When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. For you, these cantrips count as cleric cantrips. Whenever you gain a level in this class which would grant an Ability Score Improvement, you can replace one cantrip you gained from this feature with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
Channel Divinity: Arcane Abjuration
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures.
As an action, you present your holy symbol, and one aberration, celestial, construct, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, or ooze of your choice that is within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw, provided that the creature can see or hear you. 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 end its move in a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can only use 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.
After you reach 5th level, when a creature fails its saving throw against your Arcane Abjuration feature, the creature is banished for 1 minute (as in the Banishment spell, no concentration required) if it isn't on its plane of origin and its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown on the Arcane Banishment table.
Arcane Banishment
Cleric Level
Banishes Creatures of CR
5th
½ or lower
8th
1 or lower
11th
2 or lower
14th
3 or lower
17th
4 or lower
Spell Breaker
Starting at 6th level, when you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher, you can also end one spell of your choice on that creature. The level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell. Alternatively, if you restore hit points in such a way to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessedby another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Arcane Mastery
At 17th level, you choose four spells from the wizard spell list, one from each of the following levels: 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
1D&D Version
Arcana Domain (Hypothetical OneD&D Version)
Magic is an energy that suffuses the multiverse and that fuels both destruction and creation. Gods of the Arcana domain know the secrets and potential of magic intimately. For some of these gods, magical knowledge is a great responsibility that comes with a special understanding of the nature of reality. Other gods of Arcana see magic as pure power, to be used as its wielder sees fit.
The gods of this domain are often associated with knowledge, as learning and arcane power tend to go hand-in-hand. In the Realms, deities of this domain include Azuth and Mystra, as well as Corellon Larethian of the elven pantheon. In other worlds, this domain includes Hecate, Math Mathonwy, and Isis; the triple moon gods of Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari of Krynn; and Boccob, Vecna, and Wee Jas of Greyhawk.
Arcana Domain Spells
Cleric Level
Spells
3rd
Nystul’s Magic Aura, Magic Weapon
5th
Dispel Magic, Magic Circle
7th
Arcane Eye, Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum
9th
Bigby’s Hand, Planar Binding
Arcane Initiate
When you choose this domain at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two 0-level spells of your choice from the Arcane spell list. Whenever you gain a level in this class which would grant a Feat, you can replace one 0-level spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level from the Arcane spell list.
Arcane Abjuration
Also at 3rd level, you can use your divine influence to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures. Choose one of the following creature types when you gain this feature: aberrations, celestials, constructs, elementals, fey, or fiends. Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity option, you can choose to target creatures of that type instead of undead.
You can choose an additional creature type for this feature when you reach 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th level . Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity you can target one creature type, either undead or one chosen from this feature. After you reach 5th level, your Smite Undead class feature affects any of the chosen creature types that fail its saving throw against your Channel Divinity, and you can change the damage from radiant to force.
Divine Arcana
You can use your channel divinity to empower your spellcasting. Starting at 6th level, as a bonus action you can expend a use of your Channel Divinity feature and speak a prayer to control the flow of magic around you. The next spell you cast gains a +2 bonus to any attack roll you make for it or to its saving throw DC for its duration. If the next spell you cast requires both a spell attack and saving throw, you choose which is affected by your Channel Divinity when you cast it.
Spell Breaker
Starting at 10th level, when you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher, you can also end one spell of your choice on that creature. The level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell. Alternatively, if you restore hit points in such a way to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessedby another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level.
Arcane Mastery
At 14th level, you choose two spells from the Arcane spell list, one which is 6th level and another that is 7th level. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
Each time you gain a level in this class which grants spell slots of a higher level, choose one spell from the Arcane spell list to add to your list of domain spells in the same way.
Version 2.0
Arcana Domain (work in progress, V2)
Magic is an energy that suffuses the multiverse and that fuels both destruction and creation. Gods of the Arcana domain know the secrets and potential of magic intimately. For some of these gods, magical knowledge is a great responsibility that comes with a special understanding of the nature of reality. Other gods of Arcana see magic as pure power, to be used as its wielder sees fit.
