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Death is the absence of being: the permanent end. Many creatures inDungeons & Dragonsfear the twilight hours of their lives, waiting fearfully for their final breaths and stuttering deaths. Then, there are those who revere it.
Clerics who worship the concept of death may be mistrusted among other holy sects. This could be due to their honor of the forces that cause death (such as murder, war, and disease) or because the afterlife they represent is arcane even to the most magical of folk. Mostly, however, suspicion arises from the way death clerics use necromantic and negative energies to bring about their divine power.
Death Domain Cleric Deities
Here are some ideas for a god your Death Cleric may worship:
Naralis Analor
The lesser elven deity of suffering, the relief of pain, healing, and death.He seeks to ensure that elven souls reach their proper afterlives and characterizes himself as being cold and aloof.
Myrkul
Myrkul wasgod of decay and exhaustion, as well as the dead. Once a mortal necromancer, he ascended to that of a god beside Bane and Bhaal. Quiet and frightening, his presence was once feared and felt throughout the realms.
Bhaal
The Lord of Murderwas popularized in the game Baldur’s Gate 3, though his origins were much the same as Myrkul’s.Violence and ritualistic killing make up two prominent means of the worship of Bhaal.
Loviatar
Known primarily as theMaiden of Pain, Loviatarbelieves that suffering is the purest form of worshipand frequently delights in the pain her followers inflict upon themselves in her honor.
Also known as"The Vengeful Banshee,“she is thelesser drow goddess of undeath and revenge.She was driven mad long ago and prefers the company of spirits to the living.
Kelemvor
The quiet, neutral god of the dead, Kelemvor follows the streak of mortals who became gods of the dead upon their ascension. Kelemvorencourages death as a natural part of life, believing it is something to be understood rather than feared. His clergy defends people from perishing before their time andtends to the last wishes of the dying.
Your cleric need not be limited to a god. Some clerics hold to and gain power from ideals or systems of belief. Your Death Cleric may be satisfied to worship the concept of dying over an actual divine being!
Death Domain Cleric Features
The Death Cleric is a classhighly focused on damage and eliminating enemies from the playing field.Your features will reflect this as early asfirst level.
Bonus Proficiency
When you choose this domain, youwill receive proficiency with martial weapons.
Your second abilitygrants you a necromancy cantripfromany spell listin the game.
Reaper
If you cast a necromancy cantrip thatnormally targets only one creature, it can targettwo creatureswithin rangeif they are within five feet of one another.
Atsecond level, you gain theChannel Divinityability, which allows you tochannel necrotic energyto sap life from an enemy through touch alone.
Channel Divinity: Touch of Death
Upon hitting a creature with a melee attack,you’re able to deal extra necrotic damage equal to 5 + twice your cleric level.This tacks on extra damage to whatever damage you’ve already dealt.
Atsixth level, your damage becomes more egalitarian with Inescapable Destruction, allowing you to skirt around resistances.
Inescapable Destruction
Any necrotic damage you deal ignores resistance to necrotic damage.
When you hiteighth level, you can deal necrotic damage after making a weapon attack.
Divine Strike
Upon hitting a creature with a weapon attack, you candeal a 1d8 necrotic damage to the target.This feature can be usedonce on each of your turns.If you reachfourteenth level, your extra damage will increase to2d8.
This is one of the few features for a cleric that does not rely on spellcasting alone, actively encouraging a melee build. To get the full mileage out of this feature, consider gearing your character towards a Dexterity build.
Atseventeenth level, you gain an improvement to your first-level ability.
Improved Reaper
You can cause a necromancy spell to target two creatures instead of its regular range of one, provided the spell only targets one creature in the first place.The creatures should be within five feet of one anotherto use this feature.
If the spell requires material components, you must have them on hand for both targets. So, a spell that consumes 5 gold to cast singularly would be 10 gold when doubled.
Recommended Death Cleric Ability Scores
Wisdomis yourspellcasting modifierand is imperative for your Cleric to be effective in combat— which, if you’re playing a death cleric, you should ensure you’re going to be.Put your highest ability score here.
Dexteritywill be the next best ability score to focus on. If you’re able to choose a weapon that uses Dexterity (such as a weapon with thefinesseproperty) for yourDivine Strikefeature, then you should.
This can obviously be swapped for Strength, but it’s not going to be as efficient as Dexterity, which also provides a bonus to your armor class as a cleric.
Your next highest ability score should beConstitutionfor the sake of yourhit point maximum. Then you’ll move your next few ability scores amongIntelligence, Strength, and Charisma, depending on what you’ll prioritize.
As so many skill checks revolve around a decent Intelligence or Charisma score, you may be more inclined to lean towards either of those for your fourth-highest ability score.
Recommended Species For Death Domain Cleric
Aasimaris practically a given, as theirresistance to necrotic and radiant damageis both useful and thematic. Thedragonbornandsatyr’sresistanceswill also be useful, leaving you free to avoid taking spells or cantrips (such as Resistance) that may take up a spell slot in a pinch.
In terms of spellcasting,all subraces of genasimay be of particular use to you, as they’ll expand your spell list. In particular,Earth Genasi’saccess toPass Without A Tracemay come in handy to your party.Deep Gnomemay also be a good choice for spellcasting, as access toDisguise Selfgives you a spell you can use situationally.
Goliathis also a good choice for Death Cleric if you’re looking to utilize your Divine Strike feature and play a melee build, asStone’s Endurancewill make you a more durable character.Hill Dwarfmay also be an ideal choice if you want to improve yourdurability.
Recommended Spells For Death Domain Cleric
Cantrips
Guidancefor ability checks,Sacred Flamefor radiant damage, andToll the Deadfor necrotic power are the ideal cantrips.
Description
Guidance
Guidance adds ad4toevery ability check, and it can be spammed. This is a great choice regardless of domain.
Sacred Flame
An on-handsource of radiant damage.Every hostile creature you can see within range takes 1d6 radiant damage if they fail a Constitution saving throw.
Toll the Dead
You’re going to want a source ofnecrotic damage, so you canuse your feature to double it.This is a pretty incredible combination, especially with the1d8(1d12if the creature is injured prior) damage.
Spells
As a cleric, you’ll have the ability to swap out your spells after every long restfor other cleric spells. Here are a couple you may find useful.
Guiding Bolt
Guiding Bolt deals a lot ofradiant damageatearly levelsand gives your alliesadvantageon theirnext attacks.It’s good to have a source of radiant damage in the event a creature is immune to your necrotic damage, especially before your sixth-level feature kicks in.
Healing Word
A ranged healing spell.Even on the damage-focused death cleric, this will help.The spell casts a bonus action andprovidesd4to the healing.
Inflict Wounds
A melee spell. Most clerics won’t get much mileage out of it, despite the amount of damage it deals, but the Death Cleric may theoretically already be within melee range.On a hit, the target will take 3d10 necrotic damagewhich synergizes beautifully withTouch of Death.You’ll do an obscene amount of damage at early levels.
You will also receive a couple of spells geared towards your subclass as you level!
