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Cleric Week Master Post

image credit: Ryan Pancoast

A compilation of links to my Cleric Week posts, including loads of tips and D&D 5e homebrew content for playing and roleplaying a cleric!

Clerical Work: Roleplaying tips and strategies for playing a cleric or if you are a DM for a cleric in your group.

Rituals and Worship: A short guide behind making your own rituals and reasons to worship your chosen deity (no game mechanics involved)

Homebrew Domains: Four new homebrew subclasses (domains) for clerics including the dream domain, fey domain, metal domain, and dragon domain.

New Magic Items: A list of homebrew magic items for clerics or inspired by some deities from the core pantheon.

New/Converted Spells: A list of some healing and buffing spells from 3.5e as well as some homebrew ones, like Extract Poison, Soul Vessel, and Unburden.

Obscure D&D Deities: A hefty list of D&D deities from past editions with ideas for clerics and priests of each deity, including their vestments, symbols, prayers, rites, and shows of power.

Cleric Week: Obscure D&D Deities

image source: The Birth of the Sun and the Triumph of Bacchus (detail), Corrado Giaquinto (1762)

Anyone can Google D&D deities and pick one that they want for their cleric, but great roleplayers really delve into their deities. Here I have compiled a list of over 60 of 3.5e's more obscure gods and goddesses (so excluding the core D&D pantheon because those have been written to death about).

In each entry, I noted their holy symbol and some words associated with their portfolio. Then I went into what a cleric or priest of the deity might wear and what sorts of rituals and rites they might perform. I also noted a sort of phrase that such priests might use as a mantra or just a one-sentence summary of their beliefs. Then I went further and gave an example of how a cleric of that deity might use their Thaumaturgy spell to demonstrate their deity’s power, usually in some way that doesn’t replicate a useful game mechanic, but more in a way that might intimidate someone or demonstrate your divine might.

Most of this is homebrewed, while the deities themselves, symbols, and some rituals were taken from the books where they originated, so feel free to tweak these how you see fit! This is not a full list. I am missing some even more obscure gods like from the Lords of Madness book, as well as powerful nondeities like archdevils and archangels and whatnot, and with the length of this list I am sure it is riddled with typos or mistakes which I will try and correct when I find them. But I hope this list inspires you to explore further into these deities or invent some of your own! Feel free to add to the list when you reblog it if you have ideas for a deity I missed.

Aengrist

Symbol: Keep with 2 towers on a gray glacier.

Portfolio: cold, order, protection, good.

Garb: Paladin’s armor and practical furs for patrolling the Frostfell. Colors are usually gray or white, featured largely on a flowing cape.

Rites: Ritualistically carving hunks of ice into perfect cubes, symbolically bestowing order upon it. Sheltering/defending travelers, or building fortified citadels to bring order to the Frostfell.

Phrase: “I offer you my blade in the name of Aengrist.”

Thaumaturgy: A platform of ice rises from the ground for you to tower over others to offer leadership with your booming voice.

#dungeons & dragons #D&D 5e #deities #gods #cleric week #cleric #paladin #druid #DnD 5e #DnD #D&D #dungeons and dragons #demigods #goddesses #religion #roleplaying #culture #rites #rituals #thaumaturgy #holy symbol

Cleric Week: New Magic Items

image: Sarira Reliquary, Daegu National Museum, Korea

Here is a collection of D&D 5e homebrew magic items designed with clerics in mind. Many can be used by non-clerics, especially the ones simply inspired by the core pantheon of Dungeons & Dragons deities. Hope you enjoy them!

+1 Holy Symbol

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires attunement by a cleric

A cleric attuned to this holy symbol that uses it as their spellcasting focus has +1 to their spell attacks and deals +1 damage with their damaging spells.

Goblet of Purity

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires attunement by a cleric

A cleric attuned to the goblet can bless water poured into it. Water blessed in this way becomes free of disease and becomes crystal clear. Creatures drinking from the goblet are cured of all diseases ailing them.

