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The domain of the moon was introduced toDungeons & Dragonsby way of the talented Matthew Mercer in the sourcebook Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn. From a setting with multiple moons comes the diverse lunar abilities of the Moon Domain Cleric, with a heavy emphasis on buffing your allies and empowering your party to take on stronger foes.
Clerics of the Moon Domain may find themselves wielding light and dark magic simultaneously, concealing their intentions and goals to many. Some see clerics as manipulative, others as misunderstood or arcane to outsiders. Worshipers of this domain vary widely in morality and pursuits.
Deities Of The Moon Domain
These lunar deities bring their unique celestial powers to shape the night and influence the fates of adventurers.
Description
The Moonweaver
Also known asSehanine, she is the Exandriangoddess of moonlight and autumn.She also serves as the patron of illusions and deception.
Selûne
Thegoddess of the moonin the Forgotten Realms and opposite to Shar. She is known to have a changeable personality but maintains an affection for those who worship her, as well as a peaceful creed.
Eilistraee
The drowgoddess of the moon, beauty, and hunting.Her most common appearance is that of a drow woman, though she also appears as a silvery radiance. Chaotic good and with an unpredictable, wild temper, Eilistraee accepts all folk who wish to walk in her path.
Sharindlar
Thedwarven goddess of healing and mercy,Sharindlar is also known as a mother goddess. Romantic and warm, she appears to creatures of all types and looks kindly upon those who worship her on the nights of the full moon.
Malar
Also known asThe Beastlord,Malar is representative of the bloodier side of nature. Merciless and graceful, the god of the hunt believes that power should belong to those who are the strongest. Perhaps this is why he is associated with the moon.
The Moon
As general as this is, your Moon Cleric may be inclined towardsworship of the celestial body itself.In many settings, there are multiple moons, so your selection may broaden.
CathaandRuidusare the specific moons of Exandria on which this subclass is based. Catha serves as a moon of enlightenment, with many stories surrounding it depicting the moon as being particularly gentle or ethereal. Ruidus is regarded with heavier suspicion, depicted commonly as an omen of bad luck.
Moon Domain Cleric Features Overview
At the first level, your cleric will gain an early ability called Clarity of Catha, shielding your party from those that would do them mental damage.
Clarity of Catha
You can use your reaction to let your allies in a 30-foot radius getadvantageon aWisdom saving throw.
Beginning atsecond level, you get the ability to utilize your Channel Divinity to let your allies take on the essence of a lycanthrope.
Blessing of The Full Moon
A creature within30 feet of yougains the following abilities. They must be willing, and you must be able to see them:
Atsixth level, you’ll gain another aspect to your Channel Divinity, allowing you tosplit your concentration on spells.
Ateighth level, your cantrips become more powerful.
Empowered Cantrip
Your cantrips will deal extra damage equivalent to your Wisdom modifier. This iscleric cantrip exclusive, so it won’t synergize with a multiclass.
At17th level, you channel the power ofRuidusto create an eclipse effect.
What Are The Best Moon Domain Cleric Species?
Any species can be played with a Cleric of the Moon Domain, but you may find that some have specific resistances and boons that can make your experience more fun.
Because you spend so much time maintaining your allies' mental states, you may want to consider the elven species. Drow won’t add on much to what you get, buteladrin,high elf,andwood elfwill likewise provide youcharm resistance, withwood elfgiving you extra movement.
For similar reasons,duergarwill do well as a Moon Cleric, though you’ll receiveInvisibilityas a spell within the Moon Cleric subclass.
Protector aasimarwill lend youresistance to radiant and necrotic damage, which is useful on its own, but you’ll also receive the ability to grow spectral wings as you level. Flavor-wise, aasimar works well for cleric, and may work especially well in roleplay.
Koboldgives you theDraconic Cryability, which allows alliesadvantageon attacks, which adds to the advantage you already give them on saving throws. You could potentially get a full round in with advantage to saving throws and advantage on attacks.
You could also use Blessing of the Full Moon to follow up Draconic Cry, giving a party member who just had advantage on attacks even more advantage. It’s a lot of advantage!
Though Custom Origin is the standard, if you have the ability to usevariant humanas a species, you’re able to takeWar Casteras the feat variant human comes with. This synergizes very well with Moon Cleric, allowing you to cast on a reaction.
What Are The Best Ability Scores For Moon Domain Clerics?
Uncover the optimal path to harness the celestial might of Moon Domain Clerics. These ability scores maximize their celestial potential.
Wisdom
Your Wisdom is yourspellcasting modifier, and as such,should be highest to ensure your spells are doing the most they can.
Dexterity
Improving yourarmor classshould be your second priority, and as a Moon Cleric, you may find yourself the target of spells or attacks intended to throw off your concentration or incapacitate you. While Moon Cleric isn’t overly suited to be martial, it very much can be,so keeping your armor class high will benefit you.
Constitution
This makes up yourhit point maximum.Ideally, you won’t be within melee range. However, we can’t always plan for that, so it’s good to keep it high regardless.
You can spread your other ability scores as you see fit.
Dream
Passwall
The spells you get automatically are pretty impressive, withFaerie Fireadding to the effectiveness with which you buff your party.Hypnotic PatternandInvisibilitywill be able to be cast simultaneously withMind of Two Moons,making you devastatingly useful withcrowd control and stunning the enemy.
Guidance
Guidance adds ad4to every ability check, which you can intersperse throughout your party.
Toll the Dead
This gives younecrotic damageat the drop of a hat. As a cleric, it’s good to have access to a number of damage types, and Moon Cleric leans heavily intoradiantdamage, making diverse types of damage good to have in the event you find something resistant to your main damage type.
Spare the Dying
While your party likely will rely on you more for buffing, it could be useful to have access to a stabilization without use of a healer’s kit. This will do the trick, and your party will thank you for it when youkeep them from rolling death saves.
Bless
Bless will stay appropriate for you to have on your roster throughout the game by adding ad4 to attack rolls.If you’d like to further scale your Moon Cleric towards buffing, then this is the way to do it.
Healing Word
Healing word adds ad4to healingand casts at a range on a bonus action. It could be good to have access to small amounts of healing, as Moon Cleric doesn’t gear itself toward it.
Protection from Evil and Good
This spell keeps your allies from being attacked by making it very inconvenient for your enemy to do so.If your enemy has anadvantage, this spell makes sure they’re rolling normally. If they have adisadvantage, they may very well miss. It’s also a concentration spell, which lets youutilize your abilities.
Shield of Faith
This spelladds two points to the armor class of an ally.It only costs abonus action, and lets you have some breathing room in terms of being relied on to heal, should that be an issue.
