Eclipse Pathfinder – The Cleric

   Next up in the “how to build Pathfinder characters in Eclipse” series is the Cleric.

   Once again, that’s not too complicated; simply insert Fast Learner at level zero, and you’ll have the points to spend to update to later standards. All you have to do is to ignore all the options that you don’t want.

   We’ll simply take the standard “Cleric” build and tweak it a bit.

   Pathfinder Clerics…

• Lose six skill points at level zero. That’s (-6 CP).
• Lose the Heavy Armor proficiency (-6 CP).
• Drop 19 levels worth of lower level spells on their Spellcasting Progression to add an additional eighth and ninth level spell – a total of seventeen spell levels. That’s both pretty trivial, and well within the range of a “minor variant” – for no cost.
• Drop the “+4 Intensity” on their Channeling abilities (-6 CP). Replace that with Conversion/a set of four level three effects, Corrupted/only actually provides two effects (6 CP). That lets them blast out positive energy to heal normal creatures or to harm undead, or vice versa, depending on their choice. That replaces “Turn Undead” with “Channel Energy” as a balanced exchange.
• The Pathfinder Cleric also gets unlimited use of his or her level zero spells. That’s Shaping, Specialized for Increased Effect (only works for the characters limited list of level zero Cleric spells), Corrupted/must be free to gesture and speak (4 CP). As a side-benefit, level zero spells with cumulative effects – such as healing – lose effectiveness on any single target after 2d6 applications in any one day. That means that you don’t have to banish level zero healing spells from the game.
• Buy Fast Learner, Specialized in buying Advanced Domain Abilities. That will provide an extra +40 CP over twenty levels to buy the additional abilities included in Pathfinder Domains.

   That gives us forty-two character points with which to buy advanced domain abilities. Hopefully I can keep it a bit under that for most of them. That provides a little extra room for customization – or for errors.

   Standard d20 Domains include a list of spells (6 CP) and a special ability worth another (6 CP).

   Pathfinder Domains are substantially more powerful, granting access to a variety of supernatural powers as well. In most cases, these are a pair of supernatural abilities, in somewhat fewer cases the second power is replaced by resistance to a particular form of energy. Other cases follow their own, idiosyncratic, rules.

   The spell list doesn’t matter; those can be varied to suit any given game, and – at least in Eclipse – players are perfectly welcome to propose new ones.

   The supernatural abilities can mostly be constructed as follows:

   1) A Minor Power, purchased as Channeling, at (3 + Wis Mod) uses per day, Specialized and Corrupted/only usable for conversion to a specific effect (4 CP) plus Conversion/a specific level two effect (3 CP).

   2) A Major Power, purchased as Channeling, at (3 + Wis Mod) uses per day, Specialized and Corrupted/only usable for conversion to a specific effect (4 CP), plus upgrading the Conversion from the Minor Power to a group of four themed spells of level five or less, Corrupted/the user only actually gets two spells (5 CP). You can get sixth level effects if you need them by reducing the number of uses (to five per day at level 20). That saves one character point on the uses cost but costs two on the conversion effect – for a net cost of (10 CP), an increase of one point.

   In either case, if you want to get the “can use this ability for one round per level, although these need not be consecutive” effect, you’ll want a drastically shortened overall spell duration (three to four rounds) with the provision that the effects few rounds of effect need not be used consecutively. Overall, that’s a disadvantage in most cases – and so it will not affect the level of the effect needed. This being Eclipse, I’ll leave the variant selection up to the character.

   Bringing the save DC (if a save is allowed) up to the (Level/2 +10 +Wis Mod) value that Pathfinder uses could be done in several ways – but this is channeling, and this is dropping the base level of the spell – so a simple Privilege will do. That’s (3 CP), and brings the cost up to either nineteen or twenty points out of the 21 available for buying each domain.

   3) Resistance to particular forms of energy – which eventually upgrades to an “Immunity” – is a bit harder to deal with in Eclipse, where most things have upper limits. On the other hand, simply taking Resist Energy with an extended duration +2 levels) covers the initial resistances – and an upgrade to Greater Resist Energy (from The Practical Enchanter) will eventually get that resistance up to 60 points – which should provide practical immunity for most purposes.

   In all three cases, the abilities can be bought up gradually, to match the per-level progression.

   So the various other minor and major powers should have similar costs. Lets see how that works out with the first few Pathfinder Domains.

   Air Domain:

• Minor Power: Lightning Arc. Conjuration (real, and hence no save or spell resistance), 30′ Ranged Touch Attack, inflicts 1d6 + Cleric Level/2 Damage (+30 Max).
  • Alternate Minor Power: Wind Blast. Performs a Bull Rush (using caster level as BAB and his or her Wis as Str) along a 30′ line.
• Major Power: Electricity Resistance.
  • Alternate Major Power: Thundercloud. As per Fog Cloud, except that creatures inside the cloud are deafened and take 2d6 points of electricity damage each round from the flashes of thunder and lightning. The user may concentrate on the cloud to move it up to 30 feet each round.

