This is an idea I have been mulling over for the past couple of months, but yesterday I committed it to writing. It's the first draft so there is a lot of copy & paste, and the mechanics are very unrevised. :)
The basic idea is that the cleric has her normal allotment of spells, but does not gain the extra spell per spell level for a domain spell. Instead, she gains a pool of points that allows her to spontaneously cast spells from any of the domains in her deity's portfolio. She also uses this same pool of points to Channel Energy. Finally, she gains the domain powers of only one domain at a time.
Here is a LINK to the DropBox PDF.
You are trying to make the cleric more dynamic, I like that.
It's a bit odd that the divine aura feature grants a pool that does nothing on its own. I'm assuming you have plans for additional abilities that use aura points?
For channel energy, maybe you could create a number of "channel gifts" that allow the cleric to modify his channel?
Can I channel at a lower level for a smaller cost?
Keep in mind that real gods (5 domains) have more domains than demigods (4 domains).
Good ideas A. I should have time the weekend.
I don't think 4 vs 5 domains is so bad. What the domains actually are makes the difference. Gozreh has five domains and three of his 1st level spells are obscuring mist. :)
I get it ROG. Channel energy still needs work. I didn't want to keep it at 1 point when the cleric had 10-20 points available, thinking that was too much. Although maybe it's not too much. Should it stay at 1 point?
You should probably limit Clerics of their own philosophy to a smaller number of domains (probably 2 or 3?) than Clerics of a demigod (4) or deity (5). Consider that Clerics of a philosophy will get to cherrypick their favorite/best domains. Also, it's too bad we can't mix and match domain lists for a day.
I kind of disagree.... as time goes on and more deities appear with domain/subdomains, the whole cleric of a philosophy thing becomes less of a big deal.
I had an idea for a D6 divine class that used its channel dice as a sacred/profane point pool for various augmentations.
Eg)At 10th level you would normally have 5D6 channel dice - instead the 5D6 would be rolled everyday to establish the 'strength' of the points pool available (ie 17 points avg). Modifiers could be made available if in the previous 24 hrs, you had....
Killed an enemy using a domain spell, defeated an opposing spellcaster.. etc
You could spend 1 point for every +1DC of a spell for example..... so at 10th level you could basically make 2 spells per day almost unsavebale, although SR would obviously be unaffected.
I also thought as a potential balancing/RP factor that every sacred/profane point spent cost 1 hp of damage that couldnt be healed until the end of the day. A sort of 'stigmata' effect or price in divine blood thing.....
I like your idea - it's like a divine grit, but the randomness could lead to some trouble. I would probably put a limit on how much you can add to a spell's DC.
I like the idea of prayers and using channel energy as a resource to do other things. However, I'm not particularly a big fan of it. Even with the -1 spell slot, I see it as mostly just a buff to the cleric and little else. The cleric was already considered pretty strong due to being a 9-level spellcaster with good weapon/armor proficiencies, healing, and a 3/4 BAB. Now you've given them a lot more toys ontop of it. Even adding +1d6 to ANY d20 roll is a pretty huge benefit.
I like your idea - it's like a divine grit, but the randomness could lead to some trouble.
Ahhh... but there in lies the beauty!!
"God works in mysterious ways".... Who is to say how your deity decides how much power you have access to? Have you performed well? Have you strayed from the path? Or does your God just enjoy watching mortal servants bicker and squabble to gain fragments of power that are always going to e beyond them?
I like the idea of prayers and using channel energy as a resource to do other things. However, I'm not particularly a big fan of it. Even with the -1 spell slot, I see it as mostly just a buff to the cleric and little else. The cleric was already considered pretty strong due to being a 9-level spellcaster with good weapon/armor proficiencies, healing, and a 3/4 BAB. Now you've given them a lot more toys ontop of it. Even adding +1d6 to ANY d20 roll is a pretty huge benefit.
Hence why I'm always banging on about a D6 divine class!!
Either that or you cut the existing clerics class abilities to the bone and then that gives you some room to play with.
