I'd like to see a Travel Domain. Play on the idea of the wandering holy man. They journey to explore, to spread the faith, and to protect other travelers on their own paths. Since they range so far from home, they treat taverns as their temples, holy places to be respected.
This I would love! Probably still have way shrines and stuff as well though, Probably have it where they have actual temples too, except most people can't tell the difference between a temple of the Traveler god and a Tavern. Then again the fun part is the idea of a nomadic Cleric I would love to have one who only ever referred to as Pilgrim.
Ooh...fantastic idea. There are many races that would offer service to such a god...halflings, gnomes and half-elves, in particular. In practice, they could achieve a similar role to the Ranger's "Horizon Walker" subclass...with a heavier emphasis on spell casting. Features like..."Every time you use a Cleric cantrip to damage enemies, they must succeed on a Wisdom Saving throw or be transported 10 feet in any direction, as determined by the cleric" or a Channel Divinity that allows you to teleport your allies to their desired positions within a certain range... Their spells could emphasize transportation..."Dimension Door" or "Expeditious Retreat" or "Phantom Steed", "Haste" or "Misty Step"....even the damaging "Thunder Step" or the continuous "Far Step". Perhaps spells that give some protection when your party is resting..."Leomond's Tiny Hut", "Rope Trick" or "Druid's Grove". This...could be an excellent homebrew.
I used to play a Cleric of Hoar, from Chessenta. She was so much fun. Travel, Fate, and Retribution Domains once I went Divine Disciple prestige class. Really great experience, I loved the Travel Domain power as well as the idea of the gods lifting their servant to roam the world unimpeded and unchallenged.
Such a good subclass, its nice that there is a less malevolent subclass than the death domain in the DMG. The grave domain creates more opportunities for players to take on the portfolio of being a cleric of the dead without the whole "oogie boogie necromancer" vibe.
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! YES!!! I never liked the death domain for non evil death gods. I think it's a great domain, but as someone who's favorite Deity of FG is Kelemvor. I always wanted to be like a Sentinel of death. Someone who keeps order, making sure no pesky undead rise up. Can't wait to purchase this book!!!
i hope they changed the damage type away from necrotic, A cleric that destroys undead should not deal damage undead are frequently resistant/immune to.
Coincidentally released on the 13th day of the 10th month... AKA the day of Raven Queen in Matt Mercer's setting. Grave domain is very intriguing to me. In my current Strahd campaign, and in the likely case of death, I have a backup character who can very easily be turned into Grave Cleric if I don't simply decide on an RQ vengeance Paladin or have him pursue some sort of monster hunter class such as monster slayer or Mercer's blood hunter.
oO PPH Oo glad to hear I'm not the only one with a backup character. Currently playing a tempest domain cleric but have a rogue mastermind ready to roll if things go south
I had a concept for a Gnoll Cleric, and this felt like the perfect domain for one of the possible shticks I had going for them. They'd do their best to keep entities on one side of that line or the other, either through potent healing or very quickly returning the target to nature, either by burning it with the several fire spells, devouring it with Plague of Insects, or just flat eating it themselves. Gnolls are man-eaters after all. For a nomadic species, the circle of life and all that would be very important, and preventing the cycle from getting screwed with one way or another would be a noble pursuit. Doesn't hurt that the symbol of Osiris is a flail, and gnolls like their blunt weapons.
Nice to see this making it into the book, a player in my campaign is playing a death cleric right now (Jergal is his deity), so we've made it work for this campaign, he is this judicator over the undead, hunting down every undead that is not sanctified by the companions of the pallid mask. I can't wait for the book to come out, though i'm most excited about the options it presents for DMs.
I also waited for this, coming from the german "The Dark Eye" system, I always wanted a "Golgarite", which is also like a Paladin/Cleric of the death god Boron there, and they are hunters of all undead and much more. I look forward to play that in some campaign.
