Cleric domains v3.5

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Right I have a few questions about you people and the choice of Clerical domains

When creating a Cleric and it comes down to the choice of domains (say for the sake of argument that you can choose any two from the PhB, Complete Books and Faerun Campaign Setting) would you choose and why?

What are the best pair of domains should you want your Cleric to dish out a serious amount of damage

What do you see as potentially the worst domains in the game?

Ah yeah, enough questions for now. Will generate more questions as answers ar generated.

 

Since I don't own Complete Divine or FRCS, so I will just talk about the PHB domains.

If you want damage, I would say, go for the Strength domain or Destruction domain. Death and Sun domain can kill enemies outright too.

I don't like the Law and Chaos domains, but I think the Good domain is okay, since you get holy smite, which is probably more useful than order's wrath or chaos hammer.

I personally like the elemental domains, since those tend to give you spells most clerics don't have access to, and better, you can have elemental servants and not be evil (like an undead-controlling cleric).

So, roleplaying concept aside, I would probably choose Fire and Good.

 

I see cleric domains as the best way to show your character's interest and outlook. A cleric of Lathander with Strength and Sun domains would be much different to a Lanthanderite with Renewal and Protection, and probably will act like it.

Access to non-cleric spells and an interesting Domain Ability make good domains.

(Gotta go now, be back sometime)

 

I only have PHB v. 3.5.

I think Elemental, Animal and Plant domains are kind of dumb, as they just mimic a great deal of what a Druid can do.

The Law and Chaos domains seem to me to be very weird -- I just don't see a lot of opportunity in the average campaign to use their spells, particularly if you have a diverse group (you might clobber a Lawful friend with Chaos Hammer)

War is good if you like a combat oriented campaign, though it's not like the granted power gets better as you progress in levels. I prefer Strength and Destruction -- AFAIK, you could theoretically combine both Granted powers into a REALLY cool attack

Sun is good if you are running an undead heavy campaign -- when things get rough, it's nice to be able to KNOW you're going to kill some undead.

Death is kind of a creepy Domain, in that a Lawful Good cleric of Wee Jas (or any good cleric, for those following other gods or without gods) couldn't use the evil spells! Evil is similar -- you'd have to be running an odd campaign to select that, though it's great for enemy NPC clerics.

If you have a lot of friendly warrior types (small "w" warrior, that is) then healing is a good one. Your granted ability is one that improves with you as you progress in levels, and healing is always handy.

Being a nerd, I like Knowledge, though I wish that the addition of all Knowledge skills to your list also came with some more freaking skill points per level (wouldn't the clerics in a society be more educated than your average warrior?) Magic also rocks if you are a fan of Arcane magic as well as Divine. Trickery is good if you are a bit of a weasel, which I also am

Travel is also good if you don't wish to be bored by long walks or deal with lame little ambushes on the road. I don't like Protection very much as it doesn't have, I don't know, Panache I guess would be the best word.

I think I got them all -- I'm doing this from memory!!

 

You forgot luck there

 

I don't really understand that. IIRC, you cast healing spells at a +1 caster level, whether you are caster level 1 or 20, the bonus is still +1. Or am I missing something? And since you can cast many of the Cure spells spontaneously, don't see the benefit of having these spells as domain spells.
What did I get wrong here?

 

Plant for me. Who cares if that makes you a bit more druidy? Nothing wrong with Druids. Although the ability to turn vermin is only useful in certain specialised situations.

 

Essentially, it means for healing spells that you'll get the bonus healingpoint as if you were one level higher. So at level 6, your cure moderate wounds would give 2d8+7 healing, instead of 2d8+6.

Imho, not useful at all. Good domain is great for exalted characters (Book of exalted deeds has great spells for this) as well as evil is for evil characters naturally. War domain is great for Melee Clerics.

 

Faragon: Just what I was thinking.

As for the Plant Domain: It does make you look more like a druid, but that's probably just one of the aspects of your deity, one of the main reasons to pick the domain.
Magic domain makes you look more like a wizard. Knowledge more like a wizard or bard. Strength and war more like a warrior. But to me, that's just the deal. To spice up your character.

Concerning the non-roleplaying part (powerplay part)...
Each domain probably has his own value to each character in some type of game, but here are my preferences.
Sun, Travel, Strength, War, Good and Evil.

In Complete Divine are some nice ones as well:
Celerity, Glory (combined with Sun makes too much undead go poof), Competition, Force (many arcane spells).
Sniper, I understood you like summoning creatures. Needless to say you should get the Summoner Domain.

For roleplaying purposes (keep in mind I prefer Lathander), I like Renewal, Community (CompDiv) and Protection as well, but I doubt the potency of the first 2.

