D&D 5E Wonder why there aren't any Elemental Domains (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)?

[Sword of Spirit]

I like what they were going for in the 2014 PHB in trying to combine and consolidate the numerous domains into a more manageable and definite number. The way it's written, the seven domains in the PHB plus the Death domain from the DMG were supposed to cover all divine portfolios.

But...some of them were really a bit of a stretch feature-wise. Some fit well enough, but others just didn't really do what certain concepts should do in the slightest.

Then they made a few more domains...but they seemed designed based on what cool idea someone had at the time, rather than to consistency in world building or filling holes.

I eventually decided I was going to stick with the original idea, but make a comprehensive list of all cleric domains that exist in my multiverse. I think their ended up being 17 or so. I used most of the official ones and then added the ones that seemed essential and missing. I haven't actually made the rules for the new domains, but will do so whenever e need them for a PC or NPC.

For the elements, I kept with the PHB idea that their domains could also govern other things, and that they could have a bit of a style to them (instead of just, earth, water, etc). So this is my setup:

Light (PHB): Works great a a Fire domain as well as other themes.

Tempest (PHB): It makes an inherent commitment to Air having some chaos or destruction to it, but it works.

Mountain (New): Will be not only Earth, but also something like 3e's Strength domain.

Tides (New): Governs Water, and leans into natural cycles and changes, so could also for moon or similar things.

I leaned towards what makes Domains different from Sorcerous Origins, Warlock Patrons, etc, is that Domains are about concepts and ideas, tying into their connection to the divine and (usually) the Outer Planes.

 

[James Gasik]

Alot of 3pp domains.

Yeah but again, forcing us to rely on non-official sources is really doing a disservice to their own game. Like, you could argue "well that's a lot of work, James, do you really expect WotC to do all that?" or "well, James, having scores of Cleric subclasses wouldn't be fair to other classes", but this is their fault for making Domain a subclass instead of having different Cleric types (which could have totally been done, btw- there's room for lots of these, like Inquisitor Clerics, Evangelists, Scholar Priests, Exorcists, Shrine Maidens, Sohei, and so many more) and tying Clerics directly into the lore of each setting that has a large pantheon of Gods, most of whom are deities of more than one concept of reality.

WotC painted themselves into this corner, and apparently have no intention of fixing their mistake (but I'd love to be wrong). And sure, I can buy Deep Magic I and get several new Domains to flesh out my game's Clerics- but I shouldn't have had to just to support gods like Labelas Enoreth, Poseidon, or Grumbar (seriously, what the heck is the Boss of Earth doing with the Knowledge Domain?).

 

[pukunui]

They playtested elemental cleric domains (and a whole lot of other elemental-themes subclasses) in the early days for that Elemental Evil Adventurer's Handbook that was "never announced". They were being super cautious about what they added to the game at that point, though, so the only stuff that made it through to print is the stuff in the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion booklet.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think it's mostly to many domain tbh. 55deeigning for all of them would be hard.
I've used 3pp ones they're fairly predictable with spell lists and divine strike.

Water kinda struggles as it's utility or frost it seems.

 

[Corinnguard]

Yeah but again, forcing us to rely on non-official sources is really doing a disservice to their own game. Like, you could argue "well that's a lot of work, James, do you really expect WotC to do all that?" or "well, James, having scores of Cleric subclasses wouldn't be fair to other classes", but this is their fault for making Domain a subclass instead of having different Cleric types (which could have totally been done, btw- there's room for lots of these, like Inquisitor Clerics, Evangelists, Scholar Priests, Exorcists, Shrine Maidens, Sohei, and so many more) and tying Clerics directly into the lore of each setting that has a large pantheon of Gods, most of whom are deities of more than one concept of reality.

WotC painted themselves into this corner, and apparently have no intention of fixing their mistake (but I'd love to be wrong). And sure, I can buy Deep Magic I and get several new Domains to flesh out my game's Clerics- but I shouldn't have had to just to support gods like Labelas Enoreth, Poseidon, or Grumbar (seriously, what the heck is the Boss of Earth doing with the Knowledge Domain?).

