An Alternative Cleric
I haven’t presented any variants of the base classes so far. I usually prefer to add new material than to revise what’s in the core. I’m making an exception more to spur discussion than to replace the one in the
Player’s Handbook. A specific alterative should get more useful feedback than a list of problems; consider this a rough draft which I do not claim is fully balanced. I’ve had this basic idea of how to improve the cleric class for some time, and discussed it with a few friends, but I’ve never fleshed it out and written it down before now. My immediate inspiration was seeing the ardent from
Complete Psionic independently implement some of the same thoughts I’d had.
The goal of this exercise is not to change the power level of the cleric, but to make the class less front-loaded and the channeling ability more sensible. I was struck by the number of cleric-oriented prestige classes which are simply superior versions of the cleric class, which is the most powerful base class already. It’s difficult not to do this, however: the class cries out for customization, for unique powers, and for some new ability after first level. At the same time, there’s not much a class that extends the cleric can give up. BAB or hit points would significantly cut into its combat role. Losing a good saving throw doesn’t mean much (although gaining or even stacking one does). Turning ability is the most common choice, but turning
per se becomes worthless at high levels (which nullifies the value of Charisma). It actually serves as a power source for divine feats. Most divine feats have exactly the same effect and daily uses for a first-level cleric as an epic one. Another possibility is to lose advancement for domain powers, but again, these frequently have nothing to do with cleric level. Slowing down spellcasting advancement often doesn’t make sense, but losing one level thereof is catching on as a best practice, for lack of a good alternative.
I also tried to address one minor irritant of the class: that, every time the DM lets a non-core cleric spell into the game, every cleric of every faith has always known it. The sorcerer class suggested the solution.
Design Notes: There isn’t much room to bump the cleric’s power level either up or down. It’s already the most powerful class, and it’s that way for a reason. First and foremost, I set out to make all domain abilities and all uses of channeling depend on cleric level. Because I handed out more special abilities and more daily uses, I attempted to make each one less powerful than a domain. I’ve tried to increase the class’ multiple ability dependency. I attempted to make channeling a useful ability. Reducing the spells per day substantially would break the game’s assumptions about how much healing the party will have. Despite this, I could and did remove the domain slot, since the game doesn’t assume that can hold a healing spell. (This has the pleasant side-effect of removing several corner cases from the rules, and adds flexibility to domain spell lists.)
I’ve tried to use the best ideas from
Defenders of the Faith (other uses for channeling), the
Miniatures Handbook (dual-stat casting),
Complete Divine (turning does hit point damage),
Complete Psionic (gain domain-like abilities over time),
Player’s Guide to Faerûn (feats which grant powers and expand the spell list) and other sources.
Naturally, someone who tries out these rules would also wish to change the paladin class.
Quick list of changes: No domain slots. Gain channeling ability at levels 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20. Automatically know cleric spells from the core rules, and can learn more.
Alignment: A cleric’s alignment must be within one step of his deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful-chaotic axis or the good-evil axis, but not both). A cleric may not be neutral unless his deity’s alignment is also neutral.
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills: The cleric’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) ×4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Table 1: The Cleric
Code:
Fort Ref Will Special Spells per Day
[u]Level BAB Save Save Save Abilities 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th[/u]
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Channel 1/day 3 1 — — — — — — — —
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Channel 2/day 4 2 — — — — — — — —
3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 4 2 1 — — — — — — —
4th +3 +4 +1 +4 5 3 2 — — — — — — —
5th +3 +4 +1 +4 Channel 3/day 5 3 2 1 — — — — — —
6th +4 +5 +2 +5 5 3 3 2 — — — — — —
7th +5 +5 +2 +5 6 4 3 2 1 — — — — —
8th +6/+1 +6 +2 +6 6 4 3 3 2 — — — — —
9th +6/+1 +6 +3 +6 6 4 4 3 2 1 — — — —
10th +7/+2 +7 +3 +7 Channel 4/day 6 4 4 3 3 2 — — — —
11th +8/+3 +7 +3 +7 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 — — —
12th +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 6 5 4 4 3 3 2 — — —
13th +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 — —
14th +10/+5 +9 +4 +9 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 — —
15th +11/+6/+1 +9 +5 +9 Channel 5/day 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 —
16th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 —
17th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 1
18th +13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +11 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2
19th +14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +11 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 3
20th +15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +12 Channel 6/day 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4
Spells: A cleric casts divine spells as shown on the table above. His Charisma (representing divine grace) determines how strong his connection to his patron is, and his Wisdom (representing willpower) determines how difficult his spells are to resist.
