Looking for Cleric PrC - Ocean/War Oriented

[Mistwell]

I am playing an elven cleric of The Drowned One, a diety taken losely from the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.

He has the Ocean and War domains, and tends to be the melee fighter of the group, speeding into battle headlong with his trident and seaweed-laden plate armor. He uses his spells primarily for attacking and healing fallen comrades. He has dodge, mobility, speed burst (the Arcana Unearthed version of spring attack), and Sacred Healing (from Complete Divine - burn turn attempt to grant fast healing 1+ Chr. Mod for several rounds in radial burst).

I am looking for a water-oriented, ocean-oriented, or war-oriented prestige class. I am open to any source as a suggestion (and can look at either 3.0 or 3.5). Any help/advice would be appreciated.

A bit about the Drowned One, taken from a description I wrote for a proposed PrC that I ended up not using (though I may return to it if no published PrC feels right):

For thousands of years, raiders from the islands (called Ironmen by those they raided) have been the terror of the seas, known wherever men could smell salt water or hear the crash of waves. Eventually, their island homes became known as the Iron Islands. Life is mean and meager on the islands, which drove the Ironmen to turn to raiding the mainland (called the “green lands” by the Ironborn). The Ironmen pride themselves on their fierceness in battle and their sacred freedoms. Ironmen do not bend their knees often or easily, but are respectful to lords who have earned it. The Ironborn captains are proud and willful and do not go in awe of another man's blood. Reaving songs tend to be loud and stormy, telling of dead heroes and deeds of wild valor.

The Ironborn have a game they call the finger dance, entailing throwing short-hafted axes at one another. The trick is to catch the axe or leap over it just right. The name comes from the fact that the game usually ends with a dancer losing one or more of his fingers.

The Ironborn worship one principal deity, known as the Drowned God (Domains: War, Ocean, Destruction, and Travel). The Drowned God brought flame from the sea, and sailed the world with fire and sword. When an Ironman drowns, it's said that the Drowned God needed a strong oarsman, and the refrain "What's dead may never die" is used. The Drowned God made the Ironborn to reave and rape, to carve out kingdoms and to make their names known in fire and blood and song. It is said, "the Drowned God makes men, but it's men who make crowns".

Champions of the Drowned God wear seawater robes, mottled green and grey and blue. They wear their hair and beards long and braid ropes of dried seaweed through them. Champions of the Drowned God carry a waterskin filled with seawater. The process of a blessing involves the recipient kneeling. Using his skin of seawater, the Champion pours a stream of it upon the recipient's head. As he does this he intones, "Let <recipient>; your servant be born again from the sea, as you were. Bless him with salt, bless him with stone, bless him with steel." Then the kneeling person responds, "What is dead may never die." Finally, the Champion closes with, "What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger". Champions of the Drowned God also bless new ships, speaking invocations and pouring seawater over prows.

Champions of the Drowned God are typically created when an Ironborn Paladin, Cleric, or Ocean-revering Ranger or Druid survives, or is resurrected from, a near-fatal or fatal drowning, often while in battle. This survival is thanks to the Drowned God, who delayed summoning the warrior to be one of his oarsmen in exchange for the warrior becoming one of his minions on the material plane. Champions adventure to bring the old ways and the worship of the Drowned God to all parts of the Green Lands, though they are typically found near a shoreline.

Included among the old ways is a practice known as “paying the iron price”, wherein an Ironborn warrior wears only the jewelry they take from the corpses of their enemies that they slew themselves. Ritual executions, involving the drowning of victims in salt water, are made in the Drowned God's name if (for example) someone insults the god. The Old Way extends even to comrades, if one ends their life to save them pain or because they've failed in some matter. Ironmen of old were often blood-drunk in battle, so berserk that they felt no pain and feared no enemy.

Champions of the Drowned God surrender the use of most ranged weapons, since “glory can only be gotten by fighting man to man, not by flinging rocks”. Champions of the Drowned God include members of all the common races, since the Drowned God’s need for minions and oarsmen is universal.

 

[Liquidsabre]

Try the Waveservant PrC found in Faiths & Pantheons (Forgotten Realms), this PrC is for an evil diety though, requires endurance and weapon focus (trident) feats, and adds the Ocean Domain spells to your cleric spell list, water breathing and a swim speed, aquatic servants, fight and cast normally underwater, scent ability underwater, and other special abilities as the cleric's type slowly alters into an aberration (aquatic) creature with mnor physical changes only.

