Building a Turn undead cleric

[Genesic]

Got invited into an undead apocalypse campaign.
Looking to build a cleric that deals with undead rather well.
Figuring ill go into Radiant Servant of Pelor eventually. But for now, I am looking for some help on what to build given the following:

1) Level 5
2) 100k gold
3) "Free" level that does not give HP, skill points, raises skill points cap, but is otherwise a level (cant be one of a class I already have)

I am just trying to figure out how to PrC out of cleric ASAP, while preferable not losing turn undead progression >_<
And the DM said he is nerfing turn undead to only 1/2 effectiveness. But also said that most undead are very low HD, so I will just take all manner of improve turning feats, and items.

[Rebel7284]

So you essentially get a class level as a bloodline level? Cool idea!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Ideally you would aim for (Cloistered) Cleric 5/ Morninglord 1/ Radiant Servant 5/ Morninglord 9. Morninglord of Lathander is in Player's Guide to Faerun, Lathandard is the sun god specific to that setting and the class can be adapted to any other setting's sun god. Radiant Servant of Pelor is in Complete Divine, Pelor is the core sun gold and the class can be adapted to any setting specific sun god.

For your race, I would recommend using Illumian from Races of Destiny, with the Hoonvaul runeword. Vaul gives a bonus to Cha-based checks, including turning checks. Also consider the Bright Sigil feat from that book so you can create a Daylight effect at will, which could benefit from the class features of both Morninglord and Radiant Servant that improve your light spells. Get the Swift Concentration skill trick in Complete Scoundrel as well.

Start out with the Sun and Healing domains, and the PH2 spontaneous domain casting ACF for Healing. Radiant Servant gives you free metamagic when casting healing domain spells, which is normally only useful for one spell per level per day since those are your domain spell slots. However, if you're spontaneously converting prepared spells into your domain spells, all of your healing will benefit from that class feature. You'll want to eventually get the Glory domain from Radiant Servant.

Your feats need to include Extra Turning and Improved Turning to qualify for your prestige classes. Other good choices include Empower Turning, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Rod, Extend and Persistent Spell with Divine Metamagic: Persistent, and Nymph's Kiss which is best taken at 1st level. There are items that make you more effective at turning undead (Phylactery of Undead Turning, Ephod of Authority, Scepter of the Netherworld, Rod of Defiance, Talisman of Undead Turning, Circlet of Persuasion, Reliquary Holy Symbol, Night Stick), most of which are wondrous items or rods. DMM: Persistent is superb, especially since you'll probably have a lot more daily Turn Undead uses than your number of daily Greater Turning uses, and you can buff the party with Mass Lesser Vigor and Magic Circle Against Evil every day. Nymph's Kiss gives you a bonus to Cha-based checks, including turning checks.

[OldTrees1]

Your prestiging is limited by the +5 Will and the 9 ranks in Knowledge Religion. Both are gained by Cleric 6. It is possible to squeeze the skill one 1 level sooner with a couple of feats and the free level could squeeze the Will save one 1 level sooner, but I don't think this is worth the investment.


What part is getting cut in half? The max HD undead you can turn or the number of HD you can turn per usage of Turn Undead?

If you are going up against a lot of the same type of undead, you will want to boost your first roll(determining the max HD undead) so that it exceeds the expected HD+Turn Resistance per undead but then you want to turn around and maximize the Turning Damage(2d6+Cleric level+Cha) as well as your turn attempts per day(3+Cha+4xExtra Turning+misc).

Also remember that Greater Turning(1/day -> 3+Cha/day) destroys undead with 2x the HD+Turn Resistance as normal Turning can.


For gear I would recommend
a RELIQUARY HOLY SYMBOL[1000gp, MIC pg 120] it gives up to +3 Turn Undead/day if you know religion, have Improved Turning, and have a Divine Feat(Empower Turning increases your turning damage by 50%).
a Cloak of Charisma +4 / of Resistance +3 [16000gp+9000gp=25000gp as per MIC rules]
a Phylactery of Undead Turning[11000gp DMG] +4 cleric level for turning
+magic weaponry and armor
ask your DM if a Circlet of Persuasion[4500 DMG] would add +3 to the Turning Check

So a Cleric 5(+1 Effective Cleric level) with those items and Extra Turning, Empowered Turning and Improved Turning and a Cha of 20(16+4)
Have an effective cleric turning level of 5+1+1+4=11
Make a Turning check of 1d20+5+3(min 9, average 18.5) so, on average, you will be turning 13HD+Turn Resistance undead and Destroying 6HD+Turn Resistance undead.
Your Turning Damage would be 1.5*(2d6+11+5) which averages at 34.5HD.

