Cleric / Tank

[Mainländer]

I'm joining a campaign that's already in progress. It recently lost two players: one of the two tanks and their main healer. I said I'd roll a Cleric, but I also want to get some pressure off the sole tank.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a Cleric (or another class if there's a better one) for the optimum configuration of a healer/tank? Domains, Prestige Classes, equipment...

Thanks.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'll start at level 8.

 

[Drowbane]

Nothing says TANK like an armor-laden dwarf

Off the top of my head...

Dwarf Cleric 8
(28pt buy assumed)
6 Str 14
4 Dex 12
6 Con 16
- Int 8
13 Wis 17 (19 as of 8th lvl)
- Cha 6 (turn undead? whats that?)

Domains: Healing & War (mwahahaha)

Feats (extra turning + Divine Feats?)

Skills (knock yourself out)

Spells (just recommending spells I like, you'll need to see how many per level you get...)
0th: Detect Magic, Read Magic
1st: Divine Favor, Shield of Faith
2nd: Bull's Str, Hold Person, Silence, Spiritual Weapon
3rd: Create Food & Water, Invis. Purge
4th: Divine Power, Inflict Critical (assuming you channel Positive), Restoration,

Gear
+3 Fullplate
+2 Dwarven Waraxe
+2 Heavy Steel Shield
Wand of Cure Light Wounds

~~~

Basically, I'd go with high AC and self-buffs... you'll outshine that fighter in no time... or at least keep up.

edit: Oh, and welcome to ENWorld!

 

[Mainländer]

Thanks for the suggestions and welcome, Drowbane.

Some added notes about the character:

+++ We’re using house rules for magic: instead of spell slots, we use spell points (as described in Unearthed Arcane) and all classes can cast spontaneously.

+++ For healing purposes, I’m thinking of taking the Healing Devotion and Extra Turning feats (I can spend a turn attempt for a use of Healing Devotion). Good idea?

+++ I've never played a Cleric before, so can anyone tell me just how good Turn Undead is?

 

[Darklone]

Turn Undead? Our cleric has maxxed charisma, some items and turned a nightwalker lately.

 

[moritheil]

Welcome.

There are two ways to get the most out of Turn Undead. One way (arguably the most common) is to get some feat or class feature that allows you to trade Turn attempts for something useful. Ruby Knight Vindicator (Bo9S), Divine Metamagic, and Divine Spell Power are the usual suspects here. The other way is to restrict your classing and prestige classing to classes that advance your turning capability, so it won't be useless when you run into advanced undead.

If you're going for heavy healing, I'd recommend the "Cleric Plus" build, more properly known as the Radiant Servant of Pelor.

 

[Darklone]

Crusader would be nice for that build too.

Divine Vigor can be nice for a low Cha build to use your turn attempts.

 

[Corsair]

How about druid? Between yourself, animal companion, and any summons you feel like using, you have more than enough tankyness, much of it disposable so healing will be less of an issue.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Second on Dwarf Cleric. Things to consider: Dwarf Cleric sub level for Hammer Specialization (+2 damage for warhammer, lose a 2nd level spell slot per day); the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat, it's really amazing how much faster this makes keeping all your gear upgraded, if you get downtime; UA variant to swap Turn Undead for Smite Evil and Aura of Courage (as a Paladin) if you don't want to have a good charisma score.
When I did this, I was making a demon-hunter, so (w/ DM permission) I then traded Smite Evil for the Hunter of Fiends variant Paladin (lose Smite Evil and Knowledge Nobility, gain Track feat, Survival skill, and favored enemy (evil outsiders) at a rate of +1/2 cleric levels, min. +1). It's weaker than smite, but it completely frees you of charisma reliance. Definitely up to the DM to allow that, though. In my case, I had the knowledge domain (Knowledge Devotion + Ancestral Knowledge FTW!) , so I had the class skill to lose.

Another neat tank cleric option: C.Champion lets you give up a 4th level slot permanently for a healing pool like a Pal's lay on hands equal to (CL +1) x5 hp per day. Heal just plain outstrips it later on, but it's a nice wad of instant healing nonetheless.

 

[Shin Okada]

If you need a "tank" to be a significant melee attacker, my suggestion will be no good.

But in my understanding, someone hardly falls down, and enemies can't ignore, can be a good tank. And healing/turning cleric is something opponents can't ignore. And clerics can attack with spells, of course.

So, how about using Tower Shield? Even without proficiency, if a cleric is relying on spells and turning, penalty to attacks doesn't matter much. And when a situation is really tight, he can use it for total cover.

Another idea is, at least use some kind of light or heavy shied and take Shielded Casting feat. Now you don't provoke AoA when casting spells. So even mageslayer or something to prevent using defensive casting doesn't matter.

Regarding Turning Undead, my play group is using alternate rule in Complete Divine which inflicts damages to all the nearby undead instead of usual turning procedure.

It speeds up the game much and actually makes turning much fun and well-balanced ability. We found it is far much better than all or nothing mechanics of original Turning Undead rule. And also, with this rule, turning undead can become somewhat useful action even for paladins and multi-classed clerics, and thus they do not spend all the turning attempts for using divine feats.