Cleric: Knowledge Domain
Skill Monkey Support Build
The Character:
Vankåb Thîkutizeg marched through the streets of Illul toward the towering High Holy Crafthouse of Inspiration. The client was set to meet him on the front steps, a cleric of Gond, though that was no surprise. Just about everyone on Lantan worshiped the Wonderbringer. Just recently, the cleric had commissioned him for a hammer, but not just any hammer: one engraved with runic symbols capable of channeling the holy magic of inspiration itself, the magic of Gond. It was a long and rigorous process, one that required many resources and more than one sleepless night bent over the forge, but in his hands Vankåb held a work even the high-chinned brown-nosing Sonnlinor, those purist worshipers of Moradin, would envy. "Not of the right clan. The wrong blood to join the order." He spit in protest at even the memory of their words. He'd show them. He rounded the corner and before him on those great stairs sat a thinly built human man in scarlet robes, face shadowed by one of those ridiculous golden sunhats Gond's clerics wore everywhere they went.
The man jumped and fished out a small sack of coin from his robe pockets upon seeing Vankåb and handed it to him. The two swapped burdens and the client bleated a boisterous spiel of thanks though Vankåb could not focus on his words. All the usual thoughts of accomplishment accompanied by the relief of a conversation ending were drowned out by the thought of his finest work in the soft, fragile hands of that bumbling clergyman. Now that Vankåb thought about it, not a single rough patch was visible on the preacher's fingers, and what craftsmen worth their salt didn't have roughened hands? No no no, this was all wrong! This was a treasure to rival the creations of the Dwarffather's chief smiths, it couldn't just go to some . . . anybody!
"Actually," Vankåb plucked the hammer back out of the man's grip,"I've changed my mind. It's not for sale." He dropped the coin pouch back into the hands of the cleric, who moments before had been ogling his new toy. The hammer couldn't just sit on display in his smithy either. It demanded the perfect wielder, a champion of craft, someone that would use it to forge new wonders of the mortal realm. He couldn't seek out that wielder sequestered in his tiny shop. No, for such a champion he'd have to search. Though, as the hammer's creator, perhaps he might wield it in the meantime.
The man jumped and fished out a small sack of coin from his robe pockets upon seeing Vankåb and handed it to him. The two swapped burdens and the client bleated a boisterous spiel of thanks though Vankåb could not focus on his words. All the usual thoughts of accomplishment accompanied by the relief of a conversation ending were drowned out by the thought of his finest work in the soft, fragile hands of that bumbling clergyman. Now that Vankåb thought about it, not a single rough patch was visible on the preacher's fingers, and what craftsmen worth their salt didn't have roughened hands? No no no, this was all wrong! This was a treasure to rival the creations of the Dwarffather's chief smiths, it couldn't just go to some . . . anybody!
"Actually," Vankåb plucked the hammer back out of the man's grip,"I've changed my mind. It's not for sale." He dropped the coin pouch back into the hands of the cleric, who moments before had been ogling his new toy. The hammer couldn't just sit on display in his smithy either. It demanded the perfect wielder, a champion of craft, someone that would use it to forge new wonders of the mortal realm. He couldn't seek out that wielder sequestered in his tiny shop. No, for such a champion he'd have to search. Though, as the hammer's creator, perhaps he might wield it in the meantime.
The Concept: Build, Character, Backgrounds
Simply put, Knowledge Clerics fall to the side because a majority of their class features do not add combat benefit. These clerics are not damage-oriented or heal-oriented, they are skill-oriented. Most players when they wish to make a skill-based build will of course look to the Bard or Rogue for their Expertise class feature and excessive skill and tool proficiencies; however, I'm here to say that the Knowledge Cleric actually bests both of those classes with one overlooked class feature, a Channel Divinity option known as Knowledge of the Ages (which will be discussed later in the post). This singular feature allows the Knowledge Cleric to be a skill based-build that is not a jack of all trades, master of none, but instead a jack of all trades, master of all.