Blessed Tidestar

Morningstar, Rare, Requires attunement by a cleric

This morningstar is coated in holy water, which flows constantly and magically from coral-like patterns in the head of the weapon down to the spiraling conical spikes adorning it. The holy water does not drip unless swung, and holy water spilled from it disappears where it lands. The weapon deals an additional 1d4 acid damage to undead and fiends, even ones that might be normally immune or resistant to acid damage.

Censor of Divinity

Wondrous Item, Uncommon, Requires attunement by a cleric

Once per day, when incense is burned in the censor and waved about, the cleric can increase the DC of one of their Channel Divinity abilities by 1.

Incense of Peaceful Rest

Wondrous Item, Common

Creatures resting within 60 ft. while this incense burns may heal one hit die in addition to any hit dice spent to heal themselves.

Prayer Beads of Recall

Wondrous Item, Uncommon, Requires attunement by a cleric

As you pray to your deity and run these beads through your fingers, you can teleport yourself and up to 9 allies to the nearest temple of your deity over the course of 1 minute. This ability works once before the beads disappear in a silent flicker of light. A creature must attune to this item by praying in a temple of their deity over a long rest.

Reliquary

Wondrous Item, Varied Rarity, Requires attunement by a cleric

The forms of reliquaries vary greatly. They can be bones or clothes of saints or notable religious figures or pieces of history from your religion, and can be completely unadorned or within an intricate vessel or chest ranging in size but usually able to be carried on your person. A reliquary can have one or more abilities based on its rarity:

Rare: The reliquary can cast Lesser Restoration on a creature that touches it once per day. The object passively emits daylight out to 30 ft. and dim light for another 30 ft.

Very Rare: The reliquary has the abilities of a rare reliquary. In addition, the reliquary can grant a creature that touches it an effect similar to a Bless spell for 1 hour once per day. This ability does not stack with other Bless spells. Creatures within 30 ft. of the reliquary also cannot become frightened.

Legendary: The reliquary has the abilities of a rare and very rare reliquary. In addition, the reliquary can cast Heal on a creature that touches it once per day and creatures slain within 60 ft. of the reliquary cannot be turned into undead.

Book of Boccob

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires attunement

Poring over this book grants the attuned user a +1 bonus on arcana and religion checks. The book can also be used once a week to cast a Commune spell.

Exquisite Mantle of Corellon Larethian

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires attunement

This item cannot be attuned to a Drow, Orc, or Half-Orc; races despised by Corellon Larethian. The cloak can be used once per day to shroud the attuned creature in unearthly beauty. All creatures within 60 ft. that can see the creature must make a CHA saving throw with a DC of 13. Evil creatures that fail become frightened and blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. Nonevil, nongood creatures that fail become frightened and blinded for 1 round. Good creatures that fail suffer no ill effects.

Burrowing Arrow of Gruumsh

Any arrow or bolt, Uncommon, Requires attunement

Elves cannot attune to this item; a race despised by Gruumsh. This arrow is tipped with a red stone arrowhead with an eye carved into it. The shaft has a texture like that of a rat. When the arrow hits a creature with a discernible anatomy, it transforms into a rabid rat that gnaws deeper into the hit creature. The rat deals 1d6 damage on the start of each of the creature’s turns until they rip it out with a DC 11 STR check or by dealing 5 damage to it.

Claw of Nerull

Rod, Uncommon, Requires attunement

This disembodied skeletal forearm is tipped with a pointing finger and is covered with dried blood. When the command word is spoken and the rod is pointed at a living creature of Large size or smaller up to 30 ft. away, skeletal hands emerge from the ground and grasp at the creature, holding them in place for up to 1 minute. The creature must make a DC 15 DEX saving throw to evade the emerging hands or a DC 16 STR saving throw to break free of them. The rod can be used in this way once per day.

Hextor’s Gauntlet of Dominion

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires attunement

A black iron spiked gauntlet that oils itself with blood and sweat. Once per day you may clench the gauntlet into a fist before you. You may cast Command as a bonus action targeting a creature that can hear and see you within 60 ft. Each round that you maintain concentration and keep your fist clenched for up to 1 minute, you can cast Command again as a bonus action, but you must target the same creature with it each round. While your fist is clenched in this way you cannot use it for other actions such as attacking or holding things.

