I was just willing to play a melee cleric, using everything to boost its melee, and what remains to heal out of combat

But I grew tired of DM laughing of my "cleric unable to heal".
So I tried to see what could be done to look better.

I'm finaly done messing arround D&D forums and books, thinking and re-thinking...
My beloved friends in that quests might feel cheated on, with their yet fireballs, big 4-5 sneak attack dices, etc. :/



Base

Using any official source (books, dragon magazines) from 3.5, at level 5, with 48 points to buy ability scores (an ability score of 8 costs 0 points, 10 costs 2 points, 12 costs 4, 14 : 6, 16 : 10, 18 : 16), and a free "feat"

Cleric 5

Strength: 19 (+1 from level 4)
Dexterity: 8
Consitution: 16
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 14

Using alternate class features (ACF) from Dragon Lance: Destroy undead instead of Turn undead, Necromancyand Sundomains.
With those ACF, I caneither Destroy undead, either Turn undead (from Sun domain), or Rebuke undead (Necromancy).

Which gives me many destroy/turn/rebuke attempts per day (3 + charisma for each).
Add to this, the possibility of using Extra Turn Feat, Nightsticks (Libris Mortis, +4 daily attemps), and Reckless Holy Symbol (+2 daily attemps).
Also, using my new charisma score of 18 (you'll see later), the whole calculation is 3 + 4 (charisma), + 4 (1x extra turn), + 12 (3x nightsticks + 2 (reckless holy symbol) = 25
For a total of 75 daily destroy/turn/rebuke attemps, adding them all from the 3 pools.

The feats
Taking Flaws (unearthed arcana), -4 spot/listen, and double miss chances on concealment, I have +2 feats.
Feat from taking flaw 1 : Extend Spell (double duration of a spell, increases spell slot required by 1)
Feat from taking flaw 2 :Persist Spell(extend duration of a spell to 24 hours, as long as it is a personal target spell or FIXED range spell, in exemple, 60 feet radius or 20 feet distance both work, increases spell slot required by 6)
Level 1 Feat : Spellcasting Prodigy (counts as +2 in main casting ability score for anything related to spellcasting in one class, so wisdom for cleric)
Human Feat :Extra Turn
Free "feat" from the Dungeon Master : Divine Metamagic .. but apparently he was ok with giving it for any metamagic feat. (divine metamagic lets you use turn (or rebuke, or destroy) attempts to reduce spell slot increase on a metamagic feat, at a rate of 1turn per spell slot increase +1, in example, it would cost 5 turn attempts to cast a quicken spell without increasing spell slot required for a given spell, 4 from quicken spell + 1)
Level 3 : Ocular Spell (transform any ray spell or any non personnal target spells as ray spells cast from your eyes with a fixed 60 feet range, increases spell slot required by 2)

The mechanic
Speding daily turn attempts (and destroy/rebuke..), I can lower down to 0 the spell slot increase of the spells I cast with those metamagic effects, ending up with either
-Personnal target / fixed range spells : Extend Spell on Persistent Spell, got to spend 2 turn attempts for the first one (1 + 1), and 7 for the second one (6 + 1), to have 48 hours duration spells that uses9 daily turn attempswithout increasing spell slot required.
-any other spell: the exact same thing, adding Ocular spell feat on it, adding 3 turm attempts cost, for a total of 12.

So, with the 3 pools of destroy/turn/rebuke attempts per day, total 75 daily attempts, I have this setup :
4 spells with a personal range / fixed range (what could be called "normaly persistable") extended & persist (lasting 48h) per day,
+ 3 others with variable ranges (which could be called "not persistable", using ocular spell to bypass that), also extended & persisted (lasting 48h) per day

With the fact that they last 48 hours, I can make a rotation of those (on the first day I cast spells A, B, C ..., which last for 2 days, on the second day I cast spells D, E, F...)
giving me a total of 8 "normaly persistable" spells and 6 "not normaly persistable" spells constantly affecting me.

