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Bill Lumbergh's Neverwinter Nights Cleric FAQ (08/21/02, updated 9/27/02)
heavyarms@istillhateyou.com

I've decided to use a similar layout to the Sorc FAQ posted by blah at GameFaqs. You can find
his work at
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/27528.html
and look for the Sorc FAQ.

Table of Contents - to skip to a section merely ctrl-f and search for the
accompanying Greek letter (case specific)
-----------------
1.) Race ( Alpha )
2.) Stats ( Beta )
3.) Skills ( Gamma )
4.) Feats ( Delta )
5.) Multiclassing ( Epsilon )
6.) Equipment ( Zeta )
7.) Spells ( Eta )
a.) Zeroeth Level Spells ( Theta )
b.) First Level Spells ( Iota )
c.) Second Level Spells ( Kappa )
d.) Third Level Spells ( Lambda )
e.) Fourth Level Spells ( Mu )
f.) Fifth Level Spells ( Nu )
g.) Sixth Level Spells ( Xi )
h.) Seventh Level Spells ( Omicron )
i.) Eighth Level Spells ( Pi )
j.) Ninth Level Spells ( Rho )
k.) Domains ( Sigma )
1.) Air
2.) Animal
3.) Death
4.) Destruction
5.) Earth
6.) Evil
7.) Fire
8.) Good
9.) Healing
10.) Knowledge
11.) Magic
12.) Plant
13.) Protection
14.) Strength
15.) Sun
16.) Travel
17.) Trickery
18.) War
19.) Water
8.) Play Tips ( Tau )

Why use a cleric?
-------------------
As a cleric, you are the closest thing to multiclassing a fighter and mage, without actually doing
it. Thus you get decent
attack bonuses, HP, and divine magic. In addition to that, you get some of the most deadly spells in
the game, Harm, and
Destruction, as well as the most useful healing spells, Heal and Greater Restoration. These facts
alone make you a class
that is feared by enemies, and loved by allies.

Keep in mind though, with divine magic, you are better suited toward healing and recovery, than you
are causing damage.
Yes you do have some very useful spells for attacking, but they are rather specialized.. you
can't go blowing off
Harm like sorcerers can fireballs. So be prepared to spend more of your time fighting, while
throwing down some holy smack
down or loving when needed.

Class Stats
Alignment Restrictions: None (though role players will need to be the same, or one step away from
their deity)
Hit Die per Level: d8 (1-6)
Armor Proficiencies: All plus Shields
Weapon Proficiencies: All Simple Weapons
Saving Throws: Fortitude & Will (primary), Reflex (secondary)
Skill Points Per Level: 2+Int Modifier (x4 at 1st character level)
Class Skills: Concentration, Heal, Lore, Parry, Persuade, Spellcraft
Class Features: Turn Undead, Divine Spellcasting, Domain Powers

What is Turn Undead? You have the ability to rebuke or destroy undead by your faith. To put it
simply, you can FEAR
undead in a colossal area. It's dependant on a skill roll, your level, and the level and HP of
the undead you're trying to
turn. It's an EXCELLENT skill, almost as valuable as your spell casting.

What is Divine Spellcasting? Rather than learning magic through study, or having the gift like
Arcane magic, you are granted
power by your deity or religion. You don't need to scribe spells or pick from a list like a
Wizard or Sorcerer, you know
every spell available to you at that level, and you prepare what to cast like a wizard. Easy huh?
The spells of divine
magic are more focused on healing and helping rather than direct damage, but you can bring the
pain.. so use
them well.

Why not be a druid? Probably the main reason would be role playing, or simply personal preference.
While a serious role
player as a cleric can play in the bounds of his particular faith, a serious druid must play in
bounds of nature, always.
That being said, the cleric offers a few advantages over the druid. One, and probably the largest,
is turn undead.
Two is heavy armor, and a wider selection of weapons. Also is spell selection. They both cast divine
magic, and have many
of the same spells. The druid's is slightly more targeted to the enemy than it is to the ally
as with the cleric. However
with proper domain selection, the cleric not only has a wider selection, but can be as targeted as
he or she sees fit.

**************************************************************************************************************************
1.) Race ( Alpha )
------------------
Though no race has a wisdom bonus or penalty, several do have other penalties that can hurt the
usefulness of a Cleric.
Though any race can be a cleric, Human, Half-Elves, Elves, and Dwarves offer the most.