Briarknot Armor of Obad-Hai

Armor, Rare, Requires attunement

A brooch that looks like a fetish of leaves, twigs, and flowers that can be affixed to your clothing. When the command word is spoken, it rapidly grows to cover your body in a form-fitting armor of thorny vines. The armor changes your base AC to 17 (no benefit from DEX bonus). Creatures that touch you or hit you with a natural or unarmed melee attack take 1d6 piercing damage. The armor wilts and dies when the command word is spoken once more, but the brooch remains intact to be called upon again.

Ruby Dagger of Wee Jas

Dagger, Very Rare, Requires attunement by a cleric

This +1 dagger is made from a shard of a large magical ruby and has an intricate golden hilt. When a creature is slain by this dagger their soul exits their body, ignites, and surges towards the nearest enemy within 30 ft., dealing 7d6 fire damage before leaving for the afterlife. A creature that makes a DC 15 DEX saving throw takes only half of this damage.

Vessel of Vecna

Wondrous Item, Uncommon

A skull of a humanoid that was missing their left eye. When a secret, thought, or memory is whispered to the skull’s face, it causes its good eye socket to glow with a tiny point of green light. The creature that whispered to the vessel completely forgets their thought, memory, or secret and cannot recall it even through magical means. It is as if they never knew it in the first place and are forbidden from thinking about it further. A creature that whispers a command word to a vessel with such a glow within it learns the secret held within, emptying the vessel once more. Destroying a Vessel of Vecna with a secret stored within it does not restore the memories of the initial creature.

Yondalla’s Blessed Seeds

Wondrous Item, Uncommon

These simple-looking seeds come in a pouch featuring Yondalla’s holy symbol on the side. A pouch typically contains 2d4+1 seeds when found. When one of the seeds is thrown onto a patch of dirt at least 5 ft. in diameter, it rapidly grows into a full-grown tree over the course of one round. The tree is about 4 feet in diameter and is 60 feet in height. Climbing such a tree requires a DC 12 Athletics or Acrobatics check.

Hammer of Moradin

Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires attunement

This item can be used as a warhammer. If attuned to a dwarf, it is instead treated as a +1 warhammer. Once per day, the hammer can be used to repair any item made of metal or stone up to a 10-ft. cube. Alternatively, it can be used to cast Fabricate but only on stone or metal material.

Dowsing Rod of Garl Glittergold

Rod, Uncommon, Requires attunement

This golden rod can be used once per day to point its wielder in the direction of the largest collection of wealth (in gems and/or minerals) within 500 ft.

Ehlonna’s Horn

Wondrous Item, Very Rare, Requires attunement by a non-evil cleric, druid, paladin, or ranger

This spiraling white horn can be blown to summon a Unicorn mount. The unicorn serves faithfully and will fight for the creature it is attuned to but if it is asked to perform an evil act then it will vanish and the horn will crumble into pieces. The unicorn cannot cast its Teleport spell and cannot use its Legendary Actions while summoned in this way. When the unicorn is slain it instead vanishes, returning to the place it was summoned from. The horn can only be used during a new moon (once a month) and only one unicorn can be summoned at a time.

Cleric Week: Homebrew Domains

Dream Domain

image credit: Brom

A strange cleric that worships the sleeping world of dreams and obscure deities. The dream domain cleric learns to travel inside of the dreamscape, a series of demiplanes that exist somewhere between the astral, material, and shadow planes; one such demiplane for every sleeping creature. As masters of dreams, they can learn your most secret thoughts, memories, and fears, as well as receive visions of the future from their own dreams. I recommend using Scrying, Augury, and other divination spells while asleep to simulate this; clerics already have a wide access to divination magic. Sehanine Moonbow is an elven deity specifically of dreams, but you could also make arguments for deities of illusion, magic, or shadows.

Domain Spells:

1: Sleep, Charm Person

3: Augury, Calm Emotions

5: Hypnotic Pattern, Fear

7: Phantasmal Killer, Hallucinatory Terrain

9: Dream, Scrying

Domain Abilities:

Dream Splendor- Beginning at 1st level, you have immunity to the frightened condition.

