Divine Tomfoolery - A Guide to Trickery Clerics

[Naanomi]

Consider Kenku as a race choice... the stats lined up right where you want them... two bonus skills, most of them 'trickery' related... other racial bonuses pretty 'tricksy' as well

[Motorskills]

I really wish they had come up with something other than Poison Damage for the later benefit.

If I wanted to be a damage-dealer I wouldn't have chosen a Trickery Cleric in the first place.

[leafrath]

Gnome Trickery Cleric Melee help.
I'm running a campaign where all the characters are somewhat "odd". It was meant to be a oneshot, but now it's turned into a campaign and one player who is playing D&D for the first time is stuck with a lvl 3 rock gnome trickster cleric who would like to go melee, but has a serious AC problem. Melee is secondary for this character, obviously, but she has a greatlub (in the form of an oversized scepter) and it would be fun if she could use it without dying.

She has this statline: Str 14 Dex 11 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 16 Cha 8 and with only medium armour, her AC is pitiful. HP 24 is ok but not great either.

I'm considering just letting her switch her Dex and Str, but that is kinda boring. Does anyone have an idea for a fitting feat(heavy armour prof would work, but is super boring) or a one-two level dip within the next few levels that helps with melee but stil synergises with trickery cleric? :)

[HeyItsThatGuy]

I have a half-elf level two trickery cleric that just happened to team up with two rogues, a warlock, a wiizard, and a bard. I am excited to see how this plays out in Barovia. So far she is healing and helping in the killing. Kinda ignoring her trickery feats.

[MasterMercury]

Gnome Trickery Cleric Melee help.
I'm running a campaign where all the characters are somewhat "odd". It was meant to be a oneshot, but now it's turned into a campaign and one player who is playing D&D for the first time is stuck with a lvl 3 rock gnome trickster cleric who would like to go melee, but has a serious AC problem. Melee is secondary for this character, obviously, but she has a greatlub (in the form of an oversized scepter) and it would be fun if she could use it without dying.

She has this statline: Str 14 Dex 11 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 16 Cha 8 and with only medium armour, her AC is pitiful. HP 24 is ok but not great either.

I'm considering just letting her switch her Dex and Str, but that is kinda boring. Does anyone have an idea for a fitting feat(heavy armour prof would work, but is super boring) or a one-two level dip within the next few levels that helps with melee but stil synergises with trickery cleric? :)

Fighter is typically a good choice for melee help. Altough, barbarian would be a fun choice. Get a half-way decent AC without armor, and if you dip 2 levels reckless attack cancels out the disadvantage of a small character using a heavy weapon.

[follacchioso]

Thanks for the guide, but this would have much more flavour if you could add some Role Playing tips in it.
This is because Trickery Clerics are a weird combination, and they are difficult to justify. Imagine if the Pope started preaching that Stealing is a good thing, wouldn't it be a bit strange?

Moreover there it could be some difficult role playing moments in the party. What happens if a player steals from another player? Do you give him your approval and bless him? And what if the player steals something from you? Will you still heal them next time they need it?

[SharkForce]

Thanks for the guide, but this would have much more flavour if you could add some Role Playing tips in it.
This is because Trickery Clerics are a weird combination, and they are difficult to justify. Imagine if the Pope started preaching that Stealing is a good thing, wouldn't it be a bit strange?

Moreover there it could be some difficult role playing moments in the party. What happens if a player steals from another player? Do you give him your approval and bless him? And what if the player steals something from you? Will you still heal them next time they need it?

well, first off it's trickery cleric, not thievery cleric.

trickery is a lot more easily justified. tricks can be used to protect people, and in fact, most RL deities you'd associate with (edit: trickery) deities are helpful at least as often as they are harmful... sure, they sometimes do annoying things to other gods or mortals, but they also play their tricks on major threats that would be difficult to end by other means.

and while you can argue that it probably doesn't feel all that good to have a trick played on you most of the time, from the trickster's perspective they might be teaching you an important lesson - the breach in security they used to plant a stink bomb might be a warning that there's a breach in your security. that time they made you act like a total fool is to teach you humility and not to get caught up in your own self-importance. the laughter their tricks cause for people other than the victim can release tension. their satire of you can point out your flaws, but that can also mean pointing out the flaws in a bad idea.

a trickery cleric likely doesn't teach you to steal (though some might) - they probably teach that the arrogant need to be humbled, that cleverness is the best way to solve problems, that correcting flawed ideas is more important than someone's ego, etc.

[follacchioso]

That's a very good answer. I was also thinking of something 'robin hood' style, like a cleric of a divinity that praises resistance against oppression and tyrannous governments.

I would not personally be able to play such a character but I can see how it could interesting in the hands of the correct player.

Imho most of the guides on this forum focus on improving dpr and ac, but it is more interesting to see suggestions on rp, specially for unusual classes such as this one.