By "Black Ops," I mean either infiltration or assassination (or both, although I think the two are slightly different skill sets). While it's true that there are other classes better suited for "Black Ops" which could still be a member of a religious organization, I'm interested in figuring out if this is something which could make a reasonable build (preferably single-classed).
What skills are best to have proficiency in? Is there a suitable out-of-the-box Background?
I feel like the following skills are best for an infiltrator:
Stealth
Deception
Persuasion
Perception
Sleight of Hand
Insight
Of those skills, only Insight and Persuasion are Cleric class skills, so anything else would have to be gotten from the Background (or possibly species). And obviously, the ability spread means the cleric can't be strong in all those skills at once, so they would need to focus on a subset.
Stealth is always pretty useful. Perception is also useful as well, the better you are at seeing and hearing trouble ahead of time, the better chance you have to avoid it.
No particular Origin Feat stands out to me, but Skilled seems the most useful to gain the proficiencies I'd otherwise lack. Magic Initiate: Wizard is another good one for some useful spells not on the Cleric list (Minor Illusion, Message, Silent Image).
For Subclass, the one which is obviously most suitable for infiltration is the Trickery Cleric, nearly every spell added by that subclass would be useful for Infiltration. The big downside is that because Clerics tend to get powers from a deity, as I understand things, only deities who have Trickery as a Domain can provide that skillset to clerics (barring DM permission, or course). That could limit what religion your PC follows.
What are your thoughts on whether an infiltrator cleric is reasonable, and what that build would look like?
I assume you are part of a team. Therefore, I think you can reduce some of this that you mention. That said, redundancy is good, but should be secondary to getting the roles completed 1st.
1st assumption, you are not the face, but probably the "medic". You want a high wisdom to allow for the most efficient use of spells.
2nd assumption, You want a high dex to allow for stealth and armor that is "stealthy." As for slight of hand, if the cleric is the best lockpicker/trap disarmament, the party is in trouble.
3rd assumption, you want good strength and good CON. You want to be able to pull your weight (no pun intended) so you can hit/damage with a weapon and carry "supplies" . Also you want strength to up your athletic skill. You will probably be doing a lot climbing/lifting/weapon swinging and those would be strength.
A good black ops team has organization and actual roles/jobs that have been pre picked. There is no one person can do it all.
There is no need for CHA and those skills. Deception is not needed. If you go down the path of CHA based skills you will lose out on the need for the other pillars that are much more valuable. Let those classes that need a high CHA be good with Deception/Persuasion.
As origin feats go Alert is one of the best. By having a high initiative, you can decide how to proceed forward even if it is advancing in the other direction.
Lastly, darkvison is extremely important. If every team member should has that, there is no need to have any light. If you have a torch/lantern you will be seen long before you can see. What good is being invisible if you need light to move forward. In my opinion having darkvison trumps some of those skills.
I assume you are part of a team. Therefore, I think you can reduce some of this that you mention. That said, redundancy is good, but should be secondary to getting the roles completed 1st.
1st assumption, you are not the face, but probably the "medic". You want a high wisdom to allow for the most efficient use of spells.
2nd assumption, You want a high dex to allow for stealth and armor that is "stealthy." As for slight of hand, if the cleric is the best lockpicker/trap disarmament, the party is in trouble.
3rd assumption, you want good strength and good CON. You want to be able to pull your weight (no pun intended) so you can hit/damage with a weapon and carry "supplies" . Also you want strength to up your athletic skill. You will probably be doing a lot climbing/lifting/weapon swinging and those would be strength.
A good black ops team has organization and actual roles/jobs that have been pre picked. There is no one person can do it all.
There is no need for CHA and those skills. Deception is not needed. If you go down the path of CHA based skills you will lose out on the need for the other pillars that are much more valuable. Let those classes that need a high CHA be good with Deception/Persuasion.
As origin feats go Alert is one of the best. By having a high initiative, you can decide how to proceed forward even if it is advancing in the other direction.
Lastly, darkvison is extremely important. If every team member should has that, there is no need to have any light. If you have a torch/lantern you will be seen long before you can see. What good is being invisible if you need light to move forward. In my opinion having darkvison trumps some of those skills.
Some interesting points.
You're right that one PC can't do everything, and yet you're suggesting high or good in four abilities, which is unlikely even if you're using rolled stats. At the very least, high STR to be good at carrying things is not what I have in mind for the best allocation of scores. Being able to hit things in melee is also only a "nice-to-have" for a primary caster.
You're probably right about CHA not being important for a black-uniforms-and-Goggles-of-Night team. It might be good for a spy-type seeking infiltration, though.
Alert is good feat for characters generally, but I don't think it matches the utility of spells you otherwise couldn't have.
Not sure if you considered race but Wood Elf would be great.
Get Perception and Darkvision
35 ft speed
Pass w/o trace as a spell. So you can save points on Dex
Another interesting idea, but the Trickery Domain already has Pass Without Trace and many other spells useful for these archetypes, and I'm a little reluctant to "waste" a "free" always-prepared spell.
