Not only is it perfectly fine to make characters that suit the campaign, I'd strongly encourage it as the DM: YES, please play a character that perfectly fits into the campaign the group wants to play so we don't have to shoe-horn the reason why you character might go on this adventure! We call this player buy-in. -Nerdarchist Ryan
I know some DMs worry that it's meta gaming, but I see creating a character that is perfectly suited for the campaign as essential to getting the most out of a game.
Nerdarchy I played a Champaign where I was the only fighter in a group of 2 wizard and a rouge. On top of that we started in a swamp so, being a subtype of lizardman, I was the only one with decent disease resistance. I was so mad.
+Jim Davis Best thing to do! create characters suited for a campaign. if hero films get villains that match their prowess, so can DnD players. Waterdeep coming up and looking closely at clerics. Got even MORE into it when Brother (because cleric) Pruitt went, "let's start with KNOWLEDGE Cleric." That's my guy I'm making! :D Got the SCAG? try the Arcane Cleric and or Cloistered Scholar background. Got the PHB? Try the Sage background for Knowledge cleric. Love the human paladin, but a dwarf war cleric is just archetypal! Thor? I got a "custom" all-paladin (all PHB) that's not exactly a barbarian nor an eldritch knight. :D
+JPruInc idea! the background can be a Waterdeep tavern like tales from the yawning portal byway of blue screen and producer/mike tech guy could be dressed as a waiter. Awesome cleric overview!
Cleric IMO is the best class. Im playing a Fallen Aasimar War Cleric of Ares hes also Lawful Evil so hes basically spreading his faith across new lands to build up Ares' power so he can take over his pantheon and grant me dominion over the world so can bring order from the Chaos
Damn Jim, that campaign setting at the end is one of the most interesting settings I've seen, love the idea of clerics accidentally praying to crazy AI controlled satellites. The whole thing sounds like the most incredible bomb to drop on players, "Oh yeah BTW, this is actually a Sci-fi game and you're in a giant space zoo, oh yeah and Todd you dedicated your life to a satellite."
I would love to play in a game like that. You could even bring back some of the old D&D adventures that involve sci-fi technology carefully placed there for that extra layer of mystery. Maybe a wand of magic missiles is actually just a laser gun, a wand of Fireball is a Grenade Launcher, etc. Now I really want to build something inspired by this setting idea that Jim presented for my personal setting. This has really gotten me thinking!
Shayne oliver Yeah, it's one his better campaign ideas and as space nerd it fits right into my ideal play style. Fantasy with a liberal sprinkling of sci-fi.
JPruInc I agree! Would love to see a campaign run in it, if Jim would be willing to do so for maybe another campaign series? No matter what, I'm sure the stories from it would be just as good! :D
i thought about playing an "evil" cleric...he'd help, but you won't like it..."oh you have a bad sword cut?...let me rub some of this Salt of Healing in it"
Cleric walks over with a bottle of booze and crouches over a dying man. "C-c-cleric, healer... Please.. allow me one drink.. before I go.." Cleric studies man for a second and says, "What? This? This isn't for you! It's for me." Proceeds to take a long draw and pours the rest on the man's open wound. The man screams as divine magic begins to stitch the wound shut, saving him.
I'm thinking of that DnD story where the Fighter berating others was his way of using battlemaster buffs, think of those ultra loud sergeants in soldiers movies.
@@destroyerinazuma96 a drunkard paladin whos powers are berating and insulting his party. They didn't realize he was a paladin until the final battle when he began using smites. The party just took the dm letting them reroll and stuff as pity for playing with what seemed to be a jerk.
Some friends and I played an all cleric one shot, each of us playing a different cleric subclass. We smoked it.. it's funny when a creature is surrounded by 4 clerics, each with spirit guardians... we called ourselves "Clerical Error" :)
On that bit about "min-maxing" for your Curse of Strahd game. When I DM I always let my players know the campaign setting and what sort of enemies to expect. Because what kind of Adventurers go to Ravenloft? Devotion Paladins, Zealot Barbarians, Life Clerics, and Undead Hunters that's who.
Continuing to deliver high end content. Great video. I also completely agree with Nerdarchy in that players that create characters designed to fit into a campaign theme are wonderful.
Good on the editor for giving us a little behind the scenes look at the end of the video. I would listen to Jim talk about potential D&D campaigns all day
Played a Drow cleric of Light in Out of the Abyss. Worshiper of Lathander in the drow community that lives on the surface near Cormyr. His reason for surviving the raid and being taken back... perfect sacrifice to show back home.I was surprised how much fun cleric was in 5e... back in 3.5 the build was always divine metamagic and such to keep up with the power level of the party Wizard.
"Random encounter. 11 skeletons turn up. What do I do *makes cleric turning ability noise and gesture*; ten of them run away. We knock down the other TWO and keep going". 15:40
I really love this video. My first introduction to D&D that really stuck out was with a trickery domain cleric and I've adored the class ever since. Definitely got a tonne of ideas for other domains from this as well!
This is a great commentary, looking forward to the rest of the series. I feel like cleric gives the all around PC experience with a taste of roles, and the domains give a specialty without dedicating the whole class to it.
I've always thought of D&D gods as extremely powerful beings that are separated from the material plane by boundaries and they can send their power through the cracks between the planes and only certain people can channel that power. They send clerics and paladins that power in return for helping them achieve the god's goals.
I have a 9th-level wood elf War Cleric of Tempus playing in the UnderDark Rage of Demons campaign. He serves as the secondary or primary tank as well as the primary healer, destroyer of undead, and dealer of area damage using Spirit Guardians. The problem is risking when to cast spells in Faerzress (wild magic) areas. He now has dwarven plate armor +2 and a legendary shield +3 (rolled randomly in a Faerzress area) so his AC is 25 plus DR3 vs Bludg, Slash, Pierc dmg. Because we were told to prepare for the UnderDark, the uncommon magic item I requested from the DM is a Slippers of Spider Climbing. The god Tempus gave him a bonus Channel Divinity in which he provides +5 wisdom for attacks, saves, and temporary HP to all party members. I love the versatility of this cleric and its synergy with an UnderDark crossbow Ranger, a Shadow Monk, and half-orc Fighter Battlemaster.
There's an exposition by Jim that I really like, starting at around 17:40, and lasting for a minute. It sort of mirrors what he was saying in the "high level" video; powerful, nearly omniscient beings recognize when others get into "the club." It makes perfect sense for a god to recruit, or try to convert, a mid-level cleric. Also, it's just another way to confer the importance of the characters.
My Tempest Cleric was trained on a pirate ship and went through a lot to prove her devotion to Talos. She wanders the world, seeking chaos and reaping the whirlwind for those who can't do so for themselves(she looks down on the clergy of Talos that terrorizes ordinary people and prefers to seek out existing conflicts & resolve them with lightning). More importantly, she rebukes the weak in Talos' name and destroys her enemies with full, unrestrained impunity.
Great work as always guys. I'm putting together a campaign for the first time in five years, and you guys help immensely for everything from helping my players decide what kind of character suits them best, to coming up with joke moments in the story, and even coming up with fresh twists on horses long ago pummeled to paste. Your video on Orcs specifically had some great examples of such.