Channel Divinity: Dream Delve- Beginning at 2nd level, you can travel into the realm of dreams. You target a sleeping, sentient creature up to 60 ft. away. The creature must succeed at a WIS saving throw against your spell save DC to resist the effect. If the creature fails, you astrally project your spirit into the target’s dreamscape. The dreamscape’s appearance is at the will of the DM, and could be an abstract, surreal, or realistic scene. Traversing the dreamscape gives you insight into the target’s thoughts and memories as you will it, but closely guarded secrets require either a CHA check of 18 to uncover or you must overcome an encounter in the dream, at the DM’s discretion. For instance, the information of a vault’s combination might be guarded by actual guardians in the dreamscape, or by a convoluted puzzle or trap. You may also use the dreamscape to send a message to the creature which they will receive as soon as they awaken, although they are aware it was not from their own thoughts. If you or an ally is reduced to 0 HP in the dreamscape, their spirit returns to their resting body and they gain 1 level of exhaustion.

Dream Caravan- Beginning at 6th level, you can bring others into the realm of dreams with you when you use your Dream Delve ability, up to 9 other creatures. While inside of a dreamscape, you can travel to the dreamscapes of nearby sleeping creatures up to five miles away with each jump. In addition, you can plant a Suggestion (as the spell) in the target’s mind which they receive once they awaken.

Nightmarish Resolve- Beginning at 8th level, you add your WIS modifier to the damage of your damaging cantrips. While in a dreamscape, you instead add 1d8 to one attack on each of your turns. This bonus damage is radiant damage.

Channel Divinity: Nightmare- At level 17, you can use your Channel Divinity to manifest a creature’s greatest fear as an illusion as long as you maintain concentration, up to 1 minute. The creature can attempt to disbelieve it only when interacting with it and after succeeding at a INT saving throw against your spell save DC. While inside of a dreamscape, this ability targets the dreamer. The illusion has physical form inside the dreamscape and gains the frightful presence ability identical to that of a dragon, frightening all creatures near it within the dreamscape. The targeted creature takes 4d10 psychic damage each round.

Metal Domain

image credit: Kev Walker

The metal domain cleric is one who worships metal and metal-based artifice. They believe that metal and its nigh-immutability is perfection, and perfect their own form through it. They can telekinetically move metal, repel metal, or rust metal with a touch as metal bows to them. Some of the domain spells I used affect mainly stone, so I recommend altering the spells slightly so they mostly affect metal. You can find my suggestions below. There are a number of 3.5e deities with metal in their portfolio or domain, but earth or dwarven deities would also fit the bill, as would Dispater of the Nine Hells.

Domain Spells:

1: Grease, Earth Tremor

3: Heat Metal, Cloud of Daggers

5: Conjure Barrage, Erupting Earth

7: Stone Shape (shapes iron instead), Fabricate

9: Wall of Stone (manifests as iron), Animate Objects (metal only)

Domain Abilities:

Magnetic Grasp- Beginning at 1st level, you can telekinetically control unattended metal objects that weigh up to 10 pounds at a range of up to 60 ft. You must be able to see your target and maintain concentration.

Channel Divinity: Rusting Grasp- Beginning at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to rapidly decay metal with your touch. A 3 ft. radius area of nonmagical metal turns into a dusty pile of oxidation. Against a metallic creature (even magically animated) this deals 6d10 damage. When used against an enemy, an enemy’s weapon or their armor, you must succeed at a melee spell attack to target it. A weapon or armor rusted by your Rusting Grasp becomes useless.

Channel Divinity: Repel Metal- Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to magnetically repel metal. You gain resistance to damage from weapons made from steel or iron for 1 minute.

Metallic Enhancement- Beginning at 8th level, you start to alter your physical form with divine metal, making you a more deadly combatant. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you cause the attack to deal an additional 1d8 damage of the weapon’s type. When you reach 14th level, this damage increase to 2d8.