The four abilities are in order of priority. Put your top score in wisdom, the next in DEX the next two in CON/STR. I understand you can't have 4 high scores. ergo the priority. As for alert, you asked for a black ops type cleric. Initiative is very important. Being able to go early is probably more important then many generic spells.
I just think we each have a slightly different interpretation, which is probably my fault for using the phrase "black ops." I was trying to think about tools to get someplace they shouldn't be with less combat.
If you imagine a “black ops” cleric cinematically, maybe they aren’t crawling through vents with lockpicks. They are walking calmly into forbidden space because the environment itself is being bent to their will. A whispered prayer grants sudden competence (Borrowed Knowledge for Stealth), another tilts probability in their favor (Enhance Ability for advantage on Dexterity checks), and quiet certainty (Guidance) is complemented by luck itself (Lucky). This is not a character hoping they roll well. This is someone engineering reliability through preparation. When a guard steps into view, there is no scramble. Just a single word of divine authority (Command) or a frozen body (Hold Person), and the corridor becomes silent again.
This isn’t a character trying to be a rogue and avoiding failure. It’s a cleric controlling the encounter to infiltrate or assassinate by playing to their strengths. If spotted, they don’t retreat. They suppress, stabilize, and proceed. If vision must be denied, that’s solved with items (Elven Cloak/Boots) and enspelled gear (Darkness). If a mistake happens, the cleric heals through it and keeps moving. That’s not stealth by absence. That is stealth by control of escalation. The cleric doesn’t vanish from the environment. They dominate the flow of the situation until resistance collapses.
And when needed, this model doesn’t stop at stealth. It pivots seamlessly into social infiltration and interaction control. The same engine that delivers stealth reliability can be reconfigured for persuasion or deception. Borrowed Knowledge for Persuasion or Deception. Enhance Ability (Charisma) for advantage. Spells like Calm Emotions to pacify a volatile room or prevent a situation from boiling over. The cleric doesn’t just sneak through locked doors. They walk through conversations, crowds, and confrontations with the same prepared inevitability.
If you tilt this framework darker, the assassination version becomes especially interesting, not because of damage numbers, but because of denial of agency. The target isn’t outplayed with speed. They are immobilized by inevitability. A whispered prayer, a frozen body (Hold Person), a compelled surrender (Command), and the act itself is carried out without chaos. No duel. No alarm. The room doesn’t erupt. It simply goes still. This is assassination not as burst violence, but as controlled termination. Even the aftermath is handled. Witnesses suppressed. Panic neutralized. Pursuit delayed. Not by speed, but by layered control.
Seen this way, the entire design problem flips. The build question stops being “How does my cleric behave like a rogue better?” and becomes, “What spell suite, positioning, preparation, and gear let a single cleric operate like a precision instrument behind enemy lines by substituting control, suppression, and certainty for locks, lies, and sneak attack?”
That framing doesn’t close the problem. It opens it. It invites different answers depending on domain, spell selection, itemization, moral tone, and player style. And that’s what makes it interesting. There isn’t one solution anymore. Perhaps, there is a landscape of cleric-native solutions to explore.
By "Black Ops," I mean either infiltration or assassination (or both, although I think the two are slightly different skill sets). While it's true that there are other classes better suited for "Black Ops" which could still be a member of a religious organization, I'm interested in figuring out if this is something which could make a reasonable build (preferably single-classed).
What skills are best to have proficiency in? Is there a suitable out-of-the-box Background?
I feel like the following skills are best for an infiltrator:
Of those skills, only Insight and Persuasion are Cleric class skills, so anything else would have to be gotten from the Background (or possibly species). And obviously, the ability spread means the cleric can't be strong in all those skills at once, so they would need to focus on a subset.
Stealth is always pretty useful. Perception is also useful as well, the better you are at seeing and hearing trouble ahead of time, the better chance you have to avoid it.
No particular Origin Feat stands out to me, but Skilled seems the most useful to gain the proficiencies I'd otherwise lack. Magic Initiate: Wizard is another good one for some useful spells not on the Cleric list (Minor Illusion, Message, Silent Image).
For Subclass, the one which is obviously most suitable for infiltration is the Trickery Cleric, nearly every spell added by that subclass would be useful for Infiltration. The big downside is that because Clerics tend to get powers from a deity, as I understand things, only deities who have Trickery as a Domain can provide that skillset to clerics (barring DM permission, or course). That could limit what religion your PC follows.
What are your thoughts on whether an infiltrator cleric is reasonable, and what that build would look like?
I assume you are part of a team. Therefore, I think you can reduce some of this that you mention. That said, redundancy is good, but should be secondary to getting the roles completed 1st.
1st assumption, you are not the face, but probably the "medic". You want a high wisdom to allow for the most efficient use of spells.
2nd assumption, You want a high dex to allow for stealth and armor that is "stealthy." As for slight of hand, if the cleric is the best lockpicker/trap disarmament, the party is in trouble.