The character is a hill dwarf cleric of Gond, the Wonderbringer. Originally from the Hill Dwarf city of Great Rift, Vankåb wished to be a cleric of Moradin, the Dwarffather, patron of dwarvish craftsmen and protector of their strongholds. The Sonnlinor, clerics of Moradin, rejected his wish to join their ranks. It was not out of spite, merely stubborn dwarvish tradition. Most occupations are drawn from family lines in dwarvish culture, the Sonnlinor included. As a descendant of the Thîkutizeg, or Bookape, clan, Vankåb was destined for life as a runesmith, an inscriber of arcane symbols into smithed weapons and armors, not a holy warrior. Crestfallen, shamed and not a little bit hurt, Vankåb finished his apprenticeship under an elder of his clan and left Great Rift. He found himself on the island nation of Lantan, in the Trackless Sea above the Chultan penninsula: a society of humans and gnomes known for its advanced technology and the population's devout worship of Gond. Here, he grew locally famous for his foreign craftsmanship and was commissioned by a cleric of the Wonderbringer to craft a warhammer that would also function as a holy symbol. Inscribing the four faces of the hammer with the dwarvish runes for eshon (weal), asdos (woe), itnet (weal & woe both) and kisat (nothing) per the cleric's request, Vankåb crafted a weapon whose quality was beyond anything he could imagine. The hammer was so good, in fact, that he found he could not part with it when it came time to deliver the cleric his commission. Taking the abnormally excellent quality of the hammer as a sign, Vankåb used his possession of the holy symbol as an opportunity to live out his original dreams as a divine champion of a god of craftsmen. He joined the church of the Wonderbringer in hopes that he might prove wrong the words of his kin, and that he was not destined for the simple life of a smith. He was special, a conduit for divine will, and Moradin would be sorry he had not chosen him.
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| Gond the Wonderbringer |
Dwarves are typically Lawful due to their conservative traditional culture, but Vankåb's rebellion against his society's norms places him more closely to the horizontal Neutral. His dedication to craft and self-improvement over the good of society orient him closer to the vertical Neutral as well. For this reason, Vankåb's alignment is True Neutral. The background I've chosen for this build is Clan Craftsmen for the extra language, skills and tool proficiencies, though as always backgrounds are more-so related to player preference than optimization.
The Race: Hill Dwarf
The choice came down between Human (Variant) and Hill Dwarf for one reason -- feats. I was intent on going Human at first for the ability to start with a feat, but the further I delved into the build the more I realized that the feats were not so urgent as to forgo the additional weapon proficiencies, extra HP, and tool proficiencies that the Hill Dwarf grants. This is a skill oriented build after all, so the more tools and skills we begin the game with the better.
The Stat Spread (Standard Array):
WIS 16 (+3), CON 16 (+3), DEX 13 (+1), INT 12 (+1), STR (+0), CHA 8 (-1)
Despite the typical dwarven archetype of an up-close fighter, the Knowledge Cleric lends itself to being more of a backline support caster, so we've prioritized Wisdom as a result. Constitution is high for HP reasons, of course, and Dexterity takes second priority for our AC with medium armor. Intelligence and Strength are average for skill/flavor purposes and Charisma is our dump stat seeing as the skills and tools we will start the game with rely on every stat except for Charisma. If a player wished, they could choose Strength as the dump stat instead, as the only checks required for it are smith's tools and athletics.
The Class: Notable Features
Knowledge Domain Spells: most of the spells provided through the Knowledge Domain are utility, not battle, oriented. This is good as there are some great options that the Cleric doesn't normally gain access to which will assist in playing the support role. Identify frees up a slot for the party wizard, seeing as now the Cleric can handle the ritual identifying of magic loot. Side note: always check magic items, one never knows when an errant curse can throw an entire campaign into disarray.