I wonder how different it is from UA. We ran a Grave Domain cleric in our permadeath youtube game for the campaign's whole second half, it was powerful & had great flavor even without being specifically an anti-undead smartbomb.
I like this domain as it fits Aine, the main character of my novel whose halfling father and Sylvan Elf (sorceress) mother both die within a few hours of her birth. At a tender age she vows to avenge their deaths and end the hurt that Sileas (the evil mage) will cause others, after learning he was holed up in a formerly abandoned keep only a few days away from the closest human city. In her dreams she vowed it repeatedly, swearing that should she succeed her life would forever serve the dreams of others... and the denizens of Arcadia listened. In a nutshell she sets off on her 16th birthday and does the deed, which opens her up to keeping the promise she made to the fey realms, so she's primarily an Arcadian priestess who daylights as Halfling Avenger (ender and preventer of ills not revenge killer, think good guy vigilante who seeks to prevent future harm to innocents). To enable this she'd already contracted with the lord of that human city, since there was a bounty... and after it was over she decided that bounty hunting people who use magic to harm others, as an Eldritch Assassin, was a calling she could live with. The lesser bounty work she does allows her to travel and make a good wage, so she can devote more time to studying the Arcane, keeping up with her religious practices, figuring out how to give her ghost girlfriend a body (Ehlissara, a spirit Sileas had trapped and abused for a few decades), etc. Yes, Sileas was primarily a necromancer... as well as a self serving narcissistic asshat. BTW, Apologies for the overstated backround. As an Arcadian priestess Aine serves an entire realm and pantheon, one that has a unique ideology concerning life, death, and their myriad intertwinings with the existence of beings in the fey realms as well as the dreams of the mundane world's mortals. As a go between who seeks to balance imbalances, the Grave Cleric Domain suits her perfectly. She often assists detached spirits to "Move Beyond" In D&D terms she's multiclass: 1) Fighter/Shire Defender (think weak fighter that traded down to lower d8 HD and no action surge, second wind, or indomnitable... for a few racially aligned and bardlike features, feats, or abilities) who also serves as a Halfling Avenger (an Honorific... think Knight without all the broo ha, armor, steeds, and courtly crap. More of a noble peasant or day to day person) 2) Rogue /Assassin (Eldritch mage slayer/bounty hunter) is how she took out a small keep of brigands (32 or so total) and the mage who employed them by herself (took about a month). She was 16, barely a level 2 mostly ranged fighter, and barely trained as a level 1 assassin who could cast a couple of cantrips (non-damage) and a few similar lvl 1 ritual spells . 3) Cleric of the Grave (Arcadian Priestess) finishing off the Mage sealed that part, but she also starts her life having accomplished her one and only major goal, Avenging all the wrongs Sileas had done or would ever do. 4) Added some Necromancer and ranger bits as well, though as a playable character she had to earn everything with dedicated experience point trade offs, as well as Stroyline Plots and Questing past lvl 20... lots of it. Along her path she basically becomes an avid study of the arcane to better hunt evil mages (they tend to be powerful and get away with a lot) so she has a niche profession. Over the course of her story I delve into the phases of life and undeath in fantasy settings, the travails and unappreciated realities of halfling culture... (both to good detail) and eventually she picks up the bard profession (College of Satire) as a means to access otherwise closed off social circles. And playing/writing the story of a revamped Jester/Harlequin with her background and abilities is MEGA fun. My only beefs with Grave Domain: Some peeps argued that "Eyes of the Grave" was OP, but its range and cover issues, as well as the fact you know what, not exactly where the highest lvl baddie is... works fine IMHO. "Keeper of Souls" is a -Meh- lvl 17 feature. I smidged it so at lvls 18,19,and 20 you get +1 healing added to the HD total from deceased opponents (+3 max) just to make it a smidge more practical without breaking anything. (My GM agreed) College of Satire beefs: "Tumbling Fool" feature concerning Dash and Dodge was OP.. so I toned and calibrated it with number of uses, and a few other criteria. (my GM agreed) "Fool's Insight" was a cantankerous open door for unending fart humor, so i added numerous options and also stated... these gaffes generally fit the True Nature of the person as to how they might act when unencumbered by social propriety, it should be a toss up between notable social mistakes and nearly comical side effects... flip a coin. I Also made ^^^^ rules in ful detail... basically lets ya have multiple small thrown objects available and ready that ya can fire off using thrown two weapon fighting rules. Lots more detailed than that in the full write up, but that's the canned version. It can also be chosen by other bards, to replace an instrument, skill, thieve's tools, etc. Also turned it into a selectable feat and