Archetype balance and the quest for a 'caster cleric'


Homebrew and House Rules

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Redelia wrote:
When I talk about wanting a caster cleric, I'm talking about trading away a lot more than any of the above. I'm talking about a cleric who loses all spellcasting abilities for a week if they knowingly touch any weapon. They have stricter AC boosting restrictions than the ecclesitheurge, because they can't use any AC boosting items other than one that comes for free with the class. And then they need to have the ability to always have something to do, since they can't use weapons at all. I would probably boost their spells per level very slightly. They would get three full domains (not 1 and 2/2 like the ecclesitheurge). Also, they would either get a unique cantrip that did damage (and damage that scales up by level so it's always relevant even at high level) or else get a damaging domain power with unlimited uses per day, so they could always 'attack.'

The always available scaling damage cantrip you're talking about is similar to Kineticist base blasts or the Warlock Vigilante's Mystic Bolt. Granted those classes make such a feature a center piece to one degree or another allowing shaping and riders to be attached, but the idea is similar.

The problem is, such a feature *is* typically used as a foundation because it *is* always available and scales with level, never becoming "useless" as such. In the case of what you're describing, such a cleric would either not be able to contribute much to offense (barring archetype variations that expand this feature) or the base class would need it to be fleshed out at which point you'd now have a full caster with an always available damage ability that scales with level.

Shadow Lodge

Lukas Stariha wrote:
DM Beckett wrote:


The Roaming Exorcist from Undead Slayers Handbook gets 4+Int, (very arguably what the Standard Cleric SHOULD get anyway), and also has the Unseen Revealed and Curse Seeker abilities that could fit very easily into an "Intrigue" style game, with Dispossession and Curse Eater possibly coming up rarely as well.
That's not even bringing up the amazing Herald Caller archetype from Monster Summoner's Handbook that gets 4+Int skills, bonus summoning feats and the ability to spontaneously cast summon spells for the tradeoff of a domain and harsher alignment restrictions on summoning.

You lose medium armour and shields as well.

Still possibly my favourite cleric archetype.

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