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About the War Cleric......
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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 7391705" data-attributes="member: 12731"><p>Agreed. Play a Tempest Cleric whenever you feel like playing a War Cleric - yes definitely.</p><p></p><p>I guess my point is: I'd forget about actually using a melee weapon altogether as a Cleric. There isn't enough design space in between Fighters Paladins and Clerics.</p><p></p><p>Since what you want is defense, about any Cleric subclass that grants heavy armor is better than one that improves your martial fighting ability. Why? Because almost any other ability is more functional for a Cleric, a serious spellcaster class.</p><p></p><p>For a good illustration of this, consider the XGE Forge Domain. Spontaneously you might think War is better for an adventuring Cleric than some "peaceful" domain. But abilities that enhance your martial abilities are almost a trap choice (and should certainly be considered ribbon abilities). I am far from alone in thinking Blessing of the Forge and Soul of the Forge to be infinitely more useful (for a Cleric).</p><p></p><p>To be specific: I believe the designers considered the War Priest feature to be valuable. They even capped it! But in practical play its value is almost zero. The domain suffers from this, since the designers clearly tone down its other features. </p><p></p><p>Suggestion for house rules:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">remove heavy armor from every domain but War. This obviously shifts the problem to Tempest (Forge etc) but it does ensure War gets a niche of its own</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">re-value War Priest to be the ribbon ability it really is. Un-restrict it, and give its uses per day to War God's Blessing to give the entire subclass extra oomph. That is:<br /> <strong>War Priest:</strong> use freely at-will<br /> <strong>War God's Blessing</strong> (not a channel divinity ability): You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier. You regain all uses when you finish a long rest.<br /> In summary - War Priest is at-will, sending the signal it isn't that powerful <span style="font-size: 9px">(it basically allows you to two-weapon fight while using a shield in any round you don't cast a spell. Put otherwise, you get to attack with two weapons (really one and the same) while still enjoying your +2 AC shield bonus - but the cost is that <strong>you don't get to cast a spell</strong> that round. If you look at the benefit and cost this way (getting +2 AC for not casting a spell), you should see how expensive the ability really is*, and why it quickly becomes useless)</span><br /> War God's Blessing doesn't expend your channel divinity, which frees up its use for other things (which would otherwise seldom see any use, since giving +10 to a Paladin or Rogue is obviously better than giving it to yourself)<br /> Finally, the entire subclass gets a very attractive 5 charges of +10 a day, which is the real upgrade here.</li> </ol><p>I'd probably use only one, not both, of these suggestions in the same campaign.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 9px">*) compare Soul of the Forge which instead of +2 AC grants you fire resistance and +1 AC and <strong>doesn't prevent you from doing your job as a Cleric</strong> aka spellcasting.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 7391705, member: 12731"] Agreed. Play a Tempest Cleric whenever you feel like playing a War Cleric - yes definitely. I guess my point is: I'd forget about actually using a melee weapon altogether as a Cleric. There isn't enough design space in between Fighters Paladins and Clerics. Since what you want is defense, about any Cleric subclass that grants heavy armor is better than one that improves your martial fighting ability. Why? Because almost any other ability is more functional for a Cleric, a serious spellcaster class. For a good illustration of this, consider the XGE Forge Domain. Spontaneously you might think War is better for an adventuring Cleric than some "peaceful" domain. But abilities that enhance your martial abilities are almost a trap choice (and should certainly be considered ribbon abilities). I am far from alone in thinking Blessing of the Forge and Soul of the Forge to be infinitely more useful (for a Cleric). To be specific: I believe the designers considered the War Priest feature to be valuable. They even capped it! But in practical play its value is almost zero. The domain suffers from this, since the designers clearly tone down its other features. Suggestion for house rules: [LIST=1] [*]remove heavy armor from every domain but War. This obviously shifts the problem to Tempest (Forge etc) but it does ensure War gets a niche of its own [*]re-value War Priest to be the ribbon ability it really is. Un-restrict it, and give its uses per day to War God's Blessing to give the entire subclass extra oomph. That is: [B]War Priest:[/B] use freely at-will [B]War God's Blessing[/B] (not a channel divinity ability): You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier. You regain all uses when you finish a long rest. In summary - War Priest is at-will, sending the signal it isn't that powerful [SIZE=1](it basically allows you to two-weapon fight while using a shield in any round you don't cast a spell. Put otherwise, you get to attack with two weapons (really one and the same) while still enjoying your +2 AC shield bonus - but the cost is that [B]you don't get to cast a spell[/B] that round. If you look at the benefit and cost this way (getting +2 AC for not casting a spell), you should see how expensive the ability really is*, and why it quickly becomes useless)[/SIZE] War God's Blessing doesn't expend your channel divinity, which frees up its use for other things (which would otherwise seldom see any use, since giving +10 to a Paladin or Rogue is obviously better than giving it to yourself) Finally, the entire subclass gets a very attractive 5 charges of +10 a day, which is the real upgrade here. [/LIST] I'd probably use only one, not both, of these suggestions in the same campaign. [SIZE=1]*) compare Soul of the Forge which instead of +2 AC grants you fire resistance and +1 AC and [B]doesn't prevent you from doing your job as a Cleric[/B] aka spellcasting.[/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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