(man! there are so many domains!)

Luck, or its granted ability, is a bit too risky for me (Oh really!?). I prefer something I could rely on. Force is more reliable, for instance. You can reroll and pick the better result.

Nobility is nice, the spells are good and the granted ability is good if you have a high charisma.

 

I don't recall saying that and in fairness have never really considered being a summoner. But now that you've mentioned it, it is something i'll defintely look at. Probably with the Rapid Spell feat from Complete Divine.

My personal preferance is currently Strength/Destruction (Having payed mages for a long time, I quite fancy the idea of being a bit more melee orientated, though I'd like to keep the touch of magic going as well)

Saying that, I quite like using the Knowledge domain to then multi class into a rogue to getthe skill points to pour into the knowledge skills - think sage type person here.

Opinions about the different domains are most welcome as it'll help broaden my perspective and hopefully others.

Faerun domain that i like is Retribution and would love to combine that with Strength and Destruction - thinking along the lines of Hoar here as the Doombringer. However, Destruction seems to follow evil deities (understandably) so I'll look at other aspects like Fate, which in itself doesn't look too bad.

I would say that the Healing domain is great for low levellers as that extra hitpoint per spell level can come in very handy. It has also become alot more useful with the introduction of Complete Divine. There are some feats in there that favour that particular domain though I could be wrong and in that all you need is to spontaneously cast cure spells

 

Healing Domain is nice if you multiclass to or from a cleric, as you get the hitpoint bonuses for even a low level cleric.

Personally i pick domains for RPG reasons.

 

My fault. Sorry. It was LKD in Faragon's "Wizard Spell Selection feedback wanted"-thread.

According to the description, with the Knowledge Domain you add all knowledge skills to your cleric skills. They would still be crossclass skills for a rogue, afaik.

Fate domain has a nice domain ability and the spells are not too bad. It sure has my interest.

The higher the dice of your weapon damage, the more interesting the Retribution domain ability is. Maximum damage is more appealing when you wield a greatsword or greataxe.

It's still a +1 on healing spells. Perhaps I underestimate the value of a single hitpoint. Faragon's logic is still more understandable for me. Care to explain?

 

If you spend a lot of time healing your buddies, the Heal domain would be nice, particularily if you are at lower levels. At higher levels, I agree that casting a spell at 21st level isn't THAT much of an improvement over 20th level.

I'd give my left nut for a copies of "The Complete Divine", "Complete Arcane" and about 12 other sourcebooks. Blasted poverty!

 

I wouldn't lol. After that operation and you have all yer books with you, you'll discover that version 4.0 has come out and you'll have to get all the other books ... through your right nut

 

If you have a fighter, that multi class to 3 levels of cleric, to get some protections and healing for self, you cast all healing spells as a 4th level caster, even when continuing as fighter levels, and lets say he has 5 +2 domain spells, thats 7 extra hitpoints. It will usually increase the average healing score by +1 wich can be handy when you only take a couple of levels of cleric anyways.

for higher level cleric i agree it isnt as efficient as other domains.

 

Mmh, I see. Still I won't choose the Healing Domain, seeing all the other options for domains and the feats available for enhancing your healing magic. For lower levels, I think the Healing Domain is moderate, but after gaining a few levels (which we all are trying to do) this domain becomes weaker and weaker. I prefer to choose something that becomes stronger and stronger.

If the Healing Domain ability offered to cast healing spells as if under the influence of the empower feat without level adjustment (or something similar that gets a bit better when gaining levels), perhaps then I would be interested.

 

I agree with you, Nuhn. YOu want something that grows with you -- which is why I find War so dull, as well as Trickery. They're a static, one time benefit. One might, however, choose Healing for the role playing element involved, if not the game mechanics element.

 

I don't disagree, but seriouslly, whats the point in picking something that "grows" with you, when you only dable into a couple of levels of cleric ? Different domains for different characters. I still only pick whatever fits the character the most.

 

Of course, chosen domains should be determined by which part of the diety's portfolio the character feels strongest for, but as always, there's the little mechanical perfection voice crying out to try and make a more optimized character

 

At 3 levels of cleric and 12 Fighter, you are a 15th level character and you get some serious injures every now and then. I doubt (imho) an extra hitpoint per level casted will make much difference.

I like that attitude.
The Community Domain in Complete Divine isn't that good either, but for roleplaying, it could fit perfectly if you are a (wo)man of the people (or FOR the people, for those that have seen Gladiator )
I am currently busy building a LG/NG Human Sacred Fist (Monk/Cleric) and looking for some good domains and deity that fit his interest. I spend most the time picking some interesting but also good domains.