In order to cast a spell, a cleric must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + spell level. Charisma determines a cleric’s bonus spells per day. The save DC of a cleric’s spell is 10 + spell level + the cleric’s Wisdom modifier.
A cleric may not cast spells with an alignment descriptor opposed to his own alignment or his patron’s.
Every faith prays and casts spells in its own way. Therefore, knowing how a cleric from another faith casts a spell is not by itself enough for a cleric to cast the same spell himself. All clerics know certain common spells (those on the cleric spell list
from the core rules). As clerics learn to channel their power in different ways, they add new spells to their spell list and learn those spells. A cleric may also learn of other, less common, spells from other clerics, by researching them (see
Core Rulebook II), by observing them being cast, by studying them from a scroll, or in some other way. If a cleric succeeds at a Knowledge (Religion) check against a DC of 15 + spell level, he either knows how to cast the spell properly for his faith, or realizes that his patron will not yet grant him that particular spell. When the cleric learns a spell from a coreligionist, no check is necessary.
Spontaneous Casting: A cleric can spontaneously lose a prepared spell in order to cast a
cure or
inflict spell of the same level or below. A good cleric, or the cleric of a good deity, spontaneously casts
cure spells. An evil cleric, or the cleric of an evil deity, spontaneously casts
inflict spells. A cleric who meets none of these criteria chooses at first level whether he spontaneously casts
cure spells or
inflict spells. Some deities who are neither good nor evil may nonetheless spontaneously grant only
cure spells or only
inflict spells to their clerics. (Because this ability no longer is tied to “turning” or “rebuking” undead, there is much less need for such exceptions than there used to be.) Clerics can also apply metamagic feats to spells they spontaneously cast, just as sorcerers do.
Channeling: All clerics have the ability to channel divine power. At levels 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20, a cleric chooses one ability from the list below and can channel one additional time per day. This list is by no means exhaustive. No patron grants every ability on the list.
Except where a specific ability states otherwise, channeling divine power is a supernatural ability which requires a standard action and does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Within this section, “spell list” always means your spell list as a cleric. If an ability on this list has a range, it is by default 5 ft. plus 5 ft. per level.
Some clerics have the ability to command a certain kind of creature. At any one time, you can command creatures whose combined HD do not exceed your level. When you attempt to command creatures, you begin with the nearest eligible creature and proceed to the next-closest, ignoring any which would put you over the HD cap, until there are no more eligible creatures within range. (No, you yourself aren’t an “eligible creature.” Don’t be ridiculous.) Each creature that might be affected must succeed at a Will save against a DC of 10 + ½ your cleric level + your Charisma modifier or be commanded for one minute per point of your Charisma bonus (or at least 1 minute). You must win an opposed Charisma check to force it to obey commands that are suicidal or against its basic nature, but it obeys all other orders to the best of its ability. This is a language-dependent, mind-affecting, enchantment and compulsion effect. A deity can grant the power to command even a type of creature otherwise immune to such spells, in which case the immunity does not apply. You may voluntarily release one or more creatures from your control at any time. If you have more than one ability to command different kinds of creature, you may only activate one such ability at a time. However, you may command several creatures of different kinds simultaneously, so long as their combined HD do not exceed your level.
Some clerics have the ability to smite a certain kind of creature, or creatures of a certain alignment. A smite attempt is a single melee attack. If the target is not of the right type, the channeling attempt is wasted. Otherwise, you add your Charisma bonus (if any) to the attack roll and your cleric level to the damage roll. The smite in wrath power is slightly different: using this power allows the cleric to smite any target, but as a standard action instead of an attack action.
Channeling Options
Befriend animals: Gain an animal companion as a druid of your class level. Your cleric levels stack with levels in any other class that grants an animal companion to determine its abilities. Add Knowledge (nature) to your list of cleric class skills. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
calm animals,
speak with animals; 2nd—
hold animal.
Champion chaos: You can smite lawful outsiders. Add the following spells to your spell list: 4th—
chaos hammer,
confusion; 6th—
insanity.
Prerequisite: Must be chaotic.
Champion evil: You can smite good outsiders. Add the following spells to your spell list: 4th—
crushing despair,
unholy blight; 6th—
eyebite.
Prerequisite: Must be evil.
