Clerical Ambush, suggestions herein.

[Schmoe]

Grrrr! This is about the fifth time I've tried to post this... hope it works.

The buffing spells mentioned above are good ideas, and you should use them. However, he does have Rogue levels, and he should use that to his advantage. Give him the Blind Fighting feat. Cast a few buffing spells before they show up, and then cast Silence on his shield/weapon. Then, when they show up, cast Deeper Darkness on his shield/weapon. Free sneak attacks, and they can't see or hear you. If you want to be nasty, cast Summon Monster IV and summon 1d3 Fiendish Dire Bats before you cast the Silence spell. Have fun.

Unfortunately, anything that gives a miss chance, such as the concealment from darkness, negates sneak attacks. The darkness plus bats is a good option, though.

As for the ambush, I think it's hard to go wrong with the setup you have. Just make sure that he has his buff spells prepared (magic vestment, greater magic weapon, circle vs. good, shield of faith, divine favor) beforehand. Once that's in place, try to sculpt the ambush to reflect his faith. He could summon creatures to try to set up flanking situations. He might try to kill divine spellcasters first, then use poison and contagion on arcane spellcasters or rogues, and then flee to let his spells work their magic, so to speak.

 

[Xarlen]

The only problem with these buff spells, and poison/cantigen (Which really reflects the cleric's faith), is that he has a limited number of spells.

And, what sucks is, if I go for Weapon Finesse (Scourge), he can't use a shield.

 

[MasterOfHeaven]

You should have enough spells to use. You should have at least three available for buffing. Just cast the Silence/Darkness on the Clerics weapon instead of his shield and you'll be fine.

As Schmoe pointed out, you won't get the Sneak Attacks in the Deeper Darkness, (forgot about that) but you will still be hitting them more than they will hit you, and the Bats will suffer no penalties at all. Cast three buffing spells, summon the Bats, and cast Silence and Darkness and you should do fine.

However, if you want to avoid the Darkness tactic, do the following:

Assuming a minimum Wisdom of 14, take and cast the following spells:

Level 1:
Bane
Command
Shield Of Faith (Buff with this beforehand)
Obscuring Mist
Command

Level 2:

Bulls Strength (Buff with this beforehand)
Silence (Cast on weapon after buffing)
Endurance (Buff with this beforehand)
Hold Person

Level 3:
Magic Vestment (Buff with this beforehand)
Summon Monster 3 (Cast this beforehand)

Level 4:

Divine Power (Buff with this beforehand)


This assumes you have seven rounds of preparation time. Cut back on the lower level buffing spells if you have less time. Summon either a Fiendish Crocodile, or, if you want to remain true to your deity, a Fiendish Viper. Cast Silence on your weapon right before they enter, and sneak attack the party member who is wearing the least armor/looks the weakest when they engage the elemental and Fiendish Crocodile/Viper.

Make sure to be next to anyone who looks like a spellcaster so you cover them with the Silence spell. I don't know your domain spells, so I can't help you there. If they dispel the Silence, or you decide not to use it, use Hold Person on the biggest Fighter type. That should cover it. Using said tactics, you should be able to take out at least one or two party members, especially if you target the weaker ones first.

 

[green slime]

Lots of good ideas...

Don't forget that a cleric of such high level will also have acess to at least a few scrolls, and maybe an arcane wand or two (Use Magic Device...)

 

[BlindKobold]

Can sneak attack damage be added to area effect?
Likely not, but, it's worth asking.

No. In Tome & Blood it basically says any spell that gives you an attack roll can be used to deliver a sneak attack. Any spell that is generally targetted (all area of effect spells, magic missile, etc.) cannot give sneak attack damage.

Consider this tho... CAUSE WOUNDS spells require an attack.... I can only imagine that a cause wounds to the groin is INFINITELY more painful than a cause wounds to say... the shoulder.

{shiver}

 

[SpikeyFreak]

Screw blind-fighting, give the bobo a 19 wis and blind-sight.

Plop a deeper darkness and proceed to open up a can of I-can-see-you-but-you-can't-see-me.

And Hong, that is priceless.

--Awed Spikey

 

[Pielorinho]

Also consider giant vermin -- cast twice, he can have half a dozen giant scorpions roaming the battlefield for seven minutes. Cast Sethris' Venom or whatever it's called from Relics & Rituals, and you'll have some scorpions with mighty tough saves.

Consider casting obscuring mist, to eliminate nasty ranged attacks and to maximize battle confusion. Use a potion of invisibility to protect the cleric. Cast prayer to help your minions out. Cast summon swarm on any annoying mages.

But do check out the effects of Giant Vermin. It's a truly nasty spell if used well.

Daniel

 

[Caliber]

While I dunno if it is doable within 10 levels, one of the deadliest (and cheesiest) combos out there is a Cleric/Rogue who sneak attacks with Harm . Even 1d6 will bring the target down.

 

[Artoomis]

Not enough time!

The biggest problem yout cleric has is that time works against him.

Most of the regular buffing spells last either one minute or 1 round/level. Both of these are REALLY short durations to try and cast for an ambush unless you know EXACTLY when the enemy will come to you.

So, what to to do?

First, if possible, be sure to have improved invisibility going, not just invisibility. Since he is getting ready ahaed of time, this should be no problem.

2nd: Equip him with boots of flying.

3rd: I don't know waht domains are available - a haste spell or an item that grants a haste effect would be very, very helpful. Also helpful would be some method of escape - teleport or dimension door would be helpful, if available.

4th: Take the feat from DotF that lets you convert touch spells into rays. I don't remember the name, but ranged touch attacks are pretty nasty!

5th: Use the following PHB spells (in whatever order seems right according to the situation). Add from other books as desired. Cast a spell, and then move (if improved invisibility is going). If hasted, cast TWO spells, then move. This should be quite effective for a while - then run away!!

First Level: Doom, Inflict Light Wounds, Deathwatch (for choosing who to finish off), Cause Fear

Second Level: Inflict Moderate Wounds, Sound Burst

Third Level: Animate Dead (use if any good guys get killed), Bestow Curse (2 or 3 of these), Inflict Serious Wounds

Fourth Level: Poison (for sure, this one), possibly Sumon Monster IV for confusion factor.

And, if he doesn't think he can win, he should attempt to escape, only to be better prepared the next time, when he knows some of the party's capabilities.

Have fun!!

 

[bret]

Just a minor point.

You NEVER want to have a Silence cast in an area where you summoned Dire Bats in. The bats use sound for thier blindsight, so the silence will blind them.


She Blinded me with Silence.


Even with a normal Summon Monster spell, it becomes pretty hard to direct the attacking creatures if you can't speak with them.

The darkness and Blind Fighting is a good idea. Since the cleric has a few levels of Rogue, building up the Listen check could help quite a bit in detecting the party's approach. Could give an extra round or two of prep spells.

GMW and Bull's Strength both have durations in the hours, so they are no problem. Some of the other buffing spells can present a real problem.