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MagneticKitty
2017-08-11, 03:05 PM
revamped the class.. let me know what you think? Thanks.

Sufferance Domain
The gods of sufferance- including Ilmater the god of suffering, Torm the god of truth, and Tyre the god of justice – promote the ideas of retribution, trial, sacrifice, and lawfulness. Some of these gods use the symbol of justice’s scales, protective armor, or binding ropes to represent protection, order, and legislation. Clerics of the Sufferance domain teach that evil will be punished, and deliverance can come to those in even the most cruel or hopeless of situations.

Cleric Level Spells
1st Arms of Agathys, Cure wounds
3rd Branding Smite, Lesser restoration
5th Aura of Vitality, Vampiric Touch
7th Staggering Smite, Stoneskin
9th Banishing Smite, Reincarnate

Bonus Proficiencies
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with the whip and flail. Your gain the language Sign Language, which is an exotic language. At level one you gain the cantrip minor illusion (if you use the sound portion of this cantrip, it still counts as breaking your vow)

Silent Vigil
At 1st level, You swear a vow of silence to your god. Your suffering has granted you enhanced durability. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class. While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit. If you wish to cast a spell that requires both verbal and somatic components you must have two empty hands, one for sign language and one for Somatic/materials. If you are casting a smite spell or healing spell you may ignore the voice component of the spell. If you break your vow of silence you must atone with your deity. Your DM may chose one of the following punishments, or may create their own. (alternatively roll 1d4 and chose from the table below)
1) You take 1d4 per cleric level radiant damage
2) You must stay up one night praying (you gain one level exhaustion which you may not heal using your own spells)
3) You must burn 5d20 gold point’s worth of incense, herbs, or offerings
4) You are stricken blind for the next hour. (which you may not heal using your own spells)

Channel Divinity
Starting at the 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to bear the pain of others.

Chanel Divinity: Silent Martyr
As an action you may touch a creature, taking its pain away and bearing it as your own. Chose a single creature, and touch it with your holy symbol, you may chose to roll a number of d4s equal to your cleric level. You take 1 psychic damage for each d4 that is rolled. The creature heals the result of the dice.

If you are reduced to 0 in this way (or from any future abilities that do psychic damage to yourself), you become unconscious from the pain, but stable.

Vitality Transferal
Your familiarity with the flow of pain from one being to another has gotten you used to transferring this energy. Beginning at 6th level, when you deal damage with smite spells you gain temporary hit points equal to the spell level expended. In addition when you use the Channel Divinity Turn Undead to destroy undead, you gain 1 temporary hit point per undead destroyed.

Divine Strike
Beginning at 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with psychic energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 psychic damage to the target. When you reach the 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Sacrificial Empathy
Starting at 17th level, when you would normally roll one or more dice to restore hit points with a spell, you instead use the highest number possible for each die. When you do so, you apply your proficiency bonus to the amount of HP they recover. For example, instead of restoring 2d6 hit points to a creature, you restore 12 + your proficiency. When you use this, you take your proficiency as psychic damage to yourself.



Sufferance Domain
The gods of sufferance- including Ilmater the god of suffering, Torm the god of truth, and Tyre the god of justice – promote the ideas of retribution, trial, sacrifice, and lawfulness. Some of these gods use the symbol of justice’s scales, protective armor, or binding ropes to represent protection, order, and legislation. Clerics of the Sufferance domain teach that evil will be punished, and deliverance can come to those in even the most cruel or hopeless of situations.

Cleric Level Spells
1st Arms of Agathys, Identify
3rd Branding Smite, Pass without a trace
5th Aura of Vitality, Vampiric Touch
7th Staggering Smite, Stoneskin
9th Banishing Smite, Reincarnate

Bonus Proficiencies
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with all martial weapons.

Silent Disciple
Starting at level 1 when you chose this domain, your hit points at first level is now calculated as 12 + your constitution modifier. Any additional levels gain HP as normal per the class features section.
In addition, you may not cast spells with voice component unless they are the range touch or self. Spells meeting this qualification may ignore voice component and may be performed while silenced or without speaking (such as underwater, while holding your breath, and so on). Also at level one you can perform the 1st level spell Silent Image as a cantrip. When you do so in this way, the range of this spell becomes Self, and there is no check needed to determine that it is an illusion, nearby creatures who can see it automatically know it is an illusion unless the creature is below 6 intelligence. If so make the insight check as normal. Ignore the voice component of this spell. Anytime you use a spell with “Smite” in the name, you also take the lowest hit dice’s rolled value as psychic damage to yourself.

Channel Divinity
Starting at the 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to bear the pain of others.

Chanel Divinity: Silent Martyr
As an action you may touch a creature, taking its pain away and bearing it as your own. Chose a single creature, and touch it with your holy symbol, you can restore a creature a number of hit points up to 5 times your cleric level. Roll 1d4.

On a 1 Take the full amount of hp that that you healed as psychic damage to yourself.
On a 2, 3 or 4 Take half the amount of hp that you healed as psychic damage to yourself.

