D&D 5E DMG Spoiler: Death Domain

[ppaladin123]

I'm still scratching my head and wondering why this had to be put in the DMG.

Yeah...plenty of settings have non-evil death gods. A cleric of the Raven Queen or Wee-Jas or Kelemvor or whatever is a pretty common character in games I've played in/DMed over the years.

 

[Mirtek]

Animate Dead? Really? They give animate dead to clerics of Kelemvor? The deity with the strictest anti-undead-policy of all? In 3.x the did create an entire new domain (repose) so that clerics of Kelemvor did not have to take the death domain

 

[PinkRose]

It's in the DMG so it's optional, so a DM can call PH only and not worry about evil clerics.

 

[edhel]

Animate Dead? Really? They give animate dead to clerics of Kelemvor? The deity with the strictest anti-undead-policy of all? In 3.x the did create an entire new domain (repose) so that clerics of Kelemvor did not have to take the death domain

It's possible they have this power over the dead because they control part of the power of Kelemvor. They don't have to use it. On the other hand, religious hypocrites and moralists exist in fantasy worlds too, and they might use animate dead but forbid others from using it.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Animate Dead? Really? They give animate dead to clerics of Kelemvor? The deity with the strictest anti-undead-policy of all? In 3.x the did create an entire new domain (repose) so that clerics of Kelemvor did not have to take the death domain

It might be a small consolation, but a lot of cleric characters have spells on their domain list that they never end up (or even have any interest in) casting, so the fact that it is there doesn't mean that clerics of Kelemvor actually use it. It could still be forbidden to their particular faith.

The domain is supposed to be broad enough to encompass all death deities, and I think restricting the undead related aspects to single domain spell is a good compromise to allow death deities who are opposed to undead to make use of it. It allows them to keep with the philosophy of broad domains rather than having to multiply them endlessly every time something new comes to mind.

Also, BTB, clerics of any non-evil deity are allowed to take the Life domain, and that includes clerics of Kelemvor. I have a player making a cleric of Kelemvor who is doing exactly that, because he felt the Life domain is, ironically, a better fit than the other domains in the PHB. This was before we saw this spoiler, and I've told him about it in case he wants to switch to this Death domain, but he's welcome to stay with Life if he prefers.

 

[Cody Michel]

So someone said that this was in the dmg but I wasn't able to find it. Anyone know where it is

 

[Lanliss]

So someone said that this was in the dmg but I wasn't able to find it. Anyone know where it is

page 96, Villainous class options. Also has the Oathbreaker paladin on the next page.

 

[Druidic Floki]

I wish they would use clear writing or have an established order of operations like 4e sometimes.

Does the target of death touch compare it's h.p to 3x cleric level before or after the damage from the clerics weapon attack is applied?

I would say after, but the "on a hit" and "current h.p" parts could be read that you compare the hit points it has first and if that is less than 3x lvl it dies, if not do your normal damage.

I don't know how much clearer it could be. You hit before you damage. So it is based on your Current HP at the time of this Hit. Or transversely, your DM can make the decision. Sorry, 4th Edition held people's hands far to much for my liking.