Super excited about this new series you guys are doing. Currently playing a Druid as my first created character, So hopefully the in-depth Episode isn't that far off.
I have played a pure war domain cleric in a two year campaign (ending level was 18). Mechanically I enjoyed the domain features. I played the character as primarily a front line combatant. Spiritual weapon Spirit guardians plus divine strike for melee, spells for ranged attacks (sacred flame and guiding bolt mainly) in addiction to dealing damage I was utility, giving buffs (aid, death ward, guided strike), healing ,of course. Feats I used were shield master, war caster, my DM allowed cantrips from the Scag so I took magic initiate (booming blade, sword burst from Scag and alarm). I do like the different domains in 5th edition. Thank you for making your videos they are quite educational and entertaining
I have waited for this video for quite a while. I am currently playing a Fighter 1/Tempest Cleric 7 in Adventurers League games and I absolutely love playing him. I have played him in Curse of Strahd and Storm King's Thunder and he has been a blast. As a Tempest Cleric I am for the most part in the front lines serving as the tank in the Curse of Strahd campaign, taking full advantage of Spirit Guardians and Wrath of the Storm. On the other end, I can also play him as a blaster. In the SKT game, because the playgroup has a few tanks, I can afford to switch roles and hang back, casting Call Lightning and dropping 3d10 lightning damage each round. And it is absolutely savage that I can use my Channel Divinity power to maximize the damage I deal with Lightning or Thunder damage after I learn if the target failed their save or not. Tempest Clerics were a thing I did not know I even wanted until I made one.
Hey guys I played a War Domain cleric in a Curse of Strahd campaign, and I have to say that you are underestimating the capabilities for the domain. In my campaign we had a Bard, Warlock, Rogue, Cleric, and I was frontline fighter, healer, turner, interrogations expert and did all of that pretty darn well. In comparison to Paladin you do less burst for more sustain, and you get much better ranged and aoe capacity. Either way loved the video, but give War Domain a go - its actually pretty awesome.
Transitioning from Pathfinder to 5E, first character is going to be a Cleric. Over 2 years later and this video is still helping. Also it's crazy to see just how much the production quality has improved!
Awesome episode guys! I've only had experience with one person playing cleric...and that character is mentally handicapped (only a -2 but he plays him like a -4), so this was good insight from you. I really enjoyed the extra content you left on the end there. Sounds like a really interesting campaign setting!
Yep I def agree with that kind of min/maxing in games. After over a year of being a player in my game my friend has decided to step up to be a DM and has chosen Out of the Abyss. What did I do? I decided to play a wizard, made him a Svirfneblin, took scholar background and made sure that Abyssal is one of my extra languages.
Omg the fact that Jonathan’s favorite character is Hawkeye from MASH makes me love these guys even more, not nearly enough people understand my love for that show these days 👌
If you watch acquisitions Incorporated you would think Omin Dran is a paladin, but he is a cleric. It's such a versatile class. It's almost weird wanting to play a cleric, it's very balanced and looks fun to play.
So here's a questions for you guys. Are you going to ever run a game with some lucky fans? Not sure how you would do it but I'm sure others would want to.
I used to spend a huge amount of time on 3.5 and pathfinder clerics and realised that the Cleric is literally a more balanced version of literally anything based upon the DOMAIN they choose. Choose a Plant and Animal Domain and your practically a druid pick Charm and your a bard with armor. Pick War domain and your like a Paladin. Pick Trickery and your a Rogue. Pick Magic and your like a Wizard. So basically you don't need any other class.
It has nothing to do with Clerics but when you mentioned Thor it made me think of the only real 5E character I've played seriously, (I mostly DM or do 1 shots). He's a 20th level Dwarven Champion Fighter named Wakkum. He stepped on a hex bag left as a trap by a hag. The DM rolled on a random table to see the effect and it made him grow to 6'4 so now he's a giant dwarf, lol. For equipment he has a magic weapon hilt called The Blessed Many that turns into any weapon he wants, a Dwarven Thrower, Dwarven Plate, Belt of Frost Giant Strength, a spiked shield, and magical Warboots that, upon a successful unarmed attack, effectively work as a beefed up version of the geyser function of the Decanter of Endless Water (which he also has only it's beer). He also rides a griffon mount named Steel Horse, (subsequently he's wanted dead or alive), and for feats he has Athlete, Mobile, Sharpshooter (for the hammer), Resilient (I chose Dexterity), Tough, Great Weapon Master, and Shield Master. The guy is a beast. Only one in the party that didn't multiclass and I'm glad I didn't.
I had fun making up a bunch of additional Cleric Domains for 5E. I still have yet to flesh out an in-depth pantheon though except for some general notes about each god or goddess and how they relate to one another. I have yet to play 5E, though I've run a mini-campaign of it. I really envy you guys for getting so much experience with the new system. Maybe when my kids get a bit older I can squeeze in a weekly game again. Great video guys.
Coming to watch this after a friend of mine just did a run in our campaign where he single handed took on a Young Red Dragon, A fire giant, a tyrannosaurus rex and a beholder all on his own. He nearly died but the rolls he got, the saves he got and the damage he did were just mind boggling. Mind you this was a 16th lvl Cleric but still
To quote Monty Python's "Bruce" sketch: "Dear Lord, we beseech thee, etc. etc." I've played three different clerics since 5E came out, and I have found them to be surprisingly versatile. Life Cleric's bonus to healing as well as a Channel that heals can be hard to beat. War Clerics are almost interchangeable with Paladins, giving up a large burst Smite for more spells, and can be pretty tough themselves. Tempest Clerics are similar in this role as well. Trickery Clerics have that really unique "Loki"-like ability, creating an illusory duplicate to aid them in combat - but they can also cast spells through it (!!!). The big surprise for me was the Light Cleric. Our group is now down to three players, so I needed to walk into the shoes of both the healer as well as some fire support. Light Clerics do this very well. Warding Flare, Radiance of The Dawn, and a wide array of arcane Fire spells makes this domain a way to tickle the edge of multi-classing without sacrificing levels. If Melisandre actually cast these spells, she'd do more than just talk about "The lord of Light." I've played a Draconic (Red) Sorcerer, and this domain gave me that same sort of feel, but with healing available and some other combat options. Being able to Fireball one round, then do a Healing Word/Sacred Flame combo the next is pretty sweet. Setting our Assassin up with Faerie Fire on his quarry can be devastating, with the added benefit of removing Invisibility from the table so it can't escape. Allowing our Champion to wade into battle knowing he'll be healed while providing "arcane artillery" is a busy job, but the Light Cleric can really do it well. ...although I see no reference in the PHB where sacred flame hits harder for them, Jim.
Mike Gould All solid points on the class. They can really wreck shop! As to Sacred Flame, the Light Clerics 8th level domain ability is 'Potent Spellcasting', adding their Wis mod to cantrip damage.
