D&D (2024) 5e vs Oe Cleric...

[James Gasik]

I thought 1974 D&D was 0e and this 2024 right now is Oe?

We can't call it Oe. We can't call it 1e. We can't call it ONE, 5.5, 6e, or Super Double Ultra Secret Rare Anniversary Edition.

Figuring out what we can safely call the next paradigm is so confusing!

 

[Remathilis]

I've been using 1D.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

So I’m not a big fan of the 5e cleric myself, I think it is insanely boring, relying on a few key spells to give it any oomph or interesting play.

The new cleric is a step forward, but not enough. It’s still fundamentally the same boring class

I respect that. I don't know that I think the spells are what give cleric oomph or interesting play.

I know it's not an example everyone will like, but as risk of diverging the comments, I look at Critical Role. 400+ hours of campaign 2, with a cleric from the beginning and later adding a second cleric. To me, the interesting play wasn't from the spells, or even 'oomph' as much as much as the domain ability, like Jester's Invoke Duplicity and Blessing of the Trickster, or Caduceus's Circle of Mortality, Path to the Grave or Sentinel at Death's Door.

In my home games, not that they got as high level, for clerics the issue really came down more to what domain had the most interesting ability. YMMV

 

[James Gasik]

It would be nice if Clerics got more interesting spells. Like some of the neat Spheres they added in the 2e Tome of Magic like Law, Numbers, etc..

 

[cbwjm]

I'd probably make the domain a part of the overall class and make the subclasses around the holy order. Select the domain at level 1, get some spells and a channel divinity feature, then at 3rd level decide if you're a scholar, a warrior, or invoker and design subclasses from there.

 

[Neonchameleon]

So I'm looking at the 5e and Oe Clerics and... Honestly I'm not terribly impressed?

Like... I kind of like that you get the choice of Holy Order to gain different benefits for different orders. Thaumaturgy is, for example, a really -neat- option, giving back a long-rest use on a short rest and an extra always-available action is nice to me.

But moving the Subclass to 3rd level really feels like a bad choice because of the specific narrative attachment of the subclass. This isn't "How you learn to fight" this is the -basis- of your belief system that you don't gain access to out of the gate at level 1. It means a cleric of Pelor and a cleric of Gruumsh gain the exact same powers and abilities with nothing to distinguish them for the first two levels. And to me that just feels weird.

Your domain is not your deity. Your domain is an aspect you have chosen to focus on - and deities have multiple domains. The idea that you fully focus and set how you develop at first level is the part I find weird.

And it feels like they dropped Blessed Strikes from 8th to 7th for the same reason. You -just- gained access to a new level of spells (4th) so you don't really need an additional feature at that level in order to feel stronger.

I agree with there being no real reason for the move other than to disguise a non-dead level. But. The change itself, moving the d8 extra damage out of the subclass and onto the base class (because they all fit into one of two tiny boxes that shouldn't have been like that anyway) is a good one - and the change you're complaining about is fairly trivial.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I've been using 2014E and 2024E.