The gods of this domain are often associated with knowledge, as learning and arcane power tend to go hand-in-hand. In the Realms, deities of this domain include Azuth and Mystra, as well as Corellon Larethian of the elven pantheon. In other worlds, this domain includes Hecate, Math Mathonwy, and Isis; the triple moon gods of Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari of Krynn; and Boccob, Vecna, and Wee Jas of Greyhawk.
Arcana Domain Spells
Cleric Level
Spells
1st
Detect Magic, Magic Missile
3rd
Nystul’s Magic Aura, Magic Weapon
5th
Dispel Magic, Magic Circle
7th
Arcane Eye, Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum
9th
Bigby’s Hand, Planar Binding
Arcane Initiate
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. For you, these cantrips count as cleric cantrips.Whenever you gain a level in this class which would grant an Ability Score Improvement, you can replace one cantrip you gained from this feature with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
Channel Divinity: Divine Arcana
At 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to empower your spellcasting. As a bonus action, you speak a prayer to control the flow of magic around you. The next spell you cast gains a +2 bonus to any attack roll you make for it or to its saving throw DC for its duration. If the next spell you cast requires both a spell attack and saving throw, you choose which is affected by your Channel Divinity when you cast it.
Arcane Abjuration
Also at 2nd level, you can use your divine influence to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures. Choose one of the following creature types when you gain this feature: aberrations, celestials, constructs, elementals, fey, or fiends. Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity option, you can choose to target creatures of that type instead of undead.
You can choose an additional creature type for this feature when you reach 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th level . Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity you can target one creature type, either undead or one chosen from this feature. After you reach 5th level, creatures of any of the chosen types which fail its saving throw is instantly destroyed if its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown in the Destroy Undead table for the Cleric class
Spell Breaker
Starting at 6th level, when you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher, you can also end one spell of your choice on that creature. The level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell. Alternatively, if you restore hit points in such a way to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessedby another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Arcane Mastery
At 17th level, you choose four spells from the wizard spell list, one from each of the following levels: 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
Arcana Domain
Magic is an energy that suffuses the multiverse and that fuels both destruction and creation. Gods of the Arcana domain know the secrets and potential of magic intimately. For some of these gods, magical knowledge is a great responsibility that comes with a special understanding of the nature of reality. Other gods of Arcana see magic as pure power, to be used as its wielder sees fit.
The gods of this domain are often associated with knowledge, as learning and arcane power tend to go hand-in-hand. In the Realms, deities of this domain include Azuth and Mystra, as well as Corellon Larethian of the elven pantheon. In other worlds, this domain includes Hecate, Math Mathonwy, and Isis; the triple moon gods of Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari of Krynn; and Boccob, Vecna, and Wee Jas of Greyhawk.
Arcana Domain Spells
Cleric Level
Spells
1st
Detect Magic, Magic Missile
3rd
Nystul’s Magic Aura, Magic Weapon
5th
Dispel Magic, Magic Circle
7th
Arcane Eye, Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum
9th
Bigby’s Hand, Planar Binding
Arcane Initiate
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. For you, these cantrips count as cleric cantrips.Whenever you gain a level in this class which would grant an Ability Score Improvement, you can replace one cantrip you gained from this feature with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
Spell Breaker
Also at 1st level, when you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by another creature, you can choose to end the effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level (rounded up).
When you reach 6th level in this class, you can instead choose to end one spell of your choice affecting that creature if the level of the spell is equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you expended to cast the spell which restored hit points.
Arcane Abjuration
At 2nd level, you can use your divine influence to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures. Choose one of the following creature types when you gain this feature: aberrations, celestials, constructs, elementals, fey, or fiends. Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity option, you can choose to target creatures of that type instead of undead.