So my name just happens to be Joe Mendez and I just so happened to have built a Knowledge Cleric as my very first character. I played my first session a few weeks ago and never played D&D before that. I thought I'd come here to get some insight on playing a cleric before my next session next week. It's was a nice surprise to hear about Rabbi Joseph Mendez. You've got a new subscriber as I gather more info moving forward.
Gregory Daugherty It has never occurred to me until I had already rolled up the character. Originally, I envisioned a female with the build of Lady Brienne of Tarth and the face of Sansa Stark. I saw her as a Joan of Arc battlefield angel. Then the M*A*S*H anniversary happened in September and after viewing a few favorite episodes the concept snapped into focus. It was a good day.
The character concept sounds very fitting for such a dark setting. One of my favorite characters was also a pacifist divine caster, although she was actually a Drow Sensate from Sigil. Sounds kind of odd, but the reason she was never violent is because she never knew Drow culture. She accidentally opened a portal to Limbo and nearly drowned in the chaos matter. Ultimately, she was saved by a Githzeri who knew someone from the Society of Sensation and left her there to be raised. Her motivation for adventuring is that she wanted to experience the planes and help people be safe in their experiences as well. She was quite an interesting character, and it certainly felt odd not to be dealing any damage in combat.
Gregory Daugherty That's a cool character concept. During the Rise of Tiamat game, it was fun playing my pacifist diviner, Arastades the Unblinking. The only attack spell I had was Vicious Mockery. Though after one harrowing adventure where he killed to enemies with VM, he decided that was enough of the road and retired to his tower. Jim still let us use him as a NPC support caster, so it was cool.
In a game I'm playing in currently running a feat variant human life cleric with the healer feat. The sheer amount of healing that character can produce is staggering. I've even started to dip into wizard for find familiar(help action and ranged cure wounds) and a few spell slots refreshing on a short rest. He is a blast to run.
Yes, but the couple levels of Wizard gives the ability to refresh some lower level spell slots on a short rest(half the Wizard levels rounded up). It was worth it to me. Not to mention all the low level ritual spells that come with those levels.
What you're descibing at the end bit is basically the setting for Phantasy Star. Except the people are in a giant space ship so huge, and have been there so many generations, they don't know they're in one. You go through these metal "caves" to go from one area to the next, but they're actually just a different country sized dome. Man I loved PS3: Generations of Doom on the Genesis.
I started a Fighter and have just dipped into Cleric on reaching 5th level. Totally thought about doing Thor with a Tempest cleric and using the Fighter weapon bond ability to return my hammer to my hand just like Mjolnir!
Thomas Middleton Would that we could but life gets in the way. This is truly a labor of love and we appreciate the want for more episodes , but as a great showman once said...Always leave them wanting more.
The setting you described at the end reminded me a bit of Mutant Crawl Classics. It's sort of a retro clone of Gamma World, but the "spellcasters" get their powers from ancient AIs.
I am proud to say that i have been subscribed for over a year now and your channel is blossoming into something amazing. I love the back drop. Is it suppose to be a die? Keep up the good work. Awesome content and great information. Thank you :)
Continual Flame is overlooked and OP AF. It requires no Attack Roll and grants no Saving Throw to apply a permanent until Dispelled harmless flame. Cast on a creature which uses invisibility, this negates invisibility... permanently until dispelled. The description of Invisibility is that No Light Source is ever made invisible when the effect takes place. Continual Flame is a light source... with no spell attack required and no saving throw granted, and lasts permanently without concentration, or until dispelled.
In my group we have a tempest claric we are level 8 now and it really helps in big encounters when she uses channel deiventy to just max the damage of the lightingstorm she calls down.
I typically explain clerics as basically having borrowed divine power. Not all the gods can be omnipotent or omniscient, so normally you have to pray to them and hope they're not busy with something bigger. So they grant limited access to their powers to those who have proven to a certain "level" that they will use the powers properly and in accordance with their goals until ultimately you gain access to miracle where the god will always listen to your prayer. "If this guy is asking for my help I know it's important"
A DEX Tempest Cleric is one of my top 3 favorite builds to play. Still gets good AC, flying with bows and can activate abilities when arrows hit and such. super fun a bit weaker early on though.
Got to say, I feel like you're underestimating/underselling the War Domain cleric. I played a Half Orc War Cleric in a campaign and had a blast. My party was always healed but I never did heal them to full due to him always believing that the "battle scars" were learning experiences. Heck, I'd usually be the one with 1 or 2 HP left by the end of an encounter because I kept my allies fighting and was dishing out melee, spell, and turning damage on several things.
I've found the War Domain is actually most useful as a dip or, in particular, the Favoured Soul Sorcerer, makes a brilliant Arcane Archer, but also the Theurge Wizard. Aka. Everything that's not it's original home in the Cleric class.
I have a Dwarven War priest named Brok Longhammer who is awesome [sorry]. Brok is playing in Horde of the Dragon Queen, has a warhammer named Kindness, chainmail and shield and plays like the old clerical class but with 2 additional attacks per rest, high armor class and smashes left and right until healing is needed.
The campaign idea noted at the end is quite similar to a novel which I think was called Well of the Worlds. Except technology worked in some parts of the world.
Played in a rolemaster fantasy setting that was actually far future, elves where the ones who invented AK-47s, Rocket Launchers and Androids, humans are the fallen world mutants, but some still retain enough nanotech in them that they can channel the orbiting satellite's power, hence magic users and clerics. Most of the time it was fantasy, but every once and awhile we'd tripped over an area guarded by automated rocket launchers. Warning do not eat the magical sphere you found while on the ocean, they are actually radioactive pellets from a breached power plant and now you have a new track to keep track of. Good stuff.
The one 5e character I played for a significant amount of time was a cleric. I took heavy armor proficiency and the feat that reduces your damage in heavy armor. It was pretty fun. And yes, it was weird to do that and just not play a paladin but it was different!
I'm wanting to make a more exorcist type cleric so I was thinking about using the Light cleric but instead of Turn Undead it would Banish Demonic Creatures which would literally just be the same exact ability but with hellish creatures. We are all newer players and my dm is notorious for trying to stay by the books at all costs. Is there any official alternatives like this in the books?
Oh man what luck! I'm starting Curse of Strahd tonight and wanted some RP tips for Clerics and I'm rolling a Life Cleric with a back story of an army medic and a 10 Strength and wasn't planning on swinging my hammer. I kid you not. We've got a full party of 7 and running feats so it'll be a bit different from your experience, but pretty cool to hear your experience.
Question about cleric roleplay. If you deity is lawful good how do you rationilize being a killer for money or running around with a bloodthirsty barbarian and thieving rogue? Would your diety get mad and disown you? Loving everything on this channel too!
Question: I'm playing a Wood Elven Ranger (1st level), in a party of 5 which includes a Paladin. Due to our schedules, the entire party is rarely together, thus we often lack our healer. I was thinking about multiclassing Life Cleric to solve our massive healing problem, but I'm not certain how. Any tips on how to do it/explanation about the cantrips?
