Clerical Domains for your C&C Clerics

[Omote]

One of the aspects of the 3E game that I liked, were clerical domains. Not so much how they were implemented, but the idea behind them. Clerical Domains were a mechanical element to differentiate clerics from one another based on the deity they worshipped. I think that the additional rules added to clerics using what I'm calling Divine Domains, definitely add a mechanical difference to the class, and give them powers that they probably would never have access too. This mechanical difference, though striking and powerful, adds plenty of opportunities for roleplaying.

I've also long thought that the cleric class in base C&C is a bit underpowered when looking at its XP requirements. Couple that with the inclusion of illusionist healing, and the cleric is still further penalized by requiring too many XPs for its levels.

Using these Divine Domains might be a way to correct this issue and provide different opportunities to roleplay the cleric class... and add some serious cleric ass-kicking p0werz to the mix!

Located near the bottom of the page behind this link:
http://sites.google.com/site/advancedca ... expansions

~O

[KaiserKris]

Now, THIS is what I'm talking about! Very nice work!

I could see myself very easily adding these to my campaign, though possibly just straight-up, rather than along with the talents. I think the Cleric could probably use a small boost, and this is a good way to do it.

[Treebore]

Nicely done! Personally if I were looking to do something along these lines I would go back to the Specialty Priests of 2E. But this is a nicely done alternative.

[ArgoForg]

I like this a lot. I'll have to look at my god archetypes to see what fits where and what may need tweaked for my specific campaign, but I think I may look into using this when I pick my C&C campaign back up. If nothing else, this gives a lot of spice to the cleric class and may nudge players into wanting to play them a bit more often!

[Omote]

Adding these powers without the Talent sub-rule system is one of the design philosophies. If you want to use the Divine Domains, you can simply plug them into your game.

I was also a fan of specialty priests back in 2E, and what is presetned here is kind of based on specialty priests, but a little bit more simple (from a rules stand point), and based on what I liked about them in 3E.

Certain types of players don't see any difference in one cleric from another using the base C&C rules. I don't agree with that statement, but nonetheless, some players feel that way. Take the fellow TLG poster Snoring Rock. In a recent post he said some of his players thought that clerics in C&C were pigeon-holed as healers and nothing more. We know this is not the case, but by using a system like this, you can sell how clerics can be different from one another by simply adding a few new abilities. Even though the overall rules impact might be low, it provides the flavor that might spark the imagination of a cleric player. Along those lines, giving some of these Divine Domains a potent power or two that is not tied to a cleric's normal spell casting rules, might empower a player.

Feel free to use, tweek, and alter these ideas as needed for your campaigns.

~O

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Interesting stuff, O. Nice work.

I wonder if the folks who've said that C&C clerics are pigeon-holed have taken a serious look at OG&M. I like the customization rules that are found there.

If a player puts a little thought into the creation process before he/she starts rolling dice, a lot of the customization issues tend to take care of themselves. Do you want the customization to be in the way you approach/roleplay the character, or in the way you roll the dice?

[csperkins1970]

Cleric Domains
In the simplest version of the C&C game, clerics serve religions that can be generally described as "good", “neutral”, or "evil." Nothing more needs to be said about it; the game will play perfectly well at this level. However, a CK who has taken the time to create a detailed campaign world has often spent some of that time devising elaborate pantheons, either unique creations or adaptations from history or literature. If the option is open (and only your CK can decide), you may want your character to adhere to a particular mythos, taking advantage of the detail and color your CK has provided. If your character follows a god of a particular domain, expect him to have abilities, spells and restrictions different from the generic cleric. Priesthood of any domain must take the following into consideration: requirements, favored weapons, granted powers and ethos.

REQUIREMENTS
Before a character can become a cleric of a particular domain, certain requirements must be met. These usually involve the selection of a particular prime ability score, in addition to wisdom, and alignment restrictions. All clerics, regardless of domain, must have wisdom scores of at least 9. Beyond this, your CK can set other requirements as needed.
A god of battle, for example, should require strong, healthy clerics. One whose sphere is art and beauty should have charisma as a prime ability score. Most deities demand a specific type of behavior from their followers, and this will dictate alignment choices.

