The cleric

The cleric is a Life Domain cleric: heavy armor, and Bless and cure wounds prepared from level one. Channel Divinity arrives at second level, second-level spells at third, and third-level spells — Spirit Guardians among them — at fifth. The chassis is 5.1; there’s no Channel-as-spell or other 2024 habit here.

Bless early if the fight is going to last. A plus on the rolls that keep a door a door is worth more than saving it for a prettier moment. Cure wounds answers damage that’s already landed — it isn’t a reward for good positioning, it’s the fix for bad positioning already paid for.

Where to stand

Mid-range, behind the warrior: close enough to reach the door, far enough that the first hit is the warrior’s armor problem and not a dead healer. Heavy armor doesn’t make the front line a good idea — the woodland’s wildlife has learned that the person with the light is the one to drop.

The player controls the warrior. The cleric acts on its own unless a player takes the reins.

What goes wrong

Slots saved because a fight looks small — there’s no second fight in a single sitting to save them for. Walking up to “confirm” a kill, which is how a cleric becomes the thing that needs curing. Treating trees and camp kit as empty hexes instead of the cover they are. Curing as a first move and blessing as an afterthought, when usually the order should run the other way.