Cleric - Base Class

Duncehack Edition

So who are you?

Just some tosser with an over inflated sense of self importance.

Send verbal abuse via Minds.com

What is the Duncehack?

It emerged from a place of frustration. There's quite a number of areas where 5e could be improved but... it's not going to happen for various reasons.

The Duncehack is my attempt to fix these problems I have. Plan is to go through the whole game - all of it - and homebrew it into the game I think is should have been.

Feel free to disagree with me, but ultimately I think there's no harm in putting my thoughts out there, at the very least if even one DM decides to adopt these rules, then my job is done.

No DM Guild? No OGL Release?

I chafe under binding contracts and both of these are exactly that.

The DM Guild gives you more room to mess with established rules, but basically demands that all be under the service of flagship settings.

The SRD on the other hand gives more room for interesting settings but clamps down extremely hard on what established rules you're allowed to use. Their biggest contention is that they don't want someone to sell a sourcebook that removes the need for core books. Translation: they don't want Pathfinder to happen all over again.

More to the point, both assume money will change hands. I don't want money, I just want Wizards to fix their game.

Groundrules

Groundrules for the Duncehack are as follows:

• No Nerfs: the goal is to bring weaker archetypes on the level of the stronger ones.

• Remove Traps: incentives built into classes and archetypes should provide an active payoff, rather than be the suboptimal choice.

• Frontload Agency, Backend Power: Generally speaking, people like having more options to do things, rather than more raw power. As a design rule: things that feel like core class features, or are defining class mechanics, should happen in the first ten levels, sheer numeric increases in power should come after that.

No money changed hands here

This is a passion project. I want to keep it that way.

I also want to avoid legal issues for self-evident reasons.

No UA?

Too much changes between UA and official release.

The fewer corrections I have the do between UA changes, the better.

Obligatory Natural Crit Plug

http://www.naturalcrit.com/

Someone else made a thing that lets me make homebrews without having to post them on pastebin or something. They deserve a lot of credit for that.

Obligatory /tg/ Plug

The feedback I got from various Anons on this helped me build it into something that wasn't bad and stupid.

No Images?

Needed to get it under 8mb so I could upload it literally anywhere.

So what in Cleric needs fixing?

It's capstone is... well, it just feels like an extention of their 10th level feature. It doesn't feel like an actual capstone.

More to the point, I've never seen the 10th level feature make an impact on a campaign due to the low success rate.

Aside from killing undead better, levels 8-17 are practically dead levels.

Also, why do Wizards get to have ritual spells for non-prepared spells while Clerics don't?

Overall though, Clerics have really strong early games thanks to their domains.

What if I think this is too much?

• Ritual casting on all know spells, not just prepared
• Render all channel divinity that uses action as bonus action.
• Consider either a better capstone or making the current capstone have a stronger payoff for use.

Class Features

As a Cleric, you gain the following class features

Hit Points

---

• Hit Dice: 1d8 per Cleric level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per Barbarian level after 1st

Moving 6th and 8th Divine Domains to 5th and 7th?

8th level was way too big for a Cleric, you got the domain feature AND an ASI?

Problem is, moving it later is a nerf, moving it earlier meant 6th and 7th were overloaded too quickly for the domain.

Proficiencies

---

• Armor: light armor, medium armor, shields
• Weapons: simple weapons
• Tools: None

---

• Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
• Skills: Choose two from History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion.

You also gain a language proficiency in any exotic language - usually one relevent to your character's religion.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a mace or (b) a warhammer (if proficient)
• (a) scale mail, (b) leather armor, or (c) chain mail (if proficient)
• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
• (a) a priest's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
• A shield and a holy symbol
• Tools of a kind you are proficient in (if any)

Divine Intervention

Beginning at 1st level, you can call on your deity to intervene on your behalf when your need is great. Imploring your deity's aid requires you to use your action. Describe the assistance you seek, and roll percentile dice.

If you roll a number equal to or lower than your cleric level, your deity intervenes as you desire it. If the roll is a number higher than your cleric level, but equal to or lower than 5 x your cleric level, your deity intervenes but with a consequence that the Cleric might not desire or anticipate.

This consequence should be in-character for the god and align with their worldview (e.g. a Cleric devoted to Melora might find all their enemies entangled by vines, but she's also removed the Cleric's chain shirt because in her mind, the Cleric is losing the fight because 'of all that dead steel weighing them down'). The DM chooses the nature of the intervention; the effect of any cleric spell or cleric domain spell would be appropriate. If your deity intervenes, you can't use this feature again for 7 days. Otherwise, you can use it again after you finish a long rest.