Augury is a spell I've chosen to build the Knowledge Cleric's holy symbol around. This isn't mandatory, of course, but this spell in particular completely bypasses a Rogue's Expertise in the Insight skill, or a Bard's Expertise with Investigation. With one ritual spell, the Knowledge cleric can learn if that terrified emissary from the far off kingdom should be trusted. Does the treasure chest in front of them sit riddled with traps? Should the group have ten minutes to spare, the answer is but a spin of the hammer away. People find annoyance with the Augury spell but that is because they use it incorrectly. They try to determine if their plan to assuault the castle will fail, or if they'll succeed in love. The DM can never tell this for certain, as the outcomes will greatly rely on dice rolls, so the best response a player can expect is "Nothing." However, should the player use Augury for things they know the DM has an answer to, they will find the spell suddenly holding its weight a lot better, and providing much more utility.
Speak with Dead is a great spell to always have prepared, especially considering our cleric will be fluent in several languages. Almost any corpse the group encounters will be able to speak to the Cleric and spill its morbid secrets. Confusion is a fantastic battle-effect the Cleric doesn't normally have access to with a devastating debuff to boot, potentially ruining several creatures' turns in a round. Legend Lore and Scrying both fit the Knowledge theme and nullify even the highest History skill modifier -- the Knowledge Cleric can watch the history happen right before their eyes.
Augury is a spell I've chosen to build the Knowledge Cleric's holy symbol around. This isn't mandatory, of course, but this spell in particular completely bypasses a Rogue's Expertise in the Insight skill, or a Bard's Expertise with Investigation. With one ritual spell, the Knowledge cleric can learn if that terrified emissary from the far off kingdom should be trusted. Does the treasure chest in front of them sit riddled with traps? Should the group have ten minutes to spare, the answer is but a spin of the hammer away. People find annoyance with the Augury spell but that is because they use it incorrectly. They try to determine if their plan to assuault the castle will fail, or if they'll succeed in love. The DM can never tell this for certain, as the outcomes will greatly rely on dice rolls, so the best response a player can expect is "Nothing." However, should the player use Augury for things they know the DM has an answer to, they will find the spell suddenly holding its weight a lot better, and providing much more utility.
Speak with Dead is a great spell to always have prepared, especially considering our cleric will be fluent in several languages. Almost any corpse the group encounters will be able to speak to the Cleric and spill its morbid secrets. Confusion is a fantastic battle-effect the Cleric doesn't normally have access to with a devastating debuff to boot, potentially ruining several creatures' turns in a round. Legend Lore and Scrying both fit the Knowledge theme and nullify even the highest History skill modifier -- the Knowledge Cleric can watch the history happen right before their eyes.
Blessings of Knowledge: an additional two languages is great, but a form of Expertise for a limited pool of skills is extremely great. Not only do the Knowledge Cleric's abilities beat those of the Expertise feature, it gets the Expertise feature as well, almost as if to rub it in the Bard's and Rogue's faces. I've chosen the Arcana and Nature skills to double proficiency checks in, as our background and class already covered the other options, but any of the skills offered are excellent choices to consider.
Channel Divinity (Read Thoughts): one of the few clerics to receive a third Channel Divinity option, this option makes the Great Old One Patron Warlocks wish they weren't in the service of some great unknown eldritch horror . . . not that they don't already wish that. Once again putting the Bard to shame, this feature not only allows this Cleric to cast Detect Thoughts, a spell not normally of their pool, but allows them to do so without a spell slot. On top of that, if the spell succeeds it comes with a free use of the Suggestion spell on the target, another non-Cleric spell, without expending a spell slot. That's two spells for the price of none. Don't know how to get into the castle? Read the guard's thoughts, learn what can be learned, then very politely. . . and magically. . . suggest he go bring the Cleric his keys. No persuasion check needed.
Potent Spellcasting: as the Knowledge Cleric will be manning the back lines, a bonus to cantrip damage equal to our Wisdom modifier, our highest stat, is very good and makes Sacred Flame, Toll the Dead and Word of Radiance that much more potent, and allows our skill monkey to save spell slots for those utility/buff spells the play style lends itself toward using.
Spells: the Cleric class is a caster-class: it revolves around spells, both in and out of combat. Yes, our character plays the role of healer -- this is obvious -- so I will be excluding the discussion of healing spells in order to focus more heavily on the strategies for damaging and debuffing foes which is our job as backline support.
