Shugenja, Cleric or Spirit Shaman?

[DungeonmasterCal]

After months of not getting to game (except to run my son and his friend on games) I'm finally going to get to play this weekend. I'm rejoining a game that I was playing in before my accident. I'm pretty jazzed.

The character I currently play is a 7th level Soulknife, but from what I've been told about the way the body count keeps rising in this game, it'd be a good idea to have a backup character. Nicknamed the "Boneyard campaign", there are a LOT of undead the players have to deal with, as well as something that has stolen the soul of one of the players.

So...I'm going to roll up a backup character. The party has NO cleric, and I've never been really fond of playing one, though I will fill that void if needed. But I don't want to play a cleric, really, so I was wondering what would be a better alternative-the Shugenja or the Spirit Shaman? Or would I be better off playing a vanilla cleric?

So I leave it up to you, ENWorld... I'll go with the prevaling opinion. I'll roll the character up tomorrow night.

Thanks in advance!

DMCal

 

[Jdvn1]

I'm saying Shugenja because... well, I like Clerics, but I don't think you should play something you don't want to play. I'm not a huge fan of Spirit Shamans, and Shugenjas seem more colorful.

 

[Crothian]

The cleric is bland, but the other two just don't fit well in many settings. So, if one of them happens to fit in the setting you are playing in go for it. Otherwise play a Bard.

 

[BlackMoria]

What do you envision as your primary role.... combat medic, venegance of your god, or turning undead?

That will help decide which. If you don't care too much about turning undead, you could do a druid or a greenbond (AU/AE).

If turning undead is important and you don't want to be the cleric, be a paladin focused on fighting undead.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

What do you envision as your primary role.... combat medic, venegance of your god, or turning undead?

Hmm...good question. I was trying to fill a role that they seemed to be sorely in need of, as the guy who usually plays a cleric just can't get a weekend off (he's the only one who doesn't have a reg'lar 9-5 job). From the sound of things, I'd say turning undead. Maybe a base class mixed with a PrC geared toward fighting the undead.... hmmmm....

 

[The Human Target]

Go with what you have the best idea for. I think its easy to make a non bland cleric, but if you don't just try and come up with something you will enjoy.

 

[Celebrim]

I think from a meta-gaming prespective, the cleric is probably the best choice for 'undead butt kicker'.

But I hate making characters for meta-game reasons outside of a pure 'See if you can survive this' dungeon crawl.

Go with the class that you think makes for the most interesting most powerfully motivated quirkiest character. I think you can pour alot of flavor into any class, and ultimately I think you can make a class recede somewhat into the background so that you aren't defined by the mechanics but by the personality you've created. You could probably through your play obfuscate to a great degree whether you were playing a cleric, a shugenja, or a shaman (or a druid for that matter). So, in other words, play what you want and trust your DM to scale the challenges appropriate to the party abilities.

As for what I would take, I'd probably play a Shaman, only because I really like the Green Ronin treatment of the class (by and large), I've never played one, and I've got a Cleric tuned for 'undead butt kicking' already.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

My main character I love playing (the Soulknife). Through a combo of good feats and lucky ability score and hit point rolls, he's pretty whup-a$$. I actually hope it doesn't come down to my having to play a backup character, which is why I'm having such a hard time with the decision.

I, too, hate having to meta-game when planning a character, but after hearing how these guys just keep getting ground up by the baddies, I almost feel bad for NOT playing a cleric of some sort... LOL

 

[Jdvn1]

Well, if the party went down a Soulknife, would they lose an important front-line fighter? That's not a good spot to lose either.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Well, if the party went down a Soulknife, would they lose an important front-line fighter? That's not a good spot to lose either.

I think so, too. Aside from the guy playing the werebear, I don't think there's another good frontline fighter.