The cleric spell list of the Player’s Handbook is pretty solid and broad, but I think there are some class-appropriate themes and spell concepts left to be plumbed. I’ve mentioned before my dissatisfaction with the fact that clerics have only one damage-dealing cantrip. In this post, I am pleased to present five new spells suitable for a cleric, one of which is also suitable for the paladin spell list. Let me know what you think.
Cleric Spell List
Cantrip
Harrow
Song of Battle
Second Level
Shadow Scourge
Fourth Level
Defiance
Eighth Level
Spirit Wind
Paladin Spell List
Fourth Level
Defiance
Spell Descriptions
Defiance
4th-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 reaction
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
When you or an ally is threatened, a prayer and a gesture grant the target the defiant heart to endure. As a reaction whenever you or an ally takes damage from a creature, including area-effect spells, breath weapons, and the like that are initiated by a creature or a magic item wielded by a creature (rather than a trap or an environmental effect). The target of your spell reduces the damage taken by 20, and either makes a new saving throw against a condition or spell effect that a saving throw can end (this is a “free” saving throw and does not count toward a tally of failed saving throws), or forces the attacker that triggered the reaction to roll a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure the attacker takes 6d6 radiant damage, or half damage on a success.
At Higher Levels. When you cast the spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage prevented by this spell increases by 5, and the damage inflicted by this spell increases by 1d6, for each slot level above 4th.
Harrow
Necromancy cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 round
With a word and a gesture, you scour the soul of your enemy, for the gods have given you the power to punish as well as redeem. Your target makes a Wisdom saving throw; if it has protection from evil and good active, it makes this saving throw with advantage (as this spell invokes celestials). If it fails this saving throw, it suffers 1d6 psychic damage and has a -1d4 penalty to its next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw before the end of its next turn. If it succeeds, the spell has no effect.
The spell’s damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6) and 17th level (4d6).
Edited (6/17/15): d8s for damage changed to d6s.
Shadow Scourge
2nd-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Instant
You wield the shadows as a scourge against your foes. Roll a spell attack against your opponent, who receives the effect below if you hit, or half damage on a miss. For this roll, ignore concealment due to dim light, but not total darkness. The result varies based on the current lighting conditions.
- Full daylight: 5d4
- Bright light, indoors: 5d6
- Your shadow covers some part of the opponent: 5d8
- Dim light: 5d8
- Total darkness: 5d10
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the spell’s damage increases by one die of the appropriate type for each slot level above 2nd.
Song of Battle
Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, M
Duration: 1 round
Choose a creature that you can see within 25 feet of you. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw, or it takes 1d4 psychic damage. Choose an ally within 30 feet of you; that ally deals +1d4 radiant damage with her first successful attack before the beginning of your next turn.
The spell’s damage and damage bonus granted to an ally each increase by 1d4 which you reach a caster level of 5th (2d4), 11th (3d4), and 17th (4d4).
Edited (6/17/15): d6s for damage and damage bonus changed to d4s.
Spirit Wind
8th-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Sight
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Instantaneous
You can call a deadly spirit wind to scour the area of one type of creature, which you declare to be anathema. Any of those enemies that die from the spirit wind only strengthen your allies. As you cast this spell, name one creature type: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead; or one race of humanoids (such as elves). All creatures of that type or race within 360 feet of you (not including you, if you are of that type or race) take 10d10 radiant or necrotic damage (caster’s choice), or half damage on a successful Constitution saving throw. For each creature that dies from this effect, you may grant yourself or one ally within range one of the following benefits:
- 10 temporary hit points
- cure wounds as a first-level spell slot
- the creature’s next successful weapon attack or damaging cantrip effect within the next minute deals 1d8 additional radiant or necrotic damage (caster’s choice)
A single creature may not receive more than one of these benefits.
Some deities take offense at the use of a spirit wind, especially if the cleric purports to serve them but uses it against those the deity does not regard as anathema. In such cases, the cleric may be required to answer for his or her actions before the deity.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 9th-level spell slot, name a second creature type or race that the spirit wind damages.
Design Notes
Defiance is designed to improve the cleric’s “leader” capabilities and give clerics more to do with their reactions, and at the same time improve the tanking ability of high-level paladins. There are a lot of open questions around the balance points here, starting with “why make this a 4th-level spell, rather than something lower level that can be cast with a higher-level slot?” The answer there is that I’m still trying to grok spell design, but 4th felt right, and left all of those lower-level slots open for paladin smites. I may get frustrated with the choice-point of “either a saving throw or damage,” and get rid of the saving throw option; 5e doesn’t think about freebie saving throws the way 4e did, in the material we have seen so far.
Harrow is an attack cantrip for clerics more focused on accusing sinners than protecting the righteous. The complexity of protection from evil and good is not so much a balance consideration as a thematic touch, but if harrow came to be used heavily by NPCs, it would make sense for PCs to prepare accordingly. Anyway, it’s damage plus a single-target bane, probably a little better than sacred flame, but then sacred flame is kind of underperforming, for my money.
Shadow scourge is more directly appropriate to the Reborn campaign than the default-cosmology cleric, as Reborn clerics are tied to shadows and secrecy rather than light. (Oh look, a plug for the novel series of the setting!) Still, I found that I was really interested in the mechanic, and I’d let clerics in my campaign use this spell. If you have easy ways to set up total darkness and still have line-of-sight to your target, this spell is probably a little too powerful, but still not egregious (I don’t think). I think there’s a good argument to be made for putting it in the warlock spell list (instead or additionally).
Song of battle is a repost from some years back, relatively early in the 5e public playtest. It may dish out 2d6 damage per tier, which is a lot for a cantrip, but that requires a failed saving throw and a successful attack roll. In the balance I think it’s just less swingy than other cantrips.
Spirit wind is inspired, as much as anything, by the “divine wind” that scattered the Spanish Armada and the fleets invading 13th-century Japan. It’s an 8th-level spell, the gloves have come off, and if an army has the temerity to face down a truly wrathful cleric, then may the Gods help them. 10d10 damage is not going to crush any high-CR opponents all by itself, though. It’s situational, but fighting vast numbers of opponents – especially fiends, undead, constructs, or a particular race of humanoids – gives this spell an application that is reasonably likely to come up at least once in a cleric’s career. As to why it is a cleric spell rather than some more traditional vast-area-destruction class (druid, sorcerer, wizard), I point to control weather and earthquake as extant cleric spells.
Comments welcome!
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