Both Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead are great distance damaging cantrips for the Cleric, and they get even better with Potent Spellcasting; however, the player should only choose one. Technically, Toll the Dead does more damage, but it also relies on foes failing a Constitution saving throw rather than a Dexterity saving throw. Most monsters have fantastic Constitution scores, and many have abysmal Dexterity. So, each cantrip comes with its own strengths and weaknesses that the player must decide between for themselves: do they prefer accuracy over potential damage? Sacred Flame. Vice Versa? Toll the Dead. The reason they should only choose one is that every Cleric should have Word of Radiance as their backup damaging cantrip. While it only has a range of 5ft., it hits every creature within 5ft. As a bit of a squishy backliner, getting surrounded is a real problem, but with Word of Radiance the Cleric can handle several flankers at once.
Every caster class needs its bread-and-butter low-level attacking spell, and while the Knowledge Cleric should be relying more-so on their Potent Spellcasting boosted cantrips for damage, as a support caster its important to debuff enemies/buff allies. Guiding Bolt is a fantastic attack not from a damaging sense so much as from a utility sense. Does the boss have a ridiculously high AC? Guiding Bolt. Does the Rogue need to land a Sneak Attack but there are no allies within range to grant advantage? Guiding Bolt. This spell is essentially a Faerie Fire on steroids. It helps accentuate party damage, overcome tanky bosses and synergise with ally abilities.
Two fantastic concentration options include Bless/Bane and Spiritual Weapon. Depending on the situation, whether more raw damage is needed versus party buffs/enemy debuffs or vice versa, both of these spells can give the Cleric something to do between cantrips and Guiding Bolts. Silence is also a great option to maintain concentration on should the party be facing spell casters or even a spellcasting boss like a Lich.
Feats: Know-It-All
As a skill monkey build whose usefulness peaks outside of battle, it makes sense that we would prioritize non-battle related feats. The player should take the following feats and then focus on boosting the Wisdom stat to maximum.
Lucky: the Knowledge of the Ages Channel Divinity options overcomes the lack of proficiency in a skill, but not an unlucky roll of the die. Now, not only does the Knowledge Cleric have proficiency in any skill/tool they desire, they effectively have advantage on the roll via this feat.
Linguist: this is a very niche feat, and so it would be understandable to ask why it is listed as a must-take. Well, for one, it bumps Intelligence up by 1. Using the Standard Array, this doesn't mean much, but for rolled stats (what most people play with) it can grant a +1 to all Intelligence based skill checks. Additionally, learning 3 additional languages on top of the 5 our Knowledge Cleric already speaks grants us proficiency in every single standard language in the PHB, which means Speak with Dead will almost always yield results (unless the party is talking to the ghost of an elemental, or demon, which is . . . unlikely).
Lastly, the character gains the ability to create a cipher, or secret language, that they can teach the party to communicate with. Considering the standard array used in this build, the +1 this feat grants to Intelligence, and the proficiency bonus at level 8 (when this feat would ideally be taken), the cipher the character can now create would require a DC 16 Intelligence check to decipher, and that's just at the lowest level. By level 20, with a +6 proficiency bonus, the cipher created would require a DC 19 Intelligence check. As a utility-oriented build, the uses for a secret language are endless. Calling out commands in battle? Now the enemy has no idea what's being said/planned even though it's being said right to their face. Things going awry during a subterfuge mission? Give the secret code to call off the grift without arousing any suspicion. This single feat opens the door for so many more possibilities when it comes to out-of-combat plans/actions, which is where this build excels.
Warcaster: an almost necessary feat for every spellcasting build, this feat allows our Knowledge Cleric the benefit of gaining advantage on their concentration checks to maintain their buffs/debuffs. As a support build, having the character's one good function in combat go down after one hit simply won't do, and this feat serves to prevent that outcome.
