Cleric of Kelemvor

[TerakasTaranath]

I am DMing a game this Sunday where I plan to reward my party's cleric of Kelemvor with a new holy symbol and I could use some help. I wanted it to be super flavorful and unique. She's level 4 (will be 5 when adventures done probably) and her domain is grave.

So any suggestions would be great, as of now my only idea is to kinda flavor a headband of intellect but for clerics like giving her a 19 wisdom and such.

[BobZan]

A headband giving 19 wis isn't flavorful, IMO.

What about an ankh-like weapon that she could use to attack and cast from it with +1 to attacks/spell attacks and DCs?

[Rebel4ever85]

The best reward would be...
A bone staff that has the ability to cast the spell "Animate Dead" once per day, it also whispers abandon Kelemvor and follow Myrkul! Who ever heard of a god of the dead that didn't like Undead! Bah!

[saucerhead]

Her new holy symbol could work like a fluffed Wand of the War Mage, only for the devoted of Kelemvor.

[Man_Over_Game]

Kelemvor was a kind god, but now he's callous and he fits the role exceedingly well. He's completely fair, and he doesn't take emotions into part of his job, despite once being human.

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I'm thinking that the item bonds to you, and any allies you're near to when you sleep. Once a day, when one of your allies takes damage that would drop them to 0 HP, you can choose to spend your reaction to take the damage instead, as long as you can see your ally and are within 60 feet of them. Your allies can also do the same for you, as long as they can see you and are within range. Once the damage is moved, it cannot be reduced in any way.

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See, Kelemvor probably doesn't like it when people raise the dead, or the undead. He also doesn't like reckless killing, as he probably doesn't like having to do more work. But he's still the God of the Dead, so while "stopping death because I like this person" probably isn't something he's cool with, "reorganizing the mortality rate amongst the living" seems like something he'd be totally fine with. In addition, it means you won't have to be raising your dead friends as often, and he'd really like that. It's not too terribly powerful, since it only works once a day with no damage mitigation possible, so SOMEONE is still taking a butt-load of damage, but now it won't kill anybody (probably).

You want to avoid making anything too powerful, as the characters are only level 4-5, so I think this fits rather well.

[MagneticKitty]

Maybe a symbol carved from bone...
Can cast deathward once per day?

[Man_Over_Game]

Maybe a symbol carved from bone...
Can cast deathward once per day?

Death Ward is a level 4 spell that lasts 8 hours.

Keep in mind, these are level 4/5 characters, who only start to get access to level 3 spells starting at level 5.

The only way I'd see it be balanced to cast Death Ward (or a Death Ward-esc effect), was if it broke upon use. A one-time death prevention spell.

[saucerhead]

"reorganizing the mortality rate amongst the living"

Ha! I like that.
Everyone is sharing the load, kind of like an instant Warding Bond, once a day.

[Theodoxus]

Might want to do something like the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind from Curse of Strahd. Where the HSoR is vampire themed, I'd probably suggest making yours more generic Undead themed.

Perhaps 10 charges regaining 1d6+4 at dawn, with the following abilities:

Hold Undead. As an action, you can expend 1 charge and present the holy symbol to make it flare with holy power. Undead within 30 feet of the holy symbol when it flares must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a target is paralyzed for 1 minute. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the effect on itself. Holds a maximum number of Undead HD equal to your character level.
Turn Undead. If you have the-Turn Undead or the Turn the Unholy feature, you can expend 3 charges when you present the holy symbol while using that feature. When you do so, undead have disadvantage on their saving throws against the effect.

Suffer Kelemvor's Wrath. You can expend 5 charges and a single undead you can see within 30 feet of you must make a DC 15 Wisdom Saving Throw. On a failed save, the target is Vulnerable to all damage dealt to it until the start of your next turn.

[Nifft]

Who ever heard of a god of the dead that didn't like Undead! Bah!

"I'm the god of happiness."

"Therefore you must like unhappiness, right?"

"No, no, no, that's literally the opposite of what I represent. You can tell by the prefix 'un-' right in front of the thing."

