Hi there,
so I have been thinking about a rather original Cleric build, one which I haven't really seen before. Though I could be wrong of course. I am not building this to be super powerful, it is mainly for fun. Though I think it should definitely be able to hold its own. The basic concept is this:
Monk 2 / Ecclistetheurge-Seperatist Cleric 8 / Evangelist 10 of Tsukiyo.
Eccli so I can prepare spells of my main domain in my regular spell slots, Seperatist so I can choose a domain that gives access to some cool shapechanging abilities. Monk because I don't get armor, and maybe for some cool Combat Styles. Evangelist for reasons mentioned below. Tsukiyo because I have a really cool backstory prepared and I wanted to be Lawful Good.
I went with the Saurian and Madness domains.
Saurian domain because I can get a Velociraptor for my Animal Companion (more on that later). When I was a wee kid I was OBSESSED with Jurassic Park and when I saw the Saurian domain it was just a solid YES. It has a nice spell list as well, Greater Magic Fang, Beast Shape and Shapechange? Yes please.
Madness domain because of the incredible 1st level ability to give enemies half your cleric level worth of penalty to Attack Rolls and Saves in exchange for an equal bonus to their skills. Evangelist of Tsukiyo has a second boon that allows me to give this debuff to a number of enemies within a 30 ft range. Did I mention that there is no save for this? I originally thought to make this a pure caster, focusing on Save or Suck whilst my Raptor does the fighting, but when I saw this domain I just knew it would be too overpowered.
Which brings me to the second part that really makes this build unique: Samsarans get to choose 1+Wis worth of spells from a similar list (Divine or Arcane, depending on your class). I ended up sorting through all the Ranger and Druid lists and ended up with these three spells I will take for sure:
-Share Shape (Level 3 Ranger spell that allows me to turn into a Raptor too for 1 hour per caster level!! Run around as a Raptor all day!)
-Animal Growth (Makes my Raptor large)
-Strong Jaw (Together with the Animal Growth, get 3 size increases on all Natural Weapons)
What I end up with is a decent caster with a Monk-ish flavor who can run around for hours a day with his fellow Velociraptor. Two Raptors on the hunt!
Then later on he can start turning into all kinds of bad-assery with Beast Shape III and to top it off there is Shapechange. I have a whole backstory prepared but I wanted to post this first to see if there is any gaping holes in my build.
TL;DR
If I start with 20 wisdom, I would have 6 spells to choose from. I might go lower and have a decent set of stats though. 18 Wisdom is expensive...
Anyways, I have some ideas about what to do with the other 2 or 3 spells. Acute Senses is a candidate and maybe Battlemind Link (if it wasn't worded so utterly weird).
Kind regards,
Bram
What level do you expect the game to start at, and what level do you expect the game to go to?
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You would get a lot of use out of Longstrider and Barkskin, I should think.
Fly or Overland Flight (Shaman list) would be useful, although the later especially could be too long of a wait.
@avr: I don't really have a campaign at the moment. This is more of a thought experiment to soothe the lack of DnD in my life :P
Though he is a bit of a hodgepodge in the beginning, he should start coming into his own around 5th level.
1st level Monk because of RP reasons, then after 4 levels of Cleric he gets his Raptor companion. If I take the Boon companion feat he'd turn Medium sized at level 7.
I want to take two levels of Master of Many Styles because there is two Styles that totally suit this guy. First I can meet the prereq's for and its Dragon Style, I could take that whenever. The second is taken at 1st and 2nd level of Monk, it is Janni Style and Janni Rush. The second feat allows me to do roll my damage twice if I make a jumping charge. And I get to make a long jump without a running start. Because the Raptor has a speed of 60 I get a +12 on my jump right out of the gate (And with Wisdom in the Flesh I get to add Wisdom to my Acrobatics, plus it becomes a class skill). Imagine a Raptor that has a +24 to jump at level 6 or 7! Makes me very happy :P
And my damage should be pretty phenomenal on those talons btw. For the Companion I have calculated the following: Starts with 1d8 > Animal Growth > 2d6 Strong Jaw > 2d8 > 4d6.
I am wondering how I can pull of taking the Evolved Companion feat and give him Improved Damage to make it 4d8! :D
@PCScipio: Yeah those two are now on my list. Though Longstrider could be made into a potion and be okay, Barkskin is definitely a great option because of how it scales with levels.
