D&D 5E Cleric Domains in PHB

[Mouseferatu]

and this is going to lead to a situation where they either have to do take-backsies and say "Actually now we have X, Y and Z Domains, Bobby Godpants no longer has Trickery as a Domain", or just leave gods with really inappropriate domains even though the right ones have come out.

They really might have been better off just, y'know, having a sort of "generic/placeholder" domain or something.

Do note that the domain column on the pantheon entries very clearly says suggested domains. I would imagine they did that, in part, for this very reason. It's not a retcon when the original info wasn't presented as "fact" to begin with.

 

[Li Shenron]

Kelemvor has the Death domain, though Osiris does not. Further the PHB/Updated Basic says...

Just noticed this from the Basic update, a bit puzzling.

and this is going to lead to a situation where they either have to do take-backsies and say "Actually now we have X, Y and Z Domains, Bobby Godpants no longer has Trickery as a Domain", or just leave gods with really inappropriate domains even though the right ones have come out.

They really might have been better off just, y'know, having a sort of "generic/placeholder" domain or something.

Yes, which is why I am not that excited about the PHB pantheon lists everybody seems to adore at the moment. It feels like more of temporary value.

BTW I think "Life" is indeed the placeholder domain. It says so somewhere, that Clerics of any non-evil deity can in fact take Life.

Do note that the domain column on the pantheon entries very clearly says suggested domains. I would imagine they did that, in part, for this very reason. It's not a retcon when the original info wasn't presented as "fact" to begin with.

Saved by the bell...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Do note that the domain column on the pantheon entries very clearly says suggested domains. I would imagine they did that, in part, for this very reason. It's not a retcon when the original info wasn't presented as "fact" to begin with.

Good point!

 

[n4tune8]

D&D 5th Edition Cleric Domain Spells house rule

I decided that I didn't like the way domain spells were assigned in the PHB, so I wrote up a house rule:

Instead of getting domain spells per cleric level, clerics get them by spell level (just like in good old 3E). Each domain gets either an 8th or 9th level spell, as there are not enough of these to have distinct spells for each domain.
[h=2]Knowledge[/h]
1st Identify
2nd Augury
3rd Clairvoyance
4th Locate Creature
5th Legend Lore
6th Find the Path
7th Symbol
8th Mind Blank
[h=2]Life[/h]
1st Cure Wounds
2nd Lesser Restoration
3rd Revivify
4th Aura of Life
5th Mass Cure Wounds
6th Heal
7th Resurrection
9th Mass Heal
[h=2]Light[/h]
1st Faerie Fire
2nd Continual Flame
3rd Daylight
4th Fire Shield
5th Flame Strike
6th Sunbeam
7th Prismatic Spray
8th Sunburst
[h=2]Nature[/h]
1st Speak with Animals
2nd Beast Sense
3rd Speak with Plants
4th Dominate Beast
5th Commune with nature
6th Transport via Plants
7th Regenerate
8th Animal Shapes
[h=2]Tempest[/h]
1st Thunderwave
2nd Gust of Wind
3rd Call Lightning
4th Ice Storm
5th Destructive Wave
6th Chain Lightning
7th Fire Storm
9th Storm of Vengeance
[h=2]Trickery[/h]
1st Disguise Self
2nd Mirror Image
3rd Blink
4th Polymorph
5th Mislead
6th Programmed Illusion
7th Project Image
9th True Polymorph
[h=2]War[/h]
1st Shield of Faith
2nd Magic Weapon
3rd Crusader's Mantle
4th Guardian of Faith
5th Circle of Power
6th Heroes' Feast
7th Divine Word
8th Antimagic Field

 

[The Shadow]

It's clear that several of the domains are going to need tweaking for certain gods.

Like the Trickster poisoning ability... I just don't see a cleric of Garl Glittergold doing that, you know?

 

[GameDoc]

It's clear that several of the domains are going to need tweaking for certain gods.

Like the Trickster poisoning ability... I just don't see a cleric of Garl Glittergold doing that, you know?

Yeah, I wondered about that. One of my current characters is a halfling trickster cleric, but he's good aligned and is a followed of Brandobaris. Poison doesn't fit Brandobaris' profile, plus technically he's an exarch of Yondalla, so that's were the clerical powers really come from.

Although it's poison damage, not infliction of he poisoned condition, so it would be easy to just choose a different type of damage. Nothing other damage type seems to thematically say "trickery" though.

 

[Zardnaar]

The fire->radiant balance problem had crossed my mind. Fortunately I haven't committed anything to paper/bytes just yet.

I fully agree with all of this.

The radiant spells are not as dangerous as fireball though. There is no AoE level 3 radiant spell dealing 8d6 damage so fire is still better for sheer brute damage. Firebolt is another example only eldritch blast deals the same base damage.

 

[RhaezDaevan]

Yeah, I wondered about that. One of my current characters is a halfling trickster cleric, but he's good aligned and is a followed of Brandobaris. Poison doesn't fit Brandobaris' profile, plus technically he's an exarch of Yondalla, so that's were the clerical powers really come from.

Although it's poison damage, not infliction of he poisoned condition, so it would be easy to just choose a different type of damage. Nothing other damage type seems to thematically say "trickery" though.

Anybody see anything wrong with just swapping the poison damage for +wis to spell damage like other domains get? Seems like an easy alternative.

 

[Ainamacar]

Or change it to psychic damage, e.g. a maddening itch the target can't scratch. Or leave it as poison damage, but theme the poison to be some more irritating (like itching powder) than deadly.