FAVORED WEAPONS
Not all domains are opposed to the shedding of blood. Indeed, some deities prefer that their clerics use swords, spears or other specific weapons. An agricultural deity might emphasize weapons derived from farm implements - sickles and flails, for example. A deity of peace and harmony might grant only the simplest and least harmful weapons - perhaps only bare hands and nets. Given below are some suggested weapons, but many more are possible (the CK always has the final word in this matter). All clerics should be proficient in the use of daggers.

Deity: Favored Weapon Suggestions
Agriculture: Flail (any), sickle, scythe
Air, wind: Bow (any), javelin, scimitar, spear (any)
Animals: Bow (any), net, spear (any)
Arts: Dart, quarterstaff, shortsword
Chaos, discord: Flail (any), scourge, sling, whip
Darkness: Garrote, sap, shortsword
Death: Quarterstaff, sickle, scythe
Disease: Scourge, unarmed, whip
Earth: Pick (any), sling
Fire: Scourge, shortsword, whip
Forests, wilderness: Bow (any), spear (any), quarterstaff
Healing: Net, quarterstaff
Hearth Quarterstaff
Hunt: Bow (any), sling, spear (any), net
Industry: Throwing hammer, quarterstaff
Knowledge: Quarterstaff
Law: Longsword, mace (any), spear
Light: Morningstar, longsword
Luck: Dart, shortsword
Love, beauty: Bow (any), dart, net
Magic: Quarterstaff
Mischief: Club
Moon: Scimitar, sickle
Peace: Net, unarmed, quarterstaff
Smithing: Throwing hammer, warhammer
Strength: Club, gauntlet (any), unarmed, warhammer
Storms: Javelin, spear, throwing hammer
Sun: Bow (any), javelin, shortsword
Time: Longsword, quarterstaff
Travel: Quarterstaff
War: Battleaxe, longsword, spear, warhammer
Water, oceans: Net, spear, trident
Of course there are many other reasons a deity might be associated with a particular weapon or group of weapons. These are often cultural, reflecting the weapons used by the people of the area. There may be a particular legend associated with the deity, tying it to some powerful artifact weapon (Thor's hammer, for example). The CK has the final choice in all situations.

GRANTED POWERS
Agriculture: Priests of agricultural gods are skilled farmers. They add the following spells to their repertoire:
Level 1: Goodberry
Level 2: Detect animals or plants
Level 3: Plant growth
Level 6: Move earth

Air, wind: Clerics of wind and air gods gain additional air spells but lose access to earth spells. They may not wear heavy armor. Add the following spells to the cleric’s spell list:
Level 1: Feather fall
Level 2: Gust of wind
Level 3: Wall of wind
Level 5: Control winds
Level 7: Wind walk
Level 8: Whirlwind
Level 9: Elemental swarm
Remove the following spells from the cleric’s spell list:
Level 1: Magic stone
Level 3: Meld into stone
Level 7: Stone tell
Level 8: Earthquake
They may not conjure earth elementals, nor may they create clay golems. Air elementals conjured by these clerics gain 2 additional hit points per hit die.

Animals: Clerics of this domain add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 1: Calm animals
Level 2: Charm person or mammal
Level 3: Dominate animal
Level 4: Animal summoning I
Level 5: Animal summoning II
Level 6: Animal summoning III
They are skilled at animal husbandry and knowledgeable about fauna. In place of raise dead, clerics of this domain gain reincarnation. They are restricted to the use of light armor but may use any shield.

Arts: Clerics of this domain worship the gods of artistic inspiration and the performing arts. They are skilled in the performing arts. They add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 0: Prestidigitation
Level 1: Charm person
Level 2: Tasha’s hideous laughter
Level 3: Suggestion
Level 4: Charm monster
Level 7: Charm plants
Level 8: Otto’s irresistible dance
Level 9: Mass charm
All clerics of this domain are limited to the use of light armor and small shields.

Chaos: Priests of chaos are immune to insanity and confusion spells and spell effects. They add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 4: Confusion
Level 7: Insanity
They may never work to restore a creature’s sanity by any means.

Darkness: Servants of darkness are skilled at blending into the shadows, gaining the hide and move silently abilities of rogues. At 5th level they gain the ability to back attack for double damage. The damage dealt by their back attacks never increases. They may only wear light armor and use the weapons of rogues in place of those of clerics. They may never cast light spells of any sort.

Death: Death priests add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 6: Death spell
Level 8: Finger of death
At 3rd level and beyond they may feign death once per day in addition to their usual spell allotment. Both evil and neutral clerics of death gods command undead rather than turn them. They are skilled embalmers.