Human
-extra feat gives you greater flexibility
-extra skill point every level

You can't go wrong with a Human. The extra feat is defiantly helpful, since the cleric only has
the standard feats.
The extra skill point allows you to leave your INT relatively low and still get enough skill points
to max 2 skills, or
raise 3 to a decent level. Also with a favored class of ANY, you can multiclass without worrying
about XP penalties.
-I highly recommend a human player, especially if you are new to the game or this is your first
cleric.

Half-Elves
+1 to Listen, Search, and Spot skill checks
+2 saving throw versus Enchantment spells

Like Humans, you receive no stat penalties, so Half-Elves make a valid choice for a cleric. The
bonuses to search and
saving throws to Enchantment spells are a plus. Other than that, however, the half-elf doesn't
offer much. Something to
consider if you want to break from the sea of humans.

Elves
+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution
+2 to Listen, Search, and Spot skill checks
Longsword and bow proficiency.

Unless you are building a high DEX character, then the elf is a poor choice. The -2 Constitution
isn't
that terrible, but does require some consideration. If you are building a high DEX character, then
the elf is probably
the best choice, even over a human. The skill proficiencies are fine, but not really critical to you
as a cleric. The
weapon proficiencies are probably the biggest plus (if not for the dex bonus), as they expand your
limited weapon uses.

Dwarves
+2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
+2 saving throw versus poison and versus spells
+1 against Orcs and goblins and +4 against giants

Though the dwarf isn't an obvious choice for a cleric, they are worth considering. Being a
cleric means you'll often
be in combat, so the +2 to CON will help out with the hit points and fortitude. The -2 t0 CHA hurts,
a lot. It's really a
kick in the junk. If you leave it at -6, you can only turn undead 1 time a day (without the Extra
Turning feat). If you
want to raise it to any respectable level, you'll lose whatever bonus you gained to CON. The +2
to saving throws vs.
spells is great in of itself. This is a interesting choice for someone who wants to focus on more
fighting than casting.

Gnomes
+2 Constitution, -2 Strength
+2 saving throw versus illusions
+1 attack against kobolds and goblins and +4 versus giants
+2 to Listen and Alchemy skill checks

Gnomes don't offer a lot to the cleric. The +2 Constitution is all right, but the -2 Strength
hurts your ability to fight
and carry stuff, doubly bad. The rest of his abilities are OK, but stuff you could live without.
Plus he's small in size,
further limiting your weapon selection. A valid choice if you want to focus more on casting than
fighting, but you could
do that with a human with more feats and skill points.

Half-Orcs
+2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma

Ouch. +2 Strength is good, but the cost is way to high. -2 to charisma reduces your undead fighting,
-2 intelligence
reduces your skill points, which you don't get many anyway. If you want to focus on fighting,
be a fighter. A possible
choice if you want to be a decent fighter with some backup buff spells, but really a poor choice for
a serious cleric.

Halflings
+2 Dexterity, -2 Strength
+1 to Armor Class and +1 to attack because of size
+2 Listen, and Move Silently skill checks
+1 to all saving throws and +2 versus fear checks

Almost as bad as the Half-Orc, maybe even worse. +2 to Dex could be gained as an Elf, without the
painful -2 STR. The
skill bonuses aren't important to a cleric, and though the saving throws are always a bonus,
the penalties are too taxing
for a fighter caster. If you're looking for a challenge, or want to be REALLY different, then
yeah go for it. But if you
want to be the most useful cleric you can, then go with a different race.

**************************************************************************************************************************
2.) Stats ( Beta )
------------------
The stats that are important depend heavily on the type of cleric you want to be. You can choose to
focus more on fighting,
more on casting, or take the middle road. Either way, you'll always be decent at both. Keep in
mind Wisdom is the stat that
determines your spell casting abilities. To cast a spell, you need a wisdom of 10 + the spell level.
So if you want to cast
a level 2 spell, you must have a wisdom of 12. In order to cast 9th level spells, it must be 19. Any
wisdom factor above
that grants you extra spell slots.

Another thing, as JP points out, the largest stat bonus you can recieve, either due to equipment
or spells, is +10. Only even numbers on stats are beneficial to obtain the bonus to saves and
abilities, so try to setup
your final stats to be on an even number. If you want the maximum amount of wisdom, go with 17, add
all points to wisdom
to hit 22, then with +10 in wisdom bonus items, you'll have 32. Putting it at 18 and topping
out at 33 does little good,
and cost 3 extra stat points at character creation that could be better put to use. That of course
doesn't apply to
racial bonuses with dwarves and elves, as you can get them all the way to 19 at character creation
(JEBUS). Of course,
all that applies only if you plan on dumping all 5 level up stat bonuses into the same stat. If not,
then just set it up
to end up on an even number if possible.

