((Sometime after the Advanced Class Guide was published I started taking a long hard look at some of the base classes and began to reflect upon them and their place at my table and in the game in general. I settled on cleric as a class that I felt was somewhat out of place. While fully aware that not all ‘priests’ are clerics, I nevertheless felt that the class was a little too rigidly defined in terms of abilities and proficiencies. Whether deserved or not I came away from the class with a sort of “all clerics look the same” mentality. So I made an effort to expand the class. And it will be presented here. Presently it exists as pages upon pages of notes written in a loose leaf notebook. I will be working to update this project as I finalize the language. The new class table will have to suffice until then. –GM))
As part of this re-imagining of the cleric class I have expanded the Domain system. I’ve made these adjustments modular as I’m not certain how the added effects at levels 10-20 impact the overall game balance but I’m confidant that the adjustments from levels 1-10 hold up well.
Class Skills
The cleric’s class skills are Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 2 + Int modifier.
| Unchained Cleric | Spells Per Day | ||||||||||||||
| Level | BAB | Fort | Refl | Will | Special | 0th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Aura, channel energy 1d6, domains, orisons, spontaneous casting, minor domain ability | 3 | 1+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Minor domain ability | 4 | 2+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Channel energy 2d6 | 4 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Moderate domain ability | 4 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Channel energy 3d6 | 4 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Moderate domain ability | 4 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Channel energy 4d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Greater domain ability | 4 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Channel energy 5d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – | – | – | – |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Greater domain ability, domain specialization | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – | – | – | – |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Channel energy 6d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – | – | – |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Variant channel | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – | – | – |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Channel energy 7d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – | – |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Major domain ability | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – | – |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Channel energy 8d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 | – |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Domain spell focus | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | – |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Channel energy 9d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 | 1+1 |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Major domain ability | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 | 2+1 |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Channel energy 10d6 | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 3+1 | 3+1 |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Domain mastery | 4 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 | 4+1 |
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Clerics are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). Clerics are also proficient with the favored weapon of their deities.
Aura (Ex): A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see detect evil for details).
Spells: A cleric casts divine spells which are drawn from the cleric spell list. Her alignment, however, may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells. A cleric must choose and prepare her spells in advance.
To prepare or cast a spell, a cleric must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a cleric’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the cleric’s Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a cleric can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Cleric. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).
Clerics meditate or pray for their spells. Each cleric must choose a time at which she must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a cleric can prepare spells. A cleric may prepare and cast any spell on the cleric spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.
Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells – A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaotic, evil, good, and lawful descriptors in their spell descriptions.
Orisons – Clerics can prepare a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, each day, as noted on Table: Cleric under “Spells per day.” These spells are treated like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again.
Channel Energy (Su): Regardless of alignment, any cleric can release a wave of energy by channeling the power of her faith through her holy (or unholy) symbol. This energy can be used to cause or heal damage, depending on the type of energy channeled and the creatures targeted.
A good cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships a good deity) channels positive energy and can choose to deal damage to undead creatures or to heal living creatures. An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships an evil deity) channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or to heal undead creatures. A neutral cleric of a neutral deity (or one who is not devoted to a particular deity) must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed. This decision also determines whether the cleric can cast spontaneous cure or inflict spells (see spontaneous casting).
Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the cleric. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two cleric levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on). Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the cleric’s level + the cleric’s Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by channel energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total—all excess healing is lost. A cleric may channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A cleric can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect.
A cleric must be able to present her holy symbol to use this ability.
Spontaneous Casting: A good cleric (or a neutral cleric of a good deity) can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that she did not prepare ahead of time. The cleric can “lose” any prepared spell that is not an orison or domain spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with “cure” in its name).
An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric of an evil deity) can’t convert prepared spells to cure spells but can convert them to inflict spells (an inflict spell is one with “inflict” in its name).
A cleric who is neither good nor evil and whose deity is neither good nor evil can convert spells to either cure spells or inflict spells (player’s choice). Once the player makes this choice, it cannot be reversed. This choice also determines whether the cleric channels positive or negative energy (see channel energy).
Domains: A cleric’s deity influences her alignment, what magic she can perform, her values, and how others see her. A cleric chooses two domains from among those belonging to her deity. A cleric can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if her alignment matches that domain. If a cleric is not devoted to a particular deity, she still selects two domains to represent her spiritual inclinations and abilities (subject to GM approval). The restriction on alignment domains still applies.
Each domain grants a number of domain powers, which the cleric can select at the indicated levels, as well as a number of bonus spells. A cleric gains one domain spell slot for each level of cleric spell she can cast, from 1st on up. Each day, a cleric can prepare one of the spells from her two domains in that slot. If a domain spell is not on the cleric spell list, a cleric can prepare it only in her domain spell slot. Domain spells cannot be used to cast spells spontaneously.
As the cleric gains levels, they gain the listed powers from both of her domains. Unless otherwise noted, activating a domain power is a standard action.
- The cleric gains the minor powers from their domains at 1st and 2nd level; they must choose which power to gain access to at each level.
- The cleric gains the moderate powers from their domains at 4th and 6th level; they must choose which power to gain access to at each level.
- The cleric gains the greater powers from their domains at 8th and 10th level; they must choose which power to gain access to at each level.
Domain Specialization: At 10th level the cleric chooses one of her domains to specialize in, gaining access to greater versatility and use from their domain abilities and evolving into true avatars of their chosen domain. See the Specialized Domains section for additional details.
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Specialized Domains
Variant Channeling: At 12th level the cleric gains access to one type of variant channeling that is suitable for their chosen deity and domain specialty. They can use this form of variant channeled energy or choose to channel energy in a regular fashion, however all of their channeled energy draws from the same pool of uses per day.
Major Domain Ability: At 14th level the cleric gains access to one of the major domain power from their specialized domain. They gain the other major domain power at 18th level.
Domain Spell Focus: At 16th level the cleric can now spontaneously cast spells from her specialized domain by dropping prepared spell slots just as they do for inflict or cure spells.
Domain Mastery: