Need help making a undead killing cleric

[Azazu]

I am about to start in a new campaign and am going to be playing a cleric. I havent got stats yet.

I will probably be starting out at third level. It will be rolled stats. I want to make a cleric who is especially good at turning/destroying undead. This is what I was thinking.

Human Cleric of Heironeous. Domains War and Good.
Free weapon prof. and focus (longsword)

Go for plate and wear a buckler.

Eventually go for Prestige class Contemplative and pick up the Glory Domain (gives extra die of damage when turning plus has some good domain spells (such as holy sword

I was going to take combat casting at first level and brew potion at third. But i dont know what else to take at first level.

I would love to hear what the board thinks of this or even better, i would love to hear your ideas on making a great cleric that kicks undead ass.

 

[Tylias]

If you study the turning mechanics in the PHB a bit, you'll see that cleric class level is the single most important determinant for turning power. Charisma is a bonus, but not a reliable or even particularly powerful one - you won't really be able to make up for a lower cleric turning level just by having a high charisma stat. If you're going for max. turning ability, you won't want to dilute your cleric class levels with *anything* that doesn't have the turn undead ability.

Sacred Exorcist would be a worthwhile prestige class; that one focuses on the destruction of undead and outsiders. You get extra turning attempts, which saves you a few feats for juicing up your turning power and metamagics. But Contemplatives don't turn undead, so you can't stack class levels for turning with that PrC, and you'll end up losing painful amounts of turning power. Sacred Exorcists do get the Turn Undead power at first level, so their levels do stack.

Definitely Take the Glory domain as one of your first domains, though - the +1d6 turning damage is useful especially at low-levels. Good and War are both nice domains, but if you're looking to be able to destroy significant undead with a turning attempt, have a look at the Sun domain's Greater Turning granted ability.

Also consider the Craft Wondrous Item feat, to make yourself an Amulet vs. Undead. (It lets you turn undead at 4 levels higher than your true turning level. This is incredibly powerful.)

Hope this is useful to you

 

[kreynolds]

Roll some stats, grab a weapon, kill some skeletons. Hope that helps.

 

[Spoof]

Brother Joachim "Liches are my Bitches" Smackdown
Originally posted by Carpe DM

Editor’s Note: I can’t post the original post, and the subsequent fixes, so I’ll just post the closest version to a corrected maximized version. Please see the original post for detailed analysis.

Using your 11th Level example, we have: Clr 6/Radiant Servant of Pelor 5

TURNING CHECK:

+3 (consecrate. +6 if you use the shrine / haversack trick)
+10 (heighten--notice I'm not using the whole bit, just enough to get +19)
+6 (charisma)
+2 (glory)
-2 (empower)
---
+19 to turn check. This guarantees a +4.

Then we calculate effective level.

EFFECTIVE LEVEL:

+4 (turning check result)
+2 (sacred armor)
+2 (sacred shield)
+4 (amulet of turning)
+4 (rod of authority)
+11 (level)
---
27, effective level. So, the smack will destroy anything of 27th level or less.

Finally, we do turning damage. Effective level does NOT plug into turning damage, but cleric / turning prestige class levels do. And since those magic items which added to effective level also add to damage, we count them again. Note that the turning check bonus to effective level DOESN'T seem to carry across. It simply says to add your level, not your effective level.

+2 (Sacred armor)
+2 (Sacred shield)
+4 (rod of authority)
+4 (amulet of turning)
+11 (level)
+6 (charisma: I know you used +9; this is adjustable)
-10 (heighten)
+2d6 (base)
+2d6 (empower)
+1d6 (glory)
---
5d6 + 19, for an average of 19+ 17.5 = 36.5.

Note that this framework would only be used if the cleric were trying to wipe out a very high level monster (27 hit dice ) and didn't care about damage.

If we were going after our average 11th level monster, you'd drop the heighten turning, and go for the gusto on the turning damage. In that case you'd do 5d6 + 29= 17.5 + 29 = 46.5 turning damage of hit dice.

best,

Carpe

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Here are some ideas. Not an exhaustive list by any means.

Be a cleric of Pelor in order to get the Sun and Healing domains. Sun gives you the greater turning ability 1/day and searing light as a 3rd level domain spell. Healing gives you all those "cure" spells which act as "inflict" spells against undead.

You don't need a sword for the holy sword spell. It will work on any weapon you choose. It will work just as well on your heavy mace. Futhermore, skeleton-type undead only take half damage from slashing/piercing weapons. And something to keep in mind for later levels also is the Disruption weapon ability. It can only be put on bludgeoning weapons like maces!

Wear the heaviest armor you can afford and use a large shield, not a buckler. Wield a heavy mace or morningstar and a light crossbow.

For feats, there are many choices. Combat casting is not too bad, but IMO it is not the best choice for your character. Nor is brew potion. I would take scribe scroll for sure. There is nothing like having extra spells, especially those to which undead are particularly vulnerable. Extra turning is the next choice. Four more turning attempts per day is vital to your undead killer.

The rest of your feats are up to you. Here is a list of good feats for your type of character: Great Fortitude ( for those paralysis attacks), any of the Divine feats from DotF or Heighten/Empower Turning, Craft Magic Ams and Armor (so you can make that +4 holy undead bane heavy mace of disruption), Empower Spell (for those searing light spells, and others), Craft Wondrous Item (for those Charisma boosting items especially), etc.

One more thing. Put your highest score in Charisma, then the next highest in Wisdom. The highest charisma is vital for your turning attempts. After wisdom, go Str, Con, Int, and Dex. Hopefully you will not roll too low. You don't need a high dex, but you don't really want a penalty either.

 

[Azazu]

Radiant Servant of Pelor

Can someone post the info on that prestige class.

Does that come from Dragon, what ##??


thanks

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Spoof: Where can I find the Radiant Servant of Pelor PrC? Was that in Dragon magazine? Which number?

Thanks.

 

[Theovis]

Don't forget your trusty Prayer Bead of Karma. +4 to your caster level means more damage with your Inflicts and Searing Lights.

Though you'll need to buy them from a 17th level Cleric.

 

[mikebr99]

"Prestige Class (Dragon #283 page 42)
Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Base Will Save: +5
Patron Diety: Pelor
Alignment: Neutral Good
Knowledge (Religion): 9; Heal: 5; Knowledge (Undead): 3
Feats: Extra Turning
Spellcasting: Able to cast Divine Spells

Radiant Servants of Pelor gain +1 spell casting level of existing class for each level.

1st: Radiance; Turn Undead; Extra Greater Turning
2nd: Empower Healing; Divine Health
3rd:Aura of Warding
5th: Additional Domain
6th: Maximize Healing
8th: Positive Energy Burst
10th: Supreme Healing"

 

[Krystoff]

You can also find the description of the class at this website under the Divine Prestige Classes list.

The Radiant Servant is defiantely an Undead killing machine.