Disease: Clerics of this mythos are immune to the ill-effects of all diseases, regardless of their origin, though they may exhibit the physical signs of diseases they contract. At 3rd level they may cause disease once per week with their touch.
This ability improves as the cleric rises in levels. At 9th level, the cleric can cause disease two times per week and, at 15th level, three times
per week. They may not cast cure disease or use the healing skill to treat those suffering from illness or disease.

Earth: Clerics of earth gods gain additional earth-based spells but lose access to air-based spells. Add the following spells to the cleric’s
spell list:
Level 2: Soften earth and stone
Level 3: Stone shape
Level 5: Transmute rock to mud, transmute mud to rock
Level 6: Wall of stone
Level 8: Animate rock
Remove the following spells from the cleric’s spell list:
Level 4: Air walk
Level 6: Aerial servant, wind walk
Level 7: Control weather
They may not conjure air elementals. All earth elementals summoned by these clerics gain 2 additional hit points per hit die.

Fire: Clerics of the fire domain gain access to fire-based spells but lose access to water-based spells. Add the following spells to the cleric’s spell list:
Level 2: Flame blade (favored melee weapon)
Level 4: Produce fire
Level 5: Wall of fire
Level 7: Fire storm
Remove the following spells from the cleric’s spell list:
Level 3: Water breathing, water walk
Level 4: Control water
Level 7: Control weather
They may not conjure water elementals. All fire elementals summoned by these clerics gain 2 additional hit points per hit die.

Forests, wilderness: Clerics of this domain add survival as a class ability. They are restricted to the use of leather or hide armor and wooden shields. They add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 1: Detect animals or plants
Level 2: Tree
Level 3: Dominate animal
Level 4: Antiplant shell 10’ radius
Level 5: Plant door
Level 6: Transport via plant
Level 7: Changestaff
They may never create golems of any sort and gain the turn undead ability at level 3 instead of at 1st level. Their effective cleric level, with
regards to turning, is equal to their cleric level –2. At 5th level they add woodland stride as a class ability. In place of raise dead, priests of this domain gain reincarnation.

Healing: Clerics of the gods of healing refrain from combat in all but the direst of circumstances and use the BtH progression of wizards, due to their limited martial training.
They are immune to all diseases. At 3rd level they may cure disease once per week with their touch. This ability improves as the cleric rises in levels. At 9th level, the cleric can cure disease two times per week and, at 15th level, three times per week. When casting any cure spell, clerics with the healing domain may reroll all “1”s or “2”s rolled. They may not cast cause disease, cause blindness/deafness, harm, wither or cause wounds spells of any sort.

Hearth: Priests of the hearth typically stress the safety of home and their community to their flock. They are rarely adventurers. Clerics of
this domain add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 1: Alarm, hold portal
Level 2: Wizard lock
Level 3: Leomund’s tiny hut
Level 4: Leomund’s secure shelter
They are skilled cooks and homemakers. They may not wear heavy armor.

Hunt: Clerics of the hunt gain the survival and track class abilities at 1st level. They are restricted to the use of light armor. In place of raise dead, priests of this domain gain reincarnation.

Industry: The clerics of this god worship the gods of item creation, whether that creation be of works of art, magical items or mundane items of any sort. They are either skilled craftsmen or artists and add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 0: Mending
Level 2: Obscure object
Level 4: Minor creation
Level 5: Major creation
Level 6: Enchant an item

Knowledge: Clerics of the knowledge domain may not wear armor but may use protective devices, such as rings of protection or bracers of defense.
They gain the legend lore and decipher script class abilities at 1st level. They use the BtH progression of wizards due to their lack of combat training.

Law: Clerics of law, upon reaching 3rd level, may cast zone of truth once per day in addition to their usual spell allotment. At 7th level, they may also cast detect lie in addition to their daily spell allotment.
They gain a +3 bonus to dispel chaos, confusion, insanity and symbol of insanity spells and may not cast these spells under any circumstance.

Light: Clerics of light gain a +2 bonus to all turn undead checks and may radiate a nimbus of light (as the light spell) for up to 1 turn/level each day. They may never cast any darkness spell of any sort, nor may they animate dead.

Luck: Servants of the gods of luck are aware of fortune’s fickle nature. Once per day they may add their level to any single ability check or attack roll they make. They must announce their intent to do so before making the roll. Should this roll fail, the cleric suffers a –1 penalty to all ability checks, including saving throws, for the next 24 hours.

