D&D 5E Cleric build for upcoming play by post campaign

[Noctem]

Hello,

I was hoping to get help for a cleric build I'm planning on using for a play by post game. I've done plenty of 5e DM'ing but not much player stuff. I've also not seen a cleric in 5e before. All races and classes are allowed. You also get a free Multiclass based on your character background. I was going to have my character be a battlefield medic type and the cleric abilities refluffed as medkits, bandages, poultices, etc.. instead of divine abilities. The reason being that the campaign starts after the world has been at war for decades and I figure the people with mojo are probably long gone or very far between. I'm just an apothecary type, capable of making bandages soaked in the right stuff to have you heal very quickly. The campaign also has multiple rifts to other worlds open so my character could be mixing plants and the like from multiple realms which could explain why his healing is just as good as a divine spellcaster.

Anyway for the background bonus I figured it would be fairly easy to get a free Fighter multiclass since my character, being a field medic, would have some training to defend himself. However I could also have him be part of a scouting squad in the past which could get me either rogue or ranger MC instead. I'm also not sure if I should dump STR (is there anything the cleric really uses STR for outside of melee attacks?) and go DEX since it grants lots of benefits on top of being the ability score to make ranged + melee attacks.

I could also get any other MC really with a creative backstory. So I would like suggestions for the crunch aspects of the character. The DM is totally fine with optimization and likes unbalanced characters, as in being good at some specific stuff and not good with others and working together as a group to patch up short comings.

So, what kind of optimized cleric can we whip up?

 

[mellored]

Life cleric is the best healer, and they get heavy armor + shields, so they can already tough, and they can always heal themselves.

Taking a level of druid gives you goodberries, which combo's very well with the life cleric bonus, and fits the "herbalist/plants" thing. Not to mention more spell slots. Rogues is good for skills.

Your better off using Wis to cast sacred flame then using Str or Dex to swing. Though most healing spells don't rely on Wis either, so stats are reasonably open. Though i suggest Con/Wis first, Dex as third.

Str is still useful for heavy armor (need 15 or -10' speed), but you can grab the mobility feat (+10 speed), 14 Str + heavy armor mastery, or just be slow. The healer rarely needs to be the first in.

Heavy armor expertise is good either way, since you want to be the last one to drop. Resilience Con both helps you not die from posion, but also helps keep concentration but it's worth more at higher levels. Inspiring leader is also very good at later levels, but see if someone else will pick it up, since it's a 1/party ability.

So overall i would go...

Variant Human:
Str 14 (15) (+1 heavy armor mastery as bonus human feat)
Dex 12
Con 14 (16) (+1 human, +1 resilient at level 8)
Int 8
Wis 15 (16) (+1 human)
Cha 8

Feats:
Bonus: Heavy armor mastery
4: healer.
8: Resilience (Con)
12: +2 Wis
16: +2 Wis
19: +2 Con (maybe inspiring leader)

 

[Noctem]

Cool, thanks for the reply mello

The campaign from what I understand will be more story / exploration driven than straight combat. I'll look into it, but if being really healing focused isn't as worthwhile (because combat doesn't happen that often), could you suggest a different build that might be more interesting?

 

[mellored]

Knowlage (wis/con) and trickster (wis/dex) are the most utility clerics.
Knowlage would go Wis/Con, and MC druid (good berry is still nice).
Trickster would go Wis/Dex, and MC rogue.
Wood elf is useful for darkvision, stealth options, and speed. Halflings are also nicely well rounded, lucky applying to both combat and skills.


But the most optimized skill monkey build would be...

Half-Elf Rogue 1 / Knowledge cleric 1 / goo warlock 2 (agonizing blast, beguiling influence) / lore bard 3 = 13 skills, with expertise in 4.

8 str
13+1 Dex
12 Con
10 int
14 Wis
15+2 Cha (+1 actor)

Agonizing blast gives you decent scaling damage and you have medium armor + shields from the cleric for decent defense. (sacred flame as backup). As well as a splattering of cantrips, spells and slots (including warlock short rest recharge slots).

Keep going up in bard to be a healer and support. Max Cha (eldrich blast, inspiration, bard spells, and social skills). Healer and inspiring leader are still good feats for keeping the party alive. Get revivify at bard 6.

Alternatively, take fey warlock and mask of many faces (either warlock 5, or in place of beguiling influence) to get disguise self at-will. Add the Actor feat and friends cantrip to really mess with things. (and drop Cha to 14+1+1 and bump con to 14).

Dungeon delver is great if you expect a lot of traps. Though it's a waste if you never encounter one.
Ritual caster (wizard) can net you a lot of utility spells, if there isn't one in the party.

 

[Noctem]

Wow awesome! I'm going to delve into the builds you suggested and gather more info about the campaign to help decide which one to use but thank you very much for your help!