explained the "non-proficiency" mechanics. My #1 Beef with this college..... the LVL 14 "Fool's Luck" feature... it makes satire bards a crap halfling that gets penalized for being lucky. The creators totally NERFED IT !!! So in our campaigns it goes...Perma Bye Bye. I replace it with a double feature. Based on " Mirth Magic" these creative fellows become limited enchanters of sort. Thay can adjust a set of clothes or armor that isn't Stealth Disabling to make: "Vestments" that can: 1) Act as a bag of holding with many wide hidden pockets to carry their gaffes and props, OR... 2) Allow minor illusion usage, OR... 3) a set with semi hypnotic patterns to apply disadvantage to audience Charisma checks a limited number of times. They must make each of them separate, and/or or design their own (GM help + as permitted) and can make as many as they wish, but only wear one suit at a time... and they're useless for anyone else, even other bards. (think basic performance/social enhancer with maybe a smidge of combat or casting use) Props and Gaffes: 1) One shot items...like: Real looking daggers that become feathers capable of tickling even through platemail on a successful hit (1 turn, save or incapacitated due to giggling). Slingstones that upon a hit transform into a bucket that covers the target's head, (Dex save or blinded one turn), A thrown juggling ball that targets an opponent's foot and turns into a slippery pile of dog poo (save or trip/prone+ smelly...LOL), An ointment used to coat the inside of mugs or tankards (turns imbibers hair random colors, changes length, and possibly alters styles for a full day, no save, after which the hair slowly reverts to normal... unles they panicked and cut it off, LOL), Tablecloths or clothing that falls in half when someone claps (social embarassment or mess), Fake Flail head that douses the target with a full gallon of water, etc. All are made from mundane scraps but look and feel as authentic as the creator wishes. Being one-shot they work for anyyone but usually last no more than a few months... though simply being brought to the near presence (20') of their creator will extend their duration. 2) Permanent or semi-permanent ones: Magicked stilt poles that grow and shrink, A full Ornate Throne that folds up into a small one pound square (or similar quick setting changes for plays). Weapons that have a hilarious effect as well as their damage, A Sign or scroll that displays a number of preset messages (will show as whatever language people have in common with the creator). A skull that talks and relays funny lines or anecdotes according to pre-set conditions. An animated talking doll with a serious demeanor.. (it acts as the "straight man, villain, or heel" to contrast the jester's comedy), perhaps it also acts as a familiar.... These permanent or month by month duration items are crafted from real things so they're more costly, and will only work for regular performers, or at the very least avid hobbyists who perform for others weekly. Mirth Magic general Rule, performance priority, combat and spellcasting secondary. Creations of the College of Satire's Alumni Bards are sought after prizes and marks of distinction, even among dramatists,... more so if they can pull off a serious act in a play that features a jester's more comical prop without losing their audience. The challenge is immense, but the bragging rights worth it... Now this College feels like it's name implies... has in game use without being OP, shows off player and GM creativity without going all "RULES, RULES, RULES !!!" And it establishes a niche among bards, as the creators and fabricators of numerous truly wonderful "tools" that any performer would love. Mirth Magic should be limited only by player/GM creativity, and a centrally inherent Bard only Enigma... that only functions well withing their circles. Permanent items should only work for bards... so they can hold onto gags indefinitely, etc. and be "gifted" or earn permanent props.. because Mirth Magic draws it's power from regular display/use as well as the creative spirits of those who seek masterful performances... that truly entertain. Thus this form of magic is also AUDIENCE GENERATED... not performing regularly may (or even should) entail limited use, loss of abillity, de-magicked items, etc. Another thing... Jesters = purist social commentary/comedians. Harlequins = precursor mimes, think giggles+sounds but no talking, for they rely on CARICATURE and body language to tell stories...engage audiences... advance plots... provide intermissions, etc. They should be well suited for using Insight as a primary skill. As does my character Aine. Talking to the party and friends is fine, but ya shouldn't "need" to as much as other players... Just have Fun with it.... HuGGz
Ive wanted something like this since i first picked up the players handbook and was so excited when the unearthed arcana article with it came out, im so happy that it made it to the book! I really wanted to play a cleric in service of someone kinda like Hades or Osiris or Anubis and i just felt like the death domain cleric felt to focused on undeath for my taste. Plus the undead has always been a lot of fun to fight. I definantly wanna make a grave domain cleric, possibly multiclassed with paladin to get the really heroic feel down.
