Tricky Cleric/Mage

[al-mi'raj]

A friend of mine invited me to participate in a Living Greyhawk game, so on a fluke I created Clio, a Cleric of Olidamarra, a “disposable” character with an 8 Str and an 8 Con, whose main tactic has been to hide or bluff her way out of everything. Surprisingly, she survived several deadly encounters (mostly due to her good fortune) and made it to level 2.

I never expected to become so fond of her or for her to last this long, and I *really* could use some help plotting her future.

Since she rarely wears heavy armor and regularly uses her non-healing spells to get into and out of trouble, I was toying with the idea of taking, a level of wizard or sorceror. The only problem is, RPGA adventures seem to be more combat heavy than I’m used to and she really ain’t the melee type. Her role in combat has been limited to hiding behind the big guys, healing the fallen and getting an occasional shot off at the enemy with her light x-bow.

Here are her stats:
Stats: Str 8, Int 14, Wis 14, Dex 14, Con 8, Cha 16.
Feats: Point Blank and Precise Shot
Domains: Trickery and Luck

So my quandaries are: Should I take a level of sorceror or wizard? If wizard, should I specialize? What school should I specialize in and what schools should I give up?

(I was leaning toward wizard because of versatility and the scribe scroll feat, but she has the Charisma for a sorceror.)

Does anyone have any creative ideas on how to best use my access to both forms of magic (arcane and divine) in and out of combat? (i.e., using Spectral Hand to cure the wounds of a fallen comrade or to inflict wounds on a distant enemy?)

What is the best way to prolong her life, aside from taking a level in fighter or barbarian?

What spells/equipment should I take to make her more combat ready?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Mira

PS Yes, I'm already looking into a toad familiar

 

[kengar]

Toughness feat at 3rd & Toad familiar = +6 hp. Take wizard and get the scribe scroll bonus feat then make a bunch of scrolls of Sleep. As far as specialization, personally, I wouldn't worry about it. Keep all the schools open to you.

If you've got the gold and magic items are available for sale, look into a wand of Cure Light Wounds and/or Magic Missle. CLW will help reduce the number of times you have to drop a non-healing spell to "spontaneously" heal a party member and MM is a good fallback low level offensive spell. Also, see if you can get a hold of a MW mithral chain shirt (are all mithral chain shirts MW?).

HEALING POTIONS! HEALING POTIONS!

Stay out of melee, heal the tanks, zap the baddies with Sleep and MM.

my 2cp worth at least, YMMV

 

[Wicht]

I am thinking a level of rogue would be nicer than a level of wizard. Rogue with high bluff, diplomacy and disguise. Your modus operandi would then be to get close to someone and then sneak attack them, preferably with a poisoned blade. Then bluff them and sneak attack them again. Use your cleric spells to buff yourself and disguise yourself. And look forward to the day you get invisibility as a domain spell.

 

[Storminator]

I'm with Wicht...Trickery and Luck-->Rogue!

Since you'll be 3rd level you could put up to 6 ranks into UMD, and you'd have a pretty decent shot at using most wiz/sor items.

You'd have a touch more hp, and if you get another level of rogue, you'd have evasion.

PS

 

[Nifft]

IMHO you should stick with Cleric levels for a while, then take a level or two of Ranger or Barbarian. Think of it this way:

Clr3: BAB +2, Saves F +3, R +1, W +3, HP 3d8-3
Clr2 / Sor1: BAB +1, Saves F +2, R +0, W +4, HP 2d8 + 1d4 -3
(I'm assuming you don't need a boost to your Will save that badly.)

Now from a spells perspective:

Clr3: 2+1 / 1+1 Divine
Clr2 / Sor1: 2+1 Divine, 1 Arcane

Note that the 2nd level Trickery domain spell is Invisibility... you'd need 4 levels of Sorcerer to get that survivability-enhancing spell!

For your 3rd level Feat, take Brew Potion. Make potions of Cure Moderate Wounds, Endurance (at least as good as a toad ), Bull's Strength and Invisibility.

For your 4th character level, perhaps take a single level of Barbarian. Partly for the 4 extra HP, but also for the speed, access to Intimidation skill and better weapon selection -- particularly bows. After that, stay Cleric. They're powerful casters and fine archers.

-- Nifft

 

[Benben]

Yet another option.

If you don't think Clio should be in combat, then choose a less combative class. I would strongly, recommed picking up some levels in bard. You can sing when you run out of spell, and still aid your party. The skill selection will help Clio out in RP issues, and the spell selection is *perfect* for a cleric with both the Luck and Trickery domains.