Graft- Beginning at level 17, you can permanently enhance a creature’s armor class by 1 with a DC 15 Medicine check as you apply grafts of divine metal to their body over the course of 1 hour. The process is extremely painful and hideous. Creatures must either be helpless, restrained, unconscious, willing, or dead to apply such modifications. Such surgery will awaken unconscious or sleeping creatures instantly.

Fey Domain

image credit: Matthew Stewart

A fey domain cleric is one who worships the fey or fey deities, unlike a warlock who makes a pact with them or a druid who is an ally to them. The fey grant their clerics with power over nature and abilities similar to those of the faeries. Eventually, a fey cleric is touched by the magic of the Feywild and completely transforms into a fey creature. Valarian from the 3e Book of Exalted Deeds is a good faerie deity, as are any other deities of nature, magic, or illusions.

Domain Spells:

1: Faerie Fire, Animal Friendship

3: Charm Person, Enlarge/Reduce

5: Conjure Animals, Hypnotic Pattern

7: Compulsion, Greater Invisibility

9: Tree Stride, Conjure Fey

Domain Abilities:

Faerie Trickery- Beginning at 1st level, you gain Minor Illusion as a cantrip

Channel Divinity: Speak with Plants and Animals- Beginning at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity as an action to speak with a plant or animal of your choice for up to 10 minutes using your concentration. The target speaks in a language you can understand for the duration.

Fey Guise - Beginning at 8th level, you can perfectly mimic any humanoid’s voice and disguise your face as any humanoid you can see. You gain a +5 bonus to CHA skill checks while attempting to impersonate someone. You must have seen and heard the humanoid before in order to impersonate them in this way. This bonus is temporarily negated if someone close to the person you are mimicking notices you do something uncharacteristic. This ability does not change your clothing or body type, just your face and voice.

Channel Divinity: Blinding Beauty- Beginning at 8th level, you can use your Channel Divinity as an action to take on the blinding allure of a nymph. All enemy creatures within 60 ft. that can see you must make a CHA saving throw. Each creature that fails their saving throw becomes permanently Blinded. Creatures that succeed at their saving throws are only Blinded until the start of your next turn.

Fey Ascendancy- Beginning at level 17, you gain the Fey subtype and have advantage on saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities.

Dragon Domain

image credit: Raymond Swanland

The dragon domain cleric worships a dragon or draconic deity like Bahamut or Tiamat. They bestow upon their disciple a loyal hatchling to care for and train with them, and will send a dragon champion in times of need to their greatest worshipers. I intended the dragon companion to start as a weakened wyrmling and then grow to a full wyrmling once you reach level 14. It sort of acts as a Divine Strike ability since it’s an additional attack on each of your turns, but if this ability proves too powerful for your campaign I would recommend swapping it out for a pseudodragon or summoning a wyrmling once a day for 1 minute. When selecting energy/damage types for elemental spells, I recommend choosing ones that match your wyrmling dragon. For instance, Chromatic Orb summons an orb of acid if you have a black dragon, etc.

Domain Spells:

1: Absorb Elements, Chromatic Orb

3: Gust of Wind, Warding Wind

5: Elemental Weapon, Protection from Energy

7: Stoneskin (Manifests as dragon scales), Dominate Beast

9: Dominate Person, Destructive Wave

Domain Abilities:

Draconic Companion- Beginning at 1st level, you are granted a hatchling dragon as your companion of the color of your choice. The hatchling has similar statistics to a wyrmling dragon of its color except it has maximum hit points equal to half of your hit point maximum, uses your proficiency modifier in place of its own, has an AC of 14, has a base damage die of 1d8 instead of 1d10, has a base breath weapon damage of 4d6, and is Small in size. In one year's time or when you reach level 14, it will grow into a wyrmling dragon, still using your proficiency modifier in place of its own, but otherwise its AC, HP, size, and base damage all increase to match that of a wyrmling dragon of its color.

Channel Divinity: Elemental Resilience- Beginning at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity as a reaction or bonus action to gain Immunity to the energy damage type of your Draconic Companion's breath weapon for a number of rounds equal to your WIS modifier.