I like the idea of prayers and using channel energy as a resource to do other things. However, I'm not particularly a big fan of it. Even with the -1 spell slot, I see it as mostly just a buff to the cleric and little else. The cleric was already considered pretty strong due to being a 9-level spellcaster with good weapon/armor proficiencies, healing, and a 3/4 BAB. Now you've given them a lot more toys ontop of it. Even adding +1d6 to ANY d20 roll is a pretty huge benefit.Hence why I'm always banging on about a D6 divine class!!
Either that or you cut the existing clerics class abilities to the bone and then that gives you some room to play with.
Building an entirely new d6 divine class would be a good idea, but it would require creating an interesting game mechanic behind it. I've been working on a class feature that reworks domains, but I haven't decided on an iteration.
I like the idea of prayers and using channel energy as a resource to do other things. However, I'm not particularly a big fan of it. Even with the -1 spell slot, I see it as mostly just a buff to the cleric and little else. The cleric was already considered pretty strong due to being a 9-level spellcaster with good weapon/armor proficiencies, healing, and a 3/4 BAB. Now you've given them a lot more toys ontop of it. Even adding +1d6 to ANY d20 roll is a pretty huge benefit.
You're right of course, but I'm still in the brainstorming stage. :)
My thought was that by the time you've spontaneously cast a few relevant level spells, performed a prayer, and done a bit of healing, you're probably out of points. Yes, having this versatility is power, but I feel that having them all drain the same pool helps.
I added the 1d6 to any roll just so the Divine Favor had some way to spend points. How about if spending 1 points gives you a +1 to all d20s for 1 round? Would it be better if I removed Prayer altogether?
Building an entirely new d6 divine class would be a good idea, but it would require creating an interesting game mechanic behind it. I've been working on a class feature that reworks domains, but I haven't decided on an iteration.
The D6 idea that I had actually does away with domains altogether!
The class was called the Apostle.... :))
I'm not 100% convinced that the divine pool should be related to the aura feature (after all, channel energy is the pool's primary feature). It would be a good idea to keep the aura-related abilities CHA-based. And for abilities, I had first and foremost thought of ways to modify channel energy: transforming the area into a cone, have it spread like chain lightning, etc.; dealing different kinds of damage depending on which domains you choose, etc.; creating auras that last longer than 1 round...
I'm not 100% convinced that the divine pool should be related to the aura feature (after all, channel energy is the pool's primary feature). It would be a good idea to keep the aura-related abilities CHA-based. And for abilities, I had first and foremost thought of ways to modify channel energy: transforming the area into a cone, have it spread like chain lightning, etc.; dealing different kinds of damage depending on which domains you choose, etc.; creating auras that last longer than 1 round...
This is the main thing that I find underwhelming with existing variant channels.... many of the effects are incredibly short lasting and this combined with standard action use contribute to make channeling fall apart....
I'm not 100% convinced that the divine pool should be related to the aura feature (after all, channel energy is the pool's primary feature). It would be a good idea to keep the aura-related abilities CHA-based. And for abilities, I had first and foremost thought of ways to modify channel energy: transforming the area into a cone, have it spread like chain lightning, etc.; dealing different kinds of damage depending on which domains you choose, etc.; creating auras that last longer than 1 round...
Aura has reverted to it's original form: it is separated from the point pool.
The primary purpose I intended for the point pool was domain spells. I suppose it doesn't seem that way because its wording is so brief while Channel Energy's is so much longer.
I like the idea of Channel Energy interacting with a cleric's domains. That's kind of what I did with Prayer. I'll think about it and see what I can come up with.
I have continued to revise the various uses of what the cleric can spend her points on (they are now called "favor" points). I have begun devising additional abilities the cleric can choose to modify how these abilities work, but these are not on the document yet.
The class does appear heavy compared to the standard cleric, but I still believe that the speed with which a cleric could choose to spend favor points serves as a mitigating factor. Please offer input in this matter.