Love, beauty: Clerics of this domain are usually not the sort to seek adventures or crusade in their faith’s name. Adventuring clerics of this domain may not wear armor but may use protective devices such as rings of protection or bracers of defense. They have a +2 bonus to resist all charm, dominate, enthrall, fascinate, or suggestion spells or spell-like abilities.
At 4th level they gain the bardic fascinate ability with an effective level equal to their cleric level minus 3.

Magic: Clerics of the gods of magic may not wear armor but may use protective devices such as rings of protection or bracers of defense.
They fight as wizards, using the BtH progression for that class. All clerics of magic may use all wands, rods and staves that may be used by clerics or wizards, and gain access to the following spells:
Level 0: Prestidigitation
Level 1: Armor
Level 2: Protection from normal missiles
Level 3: Arcane sight
Level 4: Detect scrying
Level 5: Permanency
Level 6: Antimagic shell
Unearthed Arcana 11
Level 7: Improved arcane sight
Level 8: Serten’s spell immunity
Level 9: Mordernkainen’s disjunction

Mischief: Clerics of the mischief domain tend to be roguish pranksters and may not lawful in alignment. They are restricted to the use of light armor but may cast the following in addition to their usual spells:
Level 0: Prestidigitation
Level 1: Change self
Level 2: Tasha’s hideous laughter
Level 8: Otto’s irresistible dance

Moon: Clerics of the ever-changing moon are often shapeshifters and may turn or control lycanthropes as a typical cleric turns or controls undead. They never destroy lycanthropes with this ability. The following spells are added to their spell list:
Level 2: Alter self
Level 4: Polymorph
Level 9: Shapechange
Clerics of this domain are restricted to the use of light armor, though they may use all shields.

Peace: Clerics of peace may not wear armor but may use protective devices such as rings of protection or bracers of defense. They may not cast cause disease, cause blindness/deafness, harm, wither or cause wounds spells of any sort.
To reflect their lack of martial training, clerics of this domain use the BtH progression of wizards. To balance this, priests of peace gods may cast sanctuary once per day at 3rd level, in addition to their usual spell allotment. At 9th level they may sanctuary twice per day and, at 15th level, three times per day. All saves made to resist their sanctuary spells are made with a -2 penalty. They may also lay on hands, just as a paladin does. When casting any cure spell, clerics of peace may reroll all “1”s or “2”s rolled.

Smithing: These clerics are skilled smiths. At 18th level they may create iron golems using the same spells needed to make a clay golem but using the same materials (incurring the same expenses) for creating an iron golem. The following spells are added to their spell list:
Level 1: Unseen servant
Level 6: Enchant an item
Level 7: Mordenkainen’s sword (favored melee weapon)
Level 8: Glassteel

Strength: Clerics of this domain are quick to demonstrate their physical prowess through feats of strength. They receive a +2 bonus on all opposed strength checks and add the wizard strength spell to their spell list.

Storms: This domain affords its clerics with the ability to predict the weather with near certainty. At first level, clerics of storm gods may
predict the weather for the next 8 hours with a perception check. At 3rd level, this check allows them to predict the weather for the next
24 hours. At 7th level the prediction covers the next 3 days’ weather and, at 11th level, they may accurately predict the weather for an entire week. The penalty to these perception checks is -2 for each day of the prediction.
The following spells are added to their spell list:
Level 3: Call lightning
Level 7: Control weather
Level 9: Storm of vengeance

Sun: Clerics of sun gods are talented artists, actors or musicians, as sun gods are commonly patrons of the arts. They add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 2: Flame blade
Level 7: Sunray
Level 8: Sunburst
Level 9: Chariot of Sustarre
Clerics of sun gods may not cast darkness spells of any sort.

Time: Priests of this domain are usually learned chroniclers of the ages and masters of astronomy. They add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 0: Know direction
Level 3: Haste, slow
Level 8: Temporal stasis
Level 9: Time stop

Travel: Clerics of the travel domain move 15’ (3”) faster than is usual for a member of their race so long as they are not carrying more than a light load. They are usually skilled teamsters, riders or sailors, and are skilled at navigation and cartography. Priests with the travel domain are restricted to the use of light armor. They may use any shield. They add the following spells to their spell list:
Level 0: Know direction
Level 1: Run
Level 4: Dimension door
Level 5: Teleport
Level 7: Teleport without error

War: Priests of war gods gain a +1 bonus to hit with their deity’s favored weapon, even if that weapon is not normally allowed by clerics.

