Wizards of the Coast has been releasing new content for 5 edition Dungeons & Dragons left and right the last few months. The biggest changes I’ve been happy to see were the changes and additions to the various classes you can play in 5th edition. These tweaks for existing classes help to balance some classes, and add more options for merging your character’s backstory with their playstyle.
You lookin at me? YOU LOOKIN AT ME?
Take, for instance, the new Divine Domains for Clerics. The original information in the Player’s Handbook includes seven different Divine Domains (Life, Light, Tempest, Nature, Trickery, and War), with accompanying gods and ideals. Each domain gives the cleric spells and abilities related to the domain, and helps shape the background and story of the character, as well as their holy symbol. For instance, a Cleric in the Tempest domain may be associated with Zeus, and would have the ability to cast spells associated with the weather, and use Channel Divinity to deal maximum damage with a storm spell instead of rolling.
The Unearthed Arcana, released November 21st, announced three additional domains for clerics to choose from – Forge, Grave, and Protection.
The Forge Domain gives players skills and spells associated with smithing (like searing smite, wall of fire, elemental weapon), and clerics can use their ability to Channel Divinity to create simple items starting at level 2. A Forge Cleric also gets increased AC (armor class) and resistance to damage and fire damage at higher levels, making it a great option for a tank.
The Grave Domain is reminiscent of necromancy. Clerics in the Grave domain have spells that allow them to raise the dead, deal necrotic damage and detect the dead.They also have the ability to cast spare the dying as a bonus action at first level, and turn a critical hit by an enemy into a normal hit (once per rest), preventing your party from taking as much damage.
Protection Domain gives clerics spells that allow them to increase party defenses with shield spells, and giving enemies disadvantage on attack rolls. At 6th level, you also gain the ability to heal yourself when you heal an ally. Protection Clerics have the ability to be deal out a lot of damage, and help the party block damage and resist damage. This would be great for a small group, who might be squishy or not have a dedicated healer.
Ten domains seem like a lot of choice to have when creating a character, however, considering how diverse some pantheons can be, the wide variety of choice when creating a cleric and deciding their religious path gives the player more tailored options.
For details on all three new domains, click here.
What do you think of these additions to the Cleric class? Are there too many options to choose from? Let us know in the comments below!