Topic: CLerical Advice [PLAYERS IN MY RM GAME REmAIN OUT PLEASE}

[Warl]

Looking for some advice on Spell usage for a Cleric of the dead.

I Have some lvl 2 Lvl 5 and level 10 Evil Clerics and I am looking for some Ideas/Help in two ways.

#1 spell list suggestions beyond the base spell lists.
#2 Some order of casting suggestions.

The clerical Spells have always been an issue for me. Always seemed so Limited. So I tend to supplement and switch out with other lists based on clerical type. But even the Evil Cleric Spell lists have seemed a little.... looking for the right word.... Not as useful or elaborate as I would like, Especially in a Direct Conflict situation.

Note, I am not a fan of the curses lists as they are, IMO, more useful for torment outside of combat, I am looking at some Dark Channels, but those are fairly basic.

There will be some Undead... but any other suggestions for a series of spells to use Besides just having the clerics go hand to hand?

[Voriig Kye]

1) Hand to hand? I seem to recall you play RM2/RMC, but in RMFRP Evil Channeling adds "Wounding". This is a really nice spell list with instantaneous damage spells with a range of 2'. So a martial artist evil cleric is really a force to be reckoned with.

2) In RMFRP Channeling Companion, there are many offensive spells for Evil Priests, and most of them focus on damage akin to that of a Sorcerer: RR to deal criticals. Or just give them Sorcerer Base lists for Flesh and Soul Destruction.

3) You could give them Ice Law, call it Deadly Ice, and allow them to fire Chill of Death (Ice Bolts), and let them protect themselves inside a Barrier of the Grave (Wall of Cold, Circle of Cold).

4) Give them special weapons. Maybe Frost Daggers for the lvl 2 (Cold Crit at -2 levels, or maybe CO drain), Scythe of Death (Extra Cold Crit, additional frostbite "bleeding").

[tbigness]

I was going to go with giving the Sorcerer base list in exchange for Cleric Base.

[yammahoper]

Get Channeling Companion.

[Warl]

i do have the channeling comp

[Hurin]

Check out B Hanson's lists in this thread, on at post #67:

http://www.ironcrown.com/ICEforums/index.php?topic=15879.60

Some of those lists could be used for a Cleric.

I agree that the Cleric spells are somewhat lacking, especially for those of us used to the Cleric from DnD. Now of course, none of us wants to see Rolemaster become like DnD 3.5, where Clerics were ridiculously overpowered (CoDzilla), but I agree with you that the RM Cleric seems a little underpowered in the combat department. The Stun spell is good, but there is a disticnt a lack of holy smackdown types of spells, for sure. Anyway, check B Hanson's lists, which are great; some of those could be given to your cleric. Some reintroduce the DnD concept of domains, IIRC.

[jdale]

If you have the channeling companion, you could give them some faith-specific Priest lists. Death Mastery has some direct offense. Holy Element could be used for battlefield control (control element, element wall). Holy Weapon has melee and also thrown attacks (Throw, especially with Returning Weapon, but they could also just have a pile of weapons to start with). Holy Wrath has some obvious applications. Insect Mastery could be unpleasant. Serpent Law has bite and gaze attacks.

[Warl]

thanks guys, I hadn't even looked into the RMSS?FRP books for solutions yet as I am not familiar with them as much... Which is why I posted... Which system the spell list comes from is not so important as their really isn't much difference when it comes down to effect

[Arioch]

Do the clerics have time to prepare?
If they do, have them cast Prayer/Bless/Resistance/Protection spells on each other before the beginning of the combat. Possibly even Aura/Shield spells to get even more buffs. Holy Defense from Channeling Companion is a great list in this sense, a cleric with access to it can easily get a +35 or more bonus to his DB.

Have the less powerful clerics concentrate on defending the more powerful ones. Use things like Airwall or Waterwall (Barrier Law) to slow down melee fighters and shut off ranged ones.
Since they're cleric of the dead, there should be plenty of corpses around. Sure, having a couple of undead bodyguard ready is good, but don't understimate the Animate Dead spells. Use them to keep melee fighters away from the main casters. The animated dead won't probably last more than one round against a good fighter, but can be immediatly re-animated (unless hacked to pieces, but that takes time...) if they're defeated. Higher level clerics can even animate more than one corpse in a single round, making them particularly effective at distracting the fighters.

You want at least a cleric to keep an eye on the party casters, using Cancel/Dispel spells (from Spell Defense) to distrupt their spells.

Dark Channels is your main offensive list, but it's so good you won't need anything else. Seriously, it's possibly one of the most powerful spell lists in Spell Law.
Dark Sleep is usually all you need. You can use it as a cheap version of Absolution (put target to sleep, have one of your animated corpses finish him while he's helpless) or to capture the PCs alive.
Black Channels and Absolutions are great for their high penalties to RRs, but just an overkill most of the times, keep them for really though foes.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

Which system the spell list comes from is not so important as their really isn't much difference when it comes down to effect

Then, if you want lists useful in combat, there are a couple in the SUC —Cruelty Ways and Dark Curses (even though they're curses, their usefulness in combat is pretty high). You may as well use the very powerful Guardian Ways in the RoCo I, since it's a "special" list and its availability depends pretty much on the GM's whim. In your case, you may make it available to clerics especially trained to fight opponents to their faith.