Though the abilities for this PrC are very ocean-adventuring orientated, it might be what you are looking for.

 

[cmanos]

I don't have Faiths and Pantheons, but it looks liek the Waveservant is a good place to start. I was going to suggest the Stormlord from CD.

 

[kmdietri]

There is a PrC is Savage Species, called the Waverider or something like that.

Might not be what your looking for.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

There is a PrC is Savage Species, called the Waverider or something like that.

Might not be what your looking for.

The Waverider is essentially an underwater mounted warrior. Its not at all useful if your on land...Waveservant might be. Sadly, there just aren't enough water oriented PrCs. Everybody just looooves Fire too much...bah...

 

[Mistwell]

Thank you guys. So far, these are more ideas than I previously had at least.

If there are few water-oriented PrC's, perhaps it IS time I made a more generic PrC for water-oriented casters.

 

[Mistwell]

So, here are some general powers I am considering for a water-oriented PrC:

1) Water Breathing, or enhancement of prior water breathing ability that comes with the Ocean domain

2) Swim Speed - this might instead build up, starting with the ability to ignore some armor check penalty to swimming, and a bonus to swim skill, and eventually resulting in a full swim speed equal to the characters normal land speed.

3) Water Casting - Ability to cast spells without spell check failure while under water (obviously would have to come after the water breathing ability).

4) Water Manipulation - Not sure how this one will work. Perhaps it's the ability to summon a water elemental (starting small and increasing in size with level) from any sufficiently large water source (like a 10 x 10 x 10 square of water or more - not just a waterskin of water). Perhaps it is something else, like thickening a source of water to act like an entangle spell for creatures in that water (stepping in or submerged). Could use some advice on this one.

5) Water Spells - I want something to encourage the character to cast more water-oriented spells. Perhaps this is just a +1 level to water spells. Perhaps it is access to a new domain with water spells in it. Perhaps it is an increase in damage, range, duration, shape, or other numerical factor of a water-based spell. Maybe something else. Could use advice on this section.

Is there anything else people can suggest for a water-based casting class?

 

[Mistwell]

Oh come now, I am sure someone can come up with some ideas for a water-based class. There are sooooo many fire-based classes out there, that the analogy shouldn't bee too much of a stretch.

 

[Malin Genie]

I was recently playing the cleric of an ocean deity, although in this case she had the Death and Water domains and a large Intimidate bonus.... Aeron Damphair was definitely part of the inspiration there too.

I did write up a PrC suggestion, although never actually got around to proposing it to the DM before the campaign ended. if I can find it I'll post it, but in the meantime:

Spell selection: See if you can get your DM to agree to some changes in your spell selection, even without a Prestige Class. For example, I gave up Flame Strike in order to add Quench to my list, and you could work out similar swaps for Fire Storm or other spells that didn't fit well.

Even just using 'watery' descriptions for some of your spells can be helpful in creating an atmospheric character. For example, my cleric's Speak With Dead was designed for use on those who died at sea, so in order to use it on an enemy the party had killed 'on land', she had to force her waterskin down its throat and 'drown' it before it would gurgle its answers...

 

[Mistwell]

I was recently playing the cleric of an ocean deity, although in this case she had the Death and Water domains and a large Intimidate bonus.... Aeron Damphair was definitely part of the inspiration there too.

I did write up a PrC suggestion, although never actually got around to proposing it to the DM before the campaign ended. if I can find it I'll post it, but in the meantime:

Spell selection: See if you can get your DM to agree to some changes in your spell selection, even without a Prestige Class. For example, I gave up Flame Strike in order to add Quench to my list, and you could work out similar swaps for Fire Storm or other spells that didn't fit well.

Even just using 'watery' descriptions for some of your spells can be helpful in creating an atmospheric character. For example, my cleric's Speak With Dead was designed for use on those who died at sea, so in order to use it on an enemy the party had killed 'on land', she had to force her waterskin down its throat and 'drown' it before it would gurgle its answers...

Malin:

Those are some great ideas. I particularly like the speak with dead idea. Thanks a bunch.

Now...gotta get to work on tweaking some spells to propose to my DM.