Your diety's intervention might be in ways unexpected or incomprehensible to you. The diety might even disagree with the nature of your prayer, as they might know something about your situation that you do not. Regardless, their intervention will always be appropriate to the diety's role and domain. Petty use, abuse, or overuse, of this feature may incur the 7 day cooldown period while nothing happens (i.e. your diety is trying to force you to become more self reliant). The power of what the deity is willing to devote to their supplicant is determined by the Divine Intervention Table. A roll of 00 is always a success regardless of Cleric level, and always produces the best results.

Divine Intervention

d100	Intervention
90-99	9th level spell. CR 9 creature sent to aid. Deity gifts you the complete understanding.
80-89	8th level spell. CR 8 creature sent to aid. Deity 'shows' you the information.
70-79	7th level spell. CR 7 creature sent to aid. Deity gives full explanation.
60-69	6th level spell. CR 6 creature sent to aid. Deity gives in-depth information.
50-59	5th level spell. CR 5 creature sent to aid. Deity gives detailed summary.
40-49	4th level spell. CR 4 creature sent to aid. Deity gives laconic summary.
30-39	3rd level spell. CR 3 creature sent to aid. Deity gives scrap of information.
20-29	2nd level spell. CR 2 creature sent to aid. Deity gives overt hint.
10-19	1st level spell. CR 1 creature sent to aid. Deity gives subtle hint.
01-09	Cantrip. CR less than 1 sent to aid. Deity gives enigmatic hint.
00	Equivalent of wish. CR 10+ creature sent to aid. Deity resolves issue for you.

Divine Domain

Choose one domain related to your deity from the list of available domains. Each domain is detailed in their own feature, and each one provides examples of gods associated with it. Your choice grants you domain spells, Channel Divinity options and other features at 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 17th levels.

The choices are: Ambition, Arcana, Death, Forge, Grave, Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Order, Solidarity, Strength, Tempest, Trickery, War, Zeal.

Divine Intervention

The extra paragraphs should be interpreted as "DMs, remember the god isn't the Cleric's bitch and will remind them if treated as such."

The table is best described as 'blackjack' rules. Figured it was faster and easier to both build and remember for player. The 10s place tells you what spell level the result will be. 00 is treated as a zero for the purposes of the roll, but as a 100 for the purposes of the positive outcome.

Spellcasting

As a conduit for divine power, you can cast cleric spells.

Cantrips

At 1st level, you know three cantrips of your choice from the cleric spell list. You learn additional cleric cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Cleric table.

Cantrip Versatility

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one cantrip you learned from this Spellcasting feature with another cantrip from the Cleric spell list.

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Cleric table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your cleric spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

You prepare the list of cleric spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the cleric spell list. When you do so, choose a number of cleric spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your cleric level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of cleric spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your cleric spells. The power of your spells comes from your devotion to your deity. You use your Wisdom whenever a cleric spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a cleric spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Ritual Casting

You can cast a cleric spell that you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Spellcasting Focus

You can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your cleric spells.

Domain Spells

Each domain has a list of spells—its domain spells—that you gain at the cleric levels noted in the domain description. Once you gain a domain spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can prepare each day.

If you have a domain spell that doesn't appear on the cleric spell list, the spell is nonetheless a cleric spell for you.

Channel Divinity

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy directly from your deity, using that energy to fuel magical effects. You start with two such effects: Turn Undead and an effect determined by your domain. Some domains grant you additional effects as you advance in levels, as noted in the domain description.

When you use your Channel Divinity, you choose which effect to create. You must then finish a short or long rest to use your Channel Divinity again.

Some Channel Divinity effects require saving throws. When you use such an effect from this class, the DC equals your cleric spell save DC.

Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity twice between rests, and beginning at 12th level, you can use it three times between rests, and at 18th level, you can use it four times. When you finish a short or long rest, you regain your expended uses.

Harness Divine Power

You can expend a use of your Channel Divinity to fuel your spells. As a bonus action, you touch your holy symbol, utter a prayer, and regain one expended 1st-level spell slot.

Turn Undead

As a bonus action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.

Destroy Undead

Starting at 3rd level, when an undead of CR 1/4 or lower fails its saving throw against your Turn Undead feature, the creature is instantly destroyed.