   Animal Domain:

• Minor Power: Speak with Animals. Also, treat Knowledge (nature) as a class skill (this is free in Eclipse; the skill is obviously relevant to someone with this domain).
  • Alternate Minor Power: Eyes of the Hawk: Professional/Perception (6 CP) plus Improved Initiative +2, Specialized/only works during a surprise round (1 CP), Privilege/friendship with the spirits of the air/specialized/only upgrades the user’s aerial maneuverability by one step. “Fly” is added to the user’s list of class skills (again, free in Eclipse since the skill is obviously relevant to you).
  • Alternate Minor Power: Predator’s Grace. Gain +30′ movement and low-light vision for one round. If you already have low-light vision, the range of your sight becomes three times that of a human in dim light.
• Major Power: Animal Companion. That’s Companion (6 CP). That’s a bit cheaper than the usual major power, but that’s not really a problem. Spend those 2 CP on skills or something.

   Artifice Domain:

• Minor Power: Artificer’s Touch: Add Mending to your list of perpetually-usable level zero spells (1 CP) and Shattering Touch (melee touch attack, does 1d6+ Level/2 (+15 Max) damage to objects and constructs, bypassing an amount of damage reduction and hardness equal to the user’s level. (Total cost: 8 CP).
• Major Power: Dancing Weapons: You can touch a weapon and give it the dancing special weapon quality for four rounds. Discard the (+2) uses and change the (+Wis Mod) uses to the basic four. This will reduce the cost to (8 CP) – compensating for the additional cost of the minor power.
  • Alternate Major Power: Animate Object. As a level six effect, this costs 10 CP instead of 9 CP.
  • Alternate Major Power: Aura of Repetition: You can emit a 30- foot aura of repetition. Enemies within the aura must make a Will save each round or repeat their action from the previous round. Creatures that attacked on the previous round attack again on the following round, although they may change their target. Creatures that moved the previous round must take the same move action again, although they may change their route. Creatures that drank a potion must do so again, even they can only drink from an empty bottle. Actions that cannot be repeated are wasted.

   Chaos Domain:

• Minor Power: Touch of Chaos.: You can imbue a target with chaos as a melee touch attack. For the next round, anytime the target rolls a d20, he must roll twice and take the less favorable result.
  • Alternate Minor Power: Elysium’s Call. The creatures touched can immediately reroll any failed saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) and enchantment (compulsion) subschools. In addition, targets receive a +2 sacred bonus on such saving throws and a +2 sacred bonus on CMB checks to escape a grapple. Finally, targets can ignore up to 5 feet of difficult terrain each round, as if they had the Nimble Moves feat. These bonuses last for a number of rounds equal to one-half your cleric level (minimum 1), although the saving throw reroll only applies when the creature is touched.
  • Alternate Minor Power: Fury of the Abyss. As a swift action, you can give yourself an enhancement bonus equal to one-half your cleric level (minimum +1) on melee attacks, melee damage rolls, and combat maneuver checks for one round. During the round, you take a –2 penalty to AC.
• Major Power: Chaos Blade. You can give a weapon touched the anarchic special weapon quality for a number of rounds equal to one-half your cleric level.
  • Alternate Major Power: Aura of Chaos. You can radiate a 30-foot aura of chaos. All enemies within this aura must declare one type of action at the start of their turn (attack, cast a spell, move, use an item, or activate a special ability) and make a Will save. Creatures that fail the Will save must take an action other than their declared action. If they succeed, they must take the declared action. Creatures cannot select actions that they cannot perform.

   Charm Domain:

• Minor Power: Dazing Touch. Your melee touch attack causes a living creature to become dazed for one round. Creatures with more Hit Dice than you have are unaffected.
  • Alternate Minor Power: Adoration. As an immediate action, you can attempt to thwart a melee or ranged attack that targets you. This ability functions as sanctuary, but only against one individual attack. You must use the ability after the attack is declared but before the roll is made. The creature attacking you receives a Will save to negate this effect. If a creature has more than one attack, this ability only affects one of the attacks. This is a mind-affecting effect.
• Major Power: Charming Smile (Sp): Charm Person, with a save DC of 10 + 1/2 your cleric level + your Wisdom modifier, as a free action.
  • Alternate Major Power: Anything to Please. You can compel a creature within 30 feet to attempt to please you as a standard action. The creature receives a Will save to negate this affect. If the save fails, the creature attacks your enemies for one round, gives you its most valuable item, or drops prone at your feet and grovels for 1d4 rounds (GM’s choice). This is a mind-affecting effect.