Evangelist gives me Fly though, and items are pretty common at a certain point. Though I agree it might be nice, I feel it would take away from the flavor a bit that I am going for.
Unless someone sees anything that goes straight against the rules I might start writing up that backstory...
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OK, let's suppose the PFS level range (1-11 normally) - it's chosen for when PF works well and is about what a lot of campaigns do. This means you look at spells level 5 and below for this character. Preferably on the lower end so you get to use them for much of the campaign.
Late on you can cast air walk as a cleric so overland flight is unnecessary. Fly gets you up in the air a couple of levels earlier, but whatever.
If you're looking at hunter spells (note, one spell list only for mystic past life) then also note greater magic fang and beastspeak. You still won't be able to cast most spells as a raptor (no natural spell for you) but beastspeak does make cooperation and roleplay a bit easier.
I also like being able to enjoy the early levels. I actually prefer it to having them be a drudge until mid/late levels. I don't think I will spend my precious Mythic Past Life slots on a fly spell. It doesn't jibe with the rest of the character I feel, I mean Velociraptors are great jumpers but being able to fly? Naaah.
About the spells: I get Greater Magic Fang from the Saurian domain, and thanks to Eccli I can cast it from my regular spell slots.
About casting in Raptor form, I have discussed this over at Giant in The Playground forums and they came up with the idea of using a rod of Still spell in combination with an item like the Ring of Eloquence and Eschew Materials feat. But they didn't seem to get too excited about Pathfinder stuff, which is why I came here.
Do you think I could cast if I was in Raptor form, grasping a Rod of Still Spell?
I also came across the Jump spell. Nice and low level, maxes out at 9th level with +30 to jump.
I am going to read up on Jump builds a bit :)
And are you sure its only one spell list and not all divine spells? I didn't catch that from the description.
Checking now, mystic past life only uses the singular for the class you're adding the spells from. I've heard of it being just one class from others. Anyway hunter covers druid spells to L6 and ranger spells which should cover much of what you're interested in.
Jumping is not that big a deal. Even if you get +50 to dodge, rolling a 10 for a total of 60, that lets you high jump 60/4=15 feet. Compared to flight (including air walk) or climbing this is not very useful.
Rods may be really tricky to get out and use when you're a velociraptor. Like other equipment they'll merge in to your body when you polymorph into an animal (which renders it useless), and even if you drop it before the polymorph you then have to pick up a 5 pound metal rod up with your foot to use it. It'd work IMO but it could reasonably add another round to cast each spell.
GMF isn't necessary, OK. (Mass) Feather step might be handy if you're landbound and has a long enough duration to cast ahead of combat/polymorphing.
Checking now, mystic past life only uses the singular for the class you're adding the spells from. I've heard of it being just one class from others. Anyway hunter covers druid spells to L6 and ranger spells which should cover much of what you're interested in.
Yes I see what you mean now... and i checked out the Hunter class. Indeed it seems like a perfect fit.
Jumping is not that big a deal. Even if you get +50 to dodge, rolling a 10 for a total of 60, that lets you high jump 60/4=15 feet. Compared to flight (including air walk) or climbing this is not very useful.
I was thinking more of how to get the flavor of a Raptor's pounce right. But you are correct that i shouldnt waste a one of my spells on that.
Rods may be really tricky to get out and use when you're a velociraptor. Like other equipment they'll merge in to your body when you polymorph into an animal (which renders it useless), and even if you drop it before the polymorph you then have to pick up a 5 pound metal rod up with your foot to use it. It'd work IMO but it could reasonably add another round to cast each spell.
I dont know. I guess i will leave that part of the build open for now.
GMF isn't necessary, OK. (Mass) Feather step might be handy if you're landbound and has a long enough duration to cast ahead of combat/polymorphing.
Eccli allows me to make my own magical Holy Symbol as if i had an item creation feat. I was thinking to make an Amulet of Mighty Strikes, in which case GMF is gonna come in handy. And yeah Feather Step seems like it might work well with this build.
I guess Soulswitch doesnt work with an Animal Companion eh? it only mentions familiars. That would've made this build even more sick!!
I wonder why most classes get this apell though?
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/soulswitch