You can choose an additional creature type for this feature when you reach 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th level . Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity you can target one creature type, either undead or one chosen from this feature. After you reach 5th level, creatures of any of the chosen types which fail its saving throw is instantly destroyed if its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown in the Destroy Undead table for the Cleric class
Channel Divinity: Divine Arcana
At 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to empower your spellcasting. As a bonus action, you speak a prayer to control the flow of magic around you. The next spell you cast gains a +2 bonus to any attack roll you make for it or to its saving throw DC for its duration. If the next spell you cast requires both a spell attack and saving throw, you choose which is affected by this feature when you cast it.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Arcane Mastery
At 17th level, you choose four spells from the wizard spell list, one from each of the following levels: 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
Design Notes
Domain Spells / Arcane Initiate Wanted to increase the versatility by allowing the cleric to periodically switch out their wizard cantrips, because it feels bad to pick one at 1st level only to realize later that something else would be more useful. Changed out Magic Weapon for See Invisibility as this seems more useful for a cleric focused on dealing with otherworldly creatures. Changed out Secret Chest for Private Sanctum as I dislike having too many domain spells that come with a costly component and this plays into the “Dr. Strange” flavor of having a secret magical sanctum. Replaced Teleportation Circle with Bigby’s Hand for the same reason of not wanting too many costly spells. Bigby’s Hand will likely also be useful more often than Teleportation Circle.
Arcane Abjuration (Version 1)Expanded the number of creature types that can be turned by this effect. While the ability is still situational, it can now be used more often.
Divine Arcana (new CD for Version 2). This CD is drawn from the Theurgy Wizard UA which acts as just a flat buff for your spell attack or spell save DC. This could be potentially powerful with concentration-based spells like Spirit Guardians.
Arcane Abjuration (Version 2) See comment # 13
Spell Breaker Wanted to include a way for this ability to be useful when dealing with monsters that can produce magical effects, but not necessarily by using spells. In this way I took some inspiration from Dispel Evil and Good for ending certain conditions that magical creatures can create, but only if they are a lower level than you.
All in all I like it. The only thing I would do differently is to swap see invisibility back for magic weapon as it seems more objectively “arcane” to me. I’m also not entirely sold on adding constructs, dragons, and oozes to the Arcane Abjuration list either, especially oozes, but that’s a minor thing too. All in all nice job.
Overall it looks nice. I like the update to Spell Breaker.
I am on the fence about Arcane Abjuration. Turning a dragon feels off for some reason. I can see constructs making sense, because they are made by arcane magic. So exerting control over another caster's construct sounds cool. Oozes are... fine either way?
But there is one other issue to consider. I don't know if you'll see it as a problem or not. There are now PC races with the creature type Construct (Autognome) and Ooze (Plasmoid.) This gives them some advantages against other spells that target humanoids, so this disadvantage against one subclass might not be a big deal, but the interaction does exist.
But there is one other issue to consider. I don't know if you'll see it as a problem or not. There are now PC races with the creature type Construct (Autognome) and Ooze (Plasmoid.) This gives them some advantages against other spells that target humanoids, so this disadvantage against one subclass might not be a big deal, but the interaction does exist.
Thats fair, but this interaction also exists with Fey PCs already. What is nice about Arcane Abjuration (even the original) is you pick the target. Compare that to Abjure the Extraplanar from Oath of the Watchers paladin, which targets more creatures but does not let you choose who is targeted, which could spell doom for the PCs.
Like you and Sposta, I am on the fence about some of the creature type additions (especially dragons) but I wanted to start as wide as seemed reasonable and then trim down from there. Again bringing up the Oath of the Watchers paladin, I want to make sure that Arcane Abjuration is not just a single target version of Abjure the Extraplanar. The banishment effect is nice and unique for the cleric, but with the CR restriction is still fairly rare when it will occur.
will need to mull it over
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I like everything I'm seeing here, but I also agree with IamSposta and Stegodorkus that dragons and oozes shouldn't be included in Arcane Abjuration. Including constructs makes sense though.
I will go ahead and remove dragons and oozes. That being said, then the only additional creatures compared to the original version are abberations and constructs. By itself, this does not feel like much of a buff to me, especially when again compared to the existing CD of the newer Oath of Watchers Paladin, which targets all the same creature types (besides constructs) but does so in a 30 foot sphere rather than a single target.