Overview-
Strength: Use is obvious. The more you have, the harder you hit(damage bonus), and more often(attack
bonus, unless you
are using weapon finesse with the appropriate weapon). Being a cleric is a fighter/caster, you
defiantly want some, but
don't over do it, as you have spells to increase this.

Dexterity: Dexterity adds a dodge bonus to your AC. It also adds a bonus to your reflex save.
Usually, DEX is the least
important stat for the cleric, as you will often have heavy armor, which negates most of that dodge
bonus. Also, since
your reflex is your secondary save, it will never be very high unless you pump a lot of points into
dex. So you might
think you should just leave it at 8 so you can increase something else, and this actually OK. But
keep in mind, even
full plate will allow a +1 AC bonus from DEX, and thus if you leave it at 8, you will receive a -1
to your AC. This isn't
critical, but worth considering. You'll also receive a -1 to your reflex save, which are
pitiful as it is. I really can't
tell you if you should leave it at 8, put it at 10, or take it to 12. The choice is yours. If you do
increase it, I suggest
you sacrifice from Charisma first, then STR or CON. Keep in mind though, you lose that dodge bonus
when casting,
so don't rely on it to save your butt if you only have 10 HP and are praying for a Heal.

Constitution: Better fortitude saves, and more HP. Putting more in this is never a bad idea, as any
spell you cast to
increase this will only be that much be better.

Intelligence: The only benefit a cleric gets from this is skill points. Since you get little skill
points, keep this at
no lower than 10. While more is always good, sacrificing your other stats for it is not a good idea.
If you must raise it,
I suggest you sacrifice points from CON or CHA.

Wisdom: The key factor for your magic. Also increases Will saves. Keep it high. You will need at
least 19 to cast 9th level
spells, and each modifier point you increase, adds another spell slot to each spell level, starting
lowest and moving to
an extra 8th level spell with a wisdom of 30.

Charisma: It's not only how you look, but also the "force of your personality". For
you, it's most important for your Turn
undead ability. A powerful personality is needed for a powerful faith, and a powerful faith is
needed to turn undead.
It's also is a factor in several Domain spell abilities(will go into that later). For
everybody, it's important for the
Persuade skill. If you leave it at 10, you can turn 3 times a day (without extra turning feat). Each
modifier point gives
you an extra turn.

Here are a few ideas on how to build your stats. I'm not going to go into every race. But will
just give some ideas
how the most common cleric races can be setup. The stats for Human also apply to Half-Elves.

--Fighter Cleric--
You will focus more on your ability to bash stuff rather than spell casting or turning undead.

Human: Focus on your strength on your con, with a bit if wisdom. Put about 3 points into wisdom so
you can cast 5th level,
to get all your good buffs. Then everything else should focus on strength and constitution. Or you
can take example two,
add an extra point into INT later, to be able to take some of the improved combat feats.
Strength :16 or 16 or 17
Dexterity :10 8 8
Constitution :16 16 16
Intelligence :10 12 12
Wisdom :12 12 11
Charisma :10 10 8
Dwarf: Jack up your CON to righteous levels, to have a godlike amount of HP available. You will be
quite effective as a tank,
since you can take lots of blows, and still have some decent strength to dish it out. Later levels
you can put either
into STR or CON, your choice. You may also be tempted to just screw our charisma, and add it into
INT for some combat
feats, or WIS for better casting. Again, your call.
Strength :16 or 16 or 14
Dexterity :8 8 8
Constitution :18 18 20
Intelligence :10 12 10
Wisdom :12 14 14
Charisma :10 6 6
Elf: Either ignore your DEX completely, or embrace it slightly, and only wear light or medium armor
to gain an AC bonus.
Careful though, as you generally won't have as high CON as you could. You'll enjoy the
weapon bonuses most likely.
Strength :16
Dexterity :10
Constitution :14
Intelligence :10
Wisdom :12
Charisma :12

--Dexterity/Finesse Cleric--

At first I shunned this idea completely, but after a little research (and a lot of arguing with
Kozm0) I've come to believe