If you are reduced to 0 in this way (or from any future healing abilities that do psychic damage to yourself), you become unconscious from the pain, but stable.

Vitality Transferal and Mental Warding
Beginning at 6th level, when you use the Channel Divinity Turn Undead to destroy undead, you gain ˝ of the max HP of the weakest undead (measured by amount of HP) that was destroyed as self healing. This increases to the two weakest undead creatures destroyed at level 8th, increasing once each time the cr of the creatures increases as per the destroy undead table, up until 5 undead creatures at level 17th. In Addition you now have resistance to psychic damage (including self inflicted psychic damage).

Divine Strike
Beginning at 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with psychic energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 psychic damage to the target. When you reach the 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Sacrificial Empathy
Starting at 17th level, when you heal a creature other than yourself, you can chose to do the maximum amount the spell can heal. Also apply your proficiency bonus to the amount of HP they recover. When you use this, you take double your proficiency as psychic damage to yourself.

Ugganaut
2017-08-12, 07:29 AM
On first read through, it sounds like you tried to make being mute into the domain, but it doesn't seem to make sense - what does suffering have to do with silence?
So for me personally, the flavor doesn't make sense.

Domain Spells - They should be spells centered around causing or alleviating suffering shouldn't they? Cure Wounds and Dissonant Whispers would make more sense for example.

Silent Disciple
- What the minor increase in HP, and why only at 1st level? If their self flagellation during prayer to their god of suffering has made them more hardy, then the "1hp/level" mechanic would fit better imo.
- "you may not cast spells with voice component unless they are the range touch or self." This is where I got completely lost. Why won't a god of suffering let you use verbal components...but let you use touch or self verbal component spells?
- Silent Image? Where did that come from? What does an illusion spell have to do with suffering? Silent Image is not a cantrip. If you want to use it at-will, take a look at the warlock invocation Misty Visions for how to word it. The range of the illusions is self? Totally lost again. Why not just use Change Self? And you randomly ignore the verbal component again. Then smites do psychic damage, why?

I like the idea of a vow of silence, I could see that for a speaking person, and if they used a spell with the verbal component, they'd take 1 psychic damage per level of spell. So casting a heal spell, he'd have to be willing to be punished for breaking his vow. Under that initial feature, it should have a pretty decent payoff, as hurting yourself is pretty nasty. He might gain a lay on hands type ability, and he uses that to heal, but if he needs more than that, he can get it only by taking damage. Plus doing something other than healing with a verbal component will hurt too, so that would take some balancing.

But you don't seem to be looking for a suffering domain, more an ability to allow you to be a caster without using verbal components.
Sorcerer metamagic Subtle Spell is what you're looking for, somehow getting that into a theme that fits it.
Mystic is another one, they don't have any verbal components, and the class even grants Telepathy.
If its a cleric you really want to play, then maybe a domain focused around silence or disability, or maybe even a mentalist domain, where the level 1 feature is "When you cast a spell, you can cast it without any somatic or verbal components."

Hope thats helpful, sorry if I didn't understand the concept.

Ugganaut
2017-08-12, 07:38 AM
Another thought, just make a feat called Silent Caster. Use the frame work of the War Caster feat which allows you to cast somatic spells while your hands are busy.
So while one hand is doing the somatic/material components, the other hand is doing the verbal.

eg. "You can use one hand to use sign language to speak the verbal components of a spell. If the spell also has somatic or material components, you must have both hands free".
If it wasn't too powerful, you might even add the Ghostwise halflings telepathy feature somehow, but for the needs of a mute, that would work fine. Then you can play whatever you like :)

MagneticKitty
2017-08-12, 10:52 AM
@Ugganaut

part of the idea is that they would punish the unlawful, or seek vengeance on behalf of victims. so that's why they get some of the spells they do. I like the idea of voice level spells doing self harm as well. for reference, I built it for a NPC in my campaign. Silent image is for the express purpose of having some sort of communication being as the idea of the character is completely mute. I think I will redo the HP, I was just thinking more might be unbalanced and make it too powerful, but I suppose with the self harm and inability to wear heavy armor, they need some tanking for all that damage they'll be taking. the whole touch and self range was to limit the idea of voiceless casting, if they could cast without their voice on all spells it'd be overpowered. punishing wrongdoers and healing the weak, and also gave them some offense spells as their domain spells because the whole touch and self limits their spell pool, they really don't get much offensively otherwise.
so thematically needs work, but mechanically mostly OK?
I didn't want them to get straight telepathy, that's what the illusion is for, the ability to communicate simple ideas and maybe even write in the air magically. I thought it would be fun and interesting to role play. I might make it not bound to a spell, since maybe that's confusing?

thanks for the input.

Ugganaut
2017-08-12, 08:14 PM
part of the idea is that they would punish the unlawful, or seek vengeance on behalf of victims.
That's vengeance, not really suffering as a theme. Maybe make a Vengeance domain, and use the Oath of Vengeance from Paladin as your inspiration.


