D&D General The Not-Cleric Class for the Other Powers

[Stormonu]

Y'know, like the Warlock has a patron, I'd like the cleric not to just have Domains, but have a patron as well.

It would allow you to differentiate a cleric with the Patron Thor and the Domain Tempest from a cleric with the Patron Zeus and the same Domain of Tempest. Now what abilities would be tied to the Cleric's patron, I'm not sure at this point, but I would like it.

 

[Bluenose]

What I'd do (and there'd be something similar for most casters) is have a generic pool of, "all Clerics know these" spells (detect magic, contact other plane, summon deity-approved-outsider at high level, etc). And on top of that, "domains" that grant abilities, skills, and one or two spells per level, and take perhaps two of those for your cleric depending on the deity they worship. Need to make a lot of domains and assign them to deities, but a god of darkness and thievery having different abilities to a god of thievery and trickery, and really neither should be much like a god of war and oaths.

 

[Ancalagon]

I'll note that while it's not perfect, the domain system we have now do differentiate the clerics to a reasonable degree - you can make a priest of fire (light domain, blaster) quite distinct from a priest of the forge (forge domain, crafting and melee combat). But I agree that I wish it was a bit more distinct than that.

Perhaps the most ... satisfying god system I've ever devised was for Yoon Suin, where there are hundreds of gods. How does one deal with that? One doesn't! There is not point in detailing all the gods - you can literally make one up on the spot as needed, and it's A OK if the players have never heard of it before - only the wisest of scholar would know all the gods!

It's also a great way to really collaborate creatively with your players playing clerics and warlocks, so they end up with a funky god/patron they are really comfortable with.

 

[Blue Orange]

"So the druids worship the deity of nature, the warlocks cut deals with some other patron, and the clerics and paladins worship a whole bunch of deities. You're telling me the wizards worship you, the deity of knowledge?"

"Of course."

"Uh, I know a whole bunch of wizards and I doubt they worship anyone other than themselves."

"They read their spellbooks, don't they?"

"Of course."

"There you have it. To the Lord of Coin, trade is a religious act. To the Lady of War, all blood spilled in a war is sacred. To the Monarch of Life, every birth is an offering."

"So why not tell them that?"

"Well, you know some wizards. They'd stop."

"Are you sure you're not the Lord of Lies?"

"No...but the Lord of Lies would tell you that, no?"

 

[Stormonu]

...From a conversation with Vecna, Lord of Whispered Secrets.

 

[Minigiant]

Y'know, like the Warlock has a patron, I'd like the cleric not to just have Domains, but have a patron as well.

It would allow you to differentiate a cleric with the Patron Thor and the Domain Tempest from a cleric with the Patron Zeus and the same Domain of Tempest. Now what abilities would be tied to the Cleric's patron, I'm not sure at this point, but I would like it.

If 5e was designed to be futureproofed and heavily supported in many domains/bloodlines/patrons/circles, then all the casters would have interchangeable subclasses

• Cleric
  • Light/Sun
  • Life
  • War
  • Peace
• Druid
  • Land/Earth
  • Moon
  • Wildfire/Fire
  • Sea/Water
• Warlock
  • Fiend/Lower Planes
  • Fey/Feywild/Trickery
  • GOO/FarRealm
  • Celestial/Upper Planes
• Sorcerer
  • Dragon
  • Wild/Chaos
  • Clockwork/Law
  • Death/Shadowfell

That just leaves out Darkness theme, Tempest theme, and a Nature theme.