Ooooh, Buddy! I wanna play in that setting with the AI's and the deranged elves! Me! Me! Me! Pick me! *Dreams up unwilling cleric character that talks to himself all the time* "Geez, can't a guy ever just be told to go read a book and enjoy a nice cup of Wakey, God!? Are you sure it always has to be like THIS..!? I mean, thanks for healing up Tzara and all, but now my hat is all slimey again!"
A good example of a god being forced to use a person as its conduit is from the Thieves World book series... a character calle Tempus. Also, at the end - you're describing Thundarr!
Do these guys have a video of how to add everything to the character sheet? There is a lot I don't understand when making a character. Haven't watched the video yet, maybe it does in this video. But I can already tell that I'm going to like the two of you.
I know when I made a war cleric for a game, I specificly went with the 'sought out by the divine power' and through that concept I ended up with Me and my friend playing twin goliaths, a war cleric and a Paladin (with a homebrew oath) that were both devoted followers of Tempus the god of war.
multiclass war cleric and zealot barb. channel into great weapon mastery for a +5 to hit and +10 to damage with an extra 1d8. get an extra attack as a reaction. heavy armor and a shield so you don't have to worry about being MAD. you can use concentration spells to help your friends or yourself when not raging. a little bit of healing
kanpai44. I have a similar build ranger with a cleric dip, sharpshooter feat plus guided strike gets the +5 hit +10 dmg ( not counting mods/ prof) plus the bonus attack . Chills in the back, pops heals/ buffs and hard hits as needed.
Storm domain means lightning pimp slap, light domain is an evocation wizards wet dream: armor, Shields, AND pew pew boom fireball? Yes please. Life domain means super healer who tells you when you're allowed to die. War domain: praise be to war, let me introduce you to my god personally. My favorite thing about clerics is they pretty much max out at 17th level. They get their final class features before level 20 so feel free to multiclass
My favorite cleric who is role-playing against type is Ramus Krill from Court of Swords, a light cleric who died and came back to serve a god of destruction and bad luck
Hey guys! As a hypothetical, would you allow a Death Cleric who is of good alignment in one of your campaigns? Like if the character performs funeral rites or hunts the undead? Just wondering.
A level 17 War Cleric gets the resistance of a Barbarian Rage, except they don't have to rage and they can wear full plate armor. Moreover at 2nd level they can add 10 to any attack roll once per day, which they gain the ability to do to allies at 6th level. The spells it gets always prepared also make it ridiculous in battle. Put all this on a Half-Orc and you get a character that just won't die, but will keep doing damage and healing to boot. Strahd doesn't even stand a chance against a party of War Clerics, and neither does any curse in Barovia. A War Cleric isn't anything to scoff at. This is just for any other War Cleric fans out there that don't see similar comments in this section.
This was a rambling discussion of clerics, but I was looking for a more structured review. A review of the cleric stats, role, then overview the cleric Domain types, and the spells by level that are of most importance. Lastly, other skill one would look in a healer.
I recommend the guides found on the Character Optimization board over on the EN World forums; they'll have the sort of info you're looking for. We wanted to give more a play report/actual experience perspective than a class breakdown.
Cleric(nature) is probably the most objectively powerful class in the game, play a dwarf pump up your Con and Wis (str has no meaning, dex only matters for initiative). Take the Shillelagh cantrip, buy a club and heavy armor. Smack and heal away from the front lines
Clerics are my favorite class this edition because of how versatile they are. My favorite character that I've played is Falkruun Spellhammer. A Dwarf-shaped Warforged who started off as an Eldritch Knight at 5th level, but as a reward for his dedication to Moradin became a real Dwarf (Hill Dwarf) with a class-change to Light Cleric; since we needed a healer by this point and couldn't rely solely on our Ranger and potions, and needed a ranged damage dealer who would show up reliably to the table. I played this character all the way to 12 until our group unfortunately broke up because of some in-fighting. Edit: While I've never played a Tempest Cleric very far, I love how their abilities all mesh together to make a good meat-shield front liner.
I'm playing a tempest cleric in Storm King's Thunder at level 7. I have taken Shield Master and War Caster but am considering taking Resilient at level 8 versus bumping my WIS to 18. Almost all the spells are concentration and a hit from a giant, even with War Caster, is more than likely going to break it. Thoughts?
I've been encouraged by my DM and a couple other players to play a Death cleric. I _think_ I've ended up with a F2/C6 Human Variant with the polearm mastery feat, but I'm torn on how to roleplay it, also on the viability. Thoughts?
I'm a bit late, but I've been wanting to play a melee beater war cleric, a templar of his faith, with heavy armor and greatsword in hand with his holy symbol (a censor chained to his waist, burning sacred incense) and purge evil
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Not only is it perfectly fine to make characters that suit the campaign, I'd strongly encourage it as the DM: YES, please play a character that perfectly fits into the campaign the group wants to play so we don't have to shoe-horn the reason why you character might go on this adventure! We call this player buy-in. -Nerdarchist Ryan
Nerdarchy
This is truth.
I know some DMs worry that it's meta gaming, but I see creating a character that is perfectly suited for the campaign as essential to getting the most out of a game.
Nerdarchy I played a Champaign where I was the only fighter in a group of 2 wizard and a rouge. On top of that we started in a swamp so, being a subtype of lizardman, I was the only one with decent disease resistance.
I was so mad.
+Jim Davis Best thing to do! create characters suited for a campaign. if hero films get villains that match their prowess, so can DnD players.
Waterdeep coming up and looking closely at clerics. Got even MORE into it when Brother (because cleric) Pruitt went, "let's start with KNOWLEDGE Cleric." That's my guy I'm making! :D Got the SCAG? try the Arcane Cleric and or Cloistered Scholar background. Got the PHB? Try the Sage background for Knowledge cleric. Love the human paladin, but a dwarf war cleric is just archetypal! Thor? I got a "custom" all-paladin (all PHB) that's not exactly a barbarian nor an eldritch knight. :D
+JPruInc idea! the background can be a Waterdeep tavern like tales from the yawning portal byway of blue screen and producer/mike tech guy could be dressed as a waiter. Awesome cleric overview!
I never played a Cleric until 5th edition and it is now my absolute favorite class
Cleric IMO is the best class. Im playing a Fallen Aasimar War Cleric of Ares hes also Lawful Evil so hes basically spreading his faith across new lands to build up Ares' power so he can take over his pantheon and grant me dominion over the world so can bring order from the Chaos
Damn Jim, that campaign setting at the end is one of the most interesting settings I've seen, love the idea of clerics accidentally praying to crazy AI controlled satellites. The whole thing sounds like the most incredible bomb to drop on players, "Oh yeah BTW, this is actually a Sci-fi game and you're in a giant space zoo, oh yeah and Todd you dedicated your life to a satellite."
I would love to play in a game like that. You could even bring back some of the old D&D adventures that involve sci-fi technology carefully placed there for that extra layer of mystery. Maybe a wand of magic missiles is actually just a laser gun, a wand of Fireball is a Grenade Launcher, etc. Now I really want to build something inspired by this setting idea that Jim presented for my personal setting. This has really gotten me thinking!