Champion good: You can smite evil outsiders. Add the following spell to your spell list: 4th—
good hope,
holy smite; 6th—
greater heroism.
Prerequisite: Must be good.
Champion law: You can smite chaotic outsiders. Add the following spell to your spell list: 3rd—
suggestion; 4th—
order’s wrath; 6th—
hold monster.
Prerequisite: Must be lawful.
Command plants: You can command plant creatures. Add Knowledge (nature) to your list of cleric class skills. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
entangle; 2nd—
barkskin; 3rd—
plant growth; 4th—
antiplant shell; 5th—
tree stride.
Command the air: You can command creatures with the air subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 3rd—
gaseous form; 5th—
control winds.
Command the earth: You can command creatures with the earth subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 2nd—
soften earth and stone; 4th—
spike stones.
Command the fire: You can command creatures with the fire subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
burning hands; 2nd—
produce flame; 4th—
wall of fire; 5th—
fire shield.
Command the undead:. You can command the undead. Mindless undead remain under your command indefinitely. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
chill touch, 2nd—
ghoul touch, 3rd—
vampiric touch.
Prerequisite: You may not be good.
Command the water: You can command creatures with the water subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 2nd—
fog cloud; 5th—
ice storm; 6th—
cone of cold.
Deceive others: Add Bluff, Disguise and Hide to your list of cleric class skills. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
disguise self; 2nd—
invisibility,
misdirection; 3rd—
nondetection.
Prerequisite: You may not be lawful.
Discover secrets: All knowledge skills are cleric class skills for you. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
detect secret doors; 2nd—
fox’s cunning; 3rd—
arcane sight,
clairaudience/clairvoyance; 4th—
arcane eye,
locate creature; 5th—
prying eyes; 6th—
mass fox’s cunning; 7th—
legend lore; 8th—
greater arcane sight; 9th—
vision.
Escape by luck: Immediately after a roll to determine whether some event will harm you (such as an attack roll, caster level check, miss chance, saving throw or the like), you may attempt to escape by luck. The event has a 1% chance per cleric level you possess not to affect you, as if you had succeeded on the roll. If success on this roll would not have completely averted the misfortune, you still suffer the lesser calamity. This ability cannot negate an effect which had no chance to fail. Add the following spells to your spell list: 7th—
spell turning; 8th—
moment of prescience; 9th—
foresight.
Extinguish life: As a standard action, make a melee touch attack against a living target. If you hit, roll 1d6 per cleric level. If the total at least equals the target’s current hit points, it dies (no save). This is a necromantic death effect. Add the following spells to your spell list: 7th—
circle of death; 8th—
finger of death; 9th—
wail of the banshee.
Prerequisite: Either command the undead or honor the dead.
Gain strength: You can add half your cleric level as an enhancement bonus to any one Strength-based check, attack roll or damage roll. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
enlarge person,
jump; 4th—
mass enlarge person.
Gird yourself for war: As a full-round action which provokes attacks of opportunity, you can cast several cleric spells at once. Any damage you take while casting has a chance to disrupt each spell (roll separately). Treat each of these spells as a quickened version, except that you can cast more than one in the round. There are several restrictions on which spells you can cast this way: the number of spells you cast cannot exceed your Charisma bonus, the sum of their spell levels cannot exceed your cleric level, you must have each one prepared, and they all must be harmless or strictly personal. For example, a 10th-level cleric with a Charisma of 16 could cast
divine favor,
divine power and
righteous might. He could not cast a fourth spell, nor could he replace any of these spells with a more powerful one, nor could he substitute a spell to harm or hinder his enemy.
Heal the wounded: Whenever you would add your cleric level to the number of hit points you cure with a spell, add twice your cleric level instead, up to double the normal maximum. For example, your
cure moderate wounds spell would cure 2d8 hit points + 2✕ your cleric level (maximum 2d8 + 20).
Honor the dead: You can smite the undead. You cast
deathwatch as a non-evil spell. Add the following spells to your spell list: 0th—
disrupt undead; 2nd—
halt undead; 6th—
undeath to death.
Prerequisite: You may not be evil.
Keep your secrets: Your patron has a 1% chance per cleric level you possess to intercept, without the caster’s knowledge, any ordinary divination that directly asks about you. Patrons will answer in their own best interests (typically by letting you reply, since they find this amusing and convenient). Add the following spells to your spell list: 5th—
false vision; 6th—
veil; 7th—
screen; 8th—
mind blank.
