Hi guys,
A little while ago, user LordKailas made a post regarding this magic item:
Icon of Aspects:
Aura moderate evocation; CL 7th; Slot none; Price 5,500 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
When a cleric with an icon of aspects prepares spells, she may replace the granted powers of one of her domains with those of a different domain she doesn’t have but that is associated with her deity. This lasts until the next time she prepares spells. The cleric must meet the level requirements for both abilities. For example, a 6th-level cleric with the Good domain who swaps for the Healing domain can’t use healer’s blessing even though she meets the level requirement, because the holy lance power of the Good domain requires her to be 8th level. The icon affects only granted powers, not domain spells, bonus feats, or other benefits. The icon can affect only one person at a time.
This got me thinking about a possible way to make the transition from low level to mid-high level cleric much smoother.
It all revolves around the growth subdomain of plant domain, which gives toggleable swift action enlarge person from level 1, and the separatist archetype, which lets you have a domain your deity doesn't normally get, but at a penalty. Here are a couple of things to note:
1) Growth domain is extremely good at low levels, arguably the best domain at level 1.
2) It is almost completely unaffected by the penalty from separatist archetype, you just get one less use per day of the first domain power (the second power essentially doesn't matter).
3) You get the second domain power at level 6 rather than 8, which means separatist puts it exactly at 8, thus allowing you to use the icon of aspects effectively to get other domain powers.
Ya know all those domains which are super good starting at level 8ish but suck at low levels (Madness, Heroism, ect)? This gives us a nice way to get into those domains without suffering in the early game. Here's how it goes:
At low levels, with literally any deity, use separatist archetype to take growth domain. Have overpowered 20 ft reach longspear which you can turn on and off on a turn-by-turn basis (avoiding the usual 20 ft reach blindspot issue), as well as barkskin and enlarge person.
At level 8, you gain the second growth domain power (which is relatively bad). Ditch 5k gp on an icon of aspects, and from this point forward use it to swap out growth domain's powers for the desired late-game domain's powers. For your troubles, you also get to have enlarge person and barkskin for the rest of your life. Neet.
As an example, build an Iomedae reach cleric starting with Growth/Tactics and transitioning into Heroism/Tactics at level 8 when heroism comes online.
