Unarmed cleric

[Bendicott]

So my GM asked me to make some additional character concepts in case we ever have an extra player show up (and also for some undisclosed plot purposes). I'm working on the cleric now, which has been pretty interesting since it's a class I've never played before.

At the moment, he's a neutral, positive channeling cleric of the Travel and Madness domains with some Lovecraftian flavour. He's got a tattoo for his holy symbol, which showed up on his forearm the morning after his first divine encounter. Planning on treating this as a magical tattoo, which he'll be able to upgrade in the future (as a brief asside for the people arguing that magical tattoos are bad because they bypass the single magic item per slot restriction - he cannot cover it with bracers, else it will cease to function as a holy symbol).

Anyway, I'd like him to focus on unarmed combat. I'd also like to stick with official PF publications for simplicity since I don't know the skill level of whoever will eventually take the reins, so unfortunately Kobold Quarterly's Sohei is out. Is it worth a 1-2 level dip in monk? Are there better options? What would you recommend as enchantments for the tattoo?

[David knott 242]

You could choose Irori as his deity, which would shift his alignment to Neutral and change his available domains. Since his favored weapon is unarmed strike, he would gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.

Alternatively, you could look for other deities that have the same favored weapons but an alignment and domains that require less change from what you have established so far.

[Nohwear]

I presume that the reason that you are going Cleric instead of Warpriest is because you want him to have channeling and full casting, correct? If not, then I would look into the Sacred Fist, or maybe look to it for a dip over Monk. Just my thoughts.

[Bendicott]

I do really like the look of the Warpriest; my only concern is that they would not be able to heal enough. I'm trying to make a Cleric that does things other than heal, but they'll still be the only true healer in the party... The range of touch on fervor probably isn't as bad as it sounds, since the other melee characters will likely need the most attention. The lack of an aoe heal until level 4 when they start channelling is kind of a deal-breaker, though. What do you think - can they still pull their weight as healers?

[Nohwear]

Primary? Probably not. Secondary? Definitely, especially with the healing Blessing.

[Imbicatus]

Fervor should really never be used for healing except in an emergency. It's there to swift action cast spells.

That said, a normal cleric with a dip into Unchained Monk or Brawler is n't a bad idea. It will hurt your casting less than warpriest longterm, and will still allow you to function as primary condition removal, as that is what you really need a cleric for, not healing hp.

Look into Domain Strike, and possibly guided hand.

[Bendicott]

Oh wow, somehow I completely glossed over the swift action casting option for fervor - that's actually a pretty awesome ability.

[Renegadeshepherd]

An unarmed cleric with madness is pretty strong. The key is to debuff the heck out of em with quickened bestow curse (with the reduction traits) and vision of madness power. After that is done then pummel with your fist to your hearts content. A monk dip is tolerable because its big save bonus, flurry, and two feats but a second level is not.

Eventually your fist will do poor damage but your spells and such will make up for that.

[Bazaku Ambrosuis]

As Imbicatus say, focus on a domain strike build choose chaos repose or madness domains, and debuff them all.
You can take a level dip into brawler or martial artist monk (because the best goods are chaotics, and monks need to be legal) if you wish.
You can have to hit (Domain strike), spellcast and ac from wisdom that way.

[Murdock Mudeater]

Been looking into this one myself. If you want a dedicated healer, and you don't mind going unarmed, I'd go with a Merciful Healer of Irori. Then I'd start working my way towards the Snake Style Feat (only the first one is really needed for your cleric).

Ideally, I'd pick a race that allows a starting wisdom of 20, with a lean towards Half-Orcs as that Orc Ferocity is amazing on Dedicated Healers. The other really cool half Orc bit, is the Tenacious Survivor feat (not PFS legal), which is great on the dedicated healer, as it allows the party to effectively raise the healer without any access to raise dead spells. Humans would also be a good one, if only for the extra skill points each level.

Mind you, that's me looking at my own builds. For me, I'd go with

Wisdom 20, and Dex as the other high stat, with a minor in Con if you can. Having a very low INT and CHA would be fine for this build, but you will want Wis, Dex, and Con to have positive mods, as the healer should have decent saves. Strength shouldn't be negative, but doesn't need to be very high either.

For skills:

Heal is amazing with a high wisdom mod. It can also heal party members that are damaged by positive energy, and functions in an anti-magic field.

Sense Motive is Wis based and tied to the Snake Style feat. I'd focus on this one too.

Acrobatics needs 1 rank for Snake Style.

For feats:

Improved Unarmed Strike and Snake Style. Skill focuses in Heal or Sense Motive would also be useful. Beyond that, anything that makes your healer more survivable will be of great benefit to a dedicated healer.

The Healer needs to be the character that isn't constantly needing healing....