Using the 4 spells that adds ability scores enhancement bonus, I gain more spells per day, more turn attempts per day, more strength and more constitution
Strength: 23
Dexterity: 8
Consitution: 20
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 22(considered 24 for bonus spells per day, spell saves DC, and max level of known spell, from spellcasting prodigy feat)
Charisma: 18

Which gives me 5 level 0 spells, 5 level 1 spells, 4 level 2 spells and 3 level 3 spells per day (bonus of +2 from 1 to 3 with "24" wisdom)


The list of extended&persisted spells
DAY 1
1 - Level 3 - Lesser Vigor, Mass (fast healing 1hp/round, 1creature/2lvl max 30f each other, radius 20f), using 9 daily attempts
2 - Level 3 - Ice Axe (melee touch attacks 2d12 + 1 /2lvl max +10 cold damage, no sunder/disarm, SR applies), using 9 daily attempts
3 - Level 3 - Prayer(+1 luck att&dmg&skill checks, allies 40f radius), using 9 daily attempts
4 - Level 2 - Elation(2moral str&dex, +5f speed, allies 80f radius), using 9 daily attempts
5 - Level 2 - Eagle's Splendor (+4cha), using 12 daily attempts (ocular spell)
6 - Level 2 - Bear's Endurance (+4con), using 12 daily attempts (ocular spell)
7 - Level 1 - Shield of Faith (+2 deflection AC), using 12 daily attempts (ocular spell)
DAY 2
1 - Level 3 - Divine Retaliation (diety weapon CL+str/wis att, +1.5str/wis dmg, retaliate on any melee attack, no limit per round)
2 - Level 3 - Grace(illumination 60f -20hide, +2sacred dex, +10f speed)
3 - Level 3 - Vigor(fast healing 2hp/round, only me), using 12 daily attempts (ocular spell)
4 - Level 2 - Bull's Strength (+4str), using 12 daily attempts (ocular spell)
5 - Level 2 - Owl's Widsom (+4wis), using 12 daily attempts (ocular spell)
6 - Level 2 - Stone Fist (2d6 lethal bludgeoning unarmed strikes, no AoO)
7 - Level 1 - Bless (+1moral att&fear saves, allies 50f radius)

Might be switching spells, example Day 2 spell #3 : Vigor. Could use Summon Monster III, example Small Earth Elemental or Dire Bat


Result

This setup leaves me withall my level 0 spells, 4 level 1 spells and 1 level 2 spell per day.

This ends up with
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 12
Consitution: 20
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 22 (24 for spells)
Charisma: 18


Armor Class : 21
Armor : bended mail (+6), Shield : +2, Dex : +1, Deflection (from Shield of Faith spell) : +2
On such a build, I could be at 23 using a Full Plate armor.

Main Attack +12, 2d6+8 +2d12+2 frost
Unnarmed Strike (no attack of opportunity due to spell Stone Fist)
+12 attack bonus (3 BBA, 7 Strength, 1 luck from Prayer spell, 1 moral from Bless spell)
2d6+8 lethal bludgeoning (7 strength, 1 luck from Prayer spell)
adding Ice Axe spell's frost damage, which, being a melee touch spell damage attack, can be triggered by unnarmed strike too.
+2d12+2 frost (caster level 5 divided by 2 = 2)

Retaliation : +14, 2d6+11
Anytime a foe hit me on melee, that spell retaliates automatically, without limit per round
Weapon it creates and fights with is magical (to overcome damage recution etc), and should be the favored one of my God
But, without a specific God, as when you take War domain without having a God / alignment, you just pickup the weapon you want.
So, 2 handed sword (indeed), 2d6, 19-20/x2 crit
+14 attack bonus (5 from cleric level, 7 from strength, 1 luck from Prayer spell, 1 moral from Bless spell)
2d6 + 11 (10 from 1.5x 7 strength, 1 luck from Prayer spell)

Speed Bonus : +15 feet per round
+5 from Elation spell
+10 from Grace spell

Fast healing Effets
Vigor : With a constant Fast healing of 2 on me (which will auto stabilise me if I fall under 0).
Lesser Vigor, Mass : A constant Fast Healing of 1 on max 2 target arrounds me (max 20feet arround), which can either be allies, me (dont need, as I have Vigor) or undeads to damage them (will save for half dmg)
Both are replacing ANY kind of between battle healing. During battle, they are mostly usefull to help incounscious allies or stabilise / get be to 1+ dying allies ( under 0hp).

