How to go about the Justice Domain

[Specter]

The church of St. Cuthbert is about to have a great impact on my game, so I've been thinking about bringing 3.5's Justice Domain back to us.

So far I've got for spells:
1-compelled duel, sanctuary
2-hold person, zone of truth
3-counterspell, spirit guardians
4-banishment, otiluke's resilient sphere
5-dispel evil and good, immolation

As for the abilities, I've been thinking of things that would make the cleric better at tanking. Heavy armor and martial weapons are a given. What kind of class features would sit well with this?

[MrStabby]

I would be very careful with this. From the spell list here you are already getting some of the best spells in 5th as domain spells. Switching out banishment and counterspell should keep the theme but help the domain be just a little less powerful.

[Lombra]

Wouldn't a LN/LG war cleric fulfill the task? War domain has all the tools to pursue justice imo.

[DivisibleByZero]

I would be very careful with this. From the spell list here you are already getting some of the best spells in 5th as domain spells. Switching out banishment and counterspell should keep the theme but help the domain be just a little less powerful.

Those were my thoughts exactly

[Joe the Rat]

So where does Justice sit on the Capture/Judgement/Penalty sequence?

Does Vengeance Paladin carry any appropriate goodies? Hunter's Mark, for example.
If your job is to root out the bad, something divining could be a good fit on list.

Survival, Insight, Investigation - proficiency or expertise in one as a feature?

A damage rebuke seems like a good feature - Something akin to the Tempest's lightning/thunder rebuke could go online at level2 - make it Radiant. If you wanted to wait on this, you could have a higher level attack-return (hits target with damage that you were dealt). Almost suggests AoA or Fire Shield as a spell option, but I rather like the image of "you hit me with a huge blood-gushing slash, and a blood-gushing slash erupts on your body"

[Specter]

I would be very careful with this. From the spell list here you are already getting some of the best spells in 5th as domain spells. Switching out banishment and counterspell should keep the theme but help the domain be just a little less powerful.

Banishment is already on the cleric list, so I see no problem with that. I found no other 4th level spell to be as thematic (locate creature, perhaps?)


Wouldn't a LN/LG war cleric fulfill the task? War domain has all the tools to pursue justice imo.

It could be, but I see these guys more as inquisitors than generals.


So where does Justice sit on the Capture/Judgement/Penalty sequence?

Does Vengeance Paladin carry any appropriate goodies? Hunter's Mark, for example.
If your job is to root out the bad, something divining could be a good fit on list.

Survival, Insight, Investigation - proficiency or expertise in one as a feature?

A damage rebuke seems like a good feature - Something akin to the Tempest's lightning/thunder rebuke could go online at level2 - make it Radiant. If you wanted to wait on this, you could have a higher level attack-return (hits target with damage that you were dealt). Almost suggests AoA or Fire Shield as a spell option, but I rather like the image of "you hit me with a huge blood-gushing slash, and a blood-gushing slash erupts on your body"

I've been thinking exactly about this damage rebuke thing. At level 17, it could be something like "when you drop to 0hp, all hostile creatures within 30 feet of you take x damage", I think.

[smcmike]

I see these guys more as inquisitors than generals.

Are heavy armor and weapons a given, then?

Maybe so. It does fit with the D&D lore, I suppose, and almost every class in the game is more capable of violence than non-game archetypes, since the game is largely about violence.

But, still, I imagine an inquisitor employing heavily armed goons, not necessarily being one himself.

I guess my conception of a priestly investigator (Name of the Rose, or Cadfeal) is already well accommodated by the knowledge cleric, though, so carry on.