To briefly compare and contrast
Arcana Domain CD:
- Targets 1 creature of your choice
- Can be used up to three times per short rest
- Can potentially banish its target, if it has a low CR
Watchers CD:
-Targets every creature in a 30 foot sphere and can affect creatures of multiple types in a single usage
-Can be used once per short rest
All in all, in my opinion the additional uses of Arcana's CD per short rest and banishing effect does not really balance out with the larger area and number of targets the Watcher's version can target. I still feel like it needs something more, but I do not know what. Adding too many additional creature types removes the flavor/lore behind the ability. If it targeted a large area like the Watcher's version then the more uses & banishment would push it into the realm of being too powerful.
Idk, Id definitely appreciate some ideas on what else can be done with this CD, but as it stands right now its still a little underwhelming for where I want it to be.
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Just throwing it out there, not sure if this would balance or not.
How about starting at 5th level, when the Banishment effect is applied, you can summon a creature of the same type and CR as the one you banished. This creature is friendly towards you and your allies, will obey your orders, and takes its turn immediately after yours. This creature vanishes if its hitpoints reach zero or once the banishment effect ends (1 minute), whichever comes first.
I would agree in general, but with the CR limit this is basically the same thing as Destroy Undead, more-or-less permanently removing threats from the battlefield. But instead of clearing out a hoard of zombies/skeletons surrounding you, you are banishing a single, weak creature. If Arcane Abjuration had the same AOE as Turn Undead AND had the banishing effect, it would be one of the strongest CDs in the game (if not too strong). With a single-target limit, it feels very weak. Theres a balance to be reached in there somewhere
Just throwing it out there, not sure if this would balance or not.
How about starting at 5th level, when the Banishment effect is applied, you can summon a creature of the same type and CR as the one you banished. This creature is friendly towards you and your allies, will obey your orders, and takes its turn immediately after yours. This creature vanishes if its hitpoints reach zero or once the banishment effect ends (1 minute), whichever comes first.
I like the thought, but it feels like this might have the player spending too much time searching through the monster manual which could slow down the game. What if instead, whenever they successfully banish a creature using the CD they can regain a spell slot equal to the creatures CR or lower. This would arguably make it more powerful than Harness Divine Power from Tasha's, but would be limited by a) how often the DM puts these creatures of the right CR range in front of you and b) how often such creatures even fail their saving throw against this effect.
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Here is another idea for how to modify Arcane Abjuration that would both simplify it and make it feel more powerful.
Make Arcane Abjuration a modification of Turn Undead rather than its own CD option; however, it comes with the restriciton that each time you use your Turn CD you have to select a single type of creature to be affected (undead or one of the listed creature types from Arcane Abjuration). So you could Turn elementals OR celestials OR fey OR undead with 30 feet, but not all at once, which would keep it still somewhat distinct from Abjure the Extraplanar from Oath of the Watchers. Perhaps if this feels too powerful right out of the gate, we could also change it to where you dont get all of the creature types at once, but instead choose a certain number at 2nd level and get more choices as you level up.
If we fold it into Turn Undead this way, we could also either keep the Banishment rider or just extend the effects of Destroy Undead to all of the listed creature types (since a concentration free Banishment of low CR creatures back to their original plane is almost the same thing as killing them, since its unlikely youll run into them again).
Also, if we treat Arcane Abjuration as a modification of Turn Undead rather than its own CD option, we could perhaps also tack on an additional, new CD option for this subclass (something more utility-focused so as not to be too powerful)
Here is an initial draft of what that might look like
Arcane Abjuration
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your divine influence to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures. Choose one of the following creature types when you gain this feature: aberrations, celestials, constructs, elementals, fey, or fiends. Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity option, you can choose to target creatures of the chosen type instead of undead.
You can choose an additional creature type for this feature when you reach 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th level . Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity you can target one creature type, either undead or one chosen from this feature. After you reach 5th level, creatures of any of the chosen types which fail its saving throw is instantly destroyed if its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown in the Destroy Undead table for the Cleric class.