Buff on allies arround
Elation : +2 moral bonus to strength and dexterity and 5 feet speed (80 feet radius)
Bless : +1 moral bonus to attack and saves against fear (mostly will) (50 feet radius)
Prayer : +1 luck bonus to attack, damages and skills (40 feet radius)

And the best of it all : With Grace spell, I light up like a torch up to 60 feet, so, no need to carry any or to have any dark / low light vision! (and no need to even think about trying to hide ^^ )



What's comming next (level 6, 7 ...)
Next Feats
-Extra turns for more extended/persisted spells per day, but, squichy, better off with more (always more) nightsticks instead
-Split Ray : add additional target to the spell, increases spell slot by 2 (using that on an ocular / extended / persisted spell means I could cast a single spell that applies on me and an ally for 48 hours)
-Twin Spell : double the effect of a spell, increases spell slot by 4 (add this to the last for 4 targets instead.. but at that point it would be 20 daily turn attempts per spell Twined/splited/ocular/extended/persisted)
-Versatile Spellcaster : use 2 spell slot of a given level to cast a spell of 1 level higher, in example : use 2 spell slot of level 2 to cast a fireball, which is level 3 (even more if ruled that you can stack those : use 4 spell slots of leve l1 instead to cast that fireball. and why not, use 512 spell slots level 0 to cast a level 9 spell)

Next spells to extend/persist
not going to deep that early, the following 2 are the best ones by far, simply being 80% of the reason why we, cleric, want to persist spells
-Spell level 4 (caster level 7): Divine Power : +6 enhancement bonus to Strength and Increase Base Bonus Attack to your hit dice number. So a cleric level 7 casting this would be at 7 BBA instead of 5. What does it mean : more attacks per round, exactly the same ammount as a fighters have (and yes, more chances to hit), which is the final hit that kills fighters and make us, cleric, better melee.
-Spell level 5 (caster level 9): Righteous Might : Doubles size with magical effects. x8 weight, x2 height, +1 size category, +8 size bonus to strength, +4 size bonus to constitution, +4 enhancement bonus to natural armor (AC), damage reduction of 5/evil (10 at 12th level, and 15 at 15th level). Having size increased also adds -1 to hit and AC due to size, increases reach, and weapon's size (and damages) as well, but not speed.



Other/revelant infos:
-Nightstick items cost 7500g each
-Reliquary Holy Symbol costs 1000g
-I am using the base book versions of items, feats, spells etc. Not erratas
-Most of what that build relies on is HEAVILY discutable, but most of it can be and is often accepted, and could be juged legal by RAW
...still, its realy far away from being balanced
example, that level 5 evocator wizard with spellcasting prodigy(wizard, intel) and 18 base intel can cast 3x 6d6 fireballs per day, 4x 1ray(4d6) scorching rays and 6x 3missiles(3x(1d4+1)) magic missiles
-English is not my main language >.<



^.^

This post was edited by Ayla1870 on Sep 3 2014 04:28pm

Just played last night.
Damage rate was over 30 per round.
Now level 6.

Changed some spells to always have spell slot level 3 available, to cast animate dead.
I already have 3 squeletons and zombies (basic ones) (but 2 are dead)
they did 47 dmg in one round ^^

Now level 7.

Arround 75 dmg per round
+ arround 50dmg from retaliation if I get attacked (depending on how many per round)
+ arround 25 from magical beast I invoke
+ arround 50 from undeads I raise.

So when my invocation is not dead, that I get attacked quite alot and that I keep watching to have enough undeads (which, overall what uses to happen), its ~200 damage per round.

This post was edited by Ayla1870 on Sep 10 2014 09:32pm

Finaly, last game was a whole
I do mostly all damage
the monk/cleric does quite alot
the wizard and rogues are bored bcuz they are useless.

So I talked with DM, both bcuz I was feeling this sucked and bcuz I was willing to go back on old decision about allowing this or that, to re-balance stuff.
So we ended up with me having to use DMM the real way it should : only for 1 other metamagic feat, thus I now need to take it 3 times (once for Extend Spell, once for Persist Spell, and one for Occular Spell)
Thus I managed with him I'll remove Spellcasting Prodigy and have one less Extra Turn feat taken (thats what I took at level 6).

Now having

Flaw1:extend spell
Flaw2:persist spell
Free:DMM (extend)
Human:DMM(persist)
Level1:Occular Spell
Level 3:DMM(ocular)
Level 6:extra turn.