Cleric Alternate Class Features

Archivist Spellcasting

Design notes: Arcanist casting is arguably the best evolution of vancian spellcasting, with benefits taken from both the wizard and sorcerer’s spellcasting. Sadly there’s no divine caster alternate class with the same features. Enter the Archivist, adapted from an archetype by Molosz0pl. The archivist is the academically studied cleric, gaining their prayers through the devotion of studying their deity’s written word. This archetype replaces the spellcasting — and only the spellcasting — of the standard cleric, with arcanist-style casting. The added casting flexibility is balanced against the fact that the character no longer automatically has the vast cleric spell list at his disposal, as well as the delayed gain of higher level spells to even levels.

Spellcasting: The archivist 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. An Archivist must prepare her spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of rest and spending 1 hour studying her Prayer Book. Unlike a cleric, her spells are not expended when they’re cast. Instead, she can cast any spell that she has prepared, consuming a spell slot of the appropriate level, assuming she hasn’t yet used up her spell slots per day for that level. Like a sorcerer, an Archivist can choose to apply any metamagic feats she knows to a prepared spell as she casts it, expending a commensurately higher spell slot.

To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the archivist must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell’s level. The saving throw DC against an Archivist’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the Archivist’s Wisdom modifier.

An Archivist can only cast a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Widsom score. Unlike the number of spells she can cast per day, the number of spells an Archivist can prepare each day is not affected by her Wisdom score. Feats and other effects that modify the number of spells known by a spontaneous spellcaster instead affect the number of spells an archivist can prepare. The archivist uses the spells per day and spells prepared tables for the arcanist to determine the number of each. In addition, she is treated as having her domain spells as always prepared, without occupying one of her daily preparation slots. She may cast these domain spells using her spells per day.

This feature replaces entirely the standard cleric’s spellcasting.

Prayer Book: At 1st level, an archivist forms a supernatural bond with a large tome containing the holy text of her deity and the prayers which she learns and inscribes. The tome may serve as a holy symbol and divine focus. She can replace her bonded tome with another book at any time, though she must perform a 24-hour binding ritual to attune herself to the new book.

An arcanist must study her prayer book each day to prepare her spells. She can’t prepare any spell not recorded in her prayer book, except for bless (which all archivists can prepare from memory).

An archivist begins play with her prayer book containing all 0-level cleric orisons plus three 1st-level spells of her choice. The archivist also selects a number of additional 1st-level spells equal to her Wisdom modifier to add to the prayer book. At each new archivist level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new archivist level) for her prayer book. She may also at any time add new spells from any other such prayer book she may find, or that may be taught to her by a cleric or another archivist.

Once per day, the archivist cleric can call upon her deity to cast a prayer directly from her tome that she has in her prayer book but hasn’t prepared; she must be holding the prayer book in hand to be able to do this. At 11th level, she can cast a second spell per day that she hasn’t prepared. This spell can be any spell which the archivist knows, provided it’s of a spell level that she can cast.

This ability replaces the cleric’s spontaneous casting. If the cleric didn’t have spontaneous casting, by trading off for another archetype or otherwise, then she cannot use this feature to cast an unprepared spell.

Other Alternate Class Features

The following alternate class features replace a single class feature, at the level which the base feature is gained, and may be chosen individually, or multiples, so long as the alternate features selected replace or alter the same base class feature (credit: Dragon #various unless otherwise noted):

Blasphemous Incantation (Su): Not all evil deities or fiendish powers are concerned with bolstering undeath, and grant their mortal servants the ability to channel their unholy will in the form of a blasphemous incantation to debilitate their foes. The cleric with this feature calls upon his patron to smite his enemies. All good creatures within 30 feet must succeed on Fortitude saves (DC 10 + 1/2 the cleric’s level + his Cha modifier) or become sickened for a number of rounds equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1 round). If the cleric has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion), the DC of the Fortitude save increases by 2. He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Cha modifier. The cleric must be evil and serve an evil patron in order to select this alternate feature.

Divine Counterspell (Su): Although the ability to channel energy is arguably a defining cleric characteristic, some clerics find that they can be even more effective crusaders by opposing apostate spellcasters, and the ability to negate an enemy spellcasters magic grants a character an unexpected edge. The cleric gains the supernatural ability to counter another spellcaster’s magic through pure force of will. This ability functions just as if he were using dispel magic to counter the spell, but adding his his cleric level instead of caster level to the d20 roll. You don’t need to identify the spell the opposing spellcaster is casting to make the attempt. This replaces the cleric’s channel energy ability. The cleric can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Charisma modifier.

Divine Magician: Deities influence the world through the divine spells they grant their worshipers. The gods of magic sometimes gift their clergy with powers over the arcane in addition to divine abilities. The cleric who selects this alternate class feature only gains one domain, and forgoes both the domain powers and domain spells of a second domain. Instead, at 1st level, and every odd level thereafter when he gains a new level of spells, he may select one spell of that level from the wizard spell list of the abjuration, divination, conjuration or necromancy schools. This must be a spell not present on his cleric spell list, and he treats the wizard spell level as his cleric spell level. The cleric must have access to the Magic domain or its subdomains (though he doesn’t necessarily have to select them as his domain) in order to take this alternate feature, and he can only select this feature once.

Domain Focus: Some clerics focus narrowly upon one aspect of their patron’s portfolio, eschewing all other tenets to the realization of this one. A cleric who selects this feature can spontaneously cast the his domain spells in place of prepared spells, as a normal cleric would spontaneously cast cure or influct spells. Further, the uses per day and any numeric bonuses gained by his domain abilities are doubled (not counting his ability modifier for uses per day). This replaces one of the cleric’s domains, his ability to cast cure or inflict spells, and alters his spellcasting ability by removing domain slots.

Spontaneous Domain Spells: The cleric with this feature does not gain a domain spell slot, but she can channel stored spell energy into the spells granted by her chosen domains. The cleric can “lose” any prepared spell that is not an orison in order to cast any domain spell of the same spell level or lower. She may apply metamagic feats that she knows to these spells by sacrificing a sufficiently higher spell slot. This feature replaces spontaneous casting of cure or inflict spells, and alters domains by removing the domain spell slots. (credit: D20SRD)