Clerics are great in a way because they come with a treasure-trove of motivations and complications
Eat my Righteous Fury
Clerics have a lot of baggage from their very existence. Capable of calling forth miracles from their deities, curing the sick, smiting those who oppose the wishes of their gods… It’s all in a day’s work for the diligent Cleric.
In addition to the expectations that a god will have for his miracle workers, there are a lot of responsibilities that an adventuring party will pile onto a typical Cleric. Combat medic, public display of respectability, advise on ethical dilemmas, stat-boosting magics, all these are normally the realm of the party cleric.
So what works well with Clerics?
Brawn
Fighters, Paladins of compatible faith systems, Rangers, and even Barbarians all work well with Clerics. Clerics who specialize in Inflict and combat-bonus spells can make for good Brawn as well, using Bull’s Strength, Endurance, Shield of Faith, and Divine Vestment to good use.
Divine Magic
Clerics have an excellent range of divine spells, and clearly are more than capable of taking on this role in an adventuring group.
Arcane Magic
For ranged offensive spells, a Sorcerer would be a good teammate for a Cleric. Keeping the enemy softened up so that the Cleric can do some close-in work with weapons and support work with healing and restorative magic. For a party with good offensive capabilities, the extended spell list of a Wizard and his books may suit better, however. With the aid of some divine divinations (courtesey of the Cleric) the Wizard should be able to prepare exactly the spells that will be needed to carry the day.
Cunning
A lot of Clerics have a hard time getting along with proper Rogues. The old stimga of Rogue-as-thief hangs heavy upon that class. If the party has access to Knock and the Cleric is willing to use Detect Traps on a regular basis, a Bard would suit things nicely.
The Party
Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Wizard
Strengths
After 4th level, three party members can cast spells.
Bardic magic and Clerical divinations can assist the Wizard in selecting highly effective spells for the task at hand.
The tactical opportunities a Fighter will be able to produce with his assortment of feats will help create opportunities for the Cleric to participate in melee without too much to fear for personal harm, which allows for the use of healing magics to keep the Fighter in good shape, or to create movement opportunities to get the Cleric to the Bard or Wizard if they need assistance.
Weaknessess
Only average hit points, with 1d10+1d8+1d6+1d4.
Bards, though knowledgeable and versatile, do not have the combat advantages of Rogues (evasion, uncanny dodge, sneak attack). If it is possible to reconcile the presence of a Rogue with the Cleric’s dogma, he may be more useful when the shit hits the fan.
Amen to that! I know a certain party just itching to get goin…
jim and I are itchin’ to get back at destroying the temple of evil… playing evil characters is frankly not very exciting… being morally able to do whatever you want gets old pretty quickly.
The presence of a set of moral prohibitions against certain types of behavior is one of the things that makes a character interesting. Are there lines that your Rogue won’t cross? Are there sacrifices your Cleric wouldn’t make, regardless of what his god tells him? A hard-boiled balls-to-the-wall devotee would do anything for his deity, like Abraham with Isaac. Figuring out where a character stands morally lends towards a better understanding, and better play.
Simply being evil doesn’t completely lift the rules of behavior, it changes the way the rules are interpreted, and which rules are applied. But then, I like playing Lawful Evil far more than Chaotic Evil.