Channel Divinity: Dragon Flight- Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to sprout dragon wings and gain a fly speed of 60 ft. This effect lasts for 1 minute and requires you to maintain concentration.

Will of the Dragons- Beginning at 8th level, you gain immunity to the Paralyzed and Frightened conditions.

Dragon Call- Beginning at level 17, once per week, you can summon an adult dragon of your draconic companion's color for 1 minute. It obeys your verbal commands to the best of its ability. Maintaining the dragon's presence requires you to spend an action each round and maintain concentration. If the dragon is slain, it disappears in a cloud of light.

Cleric Week: Rituals and Worship

image credit: Franz Vohwinkel

D&D Clerics have a tendency to worship things. This is pretty common. To make your cleric stand out in the adventuring party and act as a more robust character, give them a believable religion! Have them perform rituals, rites, prayers, holidays, sermons, meditation, anything that reminds everyone what you do.

To come up with your own rituals and customs, first you have to think about why you are performing them. Here is a list of reasons to perform a ritual. It’s certainly not complete, but it has some of the more common reasons behind religious rites from real religions.

Good Luck: rituals ranging from simple to complex can give good luck to someone praising their deity. Even simple superstitions like tossing salt over your shoulder can be a religious thing for your character.

Good Health: a lot of rituals beg higher powers to cure the sick, or to ensure that you don’t fall ill. Vatun, the snow god of barbarians, could have torches stood up in the snow to give traveling barbarians protection in the dead of winter.

Cleansing Sin: some religions either see their worshipers as inherently evil or else can forgive them of evils they have committed through penance of some sort. The Jewish ritual Kapparot involves the sacrifice of a chicken which had their sins transferred to it.

Appease a Deity out of Fear: evil deities in the D&D universe sometimes are revered out of fear, and need to be given worship or offerings so they don’t wreak their divine vengeance. Yeathan, a deity of the oceanic abyss, might be appeased with a ritual sacrifice to deep-sea monsters.

Increase a Deity’s Power: fanatic cultists might give their all to a higher power, and give them sacrifices or offerings to increase the deity’s power. If you believe that a deity’s power comes from those that worship it, this has some merit as followers seek to aid their deity on a cosmic level. Vecna, the demigod of death and secrets, might ask for the burning of information or evidence of secrets as an offering to increase his power.

Beg for Power: often evil or power-crazed clerics will perform rituals to increase their own power. Since their power is of divine origin, they have to beg their deity for more power through their rites, offerings, and sacrifices.

Praise a Deity as Thanks: if a deity helps out their worshipers or if their worshipers are just glad to have their faith, they could perform rituals to show it. Maybe after a long passage through sandy wastes, a cleric empties out a full canteen of water as thanks to Tem-Et-Nu when they find an oasis.

Observe the Dead: when someone makes their transition to the afterlife, clerics are often there to observe it. They may ask their deity to give the dying or dead creature safe passage or give them power in their new vessel.

Observe Ancestors: a ritual can praise the memory of ancestors and those that have already made the jump to the afterlife. You see this in a lot of cultures; famously in Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos.

Rite of Passage: rites of passage are essentially proving yourself to either your deity or other worshippers. In D&D, you could be directly given a quest or else have to perform some difficult task. There are different reasons to prove oneself, whether becoming an adult, increasing your rank in the clergy, or becoming worthy to wield a deity’s power. Maybe Umberlee, a deity of ocean storms, requires you to swim a great stormy strait to gain her favor.

Look to the many cultures that exist in the world, past and present, for inspiration about rituals to perform. There’s lots of examples of costumes, dances, body decoration, pilgrimages, sacrifices, holidays, traditions, prayers and customs to inspire you. But once you know why you want to perform a ritual and know what your deity stands for in the D&D universe, you can likely come up with something interesting.

