Theme idea: Traveling Clergy Convention

Remove all ads!

I got this idea reading through the "favorite domains" thread.

Since many of the cleric domains in IWD2 have innate abilities that would highly benefit other classes (such as the Demarch of Mask's rogue abilities), I thought it would be cool to create a party where all 6 members are Clerics, either single-class or dualed with a few levels of another class. I'm sure some suitably amusing role-playing reason could be produced for why members of 6 different faiths chose to travel and work together.

Pros: Everybody is a decent tank and a potent a spellcaster, with access to all armors and most weapons. Imagine all the spells flying around each battle...droool. Also, adequate healing will NEVER be a problem.

Cons: Not quite as many feats as dedicated warriors would get; some races (like Gnomes) are problematic due to favored class; somewhat challenging to fill all roles.

The initial idea is as follows:

(Note: I've tried to keep them all good to neutral to make more roleplaying sense, but that's just my preference.)

LN Dreadmaster of Bane X / Mix with Bard maybe?
Party diplomat and mage killer. If not bard, just blend with any warrior class for a great frontliner. Possibly go Human with 12 INT so you can distribute 3 points over the talking skills each level.

LG Painbearer of Ilmater X / Paladin 3
Main tank with a host of great buffs, including Stoneskin at 13th (cleric) level. An Aasimar would excel here. Female drow is an interesting possibility, too. Must be lawful good in order to cross with a Pally, but so what.

N Demarch of Mask X / Rogue 3
Gain 2d6 sneak attack, Evasion, and tons of spells that would be an excellent compliment to any rogue. Halfling, Tiefling, or female Drow here.

G Morninglord of Lathander X / Fighter 3
Great secondary tank and bombardier (Holy Smite, Flame Strike and Fire Storm, to name a few) and the undead's worst nightmare. A dwarf seems ideal here. Mixing this class with a Barbarian instead of Fighter is also a nice possibility, inviting Half-orcs and Ghostwise Halflings into the mix.

Loremaster of Oghma X / Bard 1,3,5,7,9,11
Again, a great mage-stopper or back-row sniper. Level him in bard as far as you'd like depending on the variety of songs you want.

- - -

The 6th slot I'm having a little trouble with. I suppose including a Druid isn't out of bounds, since they're priests. But it doesn't seem to fit with the theme. A solution I'm considering is making a Silverstar of Selune with a few levels of Ranger. This would make the character very close to a druid, at least in spirit anyway. You'd sacrifice wildshape and several powerful druid-specific spells, which are good.

Also, this party feels weird not having a major arcane spellcaster. Which cleric domain could benefit a Sorcerer or Wizard with only a few levels? The closest one I can think of would be Helm, because Helm's Shield and Watch both grant protections. Taking 5 levels of this would give you Armor of Faith, Spell Shield, Hold Person and Exaltation as bonus spells, plus the standard level 1-3 priest assortment. Oghma seems a more logical choice, but the benefits don't seem as worth it.

Another option is taking a Monk of the Dark Moon and mixing him/her with a Sorcerer, but that would be stretching the whole "clergy" idea, wouldn't it? Monks are holy, I suppose...thoughts on this one?

Yet another option is taking a second Painbearer of Ilmater and crossing it with a Monk of the Broken Ones. If you only took 5 Painbearer levels, your monk would have access to Pain Touch (how appropriate for a monk?), Ilmater's Indurance (good for tanking), Endure Elements, Unfailing Endurance, and Cure Serious Wounds, plus the standard 1-3 cleric fair. Could make for a powerful Monk build. The only thing I don't like about this idea is taking 2 Painbearers, because I'm all about variety. But it's a small reservation.


Anyway - the floor is open, kids - discuss.

Please correct any inaccuracies you see above, and please by all means throw in your suggestions for combinations and accompanying races. This theme is less about powergaming (at least in the min/max sense) and more about roleplaying a really cool theme.

[ August 10, 2006, 12:58: Message edited by: Death Rabbit ]

 

Oghma is probably the most obvious mix with an Arcane caster. I'd also keep your Morninglord pure class. Clerics don't gain much from warrior levels, unless you've already got to level 8-9 spells. Don't be afraid to toss in some evil alignments; you'll have plenty of Healing, after all. A Priest of Talos could add some good bombardiering capability.