Prerequisite: Deceive others.
Master animals: You can command animals (other than your animal companion). You can only give them simple commands in Sylvan, equivalent to tricks. Add the following spells to your spell list: 5th—
baleful polymorph; 8th—
animal shapes.
Prerequisite: Befriend animals.
Master beasts: You can command animals, magical beasts, monstrous humanoids and vermin. You can give animals and vermin simple commands in Sylvan, equivalent to tricks.
Prerequisites: Friend to animals, master of animals.
Master nature: You can command animals, dragons, giants, humanoids, fey, magical beasts, monstrous humanoids, oozes and vermin. You can give commanded creatures without a language simple commands in Sylvan, equivalent to tricks. At any one time, you can affect a number of natural creatures whose combined hit dice do not exceed twice your cleric level. Add the following spells to your spell list: 5th—
awaken; 6th—
antilife shell; 9th—
antipathy,
shapechange,
sympathy.
Prerequisites: Befriend animals, command plants, master animals, master beasts, smite the unnatural.
Master the air: You can command living creatures with a racial fly speed. Add the following spells to your spell list: 6th—
chain lightning; 8th—
whirlwind; 9th—
elemental swarm (air elementals).
Prerequisite: Command the air.
Master the earth: You can command living creatures with a racial burrow speed. Add the following spells to your spell list: 6th—
stoneskin; 8th—
iron body; 9th—
elemental swarm (earth elementals).
Prerequisite: Command the earth.
Master the flames: You can command living creatures with a racial immunity to fire. Add the following spells to your spell list: 6th—
fire seeds; 8th—
incendiary cloud; 9th—
elemental swarm (fire elementals).
Prerequisite: Command the fire.
Master the water: You can command living creatures with either the aquatic subtype or the amphibious special quality. Add the following spells to your spell list: 7th—
acid fog; 8th—
horrid wilting; 9th—
elemental swarm (water elementals).
Prerequisite: Command the water.
Move freely: For a total time per day of 1 round per cleric level, you can act as if you were affected by
freedom of movement. This effect occurs automatically as soon as it applies, lasts until it runs out or is no longer needed, and can operate multiple times per day (up to the total daily limit of rounds). You mmust use one channeling attempt to activate this power, as a swift action, and it remains active until the next time you pray for spells. Add the following spells to your spell list: 5th—
teleport; 6th—
find the path; 7th—
greater teleport.
Prerequisite: See the world.
See the world: Knowledge (geography) and Survival are class skills for you. Add the following spells to your spell list: 1st—
longstrider; 3rd—
fly; 4th—
dimension door, 5th—
overland flight.
Smite in wrath: You can smite any target, as a standard action.
Smite the unnatural: You can smite aberrations. Add the following spells to your spell list: 5th—
wall of thorns; 7th—
animate plants, 9th—
shambler.
Prerequisite: Command plants.
Smite with earth: You can smite creatures with the air subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 6th—
flesh to stone,
stone to flesh.
Prerequisite: Command the earth.
Smite with fire: You can smite creatures with the water subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 2nd—
heat metal,
flame blade.
Prerequisite: Command the fire.
Smite with waves: You can smite creatures with the fire subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 3rd—
sleet storm,
quench.
Prerequisite: Command the water.
Smite with wind: You can smite creatures with the earth subtype. Add the following spells to your spell list: 2nd—
gust of wind; 3rd—
stinking cloud.
Prerequisite: Command the air.
Study the arcane: You use scrolls, wands, and other devices with spell completion or spell trigger activation as a wizard of one-half your cleric level. For the purpose of using a scroll or other magic device, if you are also a wizard, actual wizard levels and these effective wizard levels stack. Add the following spells to your class list: 1st—
magic aura; 2nd—
identify; 4th—
lesser globe of invulnerability; 6th—
globe of invulnerability; 7th—
analyze dweomer,
spell turning; 8th—
protection from spells; 9th—
mage’s disjunction.
Prerequisite: Discover secrets.
Ward against harm: You can grant someone you touch a resistance bonus equal to your Charisma bonus on his or her next saving throw. The duration of this ability is ten minutes per cleric level, or until needed, whichever comes first. Add the following spells to your spell list: 2nd—
protection from arrows; 5th—
wall of force; 8th—
mind blank,
prismatic wall; 9th—
prismatic sphere.