#dungeons and dragons #D&D 5e #cleric week #worship #rituals #DnD #DnD 5e #dungeons & dragons #D&D #cleric #deities #religions #demigods #pantheon

Cleric Week: Clerical Work

image credit: Daniel Warren

Playing a Cleric

Moral Characters: Clerics are in a unique position that allows them to be some of the best roleplayers and story-driven characters in the party. Their attachment to a deity and strong sense of ideals and morality aligned to that deity create natural biases for their character. These are easy to identify as a player and help you play your cleric to their fullest roleplaying potential as you realize things like "my cleric wouldn't do that" or "my character's deity wouldn't approve of this" and then act upon them! Don't shy from this. Clerics provoke conversation and conversation promotes development. Use this to find a reason to join up with teammates that don't match your alignment! Maybe your cleric starts to doubt their own beliefs in the process, or possibly convert the other PCs to their own moral standards! Basically, make big deals about morality and the choices that come with the baggage of a deity.

Purposeful Characters: Decide your cleric's relationship with their deity. Are you a prophet who seeks to spread the word of your deity? Perhaps you are a missionary whose purpose is to convert others. As an inquisitor you could seek out heretics and destroy them, or uphold a theocratic law. You could also just be someone who is a devout worshipper and uses their granted divine powers in the name of their beliefs. Alternatively, you could act more like a paladin and fight in the name of your deity, maybe opposing the workings of rival deities. You could also entertain the option of worshipping your deity out of fear or necessity. A priest of Hextor might only worship them to avoid their wrath and tyranny, gaining their favor and divine magic in the process. They could have an entirely different belief and alignment, mechanically, but still worship that deity. Perhaps they think that the good-aligned gods are simply not as powerful as Hextor, so Hextor MUST be worshipped or he will destroy us all.

Ways of Worship: I won't go into this too deeply, as I want to make a separate post about coming up with methods to worship your deity. But keep it in mind as a good way to remind the other players what your cleric stands for. Use it to provoke roleplaying or add depth to your character. Think of the rites, prayers, and rituals you would practice. Adorn your belongings with your deity's holy symbol. Speak parables and stories to spread the teachings and beliefs of your deity. Heck, in 3.5e each deity had a favored weapon that clerics gained bonuses from wielding! You can easily just choose to wield that weapon and explain it purposefully.

Character Design: Look at religions and cultures around the world for inspiration. You will find lots of fantastic costumes and sacred dressings that would make for far more interesting clerics than the standard D&D trope (half-plate, mace, and a holy symbol). For an inspired idea, look up your deity and what information you can find on them. Dress up your character like the deity or in a way that is a metaphor of the deity. For instance, Nerull is a red skeleton with green wormlike hair and a black robe. Your cleric of Nerull could wear a blood-soaked skull as a mask and wear vibrant green plumes as a headdress. Use your character's holy symbol to influence your character's clothing. If you worship a deity with a tornado as their symbol, maybe you could tie ribbons to your armor so it flows with the wind as you move! When you pray to such a deity, you dance and spin wildly to become that holy symbol!

Strategy: Keep track of everyone's approximate Hit Points You don't need exact numbers (that takes the fun out of it anyway), but ask them if they are near death, bloodied (less than half health), or fine. Properly manage your healing spells. Use Healing Word only when a player goes down; it has range and is only a bonus action so you can use it mid-combat. Remember that Prayer of Healing can only be used out of combat unless you intend to slog through the 10 minute casting time, but at least it can be used to substitute a short rest when time is of the essence and no one has Hit Dice left to spend. Try to use Cure Wounds after the battle as it requires you to move to the victim, touch them, and use up an action. It's still useful in a pinch. Your best healing spell is Aid. It heals but also increases maximum HP of pretty much the entire party for pretty much the whole day. In combat, cast Bless on your second-best damage dealer. ACs are pretty low in 5e so giving it to the secondary damage source will help keep damage consistent. Alternatively, give it to your ally with the lowest saving throw for the current encounter. Facing a Mind Flayer? Give the barbarian that +1d4 for their mental saves. Facing a dragon? Bless the wizard for better DEX saves against its breath weapon. Lastly, as I shouldn't have to tell you: clerics are good against undead.

DMing a Cleric

Moral Tests: As detailed above, clerics are moral characters. Add in plot elements or encounters that will test their faith and ideals. You have the advantage of knowing how such a cleric's deity would want them to react, so you can add a twist or a spin to that! Moral tests will help develop the cleric's character and add tense drama to a story.