 

Priest of Talos sounds good and maybe something with a few mage spells attached Go spell crazy

 

Yeah, I thought about Talos. All those kick-ass lightening spells...

If Oghma is a better way to go for an arcane caster, how many levels of Oghma would you take, since I assume you'd make the Wizard part of him the focus?

 

Hmm, why 3 Fighter levels with the Morninglord? Surely if you are going to multi-class him with Fighter it would make more sense to go for 4 levels and get Weapon Specialisation? Either that or just skip the Fighter levels altogether.

The monk multi-class isn't too bad an idea though you'd have to make it more a sorcerer with monk levels to keep it effective I would have thought.

Personally I'd avoid adding Druids and Monks- it seems better to just keep it as Clerics.

I suggest playing without an arcane caster- it would be a rather different experience. A Stormlord has many offensive domain spells so he would probably cope well replacing the standard wizard/sorcerer.

EDIT: Wow, I'm slow. Three of you posted in between me seeing this topic and replying!

 

Go about 17 or so for the wizard, just for level 9 spells. DON'T go over around 20 or so because the spell progression is pathetic, check your manuel for it But I don't know how you'd level him up to get there though ... would you go mostly wizard spells first and then cleric levels later on?

 

Hmm...wouldn't five priests of different mythos end up bickering alot?

 

That can be fun in its own right. My SP IWD2 party only has virtually no arcane caster levels in it all. It forces you to think up different tactics than just fireballing everything in sight. I think the all cleric party is a great idea.

 

I started an all cleric party earlier, but after not too long I found another themed party that just had to be made.
My all cleric party had a banite/monk, silverstar/druid, illmater/paladin, talos/barbarian, Tempus/something and a Lathander/fighter.

 

After some contemplation and experimentation, I've revised the initial line-up quite a bit. Here's the staples:

Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater 3 / Painbearer of Ilmater X
Tank-o-rama, heal-o-rama, holy avenger wielder.

Human or Half-orc Barbarian 2 / Battleguard of Tempus XHigh-strength tank/battle cleric whose affinity for large axes brings the pain in melee.

Halfing, Tiefling, or female Drow Rogue 3,5 / Demarch of Mask X
Taking either 3 or 5 levels or Rogue for added sneak-attack damage. Specialize in rogue utility skills. Makes a great candidate for the party spokesman, as bluff, diplomacy and intimidate are all Rogue class skills that can be souped up early on.

---

Now the other three slots are where I take a little creative license. I tried many different combinations and just found the idea of having 6 nearly pure clerics kind of boring. IMO, most of the cleric spells suck. So I decided that including holy characters in the requirements (legalizing Druids, Monks and Paladins) was fair game.

Here's how I see the rest (choose any 3):

RoC* Monk of the Broken Ones
Monks are just too much fun. I may not add any levels of Painbearer, but at least the possibility is still open. Stealth will be the only skills of note, and will probably go with Human so that Int can take a hit.

Half-elf Ranger 1 / Druid X
Much to my surprise, both Druids and Rangers get a sh*t-ton of skill points. So with a half-decent charisma and at least a 10 in Intelligence, this character can easily become the party spokesman and still utilize wilderness lore and animal empathy skills.

Aasimar, Elf or Male Drow Paladin of Mystra 1 / Wizard X
For my money, I'd rather spend a level on Paladin to get the Charisma bonus and access to every weapon, rather than take a single level of Oghma just to have access to 2 free identify spells. With the single paladin level, I can also take weapon specialization in the longbow - but that's just a side note.

Any race Morninglord of Lathander/Stormlord of Talos
Their domain spells are just too good to pass up. IMO, the best offensive lineups of any of the clerics. To me, the Morninglord seems like a natural class to be aligned with a Paladin order, but that's me.


* RoC = Race of your Choice.

 

Nice one. Interested to hear if you get any excitement out of Animal Empathy though.

 

I'll probably stop investing in Animal Empathy about 6 points in. There are a few situations early in the game (before the Horde Fortess, especially) where charming an animal can swing things in your favor, I've found. Once you get past level 5 or 6, most animal enemies you encounter are made short work of. But it definitely helps early on.

 

Ooh, like those Boars in Shaenegarne. They can tear you apart if you get stuck in a corner and can't escape.