D&D 5E How is the Cleric in Actual Play?

[Raunalyn]

Hussar, I think we've seen Revivify cast once? Maybe twice? in the years we've gamed together. Hell, it's rare that we have a death in our campaigns, period. I think 4 deaths total in the years I've been running 5e. One was a Minotaur Bard in my Dragonlance game, a War Cleric in Hoard of the Dragon Queen, a dwarf Fighter in Tomb of Annihilation, and a Warforged Fighter who was blasted by a disintegrate ray from a beholder zombie in Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

5e characters are a lot more resilient than pre-4e characters. I am seriously considering going more hardcore in the next campaign.

 

[Blue]

5e characters are a lot more resilient than pre-4e characters. I am seriously considering going more hardcore in the next campaign.

5e characters really are hard to keep down. And Revivify basically puts the player-penalty for an unlucky death to be the same player penalty as being knocked out until the end of a combat. In-character penalty is higher - 3rd level slot, 300gp of diamonds, but that's not (usually) an unreachable issue.

I enjoy when the DM is tough - gives more of a sense of accomplishment. When a DM does 2-3 encounters per day without really pushing hard on any of them there is no fear of death, it robs the encounter of tension. I still enjoy working towards character and campaign goals, good RP, developing relationships with NPCs, figuring out plots and the like - it can still be an enjoyable campaign with regularly easy battles. But with combat taking up so much clock time in a session, rolling dice for a foregone conclusion is time that could be spent in a more exciting way.

 

[Mort]

5e characters are a lot more resilient than pre-4e characters. I am seriously considering going more hardcore in the next campaign.

Back during the playtest we played death saves differently (Can't remember if it was the actual rule or if we just read it incorrectly at the time).

The mechanic was the same, but the 3 failed saves and your dead didn't reset until after a long rest (as opposed to as soon as your at positive HP).

Players were a lot more concerned about going down!

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm thinking each time you go down to 0 hp exhaustion level.

 

[jgsugden]

I'm thinking each time you go down to 0 hp exhaustion level.

In my game - I use a Matt Mercer variant for a challeng to bring someone back. However, it often involved negotiating with the powers that gained control of the soul at the instant of death.

Once you've died, you're also Deathtouched. Deathtouched individuals, like people that have died in Harry Potter, are impacted by the supernatural world differently. They have penalties in certain situations to resist certain 'calls of the grave'. Certain things require you to be pure, and Deathtouched are not pure for these purposes.

 

[Hussar]

Yep outside a couple of builds cleric damage is a bit meh and is mostly built around biva damage with 2 spells.

Boring class depending on domain. Guidance, bless, Spiritual weapon/guardians almost anything else is suboptimal.

To be fair, in the Storm Kings Thunder campaign, Command really was a go to spell. The ability to grant advantage to everyone while completely shutting down an opponent for a round is a big deal. Upcast it can really dominate an encounter.

 

[Hussar]

Hussar, I think we've seen Revivify cast once? Maybe twice? in the years we've gamed together. Hell, it's rare that we have a death in our campaigns, period. I think 4 deaths total in the years I've been running 5e. One was a Minotaur Bard in my Dragonlance game, a War Cleric in Hoard of the Dragon Queen, a dwarf Fighter in Tomb of Annihilation, and a Warforged Fighter who was blasted by a disintegrate ray from a beholder zombie in Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

5e characters are a lot more resilient than pre-4e characters. I am seriously considering going more hardcore in the next campaign.

Heh. I wasn’t even in two of those campaigns.

 

[Ogre Mage]

Clerics are a great class and the wide variety of domains allows you to fill many different roles. I personally prefer caster support clerics, especially with the light domain, which gives access to spells clerics do not normally get. Also, Toll the Dead and guidance are great cantrips. Bless is a superb buff spell which will remain relevant throughout your career. Others have already mentioned how great spirit guardians is. I especially like it on my light cleric as enemies will have a hard time hitting you to potentially disrupt it because of warding flare. Having both fireball AND spirit guardians makes you powerful at range or up close.

 

[Zardnaar]

Light clerics probably the best domain it's very good.

 

[jgsugden]

Light clerics probably the best domain it's very good.

Check out Order domain. It is very, very solid as well. However, trickery is the domain I prefer as there are few limitations on your illusory double.... and a great spell selection, there.