   Community Domain:

• Minor Power: Calming Touch. Your touch heals the target of 1d6 points of nonlethal damage + 1 point per cleric level (20 maximum). This touch also removes the fatigued, shaken, and sickened conditions, but has no effect on others.
  • Alternate Minor Power: Binding Ties. As a standard action, you can touch an ally and transfer one condition affecting that ally to yourself. This transfer lasts a number of rounds equal to your level, but you can end it as a free action on your turn. At the end of this effect, the condition reverts to the original creature, unless it has ended or is removed by another effect. While this power is in use, the target is immune to the transferred condition.
• Major Power: Unity. Whenever a spell or effect targets you and one or more allies within 30 feet, you can use this ability to allow your allies to use your saving throw against the effect in place of their own. Each ally must decide individually before the rolls are made. Using this ability is an immediate action.
  • Alternate Major Power: Guarded Hearth. You can create a ward that protects a specified area. It has a maximum radius of five feet per two levels you possess. When the ward is completed, you designate any number of creatures inside its area. Should any other creature enter the warded area, all of the selected creatures are immediately alerted (and awoken if they were asleep). The designated creatures also receive a sacred bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier on all saving throws and attack rolls while inside the warded area. This ward immediately ends if you leave the area. The ward lasts for 1 hour per cleric level. You can use this ability once per day. (This is a fairly powerful effect, but reducing the uses to one per day allows the spell level to be drastically upgraded).

   Darkness Domain:

• Special: Gain the Blind-Fight Feat (6 CP).
• Minor Power: Touch of Darkness. As a melee touch attack, you can cause a creature’s vision to be fraught with shadows and darkness. The creature touched treats all other creatures as if they had concealment, suffering a 20% miss chance on all attack rolls. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half your level (minimum 1).
  • Alternate Minor Power: Night Hunter. As long as you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can become invisible (as per invisibility) to creatures without darkvision. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to one-half your cleric level (minimum 1).
• Major Power: Eyes of Darkness. Your vision is not impaired by lighting conditions, even in absolute darkness and magic darkness.
  • Alternate Major Power: Aura of Forgetfulness. You may emit a 30- foot aura of forgetfulness. Creatures you target in this area must make a Will save or have no memory of any time spent inside the area. In addition, spellcasters in the area lose one prepared spell or available spell slot per round spent in the area, starting with 1st-level spells and going up through higher-level spells. Spellcasters are allowed a save each round to negate this loss (this save is separate from the memory loss save). These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

   The Darkness Domain is a bit problematic there: it’s spending more points than I wanted to! On the other hand, those Major Powers don’t look like anything above level three to me – which reduces the cost of those “Major” powers to (7 CP) instead of (9 CP). That’s not enough to make up for the (6 CP) cost of that extra feat – but it helps, and it does bring the domain back into the +/- 2 CP spread I wanted.

   Death Domain:

• Minor Power: Bleeding Touch. As a melee touch attack, you can cause a living creature to take 1d6 points of damage per round. This effect persists for a number of rounds equal to one-half your cleric level (minimum one, maximum ten) or until stopped with a DC 15 Heal check or any spell or effect that heals damage.
  • Alternate Minor Power: Death’s Kiss. You can cause a creature to take on some of the traits of the undead with a melee touch attack. Touched creatures are treated as undead for the purposes of effects that heal or cause damage based on positive and negative energy. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum 1). It does not apply to the Turn Undead or Command Undead feats.
• Major Power: Death’s Embrace. Negative energy heals you instead of harming you. If channeled negative energy targets undead, you heal hit points just like the undead in the area. (This is most easily handled as a long-term personal spell, probably of about level six and with an extended duration and resistance to being dispelled. Fortunately, simply reducing the number of uses will keep the cost correct.
  • Alternate Major Power: Killing Blow. Your weapons you use become infused with the power of death. Whenever you confirm a critical hit with a melee or ranged weapon, your attack deals an additional amount of bleed damage equal to half your cleric level. You can use this ability up to five times per day.

   Well, I may finish up the rest of the domains a little later on – but I suspect that the point is made; the various Pathfinder Domain Powers are generally about twenty points per domain, with a few running a point or two over – and so fall neatly within the forty-two points which are available to buy them with.

   Eclipse: The Codex Persona is available in a Shareware PDF Version, in Print, and in a Paid PDF Version that includes Eclipse II (245 pages of Eclipse races, character and power builds, items, relics, martial arts, and other material) and the web expansion. It will be updated with Eclipse III when that’s done as well.

   Oh yes, here’s the OGL on the Pathfinder SRD site I referenced