Mythology: Put myths and stories into the worlds. Y’know all of those Greek, Norse, and Egyptian myths about things like creation, interactions between deities and humans, stories about the afterlife, etc. Those most likely exist in D&D too. And best of all, they don’t have to be true! But they might be, which adds to the mystery of the thing. Players can choose to believe in a myth you tell them about or disbelieve it, but since deities are very real things in the D&D universe, a deity could have very well turned into a swan and had relations with that woman. Myths also help to plant religion somewhere in each adventure, even if it's just a loose scroll or a piece of art. This will give the cleric something to think about even if the current dungeon has nothing to do with religion.

Religious NPCs: Put characters in the adventure that have religious beliefs for the PC cleric to interact with. NPCs that worship similarly aligned deities will find an ally in the PC cleric and even spark friendly conversations comparing the tenets of both gods. An NPC with the same deity as the cleric will be an instant friend to the PC. Sometimes you can use this to your advantage if the NPC is an antagonist or a betrayer. NPCs that worship deities that are quite different from the PC cleric’s god will test the cleric’s resolve in their own ideals. I don’t mean necessarily an “evil” deity, I just mean one that believes in something different for entirely sound reasons. Bahamut teaches his clerics to give the oppressed the strength to overcome oppression themselves, rather than simply helping them directly. But a cleric of Heironeous might oppose that, saying that the weak should be protected with your own life.

Atmosphere: Consider adding mysterious happenings and auras that the PC cleric can pick up on. Uneasy feelings on unhallowed ground, nausea or fear near an evil artifact, or even healing powers not functioning (partially or totally) in an unholy shrine. These sorts of things are mostly for roleplaying atmosphere, but they add a lot to the game. The cleric picks up on it, making it instantly about divine magic, but there is no game mechanic that explains these divine “feelings” or supernatural magic. This heightens the drama and mystery even for experienced players.

Strategy: Clerics are healers and tanks, and are an important target for any fight. Intelligent creatures will target a cleric if they understand the healing powers of divine magic. More primal or less intelligent creatures will likely just attack whoever hits them the hardest, giving the PC cleric a time to shine with their healing and combat capabilities. Creatures that can’t crack through a cleric’s tough shell should target a wizard or rogue instead, frontloading their damage to negate the healing from the Cleric, who will have to spend time and actions to heal their freshly fallen friends. Creatures that can move their enemies (by blasting them away with spells or throwing them with strength) should move them away from the cleric if they know better, forcing the cleric to move into a worse position.

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Announcing: Cleric Week!

image credit: Wayne Reynolds

This month's theme week is Cleric Week and lemme tell ya it's been really tedious coming up with new domains and sifting through obscure D&D deities and imagining up rough drafts of homebrew equipment! With such a broad topic as Clerics it's really difficult to come up with customizations for this class because it already has so much variety! I can't paint a broad stroke on a class that has so many specific subclasses, but I can certainly give you guys a crap-ton of ideas to inspire the blessed warriors and priests you dream up.

Stay tuned this week as I spew forth a bunch of Cleric-related homebrew content and D&D tips!

#cleric week #D&D #DnD 5e #dungeons and dragons #cleric #DnD #D&D 5e #dungeons & dragons #priest #deities

Cleric Week: Obscure D&D Deities

image source: The Birth of the Sun and the Triumph of Bacchus (detail), Corrado Giaquinto (1762)

Aengrist

Symbol: Keep with 2 towers on a gray glacier.

Portfolio: cold, order, protection, good.

Garb: Paladin’s armor and practical furs for patrolling the Frostfell. Colors are usually gray or white, featured largely on a flowing cape.

Rites: Ritualistically carving hunks of ice into perfect cubes, symbolically bestowing order upon it. Sheltering/defending travelers, or building fortified citadels to bring order to the Frostfell.

Phrase: “I offer you my blade in the name of Aengrist.”

Thaumaturgy: A platform of ice rises from the ground for you to tower over others to offer leadership with your booming voice.

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