Yeah, This is one of the cooler ideas D&D has that they always seem to overlook in the first wave of design. Honestly, I am still wondering why. Still wondering why it was not called repose. Then again the Death Domain might not be restricted only to evil god's Anubis the guardian of the dead is also the god of mummification. Yes, I know y'all had him as Lawful evil in a Deities and Demigods book, but come on he's totally Lawful Neutral possibly even Good. I could see a god like that being ok with undeath to a limited degree. Or imagine a deity with a Norse type idea of Die in Battle you go to Valhalla, where the Clerics raise people as undead so they may earn further glory. Still typically Zombies are bad.
Kinda makes me think of the Magi from the Mummy movies, very cool flavor. Really interested to see what the actual class mechanics are once I have the book.
My grave cleric purges necromancers, orcus cultists and vecna cultists, he does this by chaining them up hands above their head and burning them alive with sacred flame.
As much as I love Mike Mearls, he does seem like more of the engineer of subclasses rather than the story teller. I prefer it when Jeremy Crawford talks about the new subclasses. Much more of a narrative focus.
now that im watching this. I actually have a saturday 5e campaign going where we are using something along those lines of grave domain. A friend of mine who plays, plays a death domain cleric of kelemvor. Where we and the party talked and discussed about a system that allowed for a bigger roster of undead. So far its going great. and I believe that the players are happy that a "grave" cleric can set their skeletons on watch at night so everyone can sleep. That and then the one player who runs as a cleric gets to play it like a game of xcom more or less. move the minions and let them attack or do whatever uniques that a legendary undead has.
Mystery Man I feel like the Grave Domain Cleric would not approve of necromancy, they guard against that specific abuse in fact, ensuring that those who rise again are living and not undead.
I guess I’m breaking all the rules here. My doomed to be necromancer and I say that because currently the character is a known Doctor Who specializes in reviving in healing people will fall at level 5. Kelemvor or so he thinks is Kelemvor has made promise to show him the power to bring back Eva a woman he is obsessed with. He believes that Kelemvor communicates his will to raise the undead through a set of bone dice that he has. He is internally tortured by this viewing the undead as a abomination however he has to bring her back no matter the cost.
Would a cleric of the Raven Queen work here or was she completely removed from the Forgotten Realms? She is one of the UA warlock patrons, but I haven't seen her mentioned in any other official 5e texts.
