The favored soul

[Aleolus]

They don't get Cleric Domains, or Domain Powers, but I houserule that a FS can acquire spells from any Domain Spell list of the Domains granted by his deity. I don't know if that is an actual rule or not, I just figure it makes a lot of sense.

On the whole, I think Favored Souls work well when it comes to RP, and perform about as well as Sorcerers when it comes to combat, minus the Familiar.

 

[Darklone]

NO TURN UNDEAD. Thus no Divine Feats, thus none of most of the extra beefy things clerics use nowadays to be real strong.

 

[Thanee]

Very insightful, thanks...

The reply was meant to the original post, not yours.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nifft]

My (very limited) experience points to Favored Souls being less powerful than Sorcerers, but with more staying power. If you use PHB-II, then the Favored Soul gets a nice boost at 12th level (thanks to Weapon Specialization + Melee Weapon Mastery), which may make him playable at high level.

Also, get the party to pool wealth to buy condition-removal scrolls (like remove disease and break enchantment) and recovery scrolls (like raise dead), so the Favored Soul isn't stuck taking those spells.

Cheers, -- N

 

[RefinedBean]

They don't get domain POWERS, but I think they still get domain spells as Spells Known.

 

[brendan candries]

"They don't get domain POWERS, but I think they still get domain spells as Spells Known."

they don't. and even if they get access to a domain (e.g. prestige class) it only means they get more spells to choose from. they still have to abide by the spells known rules.

the PHBII option to add temp hitpoints on top of your spells is a nice one though. not as strong as the initiate of ilmater feat, but still.

 

[Chu Li]

I've never quite understood why Favoured Souls should'nt get acces to domain spells. That way I would find it rather hard to imagine them as being touched by a "particular" god. Yeah, you can make it nice combat oriented class with lots of buffs and stuff like that, but there's hardly a difference between a combat oriented FS of Pelor and one of, say, Hextor. Adding this option to my game hasn't broken it a bit, but it has certainly added some degree of signature to many characters (PCs and NPCs alike)

...

ChuLi

 

[Trouvere]

Yup. The Favored Soul is an awful implementation. Sure, they just wanted to make a divine spontaneous caster, but the class has no flavour at all, except for those stupid wings at high level. I wish instead the FS had been given access only to spells from the domains of their god.

 

[sammy]

My view

I have played several favored souls, and to be honest, they are good, but I agree that they should have a domain of the god they represent. Lose the wings, and gain a domain.

I never understood the wings anyway.

As far as the Spell Com. is concerned, be thoughtful of the spells they choose. A god of life and healing wound't be inclined to give you a Sound Lance.

As a DM, it's all in context.

As a player, I love Favoured Souls. Pick a martial god, like Heronious, have some good spells to help you in battle, like Divine Favor and Bulls Strength, and watch your enemies fall before you like blades of grass. PS- a little defense is good also, like Shield of Faith and Cats Grace.

 

[rgard]

Yup. The Favored Soul is an awful implementation. Sure, they just wanted to make a divine spontaneous caster, but the class has no flavour at all, except for those stupid wings at high level. I wish instead the FS had been given access only to spells from the domains of their god.

The Divine Crusader in Complete Divine does the only domain spells access.