Community

As of now, The Cleric spell list is blessed with 5 Cantrips.

• Cure Minor Wounds
• Guidance
• Lance of Faith
• Light
• Resistance

If I'm not mistaken Clerics can only choose 1 cantrip, and they get another one from their deity.

But you will probably find that most clerics are choosing Lance of Faith and Cure Minor Wounds, and it doesn't take a genius to know why.


Some might argue that Lance of Faith is overpowered, but if you were to reduce it to 1d10 or 2d4, or even all the way down to 1d6, it would likely still be the Clerics favorite cantrip. Personally, I don't think Lance of Faith is overpowered, I think that the rest of the Clerics cantrips are severely lacking.

Let's take a look at the offenders.

Guidance.

Effect: Choose an ability score, and touch one creature. For the next minute, or until you cast this spell again, that creature  gains a +1 bonus to checks using the chosen ability.

Problem: Guidance isn't really a bad spell, for a cantrip it gives a solid benefit. The problem with Guidance is that it suffers from not being all that useful in combat, a +1 bonus is nice to have but it's hardly improvement enough to forfeit an attack, and with only getting to choose 1 cantrip, you probably want a combat cantrip.

How to Fix it: Give Guidance a more evident combat effect, not all clases can benefit that much from a +1 on skill checks during combat. Allow guidance to give a +1 bonus to attacks aswell. Even with that change, I feel as Guidance wouldn't still get passed over for Lance of Faith, maybe make it a word of power to seal the deal.


Light

Effect: You touch an object. It sheds bright light in a 20-­‐foot-­‐radius sphere and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The light may be colored  as you  choose. The light lasts for 1 hour or until you cast this spell again. Covering the object with a solid object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks  the glow.

Problem: Light is a cool spell, light is a useful spell, light is a spell I hate my cleric doesn't have. Again, the main problem is that light is not that useful inside combat, sure...It might be a life saver if your fighting creatures that see in the dark and they manage to blow your torches off. But your party's wizard probably has light, he gets to choose 4 cantrips so he will most likely have light.

How to Fix it: Light is probably fine, this is something that I would rather fix by giving Clerics more cantrips. But it would also be cool for a low level character to have more combat actions. Maybe allow casting Light in an opponents eyes to give him a -1 penalty on his next attack.

Resistance

Effect: You touch one creature. Until the start of your next turn, that creature gains a +1 bonus to all saving throws.

Problem: You only affect one creature and it lasts only 1 round, you don't know if that creature is even going to make a saving throw and 5% is not that much anyway, also it has no range.

How to Fix it: Make it a word of power and add range to it, I would even test making it a +2 bonus as it might be hard to predict when a saving throw is coming before next turn.


Cure Minor Wounds
(word  of power)
Effect: Choose a living creature within 50 feet of you that has 3 hit points or fewer. It regains 1 hit point.

Problem:  It only heals 1 hit point, still it's useful as it allows someone to get back to combat.

How to Fix it:  Make it set the target's life to 3 hit points instead of regaining 1hp, maybe even set their current HP to 3+their CON mod.


Also add more cantrips.

A Spell Similar to Resistance that gives AC instead would be a sweet option, specially if it is a word of power. Only +1 bonus though.


What about?

Blessed Swing.
(word of power)
Effect:  You Touch a weapon (choose a weapon within 30feet of you), the next attack with that weapon deals an additional 1d4 radiant damage.

Minor Damage Absorption
Effect:  Choose a creature with at least 1 hit point within 50 feet of you. If you can sense the presence of an hostile creature in a 100 feet radius centered in the chesen creature, you grant that creature 2d4 (1d6/1d8?) temporal hit points for a minute, only one Minor Damage Abosorption effect can be present on each creature at time.

Minor Reactive Healing.

Effect: Until the start of your next turn, each time a creature within 50 feet of you is damaged, as a reaction you can make that creature regain up to 1d10 (2d4/1d8?) hit points, this creature cannot regain more hit points than the damage he took to trigger this effect.

honestly i just allowed my casters to get appropriate stat mod in extra cantrips

Jan 6, 2013 -- 10:40PM, DannieRay23 wrote:

Jan 6, 2013 -- 9:38PM, AlmightyK wrote:

honestly i just allowed my casters to get appropriate stat mod in extra cantrips

We were actually debating to do the same, but I feel that even if I had access to all of the Clerics cantrips, I'd still be Lance of Faithing on any round that I didn't have to heal anyone, double move or go pull a lever or something.

so? how is that different to the fighter using their weapon every round?
the other  cantrips are situational

Jan 6, 2013 -- 11:58PM, DannieRay23 wrote:

Who says I'm happy about warrior's swinging their weapon every round? At least they have maneuvers to mix in.


Also as I explained in the opening post, while light or guidance have their uses, Resistance is mostly a combat spell which is not likely to get used ever.

actually i saw resistance as something to be used when somebody has already been effected by say poison.

Jan 7, 2013 -- 12:58AM, Molecule wrote:

I think part of the problem that makes Lance of Faith so appealing right now is that clerics' melee ability is pretty lacking.  My guess is that the design goal was to have people who wanted lasers to take Lance and to have people who want to use weapons take other stuff, but since you get

a) a lower class attack bonus
b) an attack that keys off a stat that doesn't benefit your spells
c) an attack that typically requires melee range

melee for a cleric is a really tough sell.

I agree that Resistance is a really weak spell as well (and I'm not really sure if the +1 Guidance gives is enough to really make it appealing), but Light is a perfectly good cantrip for people that are building more exploration-based characters (or people who plan on fighting in lots of unlit rooms).

As i mentioned, light is good, but with only 1 cantrip to choose, picking light becomes a hard sell if you have a mage in the party that is likely picking that up.

Making more cantrips to be used in battle and words of power would make a weapon cleric more appealing.