a bit confused by cleric domains and divine/arcane sharing

[uv23]

I'm sure this has been answered before but alas, no search function.

I was taking a close look through the cleric domain spell lists and matching them up with the corresponding cleric/wizard spell lists and I'm a bit confused.

First of all, is there some sort of guideline with how many domain spells can be arcane spells and how many must be divine spells? And secondly, I can't remember which one it was but there was a 9th level domain spell that was actually an 8th level arcane spell. This doesn't seem right?

Clarification welcome. Thanks.

 

[Zhure]

I don't think there's a hard and fast rule. As a guideline, I'd say about 1/2 of domain spells are arcane spells.

The level at which the Cleric gets the domain spell is not always the same as either a regular divine or arcane spell.

For example, the Magic Domain grants Identify as a 2nd level spell. Clerics don't get it at all, and Bard/Sorc/Wiz all get it at 1st.

Fire Shield is Fire 5, Sor/Wiz 4, Sun 4, so a Cleric of Sun/Fire can have it as either a 5th level and/or a 4th level domain spell.

Fire Storm is Clr 8, Drd 7, Fire 7. A Druid or a Fire domain cleric gets it before a regular cleric.

I don't believe you can set a specific guideline. It's all done by eye.

Greg

 

[Victim]

There's no guideline on the number of arcane versus divine spells. Some domains have no exclusive arcane spells.

There are other examples of odd spell levels. Antimagic field is a 6th level wizard, 6th level magic and 8th level cleric.

 

[uv23]

Yeah I think I am confused more by the level discrepancies than anything else.

 

[uv23]

any other comments? *bump*

 

[Hypersmurf]

Even within the umbrella of Arcane or Divine, there are spells with different levels for different classes.

Cure Light Wounds is a 1st level spell for a Cleric, Druid, or Paladin, but a 2nd level spell for a Ranger.

Poison is a 3rd level spell for a Druid, but a 4th level spell for a Cleric.

It depends on how closely a spell is tied to a class, I guess - a druid will naturally get some nature-type spells earlier than other classes which get the same spells, but aren't as closely tied to them.

-Hyp.

 

[TwoSix]

It's more intended for balance than anything. Classes with a greater tendency towards certain areas of spells are given them earlier. Probably the most notable example is a druid getting flame strike at 4th, while clerics get it at 5th. It's an extremely nice bonus for the druid. Another good example is bards getting legend lore at 4th, while wiz/sorc gains it at 6th. Legend lore is a spell that definitely fits bards, so they get it much earlier. There is no hard and fast rule, it's a gut balance feeling.

 

[uv23]

Makes sense. Thanks for the insight.

 

[Voadam]

domain balance

One more thing to watch out for if you are creating new domains is maximum damage for spells. The DMG pg 96 and the 2e to 3e conversion kit have general guidelines for the maximum damage that spells should do and changing spell levels too drastically can create some balance issues for damage. In general, spells max damage in dice go up by 5 dice every two levels. Also arcane spells are one level ahead of divine for max damage.

Of course the domains are the class aspect that can most distinguish one cleric from another (there is also the good/evil cure& turn v. harm&rebuke ability divide) so having more domains to choose from is generally a good thing.

 

[Umbran]

It's more intended for balance than anything. Classes with a greater tendency towards certain areas of spells are given them earlier. Probably the most notable example is a druid getting flame strike at 4th, while clerics get it at 5th. It's an extremely nice bonus for the druid. Another good example is bards getting legend lore at 4th, while wiz/sorc gains it at 6th. Legend lore is a spell that definitely fits bards, so they get it much earlier. There is no hard and fast rule, it's a gut balance feeling.

Actually, one must be careful in looking at spells this way. The difference sometimes sounds greater than it seems. Legend Lore is a good example...

A Wizard can get Legend Lore as a 6th level spell. They first get access to 6th level spells as an 11th level character.

A Bard gets Legend Lore as a 4th level spell. They first get access to 4th level spells as a 10th level character.

So, while it is a notably lower spell level, the characters can get access to it nearly at the same time, in terms of character level.