[Arkhios]

Kelemvor's favored weapon is (was) a bastard sword. Give the player a longsword that grants proficiency to it and is usable as a holy symbol for a worshiper of Kelemvor. Maybe +1 that deals a 1d8 extra damage against undead creatures.

[TerakasTaranath]

Kelemvor's favored weapon is (was) a bastard sword. Give the player a longsword that grants proficiency to it and is usable as a holy symbol for a worshiper of Kelemvor. Maybe +1 that deals a 1d8 extra damage against undead creatures.

I really like this idea. Maybe it could have a bone decorated handle?

[Louro]

Titles:
Lord of the Dead
Judge of the Damned
The Great Guide
Lord of the Crystal Spire

He definitively hates undead.
A medallion wich makes all creatures slayed in the cleric's presence uneligible to be raised as undead.
Or detect undead, or maybe advantage when rolling to turn undead.

If undead are not a thing in your campaign then... something that lets the cleric know half the alignment of maybe resistance to necrotic stuff.

I'm not a big fan of the classic boring +1 sword.

[Man_Over_Game]

I really like this idea. Maybe it could have a bone decorated handle?


Titles:
Lord of the Dead
Judge of the Damned
The Great Guide
Lord of the Crystal Spire

He definitively hates undead.
A medallion wich makes all creatures slayed in the cleric's presence uneligible to be raised as undead.
Or detect undead, or maybe advantage when rolling to turn undead.

If undead are not a thing in your campaign then... something that lets the cleric know half the alignment of maybe resistance to necrotic stuff.

I'm not a big fan of the classic boring +1 sword.

How about this?

Grants resistance to Necrotic damage. Can cast Gentle Repose once per day. Deals extra 1d4 to undead. Can be used as a spellcasting focus.

[Arkhios]

I'm not a big fan of the classic boring +1 sword.

What I suggested wasn't just a +1 sword.
it had an extra damage vs. undead and functions as a holy symbol for a specific group of people.

[TerakasTaranath]

How about this?

Grants resistance to Necrotic damage. Can cast Gentle Repose once per day. Deals extra 1d4 to undead. Can be used as a spellcasting focus.

I think this sounds pretty good, I'll make the D4 radiant damage as well. I'll decorate it with a bone handle as well for the extra Kelemvor vibe.

[Arkhios]

I think this sounds pretty good, I'll make the D4 radiant damage as well. I'll decorate it with a bone handle as well for the extra Kelemvor vibe.

To be honest, I'd take it one step further:
This grim looking longsword is fashioned entirely from bone but is as durable as steel.

DMG page 143 has a wonderful table for Minor Properties to add flavor for magic items, and one of my favorites is Strange Material (The item was created from a material that is bizarre given its purpose. Its durability is unaffected.)

[Rebel4ever85]

"I'm the god of happiness."

"Therefore you must like unhappiness, right?"

"No, no, no, that's literally the opposite of what I represent. You can tell by the prefix 'un-' right in front of the thing."

You know undead are dead right? they are literally animated corpses which does not give them life. Myrkul and Jergal were god of the dead way before Kelemvor came around and they both supported necromancy.

Its nothing like being the "god whatever and sticking "un" infront of the random prefix..rather more like god of fire supporting arsonists or the god of sailors supporting pirates.

[Man_Over_Game]

I think this sounds pretty good, I'll make the D4 radiant damage as well. I'll decorate it with a bone handle as well for the extra Kelemvor vibe.

I'd call it Kelemvor's Command. With the abilities and the fact that it's a holy symbol that's a literal sword, it's very clear exactly what his "command" was.

[Nifft]

You know undead are dead right?

The undead only become the dead after sufficient stabbing, bashing, and magical blasting.

The dead only become undead after sufficient magic animates them.

Life, death, and undeath are all different things.



Myrkul and Jergal were god of the dead way before Kelemvor came around and they both supported necromancy. "This one guy who was bad at his job and got replaced, he's the example which should be followed."

No.


IIRC right now Jergal serves Kelevmor so he's not supporting anything Kelevmor dislikes.

[Louro]

Actually Jergal has the record of all beings that once were. I guess it would be pretty useful if you wanna check if someone's dead or not.