Shayne oliver
Yeah, it's one his better campaign ideas and as space nerd it fits right into my ideal play style. Fantasy with a liberal sprinkling of sci-fi.
JPruInc I agree! Would love to see a campaign run in it, if Jim would be willing to do so for maybe another campaign series? No matter what, I'm sure the stories from it would be just as good! :D
Try the ASE modules/setting.
Thanks!
i thought about playing an "evil" cleric...he'd help, but you won't like it..."oh you have a bad sword cut?...let me rub some of this Salt of Healing in it"
CCs Welding
Haha. That's great.
Cleric walks over with a bottle of booze and crouches over a dying man.
"C-c-cleric, healer... Please.. allow me one drink.. before I go.."
Cleric studies man for a second and says, "What? This? This isn't for you! It's for me." Proceeds to take a long draw and pours the rest on the man's open wound.
The man screams as divine magic begins to stitch the wound shut, saving him.
I'm thinking of that DnD story where the Fighter berating others was his way of using battlemaster buffs, think of those ultra loud sergeants in soldiers movies.
@@destroyerinazuma96 a drunkard paladin whos powers are berating and insulting his party. They didn't realize he was a paladin until the final battle when he began using smites. The party just took the dm letting them reroll and stuff as pity for playing with what seemed to be a jerk.
Some friends and I played an all cleric one shot, each of us playing a different cleric subclass. We smoked it.. it's funny when a creature is surrounded by 4 clerics, each with spirit guardians... we called ourselves "Clerical Error" :)
Oohhhh yes I do love puns
"The A-Men" - A Crap guide to D&D cleric
On that bit about "min-maxing" for your Curse of Strahd game. When I DM I always let my players know the campaign setting and what sort of enemies to expect. Because what kind of Adventurers go to Ravenloft? Devotion Paladins, Zealot Barbarians, Life Clerics, and Undead Hunters that's who.
I know it has been a year, but also the worst of the murderhobos...
@@shikatsu murder hobos go where they please unfortunately...
a 24 minute video from Web DM, we are truly blessed.
get it? blessed?
PingPongPope
What is punned cannot be unpunned!
PingPongPope roll for it. ill counter roll.
Yes we got it... The blessing right? Or the pun?
No, I don't get it. Please explain joke.
(Note: I have an INT score of 4.)
Praise the god helm
Continuing to deliver high end content. Great video. I also completely agree with Nerdarchy in that players that create characters designed to fit into a campaign theme are wonderful.
Good on the editor for giving us a little behind the scenes look at the end of the video. I would listen to Jim talk about potential D&D campaigns all day
Paul Wildenhain
He has A LOT of them. Trust me.
Played a Drow cleric of Light in Out of the Abyss. Worshiper of Lathander in the drow community that lives on the surface near Cormyr. His reason for surviving the raid and being taken back... perfect sacrifice to show back home.I was surprised how much fun cleric was in 5e... back in 3.5 the build was always divine metamagic and such to keep up with the power level of the party Wizard.
"Random encounter. 11 skeletons turn up. What do I do *makes cleric turning ability noise and gesture*; ten of them run away. We knock down the other TWO and keep going".
15:40
I really love this video. My first introduction to D&D that really stuck out was with a trickery domain cleric and I've adored the class ever since. Definitely got a tonne of ideas for other domains from this as well!
This is a great commentary, looking forward to the rest of the series. I feel like cleric gives the all around PC experience with a taste of roles, and the domains give a specialty without dedicating the whole class to it.
ElNachato23
Just you wait...more are coming.
I've always thought of D&D gods as extremely powerful beings that are separated from the material plane by boundaries and they can send their power through the cracks between the planes and only certain people can channel that power. They send clerics and paladins that power in return for helping them achieve the god's goals.
I have a 9th-level wood elf War Cleric of Tempus playing in the UnderDark Rage of Demons campaign. He serves as the secondary or primary tank as well as the primary healer, destroyer of undead, and dealer of area damage using Spirit Guardians. The problem is risking when to cast spells in Faerzress (wild magic) areas. He now has dwarven plate armor +2 and a legendary shield +3 (rolled randomly in a Faerzress area) so his AC is 25 plus DR3 vs Bludg, Slash, Pierc dmg. Because we were told to prepare for the UnderDark, the uncommon magic item I requested from the DM is a Slippers of Spider Climbing. The god Tempus gave him a bonus Channel Divinity in which he provides +5 wisdom for attacks, saves, and temporary HP to all party members. I love the versatility of this cleric and its synergy with an UnderDark crossbow Ranger, a Shadow Monk, and half-orc Fighter Battlemaster.
There's an exposition by Jim that I really like, starting at around 17:40, and lasting for a minute. It sort of mirrors what he was saying in the "high level" video; powerful, nearly omniscient beings recognize when others get into "the club." It makes perfect sense for a god to recruit, or try to convert, a mid-level cleric. Also, it's just another way to confer the importance of the characters.
13:06 That is exactly what I did, my first d&d game ever and I came to the under-dark with a forest ranger.
My Tempest Cleric was trained on a pirate ship and went through a lot to prove her devotion to Talos. She wanders the world, seeking chaos and reaping the whirlwind for those who can't do so for themselves(she looks down on the clergy of Talos that terrorizes ordinary people and prefers to seek out existing conflicts & resolve them with lightning). More importantly, she rebukes the weak in Talos' name and destroys her enemies with full, unrestrained impunity.
BitsyTheNinja
That's how you play that! Love it!
Ah a dovokiin.
Great work as always guys. I'm putting together a campaign for the first time in five years, and you guys help immensely for everything from helping my players decide what kind of character suits them best, to coming up with joke moments in the story, and even coming up with fresh twists on horses long ago pummeled to paste. Your video on Orcs specifically had some great examples of such.
Super excited about this new series you guys are doing. Currently playing a Druid as my first created character, So hopefully the in-depth Episode isn't that far off.
please keep this series going for each class. I love class analysis.
you guys should add more banter at the end like this. it really got my juices flowing. also I was feeling creative.
I have played a pure war domain cleric in a two year campaign (ending level was 18). Mechanically I enjoyed the domain features. I played the character as primarily a front line combatant. Spiritual weapon Spirit guardians plus divine strike for melee, spells for ranged attacks (sacred flame and guiding bolt mainly) in addiction to dealing damage I was utility, giving buffs (aid, death ward, guided strike), healing ,of course. Feats I used were shield master, war caster, my DM allowed cantrips from the Scag so I took magic initiate (booming blade, sword burst from Scag and alarm). I do like the different domains in 5th edition. Thank you for making your videos they are quite educational and entertaining
You two have such a good dynamic. I have watched these videos so many tomes when building characters.
I want that RUN D&D t shirt. It combines two of my favourite things; D&D and classic 80's hip hop.
Eric Hobbs
I've had my eye on that shirt for a while. Feels good to have it in the arsenal.