Am I right in thinking that the cleric can only cast domain spells by spending favour points?
Also I do think as its a full caster class that light armour and no shield would be more fitting. One of my beefs with the current cleric is that its still trying to be a bit of both..... being both melee and caster should be left to Warpriests and Inquisitors.
Who Dares Wins..... if you want full caster then go full caster!!:))
You read it right. The standard domain spell method is gone. She must spends point to cast domain spells. One point per spell level.
I would consider revamping proficiencies. They aren't hard to upgrade, if that is what is the player wanted.
I stripped away several bits from the base class features, including medium armor, favored weapon, extending the duration of prayers, the ability to to heal literally everythone in Channel Energy's radius, and Deity's Favor luck bonus. I used these and several new abilites to make up a list of Divine Aspect "talents" that the cleric chooses to customize her abilities. I have been reworking these literally every day because I want them to be low power, but I also want them to actually do something. Feel free to comment, as I need some feedback.
How would you describe the 'aspects' feature in one sentence, both flavor-wise and mechanically? (Similar to your mercenary class, I fear that this feature lacks a coherent theme at the moment.)
There are a lot of features that require favor points: channel energy, prayer, talents, and domain spells (I really like that one, by the way--with the CRB cleric, the whole domain-slot-plus-domain-spell-thing feels like a really clumsy version of spontaneous casting). I guess it appears less feature-bloated if we think of prayer as an expansion of the domain feature (I would suggest putting the non-domain related features elsewhere).
The aspects are intended to be low-power ways to customize your cleric. Not all clerics need medium armor and a good weapon. Obviously, some of them are more or less powerful than others, and that is something I can address. I can also get rid of a few if you think that would be an improvement. Would it be better if I changedthem so they can't spend favor points? Maybe I could change those to 1/day.
Yes, there are many ways to spend points. I figured that allowing access to all domain spells is an overall power boost to the class because it adds versatility. Open access to all prayer adds versatility as well. I figured that if a cleric channels energy a couple times and casts a prayer, she won't have much left for domain spells. And I can live with that. If she spends most of her points points hand picking a couple of spells from a pretty large pool of domain spells, then ends up not being able to heal the party with channel energy, I'm OK with that too. I wanted to mitigate the overall boost in power.
Can you please explain the portion of your last sentence in parenthesis? I don't get it.
Alright. So aspects allow players to create a cleric that is also a scholar, warrior, healer, mystic, etc. I'm still struggling to capture it flavorwise. It's more individual than a tenet of faith and it's not as restrictive as a monastic vow. It encompasses both extraordinary and supernatural abilities. Hm. Maybe a conviction?
I understand that using one pool for everything mitigates the major gain in versatility. I would still feel more comfortable if aspects wouldn't require expenditure of favor points.
I thought it was odd that most talents are keyed to a specific domain and then there are a few others. Those would make more sense as aspects. Sorry if it was unclear.
I see what you are saying about aspects, and I will see what I can do. Is the name of the class feature not so good? I'm not attached to it.
I will go now and remove the favor point cost of the "aspects".
Most of the prayers are keyed to a specific domain (not the "talents"), and you can only perform a prayer if your deity has that domain. Yes, there are very few other. Are you saying that some of the aspects and prayers could shuffled from one to the other?
I think there is nothing wrong with 'aspect', it just doesn't evoke a clear picture of what it does. Also, the game uses the term 'aspect' in a very specific way (see spells like divine vessel or animal aspect that grant the recipient certain qualities of other creatures). 'Doctrine' is certainly more clear.
I would rework those prayers (not talents, my mistake) without [domain]-descriptor into the doctrine feature to enforce that both are distinct features: prayers would be keyed to specific domains, whereas doctrines represent a wide range of different abilities.
All of the cleric prayers are now domain specific. A few of the non-domain prayers were turned into doctrines, and a few doctrines and prayers were removed. Generally I avoid the 1/day thing, but for keeping the doctrines low-powered, maybe it's appropriate?