The Raven Queen wasn't removed from the Forgotten Realms - she's never belonged there! The Realms has existed in one form or another since 1967; the Raven Queen was "born" in 2008 when she appeared for the first time in the 4th Edition Player's Handbook. She actually only belongs to the Nentir Vale, 4e's deliberately generic official setting. The setting borrowed many gods from Greyhawk which had been established by 3e as the "default" pantheon, and added in a handful of new ones including the Raven Queen. The Raven Queen was a very popular deity in 4e, and it looks like the WotC designers have a lot of love for her as well - the UA article you mention being their attempt to insert her into 5e's Realms. Here's a critical point though - by adding her as a Warlock Patron, they have actually made it so she is *not a god* in the 5e FR setting. She is instead some other ancient power, on the same level as the Archfey, Demon Princes, Dukes of Hell, etc. If she's not a goddess, a cleric of the Raven Queen technically doesn't work at all. The flavour text of the UA article actually calls this out specifically: "Her ability to reach into the world is limited. Thus, she turns to mortal warlocks to serve her will." Warlocks are the closest thing she has to clerics. That said, I've known many DMs who don't particularly care about cleaving to canon when it comes to patron deities - so just because it isn't canon doesn't necessarily mean you can't do it! One player in my group really liked Kord, so the DM ended up replacing Tempus. In the end, which gods are floating about the place generally isn't the most important part of any campaign.
The Half-Elf Bard I'm actually running a game where our Grave Domain Cleric was cursed to die at 30 years of age and was almost tricked into becoming a vampire to break that curse. They resisted... But the party Kenku eventually gave in desiring to fly. Those two are best friends as well so it's been incredible watching them struggle with the grey areas and the true natures of each other.i love the conflicted dynamic they've got going.
You'll be happy for about 5 minutes until you realize that the grave domain doesn't have "Divine Strike" at 8th level, instead you get "Potent Spellcasting".
Nick Ritter If by "giving away" you mean "tell us at least about every subclass that made it in", then I think that's the plan. I'm not sure I like it, but I think that is the plan.
That's exactly what I mean. I was hoping for some suspense for the book, but it's also really cool to get some commentary on the picks, so I'll keep watching them.
Nick Ritter I would have loved this if it came about a week or two after the book came out. Right now I to feel it takes out a lot of mystery, suspense and reasons to hype and talk about it.
While I like the idea of selecting a domain, I feel the way they did it in 5e was weird. The subclass system for clerics should have been handled differently. The subclass itself should be a type of cleric - i.e. a crusader, prophet, exorcist, etc. with domain being a sub-selection layered on top of that that grants a smaller set of features. Not only would that have allowed the cleric class to fit a broader range of archetypes, but it would also have allowed them to create a lot more unique and interesting domains.
This class is about keeping the living in this world and the dead beyond it... as they should be. Many real world pantheons saw death as a "Divine Only" area of power... One that mortals should never have any sway over.. other than living with the results of their actions. This Cleric is more of a "Balance" between life and death... they may multiclass and use undead... but even then they would be mere soulless husks like skeletons and zombies used for temporary labor. Harnessing actual souls "personas" would be an affront to their gods... unless they were the souls of people who pissed their gods off... perhaps to repent a god might "assign" an undead thrall to a grave cleric, but only so that soul could work off it's debt to the deity. Unless a vampire was truly a good person in bad circumstance... these clerics would never have anything to do with assisting them as vampires... but maybe a quest to cure them? This Domain may seem wishy washy to others... but it fits a more realistic niche than any of the others, IMHO. My only beef... I added +1 point of healing to the "Keeper of Souls" feature at levels 18,19, and 20. It tweaks em up a smidge without goind OP or breaking the intent. It's free healing with NO resource usage at a decent range... the amount was just a bit too light for the level you attain it at, IMHO... I may up it to add the cleric's wisdom bonus as well, or half of it... gonna see how this works out first.
Serial Killer Bard... A 20+ Charisma and double proficiencies...so they always slay their audience. Or, a Minimal Charisma with zero instrument or performance proficiency. Though they love entertaining and playing for folks... someone inevitably commits suicide whenever they perform. (snicker)
No that the death domain this is a Cleric who serves a benevolent or more benign death god, and thus seeks to eliminate undeath and keep the cycle of life and death in balance.