3rd assumption, you want good strength and good CON. You want to be able to pull your weight (no pun intended) so you can hit/damage with a weapon and carry "supplies" . Also you want strength to up your athletic skill. You will probably be doing a lot climbing/lifting/weapon swinging and those would be strength.
A good black ops team has organization and actual roles/jobs that have been pre picked. There is no one person can do it all.
There is no need for CHA and those skills. Deception is not needed. If you go down the path of CHA based skills you will lose out on the need for the other pillars that are much more valuable. Let those classes that need a high CHA be good with Deception/Persuasion.
As origin feats go Alert is one of the best. By having a high initiative, you can decide how to proceed forward even if it is advancing in the other direction.
Lastly, darkvison is extremely important. If every team member should has that, there is no need to have any light. If you have a torch/lantern you will be seen long before you can see. What good is being invisible if you need light to move forward. In my opinion having darkvison trumps some of those skills.
Alert is also a redundancy as if one member flubs the initiative, the cleric can swap order/places.
Not sure if you considered race but Wood Elf would be great.
Get Perception and Darkvision
35 ft speed
Pass w/o trace as a spell. So you can save points on Dex
Some interesting points.
You're right that one PC can't do everything, and yet you're suggesting high or good in four abilities, which is unlikely even if you're using rolled stats. At the very least, high STR to be good at carrying things is not what I have in mind for the best allocation of scores. Being able to hit things in melee is also only a "nice-to-have" for a primary caster.
You're probably right about CHA not being important for a black-uniforms-and-Goggles-of-Night team. It might be good for a spy-type seeking infiltration, though.
Alert is good feat for characters generally, but I don't think it matches the utility of spells you otherwise couldn't have.
Another interesting idea, but the Trickery Domain already has Pass Without Trace and many other spells useful for these archetypes, and I'm a little reluctant to "waste" a "free" always-prepared spell.
The four abilities are in order of priority. Put your top score in wisdom, the next in DEX the next two in CON/STR. I understand you can't have 4 high scores. ergo the priority. As for alert, you asked for a black ops type cleric. Initiative is very important. Being able to go early is probably more important then many generic spells.
I just think we each have a slightly different interpretation, which is probably my fault for using the phrase "black ops." I was trying to think about tools to get someplace they shouldn't be with less combat.
Definitely different interpretation.
If you imagine a “black ops” cleric cinematically, maybe they aren’t crawling through vents with lockpicks. They are walking calmly into forbidden space because the environment itself is being bent to their will. A whispered prayer grants sudden competence (Borrowed Knowledge for Stealth), another tilts probability in their favor (Enhance Ability for advantage on Dexterity checks), and quiet certainty (Guidance) is complemented by luck itself (Lucky). This is not a character hoping they roll well. This is someone engineering reliability through preparation. When a guard steps into view, there is no scramble. Just a single word of divine authority (Command) or a frozen body (Hold Person), and the corridor becomes silent again.
This isn’t a character trying to be a rogue and avoiding failure. It’s a cleric controlling the encounter to infiltrate or assassinate by playing to their strengths. If spotted, they don’t retreat. They suppress, stabilize, and proceed. If vision must be denied, that’s solved with items (Elven Cloak/Boots) and enspelled gear (Darkness). If a mistake happens, the cleric heals through it and keeps moving. That’s not stealth by absence. That is stealth by control of escalation. The cleric doesn’t vanish from the environment. They dominate the flow of the situation until resistance collapses.
And when needed, this model doesn’t stop at stealth. It pivots seamlessly into social infiltration and interaction control. The same engine that delivers stealth reliability can be reconfigured for persuasion or deception. Borrowed Knowledge for Persuasion or Deception. Enhance Ability (Charisma) for advantage. Spells like Calm Emotions to pacify a volatile room or prevent a situation from boiling over. The cleric doesn’t just sneak through locked doors. They walk through conversations, crowds, and confrontations with the same prepared inevitability.
If you tilt this framework darker, the assassination version becomes especially interesting, not because of damage numbers, but because of denial of agency. The target isn’t outplayed with speed. They are immobilized by inevitability. A whispered prayer, a frozen body (Hold Person), a compelled surrender (Command), and the act itself is carried out without chaos. No duel. No alarm. The room doesn’t erupt. It simply goes still. This is assassination not as burst violence, but as controlled termination. Even the aftermath is handled. Witnesses suppressed. Panic neutralized. Pursuit delayed. Not by speed, but by layered control.
Seen this way, the entire design problem flips. The build question stops being “How does my cleric behave like a rogue better?” and becomes, “What spell suite, positioning, preparation, and gear let a single cleric operate like a precision instrument behind enemy lines by substituting control, suppression, and certainty for locks, lies, and sneak attack?”
That framing doesn’t close the problem. It opens it. It invites different answers depending on domain, spell selection, itemization, moral tone, and player style. And that’s what makes it interesting. There isn’t one solution anymore. Perhaps, there is a landscape of cleric-native solutions to explore.
Thank you, ceramist, that's a great way to think about it, exactly the kind of ideas I was looking for.