Just made an updated version with some new changes, including to Arcane Abjuration and playing with the introduction of a new CD option. The original version is listed in the spoiler tag at the top under Version 1. Let me know what you think
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With the release of the new Cleric UA for OneD&D, I tried playing with what a version of this subclass would look like for that cleric. You can find it in a spoiler tag at the top of the post if you are interested.
Also, how do we feel about the currently posted version? Should we count it as "fixed" for now or are there any other comments / alterations?
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I haven’t forgotten you, I’ve just been extra busy recently and got stuck on the Wot4E FIFY. I’ll get back to this probably around this time next week.
Alright, I’ve finally had a chance to really read into your updated FIFY for the 5e Arcana Domain, and I see a hiccup with it. No other domain gives any features at 2nd level other than their Channel Divinity option, and any domain that grants a second CD does so at 6th level. You have 2 CDs at 2nd level. But I have an idea that might work. Move Divine Arcana to 6th level, and move a modified version of Spell Breaker to 1st level:
Spell Breaker
1st-level FIFY Arcana Domain feature
When you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level (rounded up). When you reach 5th level in this class you can instead choose to end one spell of your choice on that creature, the level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell.
Alright, I’ve finally had a chance to really read into your updated FIFY for the 5e Arcana Domain, and I see a hiccup with it. No other domain gives any features at 2nd level other than their Channel Divinity option, and any domain that grants a second CD does so at 6th level. You have 2 CDs at 2nd level. But I have an idea that might work. Move Divine Arcana to 6th level, and move a modified version of Spell Breaker to 1st level:
Spell Breaker
1st-level FIFY Arcana Domain feature
When you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level (rounded up). When you reach 5th level in this class you can instead choose to end one spell of your choice on that creature, the level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell.
Well, wadaya think?
You know, thats actually a really intersting idea. I havent played alot of cleric, so had not noticed that some domains get two CD options, one at 2nd and another at 6th. I also like the idea of moving Spell Breaker to 1st level. Spell breaker is conceptually and mechanically really interesting, and I think moving it to the front of the subclass' kit will make it more appealing. It also does make it feel more in line with subclass design, where Arcane Initiate fills the role of a "bonus proficiency" type ability and then Spell Breaker is the more defining 1st level feature.
The only change I might make is having the "spell breaking" effect come online at 6th level rather than 5th so that it is synced with subclass progression rather than class progression, but is a very minor change.
I will make an updated version to see how it feels.
Cool. Happy to help. Yeah, I debated having it come online at 5th or at 6th but ultimately decided it didn’t really matter as far as throwing it out there was concerned since you could always change it. The only reason I went with 5th for that prototype is because that’s the same level they get access to dispel magic. But 6th is just as good for other reasons.
Version 1.0
Arcane Initiate
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. For you, these cantrips count as cleric cantrips. Whenever you gain a level in this class which would grant an Ability Score Improvement, you can replace one cantrip you gained from this feature with another cantrip from the wizard spell list.
Channel Divinity: Arcane Abjuration
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures.
As an action, you present your holy symbol, and one aberration, celestial, construct,
dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, oroozeof your choice that is within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw, provided that the creature can see or hear you. 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 end its move in a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can only use 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.
After you reach 5th level, when a creature fails its saving throw against your Arcane Abjuration feature, the creature is banished for 1 minute (as in the Banishment spell, no concentration required) if it isn't on its plane of origin and its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown on the Arcane Banishment table.
Arcane Banishment
Cleric Level
Banishes Creatures of CR
5th
½ or lower
8th
1 or lower
11th
2 or lower
14th
3 or lower
17th
4 or lower
Spell Breaker
Starting at 6th level, when you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher, you can also end one spell of your choice on that creature. The level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell. Alternatively, if you restore hit points in such a way to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Arcane Mastery
At 17th level, you choose four spells from the wizard spell list, one from each of the following levels: 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
1D&D Version
Arcana Domain (Hypothetical OneD&D Version)
Magic is an energy that suffuses the multiverse and that fuels both destruction and creation. Gods of the Arcana domain know the secrets and potential of magic intimately. For some of these gods, magical knowledge is a great responsibility that comes with a special understanding of the nature of reality. Other gods of Arcana see magic as pure power, to be used as its wielder sees fit.
