I've got a human cleric of Sarenrae in a PbP campaign, and the GM has given me a window to edit my character a bit, since we're just getting the game started. I've almost always gone with Fire/Healing with this type of character, but I opted for Glory/Medicine this time (Medicine was GM-approved). I'm not sure that Glory is the one for me; Medicine is a lock.
Relevant statistics:
Str 16
Dex 13
Con 14
Int 09
Wis 15
Cha 15
Feats: Accursed, Selective Channeling
Also, I took the +1 hp FCB, but it turns out that the GM maximizes hp for every HD -- for the "good guys" *and* the "bad". Bump a skill instead? Or should I go with the SR-beating bonus vs outsiders?
One thing I do know -- My character is THE healer. Backup frontliner (though I did get a longspear), and probably tertiary buffer. And we've got a group of 7 characters, total.
Suggestions?
And here's a link to the character, in case you want more detail.
Re FCB choices, I'm guessing you're human given the two feats. I be tempted to go for an extra skill point (2+ int / level sucks).
Saranrae's domains are bit meh, I'd probably take fire or maybe light instead of medicine and stack up on wands of cure light wounds.
Incidentally you can build a decent reach cleric with those stats! Use standard actions to cast buffs and summon monsters at higher levels, and position your self to fish for AOOs.
Another thought, does your group contain a bard? If not you might want to ask your GM about the evangelist archetype.
The party makeup is such: cleric (me), paladin, shogun samurai, witch, sorcerer, wizard, and hunter. Couldn't dump Cha since channel pos will be so crucial early on. But since I dumped Int and ranked in Intimidate (backstory), not sure which direction to go with the skill. Based on story, Knw(religion) makes sense, but, the obvious issue reveals itself. Might still be useful.
Heroism subdomain seems appealing. I would like something other than Touch of Glory, though . . . .
probably not advice you actually want, but so you know next time, a 7 int is as many pts as 9 is for a human cleric. You can't go below 1 (before bonuses) so you get reduced to 1 + 1 for human + 1 for fcb. frees you up 3 build points too. only downside is roleplaying a truly stupid person isnt always that fun
Die rolls, not point-buy.
He gave us the option of 20-point buy or rolls, and I chose the dice. My stats came out pretty close to my personal "standard" of 4d6 drop lowest (arrange as desired) with three sets of 2d6+6, pick one set. Could have gone with an array that provided an 18 after racial adjustments, but we had 4 declared arcanists at that point -- channel energy was just about a must. One of the four dropped before we really got going, and the paladin and samurai both chose rolls -- and neither one has a single stat below 12. I got lucky, but they got BONKERS. And, surprisingly, there's been no grieving by those of us on the lower end of the spectrum.
But I'm easy to please -- if I get a +2 stat and a +1 stat, I'll run with it.
Die rolls, not point-buy.Good on your DM, I hate seeing how often some groups insist on point buy.
I'm curious why. My abiding memory of rolls is one player gets lucky and makes a god while the rest have mediocre stats and can't make the MAD hybrid they wanted to.
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I'm curious why. My abiding memory of rolls is one player gets lucky and makes a god while the rest have mediocre stats and can't make the MAD hybrid they wanted to.Die rolls, not point-buy.Good on your DM, I hate seeing how often some groups insist on point buy.
Doesn't happen as often as your memory may suggest, at least not in the groups I've been a part of.
The major group, one that preferred playing AD&D 2e, admittedly did prefer the rule of 4d6, reroll 1s once, drop the lowest. Personally I felt that system worked well, though as a DM I've even offered the same but rolling 1s and 2s once instead.
I've even experimented with different rolling methods, one that I'd love to use if I had the chance being a modified version of the Focus and Foible system from Way of the Wicked where I have players "Choose a Focus, an ability score at which you excel. You receive an 18 in that score. Choose a Foible, an ability score that is your weakness. You receive an 8 in that score. For the other four stats, roll 1d10+7 four times". The modified part is that while I wouldn't allow rerolls I would allow my players to arrange their stats as they wish, which is different as normally with this method you roll in order without moving any of the rolled stats... If I were honest though the unmodified method actually does sound interesting by itself.
On the reason why I prefer rolled stats, is that I do not wish to see my players terrible starting ability scores, is but I do believe it could offer opportunity for good role playing as well perhaps even be a bit more realistic in the sense that we are not all created equal I love when you want to play a certain class you may not always have a character with ideal stats. Your words it may not have as high intelligence, your fighter may not be as strong or have a lower constitution but may have actually a pretty decent charisma, you may have a character generally high scores in all areas.
If the campaign is going to have a lot of undead then you may want to consider Glory and Sun for your domains. Go for Improved channel to boost the DC even higher.
If the campaign is going to have a lot of outsiders then the human FCB of +1 vs spell resistance is going help a lot.
These abilities are actually more useful at higher levels especially the human FCB. Being an 10th level character that has a +20 to overcome spell resistance is extremely good.
Beating SR is great, but you'll notice that I have only a mediocre Wis score -- it increases the chance that a saving throw will negate any beaten SR. Variance doesn't bother me, really, but I will focus on the things I *can* "optimize" first -- the most obvious being heals/buffs.
I know nothing about the module being run. And I don't want to. I have no expectations or insider information. This is going to be an organically developed character -- quality of story is the primary goal.
Medicine subdomain is, again, a LOCK. It goes nowhere.
And to JonathonWilder:
Exactly. If your wizard only gets an 11 Int, what do you do? Is Str or Dex higher? Don't drop the class -- innovate!!!
I wanted to bump this back to the top of the list to see if I could get any more feedback, particularly regarding the long term.
Here is the link to the current character build: Kairon Daaltin
If we take what is currently shown on that character build as "locked in", what direction(s) could/should I go? It's been mentioned that I could make a decent reach cleric with that stat array, but: the skill starvation limits mobility; alignment drags Sacred Summons down to little impact (my GM hasn't confirmed if the celestial template is compatible with the feat, yet); the "high" Charisma begs for consideration of good channeling options.
I've got a Swiss Army Cleric, at present; I don't have a problem with that, but I'm trying to figure out what I should make this character's primary focus. Good character, maybe not-so-good gameplay contributor.
Suggestions?