Shrines: A New Mechanic for 5e Dungeons & Dragons
Shrines are divinely blessed places of prayer, such as a temple’s altar or a beautiful fountain in a secluded sacred grove. Each shrine is dedicated to the worship of a particular deity.
The first time a character spends 1 minute praying at a shrine each day, they can roll a d100. On a roll of a 90+, they receive a small blessing from that shrine’s deity as determined by the DM. On a roll of 1, that deity may subject the character to some sort of wrath or mischief, similarly. Clerics, Monks, and Paladins in the service of a particular deity may add their level in their respective classes to this roll when praying at a shrine dedicated to their deity. Additionally, the DM may grant small bonuses to this roll for making appropriate offerings at a shrine. Any bonus to this roll will preclude a character from rolling a 1, thus removing the chance of divine penalty.
A blessing received at a shrine lasts until dawn the next day, unless otherwise stated. The DM may choose whether or not to tell a player the exact nature of a blessing they receive until they make a check or other roll that benefits from it.
The blessings granted by a deity at a shrine should be determined by the DM for each deity in the campaign setting. Shrine blessings (and penalties) ought to reflect the nature of the deity and involve their domain. For example, a goddess of trade and fortune might grant a blessing that gives a character advantage on the first Charisma(Persuasion) check they make while buying or selling an item. A penalty from the same goddess might mean that the character finds at the end of the day that 1d10 silver pieces have gone missing from their bag.
Appendix: Spells
Dedicate Shrine - a Cleric spell
6th-level transmutation (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M (An altar, idol, or statue worth 1000gp)
Duration: Instantaneous
You perform a ceremony which consecrates an altar, idol, or statue appropriate to the worship of your deity as a shrine to that deity. The shrine cannot be moved unless it or the ground beneath it is destroyed, or else by the use of teleportation or a wish spell. Any means of moving the shrine aside from a wish spell renders it nonmagical once again.