I have waited for this video for quite a while. I am currently playing a Fighter 1/Tempest Cleric 7 in Adventurers League games and I absolutely love playing him. I have played him in Curse of Strahd and Storm King's Thunder and he has been a blast. As a Tempest Cleric I am for the most part in the front lines serving as the tank in the Curse of Strahd campaign, taking full advantage of Spirit Guardians and Wrath of the Storm. On the other end, I can also play him as a blaster. In the SKT game, because the playgroup has a few tanks, I can afford to switch roles and hang back, casting Call Lightning and dropping 3d10 lightning damage each round. And it is absolutely savage that I can use my Channel Divinity power to maximize the damage I deal with Lightning or Thunder damage after I learn if the target failed their save or not.
Tempest Clerics were a thing I did not know I even wanted until I made one.
GodLikeDevil basically Thor right
Hey guys I played a War Domain cleric in a Curse of Strahd campaign, and I have to say that you are underestimating the capabilities for the domain. In my campaign we had a Bard, Warlock, Rogue, Cleric, and I was frontline fighter, healer, turner, interrogations expert and did all of that pretty darn well. In comparison to Paladin you do less burst for more sustain, and you get much better ranged and aoe capacity. Either way loved the video, but give War Domain a go - its actually pretty awesome.
Finarry!!! Wanted you guys to make longer vids about these.
Transitioning from Pathfinder to 5E, first character is going to be a Cleric. Over 2 years later and this video is still helping. Also it's crazy to see just how much the production quality has improved!
War priest with a soldier background can be fun if you RP a combat medic
Awesome episode guys! I've only had experience with one person playing cleric...and that character is mentally handicapped (only a -2 but he plays him like a -4), so this was good insight from you.
I really enjoyed the extra content you left on the end there. Sounds like a really interesting campaign setting!
Yep I def agree with that kind of min/maxing in games. After over a year of being a player in my game my friend has decided to step up to be a DM and has chosen Out of the Abyss. What did I do? I decided to play a wizard, made him a Svirfneblin, took scholar background and made sure that Abyssal is one of my extra languages.
Chad-Solomon Dixon
Nice! That's how you do it!
Omg the fact that Jonathan’s favorite character is Hawkeye from MASH makes me love these guys even more, not nearly enough people understand my love for that show these days 👌
I'm super happy you guys covered this one. For my first game I've picked cleric, super excited. ^_^
If you watch acquisitions Incorporated you would think Omin Dran is a paladin, but he is a cleric. It's such a versatile class. It's almost weird wanting to play a cleric, it's very balanced and looks fun to play.
So here's a questions for you guys. Are you going to ever run a game with some lucky fans? Not sure how you would do it but I'm sure others would want to.
ZenodudeMC
That would be an interesting experience...We will discuss this.
I live in burlington and I DM several games. I'd drop my name in that hat in NO TIME.
I may be about 2 years late, but maybe if you allow some Patreon donors/a sort of lottery for willing subscribers, then a discord
I used to spend a huge amount of time on 3.5 and pathfinder clerics and realised that the Cleric is literally a more balanced version of literally anything based upon the DOMAIN they choose. Choose a Plant and Animal Domain and your practically a druid pick Charm and your a bard with armor. Pick War domain and your like a Paladin. Pick Trickery and your a Rogue. Pick Magic and your like a Wizard. So basically you don't need any other class.
I really like the idea of having gods required to sway the people able to channel divinity.
It has nothing to do with Clerics but when you mentioned Thor it made me think of the only real 5E character I've played seriously, (I mostly DM or do 1 shots). He's a 20th level Dwarven Champion Fighter named Wakkum. He stepped on a hex bag left as a trap by a hag. The DM rolled on a random table to see the effect and it made him grow to 6'4 so now he's a giant dwarf, lol. For equipment he has a magic weapon hilt called The Blessed Many that turns into any weapon he wants, a Dwarven Thrower, Dwarven Plate, Belt of Frost Giant Strength, a spiked shield, and magical Warboots that, upon a successful unarmed attack, effectively work as a beefed up version of the geyser function of the Decanter of Endless Water (which he also has only it's beer). He also rides a griffon mount named Steel Horse, (subsequently he's wanted dead or alive), and for feats he has Athlete, Mobile, Sharpshooter (for the hammer), Resilient (I chose Dexterity), Tough, Great Weapon Master, and Shield Master. The guy is a beast. Only one in the party that didn't multiclass and I'm glad I didn't.
Oh, he also has a brother who is a Life Cleric named Stakkum...he has no compunctions against killing.
I had fun making up a bunch of additional Cleric Domains for 5E. I still have yet to flesh out an in-depth pantheon though except for some general notes about each god or goddess and how they relate to one another.
I have yet to play 5E, though I've run a mini-campaign of it. I really envy you guys for getting so much experience with the new system. Maybe when my kids get a bit older I can squeeze in a weekly game again. Great video guys.
Coming to watch this after a friend of mine just did a run in our campaign where he single handed took on a Young Red Dragon, A fire giant, a tyrannosaurus rex and a beholder all on his own. He nearly died but the rolls he got, the saves he got and the damage he did were just mind boggling. Mind you this was a 16th lvl Cleric but still
I am very interested how that want down
To quote Monty Python's "Bruce" sketch:
"Dear Lord, we beseech thee, etc. etc."
I've played three different clerics since 5E came out, and I have found them to be surprisingly versatile. Life Cleric's bonus to healing as well as a Channel that heals can be hard to beat. War Clerics are almost interchangeable with Paladins, giving up a large burst Smite for more spells, and can be pretty tough themselves. Tempest Clerics are similar in this role as well. Trickery Clerics have that really unique "Loki"-like ability, creating an illusory duplicate to aid them in combat - but they can also cast spells through it (!!!).
The big surprise for me was the Light Cleric. Our group is now down to three players, so I needed to walk into the shoes of both the healer as well as some fire support. Light Clerics do this very well. Warding Flare, Radiance of The Dawn, and a wide array of arcane Fire spells makes this domain a way to tickle the edge of multi-classing without sacrificing levels. If Melisandre actually cast these spells, she'd do more than just talk about "The lord of Light."
I've played a Draconic (Red) Sorcerer, and this domain gave me that same sort of feel, but with healing available and some other combat options. Being able to Fireball one round, then do a Healing Word/Sacred Flame combo the next is pretty sweet. Setting our Assassin up with Faerie Fire on his quarry can be devastating, with the added benefit of removing Invisibility from the table so it can't escape. Allowing our Champion to wade into battle knowing he'll be healed while providing "arcane artillery" is a busy job, but the Light Cleric can really do it well.
...although I see no reference in the PHB where sacred flame hits harder for them, Jim.
Mike Gould
All solid points on the class. They can really wreck shop! As to Sacred Flame, the Light Clerics 8th level domain ability is 'Potent Spellcasting', adding their Wis mod to cantrip damage.
JPruInc Check and Mate, sir. Thanks for the correction.
So my name just happens to be Joe Mendez and I just so happened to have built a Knowledge Cleric as my very first character. I played my first session a few weeks ago and never played D&D before that. I thought I'd come here to get some insight on playing a cleric before my next session next week. It's was a nice surprise to hear about Rabbi Joseph Mendez. You've got a new subscriber as I gather more info moving forward.