Lastly, the character gains the ability to create a cipher, or secret language, that they can teach the party to communicate with. Considering the standard array used in this build, the +1 this feat grants to Intelligence, and the proficiency bonus at level 8 (when this feat would ideally be taken), the cipher the character can now create would require a DC 16 Intelligence check to decipher, and that's just at the lowest level. By level 20, with a +6 proficiency bonus, the cipher created would require a DC 19 Intelligence check. As a utility-oriented build, the uses for a secret language are endless. Calling out commands in battle? Now the enemy has no idea what's being said/planned even though it's being said right to their face. Things going awry during a subterfuge mission? Give the secret code to call off the grift without arousing any suspicion. This single feat opens the door for so many more possibilities when it comes to out-of-combat plans/actions, which is where this build excels.Warcaster: an almost necessary feat for every spellcasting build, this feat allows our Knowledge Cleric the benefit of gaining advantage on their concentration checks to maintain their buffs/debuffs. As a support build, having the character's one good function in combat go down after one hit simply won't do, and this feat serves to prevent that outcome.
The choices previously listed are the ideal ones for this build but should the player have rolled well enough for stats and wish to take more feats, or should they wish to forgo stat increases for more feats, these are also suitable options: Observant (when paired with the Linguist feat and the absurd amount of languages our Cleric knows it is likely they'll be able to lip read any conversation from afar), Resilient (both the Dexterity Variant and the Constitution Variant of this feat have their place among this build with the +1 to Dexterity making the most of our medium armor proficiency and allowing us to escape from spells like Fireball cast at the backline, and the proficiency in Constitution saving throws adding an additional layer of protection to our concentration checks), and Skilled (should the player wish to save uses of Knowledge of the Ages for more niche skills, this feat grants permanent proficiency in three more skills/tools of their choice).
Play Style: Out-of-Combat Savant
Pre-Battle: this is where the Knowledge Cleric will be spending most of their time as a useful member of the party. This is when Augury is cast as a ritual spell to determine if a chest is trapped, or a new ally should be trusted. This is when Speak with the Dead tells the party what they might be facing before heading deep into a dungeon. This is when Identify is used to determine if a new magic item is cursed before running into the boss fight with it equipped. Almost all of the Knowledge Cleric's skills are relevant before battles/dungeons.
Early Battle: this is the time for buffs/debuffs. This is when Bless is cast on allies, or Bane, alternatively, on foes. Should the fight be less high stakes, a Spiritual Weapon might be more appropriate to spread out damage. Silence enemy spellcasters with ... well ... Silence. Set up a Confusion spell if there are several dangerous foes that the party could benefit from them losing a turn in combat. Establish the spells that the Cleric would like to last for the rest of the fight.
Mid-Late Battle: standard Cleric play is to set-up buffs/debuffs, keep the party at around half-HP via healing spells and to send out cantrips/Guiding Bolts for damage when nothing else need be done. Come the end of the battle, the Knowledge Cleric should follow these textbook plays. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Knowledge Cleric's abilities are truly out-of-combat oriented, so when it comes to in-combat plays, the player should stick to the tried-and-true methods of the basic Cleric.
Roleplay: Ye Are Not Worthy!
Rejected by the traditional rigidity of his people, Vankåb has sought out living in a society far less restrictive in their assigned roles. It can be said that he does not enjoy being told what to do or how to do it and will go to whatever lengths necessary to ensure that he may live the life he chooses, though that life is not one of utter chaos -- merely one free of assumptions and, ideally, conversation.
Vankåb truly believes that he is searching for someone worthy of wielding his masterwork, but it is likely that he'll reject every candidate he considers for some contrived reason or another. He is who he's looking for, at least at first. He believes the hammer is his ticket into living his dream as a holy warrior of a god of craftsmanship, and without it he'd truly be as he was told: a simple rune smith. Vankåb's character arc would be one of self-discovery and self-worth, and eventually he would realize that he doesn't need the hammer to be what he wants to be. He's not a Cleric of Gond because of the hammer. Gods don't just let any old person wield their holy will. Vankåb was chosen because of his ingenuity, creativity and ambition. Should he grow close to a specific member of the adventuring party, or should he find someone of true smithing potential, Vankåb would finally part with the hammer. The party member could turn it down, the notion of him even being willing to part with the holy symbol being all the growth needed, or he could truly part with it, and the skilled prodigy he gifts it to could go on to become a master smith, the hammer gaining a legend surrounding it. Perhaps Gond blesses it and it becomes a magical item with unique properties (at the DM's discretion). Regardless, the hammer is Vankåb's character arc, and most growths or setbacks for him should fall back on something regarding it.
