Augury - Divine Favor: The Cleric (Pathfinder)

Time for my second Divine Favor augury – Divine Favor: The Cleric.

After a short description of the cleric’s role in an adventure party, author Stefen Styrsky introduces three new Domains (Alchemy, Apocalypse and Prophecy) and 10 new Subdomains (Books, Entropy, Exorcism, Gambling, Horoscope, Lies, Potion, Transmutation, Truth and Weapons).

The Alchemy Domain is quite interesting – practically a multiclass with the Alchemist class. The other two Domains are also very original in theme (and I simply loved the mechanics of the Prophecy Domain).

Most Subdomains were made specially to supplement the new Domains above. The Book Subdomain is by far my favorite, granting the Cleric access to a spellbook.

Next topic is Archetypes: Ascetic, Charismatic, Enthusiast, Exorcist, Flagellant, Theosophist, Vatic, Weapon-sworn e Wonder Worker. As you can see, Divine Favor: The Cleric goes deep in medieval flavor (or Warhammer flavor, which is also excellent). This design approach fits nicely with the Cleric and presents not only good concepts but also great mechanics.

The Ascetic is one of the most rules-heavy Archetype (in fact, it seems more an Alternate Class), representing a more mystic type of Cleric, like a fakir. The Enthusiast is another one that blends the line between Archetype and Alternate Class – an unarmored Cleric without spellcasting abilities but that can enter holy trances of fervor (a good fit for a dervish character in my opinion). The Flagellant is your usual self-mortifying fanatic – players will love it. The Theosophist is a (better) version of the famous Cloistered Cleric. The Weapons-sworn is another spell-less Cleric, trained to excel in melee combat (with the ability to use his Cleric level instead of BAB when wielding his Favored Weapon).

The Archetypes are excellent, with both interesting concepts and original rules. Even the simplest ones, like Charismatic and Vatic, present in a clear fashion its themes. The only Archetype that left me with some doubts was Weapon-sworn – I’m still not sure if class traits compensate the fact this Cleric is spell-less.

Divine Favor: The Cleric also present Variant Channelings for its new Domains and Subdomains. Finally, we get a few new spells. My favorite is Lucky Break (fun mechanic with a certain “Old School” feel to it).

Divine Favor: The Cleric was a pleasant surprise. It took an old class and gave it new tricks (and made it seem easy). I believe this little PDF can make even jaded players (like half of my group) go back to this classic character.