3.0 / 3.5 D&D Cleric Creation

[Garahs]

Ok, I have about a day to create a level 17 cleric for the campaign I'm in. (my current character will be slaving away at creating an item for a while, so I need a fill in).

Here's what I'm going with so far. NG Human Cleric of Pelor 7 / Radiant Servant of Pelor 10 (from Complete Divine). The campaign world is basically Ravenloft with a few other things the DM tossed in, so undead have a large presence.

I'll be the only cleric in our party, so I'll have to handle healing as well.

I'm not looking for someone to create the character for me. What I'm looking for are awesome feats and items that would help me power him up. I have most, if not all, of the official 3rd edition books, so if you could mention the feat/item name and what book it's from, I can do the rest.

Thanks.

 

[GenocideHeart]

I'm pretty sure playing a Cleric in itself should count as making your character awesome, given how they manage to be broken with nearly any feat. Do you really need to make it EXTRA broken?

 

[Garahs]

Our ranger does an average of 70-90 damage a round with arrows. Our fighter and monk do about 50-70 damage a round.

Also, due to Ravenloft's setting, I set off a beacon that attracts undead from up to a mile away. If he makes it to level 20, the dreadlord (essentially a demi-god as near as I can describe it) comes for his head. I'd like to take as much ass as I can.

It doesn't really matter as much, but our DM doesn't really believe me when I told him a party of 4 different clerics could supposedly take on any situation. I'd like to give him a good reason otherwise.

 

[theM]

Alright. First thing you need to do is reconsider the Radiant Servant. The first two levels are all you really want from him - the Extra Greater Turning will prove useful in this setting.

The second level is actually debatable, since anything Divine Health protects you from you can likely cure anyway. Don't stick with him for the Healing powers, those only work on Domain spells, and with Spontaneous Casting you're unlikely to actually prep Cure spells in your Domain slots anyway.

This gives you a couple levels to play with, though you're not entirely free about what to do with them... You don't want to lose access to Level 9 spells or neuter your Turning. Here's one suggestion.


Cleric 7/Radiant Servant 1/Sacred Exorcist 9

Sacred Exorcist (Complete Divine) would be my choice given the setting, and may well be your best choice. Pick Undead as your Chosen Foe. Consecrated Presence gives you a permanent Consecrate effect 20' around you (+3 on Turning Checks, -1 penalties to Undead, no undead can be created/summoned inside it).

Make sure to grab a Phylactery of Undead Turning as well. You're now the bane of all undead that come near you. Spend your remaining gold and feats on other things so as not to overspecialize.


Note: I'm building 3.5 here. If you're on 3.0, here's a hint: The feats that let you lengthen spell duration (such as for buffs) were nerfed to hell in 3.5 for a reason

 

[Lord Raine]

Considering the setting, you should definately min-max for taking undead, with some healing powers on the side. Since you have powerful allies, direct offensive magic won't be necessary. As such, I'm in agreement with theM. You're going to want to buff the hell out of your ability to turn, as turning is effectively Undead crowd control.

There are various ways you can go about this. The build theM suggested is a good one for pure turning power.

Depending on what Domains you possess, the metamagic Imbued Healing (Complete Champion p60) may be something that interests you. In a nutshell, it lets you imbue someone you have healed with an additional benefit or effect, based upon what domains you have. This may or may not be useful to you, depending on what your Domains are and the enemies you are up against.

In regards to offense, you shouldn't have to worry too much about it. An abundance of undead makes you incredibly dangerous by default, thanks to the fact that your Clerc channels Positive Energy instead of Negative Energy. Focusing on healing is of double benefit to you, as it not only allows you to restore your companions, but also deal considerable damage to undead. As such, you may want to consider taking a Feat to improve your ability at unarmed strikes, as it will better allow you to offensively dish out Cure spells via touch if need be.

I would reccomend against taking levels in Paladin. Though a Paladin would be devestating in this particular campaign setting, you don't gain access to the good stuff for a fair number of levels, and that is too much of a cost on your spellcasting progression.

A Paladin/Clerc hybrid could work, but in this particular case, you're better off making one thing work really well instead of trying to do several things, and since you've already decided to be the healer and Clerc, you don't want to look to hard at the Paladin or similar classes. It would give you a great deal of pure offense against the Undead, but it doesn't work with the build you're doing.

In regards to items, if you can get your DM's approval to include them, I would look into pretty much anything from the Book of Exalted Deeds. Though none of the Prestige classes really work for the build you're aiming for, it still has loads of fun Good-based toys and weapons for you to play with.

Soulfire Armor in particular would be of great interest to you, considering the enemies you are up against (BoED, p112). Armor with the Soulfire property grants immunity to all death spells, magical death effects, and energy drain, along with any negative energy effects such as those from chill touch or inflict spells. Considering the number of Undead you're fighting, Soulfire armor would be a Godsend, both to yourself and anyone else in your party who can wear some.

 

[Garahs]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, I brought him in yesterday so I can't remodel him. I will take levels in Sacred Exorcist when I level though, as the class does seem pretty helpful. I did take a few feats for dealing with undead.

TheM: I looked over the Supreme Healing ability, and from what I and my DM interpreted it as was any spell that showed up on the healing domain would be maxed and empowered.