A cleric is essential for Age of Worms yes?

[Jarrod]

You don't need one, but without one it's going to be painful.

Death Ward is almost a necessity for example. Also, Druids get many of the healing spells... but they don't get the "status removers" (Remove Curse, etc. etc.) that the clerics do.

UMD and a bunch of wands? Nice thing is you don't need a spectacular caster level for a lot of the fixits.

 

[Solarious]

Clerics are vital and of upmost importance, but not mandanted. Especially in the Spire of Long Shadows: you're going to need (and want) more Death Wards than you can shake a stick at. Druids can suffice, but with Death Ward at a level higher means you're in trouble because you can't give the whole party coverage against negative energy, and backup coverage as well. Wands won't work nearly as well - trust me on this.

Speaking of which, a Favoured Soul, built properly, would be an excellent replacement for a Cleric.

The Age of Worms assumes at minimum a full spellcasting divine and arcane casters, as well as a trap-monkey to dodge the numerous traps of disgusing proportions. You'll want the access to the high-powered spells as quickly as possible anyways in most campaigns.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Now I am not an expert on Age of Worms, but I would find it hard to beleive a group without some healing and clerical buffs/protections can make it through any standard adventure. Tehre may be a few out there, I am sure, but the majority need that spellcasting. In fact I would suggest they are the most essentialo of the four base classes.

 

[billd91]

While isn't technically necessary, the campaign will be very hard without one (heck, it seems to be very hard with one).

You can soldier through, I suppose, without one but any party of adventures that doesn't grow and adapt to the campaign is going to be in serious trouble. I'd be stunned if the party doesn't eventually come to the realization that they need a cleric and then take the steps necessary to get one, either by multiclassing or picking up a cohort.

Long-term plans on how you want to build your character are fine and dandy, but if you don't find a way to adapt to your environment, you're unlikely to see them come to fruition anyway.

 

[frankthedm]

While isn't technically necessary, the campaign will be very hard without one (heck, it seems to be very hard with one).

You can soldier through...

Hey, that gives me an idea, how usefull would bringing lots of 'red shirts' with in place of a cleric? The caster would have to be quick to fireball the bodies when fighting spawing undead, but having a target rich enviroment might help reduce the hurt the PCs feel.

 

[loki44]

We've had 4 sessions so far in our AoW campaign. 3 out of 4 resulted in near TPKs therefore we've tried several party mixes so far. You're pretty much screwed no matter what you decide on.

 

[diaglo]

We've had 4 sessions so far in our AoW campaign. 3 out of 4 resulted in near TPKs therefore we've tried several party mixes so far. You're pretty much screwed no matter what you decide on.

quoted for troof.

 

[MerricB]

Age of Worms is a difficult series. It assumes a familiarity with 3e play that isn't always there. (c.f. swarms in The Whispering Cairn - they're fine for players who stock up on oil before going in, not so good otherwise).

At this point, my players are entering the 9th adventure - The Library of Last Resort.

As with *any* high-level D&D campaign, you are assumed to be able to...

* Protect against Energy Drain (Druid 9, Cleric 7, Paladin 14)
* Restore from Energy Drain (Cleric 7, Paladin 14)
* Restore Ability Damage (Cleric 3, Druid 3, Paladin 4)
* Restore Ability Drain. (Cleric 7, Paladin 14)
* Remove Disease (Cleric 5, Druid 5, Paladin 10)
* Remove Curse (Bard 5, Cleric 5, Paladin 10, Wizard 7)
* Make party immune to fear & poison (Bard 16, Cleric 11 - Heroes' Feast!)
* Make party immune to energy drain (Cleric 15, Druid 17 - Mass Death Ward in SC)

Levels indicate the minimum level of the class, not spell level)

Checking SC for other effects...
Sheltered Vitality (Cleric 7, Druid 7) - one creature becomes immune Fatigue, Exhaustion, Ability Damage, Ability Drain for 1 encounter. (weak)

The dependence on the cleric at high levels is real. It may be a problem; it's turning into one in my Ulek game.

Cheers!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

We've had 4 sessions so far in our AoW campaign. 3 out of 4 resulted in near TPKs therefore we've tried several party mixes so far. You're pretty much screwed no matter what you decide on.

What? No TPK last session? DM must be slipping

I'm missing out on updates since the Blackwall list has been oddly silent.

 

[hafrogman]

When my group was going through, we were okay for healing with wands and potions for the most part. But the place where we really missed having a cleric?

Align Weapon.

It seems like every other monster had DR/good, way before most groups are going to be able to afford a holy weapon. Need a cleric or a paladin.