The gods of this domain are often associated with knowledge, as learning and arcane power tend to go hand-in-hand. In the Realms, deities of this domain include Azuth and Mystra, as well as Corellon Larethian of the elven pantheon. In other worlds, this domain includes Hecate, Math Mathonwy, and Isis; the triple moon gods of Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari of Krynn; and Boccob, Vecna, and Wee Jas of Greyhawk.
Arcana Domain Spells
Cleric Level
Spells
3rd
Nystul’s Magic Aura, Magic Weapon
5th
Dispel Magic, Magic Circle
7th
Arcane Eye, Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum
9th
Bigby’s Hand, Planar Binding
Arcane Initiate
When you choose this domain at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two 0-level spells of your choice from the Arcane spell list. Whenever you gain a level in this class which would grant a Feat, you can replace one 0-level spell you gained from this feature with another spell of the same level from the Arcane spell list.
Arcane Abjuration
Also at 3rd level, you can use your divine influence to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures. Choose one of the following creature types when you gain this feature: aberrations, celestials, constructs, elementals, fey, or fiends. Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity option, you can choose to target creatures of that type instead of undead.
You can choose an additional creature type for this feature when you reach 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th level . Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity you can target one creature type, either undead or one chosen from this feature. After you reach 5th level, your Smite Undead class feature affects any of the chosen creature types that fail its saving throw against your Channel Divinity, and you can change the damage from radiant to force.
Divine Arcana
You can use your channel divinity to empower your spellcasting. Starting at 6th level, as a bonus action you can expend a use of your Channel Divinity feature and speak a prayer to control the flow of magic around you. The next spell you cast gains a +2 bonus to any attack roll you make for it or to its saving throw DC for its duration. If the next spell you cast requires both a spell attack and saving throw, you choose which is affected by your Channel Divinity when you cast it.
Spell Breaker
Starting at 10th level, when you restore hit points to an ally with a spell of 1st level or higher, you can also end one spell of your choice on that creature. The level of the spell you end must be equal to or lower than the level of the spell slot you use to cast the healing spell. Alternatively, if you restore hit points in such a way to an ally that is charmed, frightened, or possessed by another creature, you can choose to end this effect if the other creature’s CR (or level when applicable) is lower than half your Cleric level.
Arcane Mastery
At 14th level, you choose two spells from the Arcane spell list, one which is 6th level and another that is 7th level. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
Each time you gain a level in this class which grants spell slots of a higher level, choose one spell from the Arcane spell list to add to your list of domain spells in the same way.
Version 2.0
Design Notes
Domain Spells / Arcane Initiate Wanted to increase the versatility by allowing the cleric to periodically switch out their wizard cantrips, because it feels bad to pick one at 1st level only to realize later that something else would be more useful. Changed out Magic Weapon for See Invisibility as this seems more useful for a cleric focused on dealing with otherworldly creatures. Changed out Secret Chest for Private Sanctum as I dislike having too many domain spells that come with a costly component and this plays into the “Dr. Strange” flavor of having a secret magical sanctum. Replaced Teleportation Circle with Bigby’s Hand for the same reason of not wanting too many costly spells. Bigby’s Hand will likely also be useful more often than Teleportation Circle.
Arcane Abjuration (Version 1)Expanded the number of creature types that can be turned by this effect. While the ability is still situational, it can now be used more often.
Divine Arcana (new CD for Version 2). This CD is drawn from the Theurgy Wizard UA which acts as just a flat buff for your spell attack or spell save DC. This could be potentially powerful with concentration-based spells like Spirit Guardians.
Arcane Abjuration (Version 2) See comment # 13
Spell Breaker Wanted to include a way for this ability to be useful when dealing with monsters that can produce magical effects, but not necessarily by using spells. In this way I took some inspiration from Dispel Evil and Good for ending certain conditions that magical creatures can create, but only if they are a lower level than you.