Water, oceans: Clerics of are skilled boatsmen, shipwrights or fishermen. They add the following spell to their spell list:
Level 5: Airy water
Remove the following spell from the cleric’s spell list:
Level 5: Flame strike
They may not conjure fire elementals. All water elementals summoned by these clerics gain 2 additional hit points per hit die.

ETHOS
All clerics must live by certain tenets and beliefs. These guide the clerics' behavior. Clerics generally try to avoid shedding blood and try to aid their community. A war deity may order its clerics to be at the forefront of battles and to actively crusade against all enemies. A harvest deity may want its clerics to be active in the fields. The ethos may also dictate what alignment the cleric must be. The nature of the mythos helps define the strictures the cleric must follow.

Cleric Titles
Clerics of differing mythoi often go by titles and names other than cleric. Shamans and witch doctors are also possibilities. A little library research will turn up many more unique and colorful titles, a few of which are listed here:
Abbess, Abbot, Ayatollah, Bonze, Brother, Dom, Eye of the Law, Friar, Guru, Hajji, Imam, Mendicant, Metropolitan, Mullah, Pardoner, Patriarch, Prelate, Prior, Qadi, Rector, Vicar, and Yogi

Balancing It All
When creating a cleric of a specific domain, careful attention must be given to the balance of the character's different abilities. A cleric strong in one area or having a wide range of choice must be appropriately weakened in another area so that he does not become too powerful compared to the other clerics in the game. If a war deity allows a cleric the use of all weapons and armor, the character should be limited in the spells allowed or powers granted.
At the other extreme, a character who follows a deity of peace should have significant spells and granted powers to make up for his extremely limited or non-existent choice of weapons.

[garydee]

Nice job to both Omote and csperkins. Hopefully, we'll see this kind of stuff in the Adventurer's Backpack.

[csperkins1970]

Thanks garydee. I hope people get some use out of this. At this point, I'm not using these rules in my game but will probably, gradually incorporate them into my game as my campaign continues. For now I'm keeping the rules relatively simple so that my newest player (my wife) learns the ropes.

[Omote]

One of the aspects of the 3E game that I liked, were clerical domains. Not so much how they were implemented, but the idea behind them. Clerical Domains were a mechanical element to differentiate clerics from one another based on the deity they worshipped. I think that the additional rules added to clerics using what I'm calling Divine Domains, definitely add a mechanical difference to the class, and give them powers that they probably would never have access too. This mechanical difference, though striking and powerful, adds plenty of opportunities for roleplaying.

I've also long thought that the cleric class in base C&C is a bit underpowered when looking at its XP requirements. Couple that with the inclusion of illusionist healing, and the cleric is still further penalized by requiring too many XPs for its levels.

Using these Divine Domains might be a way to correct this issue and provide different opportunities to roleplay the cleric class... and add some serious cleric ass-kicking p0werz to the mix!

Located near the bottom of the page behind this link:
http://sites.google.com/site/advancedca ... expansions

~O

Oops! I had to correct a few errors and inconsistances within the latest version of the Domains of the Divine rules. Thanks spotters! I just uploaded the changed document for those of you who have DL'd it. You'll probably want to use the new one.

~O

[Mark Hall]

I tend to go with the simpler: You can change Turn Undead for another reasonable power of your choice. I will entertain changes to spell lists (like the cleric of Gond who couldn't turn undead, but could open locks and F/RT like a rogue half his level, and could cast Mending instead of Detect Evil)

[serleran]

Conceptually, domains are alright. It does give some leverage to a player.

System-speaking, it can also be a simple way to allow some "customization."

Both of those are good. They are very fitting into the nature of C&C.

But, for my game -- two gods of death (for example) are not the same. They do not give the same abilities nor do they offer the same spells. Domains would not work. As each deity is unique, so should their clerics. Therefore, I find I prefer to treat each cleric as a class unto itself, which for me is no big deal... no one plays one anyway.

[Omote]

Well they should.

With two Gods of death in your world, I find the concept intriguing. If there are collectives of people involved with these deities, are they at odds with each other? If you don't mind saying, how does the relationship of these Gods affect your campaign world?

~O