Arcana Cleric Domain Spell swap

[WalterO’dim]

A player has asked if they can swap out Nystul's Magic Aura for another 2nd Level Wizard Spell. I don’t really have an issue with this considering this is such a niche spell and probably not very useful in the current campaign.

The PC is an Arcana Cleric/Stone Sorcerer and follower of Thautam, the dwarven God of Magic (in 3E anyway). So what spell would be appropriate and balanced?

[strangebloke]

A player has asked if they can swap out Nystul's Magic Aura for another 2nd Level Wizard Spell. I don’t really have an issue with this considering this is such a niche spell and probably not very useful in the current campaign.

The PC is an Arcana Cleric/Stone Sorcerer and follower of Thautam, the dwarven God of Magic (in 3E anyway). So what spell would be appropriate and balanced?

Rope Trick? Detect Thoughts?

TBH, as long its not a cleric spell, he really can't complain.

[Seekergeek]

From the PHB I'd be inclined to go with magic weapon (since he's often credited with blessing their magic arms and armour according to races of stone) or detect thoughts (since in 5e his domain is knowledge). If you are willing to bend the rules already, and want to look at Xanathar's guide, Earthbind or Earthen Grasp may be thematic for a dwarf.

[Man_Over_Game]

From the PHB I'd be inclined to go with magic weapon (since he's often credited with blessing their magic arms and armour according to races of stone) or detect thoughts (since in 5e his domain is knowledge). If you are willing to bend the rules already, and want to look at Xanathar's guide, Earthbind or Earthen Grasp may be thematic for a dwarf.

Magic Weapon definitely seems like the best choice here. Arcana Cleric focuses on using the most arcane energies, he has a dwarven god, he's a dwarf, and he wants to participate in combat.

An Arcana Cleric's job is to provide all of the utility you'd expect from a Wizard while being a medium armored Cleric. I'm not sure if a spell list change would be as effective for this kind of player than a rebuild.

[WalterO’dim]

Magic Weapon is a great choice but it is already on the Domain list!

[Man_Over_Game]

Magic Weapon is a great choice but it is already on the Domain list!

Uh....crap!

Enlarge/Reduce? Levitate?

[Seekergeek]

Magic Weapon is a great choice but it is already on the Domain list!

Dinger! I...I didn't look.

[Vogie]

I'd say levitate. It's a handy spell to have that acts as a pile of abilities in one. Move things, send an unwilling target wheeling, self-only feather fall, give the archer a boost, leap tall buildings in a single really slow bound...

[DarkKnightJin]

My suggestion: Ask the player to list the spells they'd like in the place of Nystul's, and see which one matches the character/deity the best.

My Death Cleric has a mostly custom Domain Spell list, with only Death Ward and Vampiric Touch left from the DMG list.
I talked about it with my DM, and got a list of spells that fit with my character and his background/backstory. That's how my Dragonborn Cleric ended up with Find Steed as a domain spell. And it's been wonderful flavor and RP. Haven't gotten to use it in combat. At all. But I don't want to risk my Steed in a fight, because it's a spirit sent by my deity to help me out. I can't send it off to get mauled!

[MrStabby]

One of the following could be a good fit.

Arcane Lock
Locate Object
Magic Mouth
See Invisibility

[Man_Over_Game]

One of the following could be a good fit.

Arcane Lock
Locate Object
Magic Mouth
See Invisibility

The problem with those is that the player is feeling like he's not contributing enough in combat.

My counter is that the Arcana Cleric is not designed for combat. It's like a Knowledge Cleric, but using spells instead of skills. But that doesn't necessarily help the player's dilemma, and we should probably focus on a combat spell to make them feel more comfortable with their choice.

[MrStabby]

The problem with those is that the player is feeling like he's not contributing enough in combat.

My counter is that the Arcana Cleric is not designed for combat. It's like a Knowledge Cleric, but using spells instead of skills. But that doesn't necessarily help the player's dilemma, and we should probably focus on a combat spell to make them feel more comfortable with their choice.

I missed the post on "feeling like he's not contributing in combat".

I think Arcana cleric is one of the best domains - I would be happy with swapping spells out for thematic purposes of if it wouldn't be useful in the campaign. I would not be comfortable swapping it with something much better though and certainly not a spell from a spell list of a class another PC was playing or wanting to play.

Niche domain spells can be really cool though - they come prepared so no worries about not having them prepared, just really cool when you can use them.

Another option is to slightly stretch the rules on Magic Aura. Use it to circumvent alarm spells by registering as tiny, allow the PC to show up as an illusion to true sight and so on.

[BarneyBent]

Maybe rather than swapping out this spell, allow him to take Booming Blade or Greenflame Blade as a cantrip, if he hasn’t already. They’re already available to Arcana Clerics, and they provide a great little boost to melee damage output that scales with level. If he already has one or both of those and feels like he’s still not doing well enough in combat, well that’s a bit strange to me, but you could also give him access to either the Shillelagh cantrip, or homebrew a magic warhammer that keys off Wisdom.