Silent image is for the express purpose of having some sort of communication being as the idea of the character is completely mute.
Minor Illusion would do the trick. You don't need to limit it to fit your characters needs, it needs limits to be balanced in general.


I think I will redo the HP, I was just thinking more might be unbalanced and make it too powerful.
There is already a mechanic for it, so shouldn't be unbalanced using the 1hp/level. Try to have a thematic reason for having it though.


the whole touch and self range was to limit the idea of voiceless casting, if they could cast without their voice on all spells it'd be overpowered.
Why is it overpowered? The War Caster feat gets around somatic components, gives advantage on Con checks for spells, and allows a Booming Blade or Fire Bolt(as examples) as an opportunity attack. It might feel really powerful for a mute character, but for a non-mute character the uses are probably for stealth reasons, or to get around a silence spell. I'm not saying it isn't a strong benefit, that might need certain conditions to be met like "both hands free", but its not increasing your power to much. Subtle Spell costs 1SP, and ignores both verbal and somatic. That is strong, and really useful in a variety of circumstances, but there is a reason it cost 1SP, as opposed to a Heightened Spell costing 3SP.


so thematically needs work, but mechanically mostly OK?
Thematically and mechanically its extremely messy in my opinion. Sorry if that sounds harsher than intended, its only my opinion. I don't think its unbalanced at a glance, its just all over the place. Instead of making a domain to fit a theme, you seem to have created the domain to fit your character, so you've squeezed these strange things in to help out the mute, that don't really fit. Giving resistance to psychic damage for example, seems like something you what to avoid the damage your taking, which defeats the purpose of taking the damage(suffering). Also psychic resistance is very general and that doesn't make sense for the domain either. Just say you take half the psychic damage when causing self harm from the domains features, because "you're used to the pain", if thats your intent.


I didn't want them to get straight telepathy, that's what the illusion is for, the ability to communicate simple ideas and maybe even write in the air magically. I thought it would be fun and interesting to role play. I might make it not bound to a spell, since maybe that's confusing?
Again, this is tailoring it specifically to the character you wish to roleplay, instead of the general concept - communication without speaking. The idea is good though, I think it would be fun to roleplay someone like that, and not rely on telepathy.

I really like the idea of the suffering domain, connecting the causing and relieving of pain. I was giving it a shot this morning to try and give you an idea of the theme, using the Life domain as a comparison for balance, and also used the Tempest domain's Destructive Wrath as a guide for Channel Divinity. I got a bit carried away, but I think I might add this to domain to my game :smallsmile:
Sufferance Domain (http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/H1i5B-aPZ).

I also did up a feat for casting without the verbal component. The Sign Language is extremely limited to others who know that language, but its more for the flavor. Ignoring the verbal component means you can't be using a weapon and shield/2W/2H, and if its a V with S or M, you can't have a weapon or a shield. So it has a limitation, but nothing crippling. I put War Caster beside it so you can compare for balance. The feat might be underpowered, but as long as its not overpowered, it suits your needs and fits the non-speaking concept. To help judge gaining a cantrip from a feat, you can check out Magic Initiate(any two classes cantrips, not a specific one) or Spell Sniper(any attack roll cantrip, not a specific one).

Ugganaut
2017-08-12, 09:14 PM
For your purposes, remove the telepathy from the feat.
Personally I don't see adding the very limited telepathy as over powered, it's only allowing touch communication with languages that you already know, that others can do at a distance.

MagneticKitty
2017-08-15, 12:17 AM
telepathy is not overpowered, it just goes against the grain of what I wanted. which was a unique role play experience that didn't involve talking. XD
I'm redoing mine again.

In my opinion some of yours is cool, but I don't like all of it. So I might smash it together and see where I am. I hope you're inclined to take a look afterwards.

also your channel divinity makes no sense. doesn't say how long it lasts or what kind of action it uses. it should say like "as an action.... the next spell you perform.."
or "use as part of an action used to cast a spell" or something

Ugganaut
2017-08-15, 06:53 AM
I was trying to make a balanced themed feat(which I can also use in our games), you could easily remove the telepathy if its not what you're after.
I did both more as an example, wasn't suggesting you use them. Although I liked doing them, so am working the domain a bit more to use as well.
I'll keep an eye out when you make your changes.

The Channel Divinity doesn't use an action or duration, it can be triggered when the conditions are met: Roll damage for a cleric spell of 1st level or higher. So I guess its a "no action" and "instantaneous".
It's just a modified version of the Destructive Wrath CD from the Tempest domain in the PHB pg62. The maximized damage seem to fit a suffering domain, but needed to be balanced out so added the self-harm aspect.

McNinja
2017-08-16, 05:57 AM
I have one fairly petty point to make:

It's verbal and Somatic, not voice and semantic.

All in all I agree with Ugganaut. It's a great concept, just needs to be cleaned up.

MagneticKitty
2017-11-04, 12:11 PM
I have one fairly petty point to make:

It's verbal and Somatic, not voice and semantic.

All in all I agree with Ugganaut. It's a great concept, just needs to be cleaned up.

Fixed. and edited.
Let me know what you think?