 

[bret]

I'm with Wicht...Trickery and Luck-->Rogue!

Since you'll be 3rd level you could put up to 6 ranks into UMD, and you'd have a pretty decent shot at using most wiz/sor items.

You'd have a touch more hp, and if you get another level of rogue, you'd have evasion.

PS

You could only put 4 ranks in Use Magic Device, because it is an Exclusive skill.


On the original question, it depends a lot on what you are looking for.

If you took three levels of Wizard or Sorcerer, you would be able to have your familiar deliver touch attacks for you. Dangerous, especially considering that the familiar would also be low on hit points, but a reasonable consideration. The main problem I have with this is it would reduce your number of hit points by an average of 2 per level of arcane caster.

I would definately wait until after you got 3rd level in Cleric. Using Invisibility with Silent Spell and summonings can be very effective. The summon spells do not end invisiibility.

A somewhat stranger and longer range idea is to stay with Cleric, then go with the Fate Spinner PrC from Tome & Blood. Give you another use of your Luck Domain power, provide an ability to force others to reroll occationally, and could be a good fit for your character.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Here are her stats:
Stats: Str 8, Int 14, Wis 14, Dex 14, Con 8, Cha 16.
Feats: Point Blank and Precise Shot
Domains: Trickery and Luck

What is the best way to prolong her life, aside from taking a level in fighter or barbarian?

What spells/equipment should I take to make her more combat ready?

The order in which you listed your stats identifies you as an old-school player. Well met!

Anyway, here's what I suggest:

1. It seems like the only reason you want to take Wiz or Sor is so you can get the Toad familiar. It ain't worth it.

2. Your character has few hps. The best way to prolong your character's life is to avoid getting hit. That means staying out of fights. Or, if a fight starts, maximizing AC and staying out of melee, under cover.

3. If you really want to get Arcane spells, pick up a couple levels of Bard instead of Wiz/Soc. You boost your stealth skills, social skills, weapon list, and spell repertoire, and you get 3 HPs/level instead of 2.

4. For Bard spells, take Shield, Blur, Invis, Charm Person, Silent Image, and other spells that will either prevent combat or aid your survivability in combat. Remember that a Silent Image of a brick wall in front of you gives you 100% concealment.

5. The Bard skills will help you talk your way out of encounters. You're not in danger of dieing if no one's swinging.

6. But I say stick to Cleric. Shield of Faith, Doom, Obscuring Mist, Blindness, Aid, Endurance, and other spells will make you last long by boosting hps/ac or by giving Attack penalties to your foes. Plus, clerics get 5 hp/level (4 hp/level for you).

7. Get a + Con magic item, or just keep yourself juiced on Endurance. For every 2 points of Con, you get +1/level hps.

8. When the arrows start flying, make use of that Free action to drop prone. They'll be at -4 to hit you. Plus, you can return fire (with a crossbow) while prone at no penalty.

9. Carry a tower shield. You're not strong, so this might not be an option for you. But if you can manage it, it's a wonderful thing. You can hide behind the shield, casting Bless and Bane (and other untargeted mass-affect spells), darting out to heal when needed. When darting out: cast your Heal spell first and hold the charge, then on your next turn dart out and touch (move action+free action) then retreat back to cover (another move action).

10. Consider picking up the Divine Shield feat. It grants + (Cha bonus) to your shield for (Cha bonus) rounds, at the cost of one turning attempt.

11. If you find yourself in melee, flee. If you can't flee, use the Total Defense action. You're not going to hit (or, if you do, you'll hit for little damage), so you might as well take advantage of the +4 AC bonus for total defense.

12. Always look for cover. Few fights take place in barren fields. Usually there are tables, chairs, bushes, crates, fences, walls, dead monsters, doorways, or other places to hide. Use the terrain! Even ducking within a simple shrub will make that Dragon with a +30 Attack bonus miss 10% of the time.

13. Don't let them get to you. If you don't mind your fight attracting attention, you can use oil to create a line of fire in front of you. Or just scatter a bag of caltrops. Or carry a longspear. The threat of Attacks of Opportunity from this weapon will keep most intelligent foes from charging you (wear loose robes so they can't see how weak you are). If you're truly nuts, protect yourself with Resist Elements: Fire then douse yourself in oil and light. Now you're (safely) a human torch, and no sane person or beast will want to get anywhere near you, let alone attack you.

Hope this helps. Looks like you're ideal for the role of non-fighting combat medic, a welcome and valued addition to any party. And that's the best protection of all!

-z

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

My suggestion: ditch the Living Greyhawk stuff and play in a real campaign where you don't need to be an min-maxed combat monkey to survive.