So depending on where turning it cut in half, you may need to get an additional +3-4cleric turning level item(Rod of Deifianace for 13000gp or Scepter of the Netherworld for 9000gp both from Libris Mortis). However I would thank the DM for cutting turning in half. Just looking at the numbers here, turning can be made too powerful for the campaign if not nerfed somehow.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Item priority for improving undead turning should be Rod of Defiance (MIC) > Ephod of Authority (MIC) > Phylactery of Undead Turning (DMG) > Scepter of the Netherworld (MIC) > Circlet of Persuasion (DMG, adapted to mask/face slot) > Reliquary Holy Symbol (MIC) > Night Stick (LM) > Talisman of Undead Turning (MIC) > Enhancement bonus to Cha.

You can get enhancement bonuses to ability scores, as well as many other bonuses, added to existing items for the same price as a standalone item of the same bonus, MIC p234. You can cast Greater/Superior Resistance in Spell Compendium every day, so don't bother spending gold on a resistance bonus to saving throws. You can cast ((Rod of) Extended) (Greater) Luminous Armor from Book of Exalted Deeds every day, and cast (Extended) Magic Vestment on it, so don't bother buying any armor. Get a Rod of Bodily Restoration in MIC to fix the Str damage sacrifice that happens when Luminous Armor ends, and because lots of undead deal ability score damage, it would be a good idea to have a few of those in the party. Be sure everyone gets a Healing Belt in MIC, and an Anklet of Translocation is also useful.

[Gullintanni]

Item priority for improving undead turning should be Rod of Defiance (MIC) > Ephod of Authority (MIC) > Phylactery of Undead Turning (DMG) > Scepter of the Netherworld (MIC) > Circlet of Persuasion (DMG, adapted to mask/face slot) > Reliquary Holy Symbol (MIC) > Night Stick (LM) > Talisman of Undead Turning (MIC) > Enhancement bonus to Cha.

You can get enhancement bonuses to ability scores, as well as many other bonuses, added to existing items for the same price as a standalone item of the same bonus, MIC p234. You can cast Greater/Superior Resistance in Spell Compendium every day, so don't bother spending gold on a resistance bonus to saving throws. You can cast ((Rod of) Extended) (Greater) Luminous Armor from Book of Exalted Deeds every day, and cast (Extended) Magic Vestment on it, so don't bother buying any armor. Get a Rod of Bodily Restoration in MIC to fix the Str damage sacrifice that happens when Luminous Armor ends, and because lots of undead deal ability score damage, it would be a good idea to have a few of those in the party. Be sure everyone gets a Healing Belt in MIC, and an Anklet of Translocation is also useful.

Also, there's an item in LM called the Lyre of the Restful Soul that, with a DC 15 Perform check, stacks on another -4 penalty to turn resistance. Buy one for the Bard. Or hire an NPC Expert to accompany the party. Do whatever you have to. Keep in mind that penalties to turn resistance do double duty when determining whether or not you can outright Destroy (or Command) undead. That is, when you apply a penalty of -4, for example, it's as though you'd gained 8 levels of Cleric. This is why Biff recommends the Rod of Defiance as priority one. That and it's relatively inexpensive considering its effect.

[Genesic]

Say... is there any way (via ACF's, variants, or other methods) to get Divine Grace with a 1 level dip? Thinking of using it to qualify for the Serenity feat.

[Gullintanni]

Say... is there any way (via ACF's, variants, or other methods) to get Divine Grace with a 1 level dip? Thinking of using it to qualify for the Serenity feat.

Check out Prestige Paladin in the SRD. A 2 level dip nets you 1 caster level, Divine Grace, and continues your undead turning progression. It's two levels, but you're losing minimal caster levels.