Help designing a lethal healer

[calypso15]

Hey guys,

I need help designing a healer that can dish it out and take it in melee. The only other player is a thief/mage. (3.0 rules)

So... I was thinking about doing a Human Cleric 4/Paladin 2, with the strength and sun domains. The stats I rolled up are pretty damn good (18,16,14,14,12,10), and I think I can use any of the supplemental books.

My initial thought:

14 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 12 Int, 18 Wis, 16 Cha. Monkey gripped greatsword with halfplate and a shield.

Thoughts/suggestions/disparaging remarks welcome!

Calypso

 

[hong]

A straight cleric can be one of the most lethal characters around, at medium to high levels: have a look at what divine favor + divine power + righteous might can do for you. The trick is to get your buffs up in time.

 

[calypso15]

You don't think at least one level of paladin for the boost to saving throws? Level 2 also gives immunity to fear, though that's not as badass.

Though, if I went straight cleric there'd be less reason to put my second highest stat in charisma... could boost my constitution. Hmmm.

Thanks for the spell references, they're pretty nice.

Calypso

 

[calypso15]

What would be a good feat sequence to take?

And... the weapon-focus/monkey-grip for the greatsword. Good, or not so good?

 

[Sejs]

I'd ditch the monkeygriped greatsword, personally. You're not going to have that many feats to play around with, and that eats two right off the bat.

 

[Elephant]

Given that you're trying to be more of a fighter/healer, may I suggest that you start at 16 WIS and put your ability increases for 4th/8th/12th/16th levels into it? A Periapt of Wisdom for your amulet slot would let you get away with a lower WIS, too, if you need to focus on your melee abilities.

16 or even 18 CON would help for the HP, and you can probably get away with a lower CHA for a battle cleric. Maybe put 10 there?

18 STR, plus the three major buffs mentioned above, would make you a pure killing machine.

Also, have at least 12 DEX and use fullplate. If you can get a higher DEX, go for it; at higher levels, you can get armors that allow greater than normal DEX bonuses (I'm thinking of elven chain, mithril shirt, etc.).

Get Boots of Striding and Springing - the extra 10' base land speed is nothing short of awesome. You NEED a Wand of Cure Light, especially if you don't put the 18 into WIS. The Periapt of Wisdom is also high on your list of things to consider - though an Amulet of Natural Armor of of Health (+CON) are also worth considering.

Oh, for domains, if you can get War and Strength together, they will give you a lot of battle power. Luck (reroll one die per day, Miracle as the 9th level spell) and Magic (use magic items as a Wizard of half your class level) are also worth considering.

 

[calypso15]

Huh... that's an interesting idea. So, would I not take the levels of paladin then, with such a low charisma score?

Also... yeah... about those magic items... I get to start with about 600 gold He's really ultra stingy with gold and magic items... my old character didn't have any magic items, and he was level 6. I'm thinking about taking Craft Magic Arms and Armor and/or Craft Wondrous Items.

EDIT: And, might I point out, we're facing vampires

 

[Wish]

If you're playing 3.0 and have access to the various builder books, you can set up an offense/defense cleric to just mulch things. You do need one level of paladin in the mix, or fighter. You need martial weapon proficiency more than anything. But either the free feat from fighter or the save bonus is nice too. With your stats, I'd take paladin.

A strong build at level 6 is going to be pal 1/clr 5. Set yourself up to take the church inquisitor class at level 7, which is an excellent class. Then make sure to get cleric 6. Cleric 5 is a sucky level to stop at. (Level 5 gives no BAB and no saves, it's a wasted level in a lot of ways - level 6 gives BAB and all three saves, making it an excellent level at which to stop a class progression.)

For feats, you'll want Extend Spell, to set yourself up for Persistent spell at level 9. Persistent spell is incredible for clerics in 3.0. And Extend is nice on its own for extra long stat, weapon, and armor buffs. Other than that, maybe look at item creation feats, if your campaign lets you have enough downtime to use them. Or combat feats if it doesn't, such as power attack or the various bow feats.

Given that you're short of players, and have that nice high charisma, Leadership might be a decent investment too. That'll depend largely on your campaign though.

When you say supplemental books, it's unclear whether or not you include Forgotten Realms books in there. If you have access to those, set yourself up for Divine Disciple as your 9th level, it's another nice class that adds in to the mix quite well. With this sort of build, you'll end up with insane saving throws. Your BAB won't be great, but you have buff spells to make up the slack. Also from the FR, Spell Girding is a nice pick-up, since it makes your spells harder to dispel. Essential for a buff cleric. You'll also want to invest at some point in a ring of counterspells and keep it full of either dispel magic or greater dispelling (depending on level).

So, at 6th level:
pal 1/clr 5 - feats Extend Spell, Leadership, Scribe Scroll, Spell Girding

At 9th level:
pal 1/clr 6/inq 1/div dis 1 (or pal 1/clr 6/inq 2) - added feat - craft wondrous item

From there, keep improving your inquisitor and disciple levels, unless you find some other pclass you like better. Both classes can be taken at least to level 4 for maximum benefit. By the time you get that done, you're 15th level.

 

[Elephant]

Good feats include Combat Casting (for the key Cure spell while within swinging range of that Hill Giant, etc.), Improved Initiative (get your buff spells up before your teammates attack without them!), Improved Critical (especially if you have War domain), Combat Expertise/Improved Disarm, Combat Reflexes, Dodge/Mobility/Spring Attack (leaves you less open to attack, reducing the amount of damage you'll take overall), and even Lightning Reflexes (Reflex save bonus).

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

If you want a stand up fighter type then there's great ideas here... But fighting vampires with 600 gold... I've played in a very similar game before. It's dangerous!

For a long lived character I'd go Barbarian 1:Cleric 5. Get a decent dexterity score, wear light armour and get a feat that lets you run faster. You don't have to outrun the vampires, just the other member(s) of the party.

Creating items is a nice idea, but does take lots of downtime and gold...


Some rough ideas:

Statwise:
14 Str, 18 Dex, 14 Con, 16 Wis, 12 Int, 10 Cha.
Chainmail shirt and a buckler. A melee weapon and a longbow - you don't have to get close to them with one of those.

Go for a cleric of the God of Thieves - Domains Travel and Trickery.

Put points in hide skill.

Take the fleet of foot feat and possibly improved initiative.

Cast Longstrider before leaving the house.

You will hopefully act first, have a speed of 50 and can make 90 degree turns while running. You can also hide quite well.

Welcome to surviving!