The conversation at the end is the best! I really want to run that game. Tip of the hat to you, sir :)
Basing a character after Hawkeye is something I had not considered. Very cool.
Gregory Daugherty
It has never occurred to me until I had already rolled up the character. Originally, I envisioned a female with the build of Lady Brienne of Tarth and the face of Sansa Stark. I saw her as a Joan of Arc battlefield angel. Then the M*A*S*H anniversary happened in September and after viewing a few favorite episodes the concept snapped into focus. It was a good day.
Is he also as sarcastic? I can imagine that would be fun to roleplay.
Gregory Daugherty
Oh my, yes! It has been fun using maudlin humor and sarcastic irreverence to deflect the overwhelming dread of Barovia.
The character concept sounds very fitting for such a dark setting. One of my favorite characters was also a pacifist divine caster, although she was actually a Drow Sensate from Sigil. Sounds kind of odd, but the reason she was never violent is because she never knew Drow culture. She accidentally opened a portal to Limbo and nearly drowned in the chaos matter. Ultimately, she was saved by a Githzeri who knew someone from the Society of Sensation and left her there to be raised. Her motivation for adventuring is that she wanted to experience the planes and help people be safe in their experiences as well. She was quite an interesting character, and it certainly felt odd not to be dealing any damage in combat.
Gregory Daugherty
That's a cool character concept. During the Rise of Tiamat game, it was fun playing my pacifist diviner, Arastades the Unblinking. The only attack spell I had was Vicious Mockery. Though after one harrowing adventure where he killed to enemies with VM, he decided that was enough of the road and retired to his tower. Jim still let us use him as a NPC support caster, so it was cool.
Yes please. More in depth class videos!
Cody Gocke
Tune in next week!
In a game I'm playing in currently running a feat variant human life cleric with the healer feat. The sheer amount of healing that character can produce is staggering. I've even started to dip into wizard for find familiar(help action and ranged cure wounds) and a few spell slots refreshing on a short rest. He is a blast to run.
The magic initiate feat would get you find familiar with out sacrificing cleric levels.
Yep, from a DM perspective, life cleric is one of the few archetypes that forces you to change entire encounters.
Yes, but the couple levels of Wizard gives the ability to refresh some lower level spell slots on a short rest(half the Wizard levels rounded up). It was worth it to me.
Not to mention all the low level ritual spells that come with those levels.
JM
I kinda wish our DM was allowing feats so I can take Healer, but it's still a lot of healing. More than enough to go around.
Healer is amazing. Most of the time I can get us through combat with just the healer's kit and Preserve Life.
What you're descibing at the end bit is basically the setting for Phantasy Star. Except the people are in a giant space ship so huge, and have been there so many generations, they don't know they're in one. You go through these metal "caves" to go from one area to the next, but they're actually just a different country sized dome.
Man I loved PS3: Generations of Doom on the Genesis.
I started a Fighter and have just dipped into Cleric on reaching 5th level. Totally thought about doing Thor with a Tempest cleric and using the Fighter weapon bond ability to return my hammer to my hand just like Mjolnir!
Is there any way to get more than one of these amazing videos per week from you nerds?
Thomas Middleton
Would that we could but life gets in the way. This is truly a labor of love and we appreciate the want for more episodes , but as a great showman once said...Always leave them wanting more.
Arcana cleric is a great class for the one person with experience in a campaign that is otherwise folks new to D&D
Nice! An in depth version of classes!
The setting you described at the end reminded me a bit of Mutant Crawl Classics. It's sort of a retro clone of Gamma World, but the "spellcasters" get their powers from ancient AIs.
I absolutely love Gamma World/Mutant Future retro clone. I've had a setting like that in mind since I first read about Tekumel.
I am proud to say that i have been subscribed for over a year now and your channel is blossoming into something amazing. I love the back drop. Is it suppose to be a die? Keep up the good work. Awesome content and great information. Thank you :)
Continual Flame is overlooked and OP AF. It requires no Attack Roll and grants no Saving Throw to apply a permanent until Dispelled harmless flame.
Cast on a creature which uses invisibility, this negates invisibility... permanently until dispelled. The description of Invisibility is that No Light Source is ever made invisible when the effect takes place. Continual Flame is a light source... with no spell attack required and no saving throw granted, and lasts permanently without concentration, or until dispelled.
Great work as usual guys!
Josiah Bausano
Thanks for the support!
In my group we have a tempest claric we are level 8 now and it really helps in big encounters when she uses channel deiventy to just max the damage of the lightingstorm she calls down.
I typically explain clerics as basically having borrowed divine power. Not all the gods can be omnipotent or omniscient, so normally you have to pray to them and hope they're not busy with something bigger. So they grant limited access to their powers to those who have proven to a certain "level" that they will use the powers properly and in accordance with their goals until ultimately you gain access to miracle where the god will always listen to your prayer. "If this guy is asking for my help I know it's important"
War Domain Hill Dwarf Cleric with a great maul. Just seems so nice and versatile.
The end sounds like a great idea for a book
A DEX Tempest Cleric is one of my top 3 favorite builds to play.
Still gets good AC, flying with bows and can activate abilities when arrows hit and such.
super fun a bit weaker early on though.
Got to say, I feel like you're underestimating/underselling the War Domain cleric. I played a Half Orc War Cleric in a campaign and had a blast. My party was always healed but I never did heal them to full due to him always believing that the "battle scars" were learning experiences. Heck, I'd usually be the one with 1 or 2 HP left by the end of an encounter because I kept my allies fighting and was dishing out melee, spell, and turning damage on several things.
I really want that " run d&d" shirt
That end idea is totally the game wildstar. :P
nice ep! are in your plans to make a video review of the upcoming volo's guide to monsters? continue these classes videos, tons of useful info!
I've found the War Domain is actually most useful as a dip or, in particular, the Favoured Soul Sorcerer, makes a brilliant Arcane Archer, but also the Theurge Wizard.
Aka. Everything that's not it's original home in the Cleric class.
I have a Dwarven War priest named Brok Longhammer who is awesome [sorry]. Brok is playing in Horde of the Dragon Queen, has a warhammer named Kindness, chainmail and shield and plays like the old clerical class but with 2 additional attacks per rest, high armor class and smashes left and right until healing is needed.
The campaign idea noted at the end is quite similar to a novel which I think was called Well of the Worlds. Except technology worked in some parts of the world.
Played in a rolemaster fantasy setting that was actually far future, elves where the ones who invented AK-47s, Rocket Launchers and Androids, humans are the fallen world mutants, but some still retain enough nanotech in them that they can channel the orbiting satellite's power, hence magic users and clerics. Most of the time it was fantasy, but every once and awhile we'd tripped over an area guarded by automated rocket launchers. Warning do not eat the magical sphere you found while on the ocean, they are actually radioactive pellets from a breached power plant and now you have a new track to keep track of. Good stuff.
The one 5e character I played for a significant amount of time was a cleric. I took heavy armor proficiency and the feat that reduces your damage in heavy armor. It was pretty fun. And yes, it was weird to do that and just not play a paladin but it was different!