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All in all I like it. The only thing I would do differently is to swap see invisibility back for magic weapon as it seems more objectively “arcane” to me. I’m also not entirely sold on adding constructs, dragons, and oozes to the Arcane Abjuration list either, especially oozes, but that’s a minor thing too. All in all nice job.
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Overall it looks nice. I like the update to Spell Breaker.
I am on the fence about Arcane Abjuration. Turning a dragon feels off for some reason. I can see constructs making sense, because they are made by arcane magic. So exerting control over another caster's construct sounds cool. Oozes are... fine either way?
But there is one other issue to consider. I don't know if you'll see it as a problem or not. There are now PC races with the creature type Construct (Autognome) and Ooze (Plasmoid.) This gives them some advantages against other spells that target humanoids, so this disadvantage against one subclass might not be a big deal, but the interaction does exist.
Thats fair, but this interaction also exists with Fey PCs already. What is nice about Arcane Abjuration (even the original) is you pick the target. Compare that to Abjure the Extraplanar from Oath of the Watchers paladin, which targets more creatures but does not let you choose who is targeted, which could spell doom for the PCs.
Like you and Sposta, I am on the fence about some of the creature type additions (especially dragons) but I wanted to start as wide as seemed reasonable and then trim down from there. Again bringing up the Oath of the Watchers paladin, I want to make sure that Arcane Abjuration is not just a single target version of Abjure the Extraplanar. The banishment effect is nice and unique for the cleric, but with the CR restriction is still fairly rare when it will occur.
will need to mull it over
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I like everything I'm seeing here, but I also agree with IamSposta and Stegodorkus that dragons and oozes shouldn't be included in Arcane Abjuration. Including constructs makes sense though.
I will go ahead and remove dragons and oozes. That being said, then the only additional creatures compared to the original version are abberations and constructs. By itself, this does not feel like much of a buff to me, especially when again compared to the existing CD of the newer Oath of Watchers Paladin, which targets all the same creature types (besides constructs) but does so in a 30 foot sphere rather than a single target.
To briefly compare and contrast
Arcana Domain CD:
- Targets 1 creature of your choice
- Can be used up to three times per short rest
- Can potentially banish its target, if it has a low CR
Watchers CD:
-Targets every creature in a 30 foot sphere and can affect creatures of multiple types in a single usage
-Can be used once per short rest
All in all, in my opinion the additional uses of Arcana's CD per short rest and banishing effect does not really balance out with the larger area and number of targets the Watcher's version can target. I still feel like it needs something more, but I do not know what. Adding too many additional creature types removes the flavor/lore behind the ability. If it targeted a large area like the Watcher's version then the more uses & banishment would push it into the realm of being too powerful.
Idk, Id definitely appreciate some ideas on what else can be done with this CD, but as it stands right now its still a little underwhelming for where I want it to be.
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Just throwing it out there, not sure if this would balance or not.
How about starting at 5th level, when the Banishment effect is applied, you can summon a creature of the same type and CR as the one you banished. This creature is friendly towards you and your allies, will obey your orders, and takes its turn immediately after yours. This creature vanishes if its hitpoints reach zero or once the banishment effect ends (1 minute), whichever comes first.
Banishment by itself is a pretty big deal.
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I would agree in general, but with the CR limit this is basically the same thing as Destroy Undead, more-or-less permanently removing threats from the battlefield. But instead of clearing out a hoard of zombies/skeletons surrounding you, you are banishing a single, weak creature. If Arcane Abjuration had the same AOE as Turn Undead AND had the banishing effect, it would be one of the strongest CDs in the game (if not too strong). With a single-target limit, it feels very weak. Theres a balance to be reached in there somewhere
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Up the CRs for the Banishment effect by a little bit maybe.
