Add 2 rounds.