This feature improves with further cleric levels. At 5th level, the CR for this feature becomes 1/2. At 8th level, the CR for this feature becomes 1. The CR improves by a further 1 at 11th (CR2), 14th (CR3) and 17th (CR4) levels.

Ability Score Improvement

At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th levels you gain +2 to one ability score, or +1 to two ability scores. You cannot raise an ability score above 20 this way.

Bonus action for Channel Divinity?

A couple of the domain Channel Divinities needed a bit of love, and bonus action was the way I chose to do it. Making Turn Undead a bonus action is more just to keep things consistent.

Restful Hymn

At 6th level, as part of a short rest, you may cast prayer of healing at your highest level spell slot level without spending a spell slot. You must take a long rest before using this feature again.

Blessed Strikes

At 7th level, you are blessed with divine might. When a creature takes damage from one of your spells or weapon attacks, you can also deal 1d8 radiant damage to that creature. Once you deal this damage, you can’t use this feature again until the start of your next turn. This may be used alongside the Divine Strike and Potent Spellcasting features.

Spark of the Divine

At 10th level, you may spend a minute praying to your diety. At the end of it, you regain all uses of your Channel Divinity feature.

You regain usage of this feature after a long rest.

Divine Guidance

At 11th level, you are always under the effects of the guidance cantrip.

In addition, you learn the guidance cantrip. If you already know this, you may learn another cantrip.

Divine Resistance

At 14th level, you are always under the effects of the resistance cantrip.

In addition, you learn the resistance cantrip. If you already know this, you may learn another cantrip.

Archbishop

At 20th level, when you use your Divine Intervention feature, you may roll your d100 twice and take either result.

In addition, you can ignore the verbal and somatic components of your cleric spells, as well as any material components that lack a cost and aren't consumed by a spell.

Restful Hymn

There needs to be more rest manipulation in the game to break up the Bard monopoly

Spark of the Divine

Clerics have no way of getting spell slots back on a short rest (at least, until the Class Options Unearthed Arcana), and so Channel Divinity fills that role. Except... it's a pitifully small number of uses. This eases pressure of the Cleric who is likely denied short rests for a while.

Blessed Strikes

I almost didn't include this until I read that one key line: It specifies spells. As in, it triggers off spiritual weapon. Clerics weren't kings of damage so...

Divine Guidance and Resistance

This is around the point where the cantrip stops being enough and the Cleric has to start deferring to the party skillmonkeys to get things done.

Archbishop

Yeah, it's Archdruid with the first line changed. You're the conduit of a god's power, there should come a point where you are literally performing miracles. I kept the whole 'Divine Intervention' gets better thing, but handled it differently.

Guidance and Resistance Cantrips

Guidance is one of the best cantrips in the game. Resistance... not so much, unless you're specifically disarming every trap by having the barbarian beat down the door with his face. It might have had a niche if bless wasn't also in the game.

And even then, it's only good for one save... which you should never see coming because that's how saves work.

Personally, I think they shouldn't have the concentration requirement. That way you can slap resistance on someone when you suspect things are going to get messy without preventing yourself from using an actual concentration spell like bless.

Concentration is quite crowded on the Cleric spell list. I understand it's there to clamp down on 3.5 era shenanigans, but these two cantrips would hardly contribute to that.

So here's the entry for the both of them:

Guidance

Divination cantrip

---

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: Touch
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Up to 1 minute

You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one ability check of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the ability check. The spell then ends. Only one creature may benefit from your guidance at a time.

Resistance

Abjuration cantrip

---

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: Touch
• Components: V, S, M (a miniature cloak)
• Duration: Up to 1 minute

You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one saving throw of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the saving throw. The spell then ends. Only one creature may benefit from your resistance at a time.

Added Spells

---

• blade ward
• control flames
• create bonfire
• gust
• infestation
• magic stone
• minor illusion
• mold earth
• shocking grasp
• thorn whip
• true strike

11 extra cantrips in total, giving two more than Druids (I've given Druids extras to compensate).

Why these choices?

---

• Blade Ward: Helps with the whole "turn the other cheek" thing.
• Control Flames: This has the weakest rationale, but I've got the other three 'control element' ones in so...
• Create Bonfire: Gotta burn that witch somehow
• Gust: Tempest Clerics
• Infestation: Ten Plague of Egypt
• Magic Stone: David Vs. Goliath is a thing
• Minor Illusion: Trickery Domain exists
• Mold Earth: Gravedigging anyone?
• Shape Water: Moses split a sea god dammit!
• True Strike: Literally the niche of War Clerics in cantrip form.