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I like the thought, but it feels like this might have the player spending too much time searching through the monster manual which could slow down the game. What if instead, whenever they successfully banish a creature using the CD they can regain a spell slot equal to the creatures CR or lower. This would arguably make it more powerful than Harness Divine Power from Tasha's, but would be limited by a) how often the DM puts these creatures of the right CR range in front of you and b) how often such creatures even fail their saving throw against this effect.
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I was thinking that as well, but I am a real sucker for symmetry lol
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Here is another idea for how to modify Arcane Abjuration that would both simplify it and make it feel more powerful.
Make Arcane Abjuration a modification of Turn Undead rather than its own CD option; however, it comes with the restriciton that each time you use your Turn CD you have to select a single type of creature to be affected (undead or one of the listed creature types from Arcane Abjuration). So you could Turn elementals OR celestials OR fey OR undead with 30 feet, but not all at once, which would keep it still somewhat distinct from Abjure the Extraplanar from Oath of the Watchers. Perhaps if this feels too powerful right out of the gate, we could also change it to where you dont get all of the creature types at once, but instead choose a certain number at 2nd level and get more choices as you level up.
If we fold it into Turn Undead this way, we could also either keep the Banishment rider or just extend the effects of Destroy Undead to all of the listed creature types (since a concentration free Banishment of low CR creatures back to their original plane is almost the same thing as killing them, since its unlikely youll run into them again).
Also, if we treat Arcane Abjuration as a modification of Turn Undead rather than its own CD option, we could perhaps also tack on an additional, new CD option for this subclass (something more utility-focused so as not to be too powerful)
Here is an initial draft of what that might look like
Arcane Abjuration
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your divine influence to abjure magical and otherworldly creatures. Choose one of the following creature types when you gain this feature: aberrations, celestials, constructs, elementals, fey, or fiends. Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity option, you can choose to target creatures of the chosen type instead of undead.
You can choose an additional creature type for this feature when you reach 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th level . Each time you use your Turn Undead Channel Divinity you can target one creature type, either undead or one chosen from this feature. After you reach 5th level, creatures of any of the chosen types which fail its saving throw is instantly destroyed if its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown in the Destroy Undead table for the Cleric class.
Thoughts?
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Just made an updated version with some new changes, including to Arcane Abjuration and playing with the introduction of a new CD option. The original version is listed in the spoiler tag at the top under Version 1. Let me know what you think
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With the release of the new Cleric UA for OneD&D, I tried playing with what a version of this subclass would look like for that cleric. You can find it in a spoiler tag at the top of the post if you are interested.
Also, how do we feel about the currently posted version? Should we count it as "fixed" for now or are there any other comments / alterations?
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I’ll have to check them both out when I have some more time.
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I haven’t forgotten you, I’ve just been extra busy recently and got stuck on the Wot4E FIFY. I’ll get back to this probably around this time next week.
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Alright, I’ve finally had a chance to really read into your updated FIFY for the 5e Arcana Domain, and I see a hiccup with it. No other domain gives any features at 2nd level other than their Channel Divinity option, and any domain that grants a second CD does so at 6th level. You have 2 CDs at 2nd level. But I have an idea that might work. Move Divine Arcana to 6th level, and move a modified version of Spell Breaker to 1st level:
Well, wadaya think?
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You know, thats actually a really intersting idea. I havent played alot of cleric, so had not noticed that some domains get two CD options, one at 2nd and another at 6th. I also like the idea of moving Spell Breaker to 1st level. Spell breaker is conceptually and mechanically really interesting, and I think moving it to the front of the subclass' kit will make it more appealing. It also does make it feel more in line with subclass design, where Arcane Initiate fills the role of a "bonus proficiency" type ability and then Spell Breaker is the more defining 1st level feature.
The only change I might make is having the "spell breaking" effect come online at 6th level rather than 5th so that it is synced with subclass progression rather than class progression, but is a very minor change.
I will make an updated version to see how it feels.
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Cool. Happy to help. Yeah, I debated having it come online at 5th or at 6th but ultimately decided it didn’t really matter as far as throwing it out there was concerned since you could always change it. The only reason I went with 5th for that prototype is because that’s the same level they get access to dispel magic. But 6th is just as good for other reasons.
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