Unlike 5e, Level Up presents at least 10 different types of clerics for its' clerical archetypes. These archetypes don't make use of clerical domains.

1. Aspirant
2. Anointer
3. Exorcist
4. Healer
5. Hecatomb
6. Labyrinth Priest
7. Oracle
8. Guardian
9. Sun Priest
10. Warpriest

Cleric | Level Up

a5e.tools

Pathfinder 1st edition made some domains into subdomains. If you were a cleric who worshiped an Air Deity, you could pick up the Air Domain or one of the Air Domain's three subdomains- Cloud, Lightning or Wind

Air-Cloud, Lightning, Wind
Earth-Caves, Metal, Petrification, Radiation
Fire-Arson, Ash, Smoke. "Yes, I am an arsonist, it's my holy duty to set things on fire."
Water-Flotsam, Flowing, Ice, Oceans, Rivers

Maybe Grumbar is just being the down-to-earth type by being a deity of knowledge?

 

[Corinnguard]

If they replaced cleric domains entirely they would have lost the backwards compatibility cred they were counting on for initial sales of the PH.

It hasn't worked quite as well they were hoping for IMO.

 

[J-H]

Druids basically already have the "spellcaster of the natural elements" covered. At mid to high levels they give up the plant and animal focus for "force of nature" blasting. They have fog, storm, wind, tornado, firestorm, several mediocre-to-bad earth attack spells (creating difficult terrain is probably overvalued compared to the low damage dice), sunlight (sunburst), and even cone of cold.

 

[Corinnguard]

Druids basically already have the "spellcaster of the natural elements" covered. At mid to high levels they give up the plant and animal focus for "force of nature" blasting. They have fog, storm, wind, tornado, firestorm, several mediocre-to-bad earth attack spells (creating difficult terrain is probably overvalued compared to the low damage dice), sunlight (sunburst), and even cone of cold.

True, and if you belonged to the Circle of the Moon, you could wildshape into an elemental at 10th level.

The Pathfinder version of Kobold Press' Midgard setting had a Druid archetype called the Elemental Exarch that had more of an elemental focus to it. Not only could you wildshape into an elemental, but you also had an elemental as a companion that became more powerful as you leveled up.

 

[Yaarel]

See title.

I found a few things on GM Binder, but not much.

Willing to create my own, but was perusing the internet for ideas and inspiration.

And now I'm just curious...why no official versions?

There are Five Elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, plus Ether. Ether is force. Where the Four relate to states of matter, namely solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. The plasma is mainly the heavenly fire of the sun, and aspects of lighting, so Fire includes Radiant and Lightning. The Ether relates the 'fundamental forces' that are immaterial but physical, including gravity. However, the Fire-Radiant-Lighting also covers any of the electromagnetic force. Ethereal force includes psionic telekinesis, whence flight and objects made out of force.

It often works out well, to treat Plant as a living Element. Plant is sometimes synonymous with Air, in the sense of Daoist expanding-encompassing motion, in the sense of Norse Yggdrasill heavens, and sometimes synonymous with Earth, in the sense of springing from the ground. Plant can also have watery and fiery (sunlight, burning) aspects. For D&D, it makes sense for Plant to be a Living Element composed of the other Four Elements and associating the Material Plane where the other Elements recombine.

The easiest way to handle the Elemental themes is to reorganize the entire spell list according to them. Then any class can be assigned an element, by treating it like a spell school or spell domain.

For utility, including to ensure there are decent spells for every slot level, an Elemental character concept should choose at least two from the Five Elements.

 

[Staffan]

They playtested elemental cleric domains (and a whole lot of other elemental-themes subclasses) in the early days for that Elemental Evil Adventurer's Handbook that was "never announced". They were being super cautious about what they added to the game at that point, though, so the only stuff that made it through to print is the stuff in the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion booklet.

And most of the "priests" of the various elemental cults use sorcerer spells (with a few warlocks thrown into the mix). I kinda like this, as the Princes of Elemental Evil aren't gods and shouldn't be providing power to clerics.