As a dwarvish master craftsman, and an arcane smith by practice, Vankåb's spells would take on the flavor of a classic hammer and anvil. Perhaps his Mending cantrip is the result of him striking his holy hammer against the broken object, magically smithing it whole. His Guiding Bolt could be reflavored to be a Guiding Blow: he swings his hammer in the air and the weight of the strike is transferred 60ft. away to the opponent's weak spot, causing it to glow brightly with the embers of a smith's fire (to explain the advantage the spell grants allies). His Spiritual Weapon could be Transformers inspired, as Gond's favored monsters are golems and animated furniture. For instance, the nearest table lifts into the air and folds itself into an enormous wooden mallet, the sign of a god of crafting. Or, if nothing is around, the spell could rip an enormous hammer made of stone from the earth, dripping dirt and grass, ready to pummel the foes of invention. Lastly, Augury is a spell I've built directly into his holy symbol. With a rune engraved on each side of the weapon, Vankåb would set up the ritual, place the hammer on its head, and then spin it. The magic of the spell would cause the hammer to land with the appropriate rune (weal, woe, weal and woe, or nothing) facing up, a sign from Gond's vast stores of knowledge regarding the appropriate actions to be taken.
Vankåb truly believes that he is searching for someone worthy of wielding his masterwork, but it is likely that he'll reject every candidate he considers for some contrived reason or another. He is who he's looking for, at least at first. He believes the hammer is his ticket into living his dream as a holy warrior of a god of craftsmanship, and without it he'd truly be as he was told: a simple rune smith. Vankåb's character arc would be one of self-discovery and self-worth, and eventually he would realize that he doesn't need the hammer to be what he wants to be. He's not a Cleric of Gond because of the hammer. Gods don't just let any old person wield their holy will. Vankåb was chosen because of his ingenuity, creativity and ambition. Should he grow close to a specific member of the adventuring party, or should he find someone of true smithing potential, Vankåb would finally part with the hammer. The party member could turn it down, the notion of him even being willing to part with the holy symbol being all the growth needed, or he could truly part with it, and the skilled prodigy he gifts it to could go on to become a master smith, the hammer gaining a legend surrounding it. Perhaps Gond blesses it and it becomes a magical item with unique properties (at the DM's discretion). Regardless, the hammer is Vankåb's character arc, and most growths or setbacks for him should fall back on something regarding it.
Conclusion:
Just because the Knowledge Cleric doesn't gain many abilities that increase damage output that does not make them useless. In fact, they become one of the most, if not the most, invaluable characters for all activities outside of battle in the entire party, beating even Bards and Rogues. Additionally, their abilities provide fantastic methods of advancing the story whether that be through Augury or their Visions of the Past feature which can show them exact moments in time should they require it. Entire mini-adventures could be based around that ability. Think of it: the party needs to know exactly where the BBEG has gone and through this ability the Knowledge Cleric can find out, but the party is being chased by the antagonist's cultists/minions! Now, the party has to buy time every round in combat for the Knowledge Cleric to maintain concentration on the feature and every time it's their turn they unlock another few seconds of the past and get closer to learning the truth. If the battle gets worse, do they cut their losses, take what they've learned and flee, or do they stick it out to hear the full vision? The possibilities are endless. As always, I wish those future Knowledge Clerics luck in their adventuring and that they have as much fun playing Vankåb as I had building him, or whatever character they choose to make with the race, stats, and abilities of the build!
Your post is great, you really help me. I understand the game a little better.
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