I'm wanting to make a more exorcist type cleric so I was thinking about using the Light cleric but instead of Turn Undead it would Banish Demonic Creatures which would literally just be the same exact ability but with hellish creatures. We are all newer players and my dm is notorious for trying to stay by the books at all costs. Is there any official alternatives like this in the books?
Pladin multi class? Also just protection from good and evil.
I've only ever been a fake esotericist.
Oh man what luck! I'm starting Curse of Strahd tonight and wanted some RP tips for Clerics and I'm rolling a Life Cleric with a back story of an army medic and a 10 Strength and wasn't planning on swinging my hammer. I kid you not. We've got a full party of 7 and running feats so it'll be a bit different from your experience, but pretty cool to hear your experience.
Question about cleric roleplay. If you deity is lawful good how do you rationilize being a killer for money or running around with a bloodthirsty barbarian and thieving rogue? Would your diety get mad and disown you? Loving everything on this channel too!
Question: I'm playing a Wood Elven Ranger (1st level), in a party of 5 which includes a Paladin. Due to our schedules, the entire party is rarely together, thus we often lack our healer. I was thinking about multiclassing Life Cleric to solve our massive healing problem, but I'm not certain how. Any tips on how to do it/explanation about the cantrips?
Ooooh, Buddy! I wanna play in that setting with the AI's and the deranged elves! Me! Me! Me! Pick me! *Dreams up unwilling cleric character that talks to himself all the time* "Geez, can't a guy ever just be told to go read a book and enjoy a nice cup of Wakey, God!? Are you sure it always has to be like THIS..!? I mean, thanks for healing up Tzara and all, but now my hat is all slimey again!"
A good example of a god being forced to use a person as its conduit is from the Thieves World book series... a character calle Tempus.
Also, at the end - you're describing Thundarr!
Can we do Bards next just so me and my fellow Bard homies can finally get some love?
Yamitori Sōkei
We'll get to Bards. We may not get to them next, but rest assured they will get gotten to.
JPruInc Sounds awesome to me
Skipped over Nature domain, only mentioned it once in passing. Would enjoy hearing/reading your thoughts on it as well.
Do these guys have a video of how to add everything to the character sheet? There is a lot I don't understand when making a character.
Haven't watched the video yet, maybe it does in this video. But I can already tell that I'm going to like the two of you.
“ so now he finds himself within the horrors ov Borovia, so yea, fun times “ 😮😅😊😊
Are you guys fans of Acquisitions Incorporated by any chance? Also I'm looking forward to rest of this character class series. Keep up the great work!
I know when I made a war cleric for a game, I specificly went with the 'sought out by the divine power' and through that concept I ended up with Me and my friend playing twin goliaths, a war cleric and a Paladin (with a homebrew oath) that were both devoted followers of Tempus the god of war.
multiclass war cleric and zealot barb. channel into great weapon mastery for a +5 to hit and +10 to damage with an extra 1d8. get an extra attack as a reaction. heavy armor and a shield so you don't have to worry about being MAD. you can use concentration spells to help your friends or yourself when not raging. a little bit of healing
kanpai44. I have a similar build ranger with a cleric dip, sharpshooter feat plus guided strike gets the +5 hit +10 dmg ( not counting mods/ prof) plus the bonus attack . Chills in the back, pops heals/ buffs and hard hits as needed.
imagine a military hospital campagin
Storm domain means lightning pimp slap, light domain is an evocation wizards wet dream: armor, Shields, AND pew pew boom fireball? Yes please. Life domain means super healer who tells you when you're allowed to die. War domain: praise be to war, let me introduce you to my god personally.
My favorite thing about clerics is they pretty much max out at 17th level. They get their final class features before level 20 so feel free to multiclass
My favorite cleric who is role-playing against type is Ramus Krill from Court of Swords, a light cleric who died and came back to serve a god of destruction and bad luck
Hey guys! As a hypothetical, would you allow a Death Cleric who is of good alignment in one of your campaigns? Like if the character performs funeral rites or hunts the undead? Just wondering.
Lookie, Jim got a haircut!
A level 17 War Cleric gets the resistance of a Barbarian Rage, except they don't have to rage and they can wear full plate armor. Moreover at 2nd level they can add 10 to any attack roll once per day, which they gain the ability to do to allies at 6th level. The spells it gets always prepared also make it ridiculous in battle. Put all this on a Half-Orc and you get a character that just won't die, but will keep doing damage and healing to boot. Strahd doesn't even stand a chance against a party of War Clerics, and neither does any curse in Barovia.
A War Cleric isn't anything to scoff at.
This is just for any other War Cleric fans out there that don't see similar comments in this section.
That idea at the end sounds a bit like Maraille, a homebrew setting by Mark Rosenfelder
This was a rambling discussion of clerics, but I was looking for a more structured review. A review of the cleric stats, role, then overview the cleric Domain types, and the spells by level that are of most importance. Lastly, other skill one would look in a healer.
I recommend the guides found on the Character Optimization board over on the EN World forums; they'll have the sort of info you're looking for. We wanted to give more a play report/actual experience perspective than a class breakdown.
Cleric(nature) is probably the most objectively powerful class in the game, play a dwarf pump up your Con and Wis (str has no meaning, dex only matters for initiative). Take the Shillelagh cantrip, buy a club and heavy armor. Smack and heal away from the front lines
Clerics are my favorite class this edition because of how versatile they are.
My favorite character that I've played is Falkruun Spellhammer. A Dwarf-shaped Warforged who started off as an Eldritch Knight at 5th level, but as a reward for his dedication to Moradin became a real Dwarf (Hill Dwarf) with a class-change to Light Cleric; since we needed a healer by this point and couldn't rely solely on our Ranger and potions, and needed a ranged damage dealer who would show up reliably to the table. I played this character all the way to 12 until our group unfortunately broke up because of some in-fighting.
Edit: While I've never played a Tempest Cleric very far, I love how their abilities all mesh together to make a good meat-shield front liner.
I'm playing a tempest cleric in Storm King's Thunder at level 7. I have
taken Shield Master and War Caster but am considering taking Resilient
at level 8 versus bumping my WIS to 18. Almost all the spells are
concentration and a hit from a giant, even with War Caster, is more than
likely going to break it. Thoughts?
So did you guys stream or record your Evil campaign? I'd love to watch it
BralorSkirata
Unfortunately, we did not.
Nooooooooooooooo!!!!
Where’s the link to Clerics: Part 2? You barely mentioned Nature Domain and I’d like to hear more about that. Thanks.
+Web DM do you have any videos on this evil campaign you speak of?
I've been encouraged by my DM and a couple other players to play a Death cleric. I _think_ I've ended up with a F2/C6 Human Variant with the polearm mastery feat, but I'm torn on how to roleplay it, also on the viability. Thoughts?
I'm a bit late, but I've been wanting to play a melee beater war cleric, a templar of his faith, with heavy armor and greatsword in hand with his holy symbol (a censor chained to his waist, burning sacred incense) and purge evil