A friend of mine suggested the other day that he would really like to see a class similar to 4e’s shaman, with a strong focus on interacting with spirits in one way or another. You can make just about any caster class feel like a shaman with a very thin coat of paint (“a spirit did it” works exactly as well in the fiction as “a wizard did it”), but that’s not terribly satisfying, is it? Druids are one obvious go-to, as are warlocks with a serious spell list rework and a lot of new Invocation options, but the more I thought about it, the more I was drawn to making it a cleric domain.
The cleric spell list is the best fit to the heavily leader-focused function I wanted, and Channel Divinity is a mightily versatile tool. Which brings us to the Spirit domain, a shamanic cleric that draws heavily on the Totemic barbarian. There are also a few other rules bits at the end – a new barbarian totem and a new cleric cantrip.
Spirit Domain
Rather than worshiping a single deity, some clerics – often called shamans – recognize and commune with the spiritual presences in all things, living and inanimate. Barely perceptible spiritual presences enact their spells. The cleric serves the spirits, and the spirits serve the cleric; neither is master over the other. Yet one spirit is always closest to the cleric’s heart and joins her in battle: a bear, eagle, snake, or wolf spirit.
Domain Spells
1st: speak with animals, unseen servant
2nd: augury, spiritual weapon
3rd: sending, spirit guardians
4th: conjure minor elementals, Mordenkainen’s faithful hound
5th: animate objects, conjure elemental
Priest of Free Folk
At 1st level when you choose this Domain, gain proficiency with the herbalism kit, and gain the spirit claw cantrip. Gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, or Survival.
Totemic Companion
At 1st level when you choose this Domain, you gain a spirit companion that takes the form of a bear, eagle, snake, or wolf. Once you choose the form of your companion, you may change that form only when you gain a cleric level. You may call your spirit companion from the Ethereal Plane with a bonus action. The spirit remains until you fall unconscious or it ends your turn more than 60 feet away from you.
The spirit can occupy your space, but cannot otherwise share space with other creatures. Your allies can pass through its space freely, while anyone it recognizes as your enemy treats its space as difficult terrain.
As part of any action, you can command your spirit companion to move a distance equal to your current speed; it possesses movement modes appropriate to its creature type. The spirit companion is immune to all damage except for force damage, and it is dispersed if it takes 10 points of force damage in a single round. Otherwise, it heals all damage it has suffered at the start of your turn. If dispersed, you may not call it again until you complete a short rest. It shares your Armor Class and saving throws.
At the end of any turn in which you do not make an attack or cast a spell other than cure wounds, healing word, or mass cure wounds, your spirit companion makes a melee weapon attack against an enemy adjacent to it, unless you command it not to do so. On a hit, it deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, based on its creature type, equal to 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier. Maintaining concentration on a spell, even a spell that deals damage or requires you to make an attack roll, still allows your spirit companion to make this attack. It is also able to attack if you are conscious but unable to take actions, such as when you are paralyzed, petrified, or stunned.
Channel Divinity: Lesser Spirit Ally
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to allow your spirit companion some power in the world. The effect of this is based on its creature type.
Bear. As a reaction, you or one ally within 60 feet of you gains resistance against a single damaging effect. As part of this reaction, your spirit companion teleports to a space adjacent to the affected creature.
Eagle. As a bonus action, your spirit companion teleports to a space adjacent to you or an ally within 60 feet of you, lifts him or her into the air, and moves itself and him or her to any space within 60 feet of that origin. The transported creature imposes disadvantage on any opportunity attacks it provokes in this move.
Snake. As an action, your spirit companion teleports to a space adjacent to you or an ally within 60 feet of you. It heals damage equal to your cleric level, or thrice your cleric level if the target’s current hit points are less than half of its maximum hit points.
Wolf. Channel this effect as an action. For 1 minute, any melee weapon attack that your spirit companion makes that hits a creature also forces that creature to pass a Strength saving throw against your spell DC or be knocked prone. This effect requires Concentration.
Channel Divinity: Greater Spirit Ally
Starting at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to allow your spirit companion further power in the world. The effect of this is based on its creature type.
Bear. As an action, you and all allies within 60 feet of you gains 10 temporary hit points that last for up to 1 minute. While these temporary hit points remain on a creature, it also gains advantage on all Strength ability checks and saving throws.
Eagle. As a bonus action, you and all allies within 60 feet of you gain darkvision, +5 to passive Perception, and have advantage on all Perception checks. This effect lasts for 1 minute.
Snake. As a bonus action, you and all allies within 60 feet of you gain a new saving throw against any effect that imposes the poisoned condition, and gain advantage on this new saving throw. Any creature that ends the poisoned condition with this new saving throw also gains 10 temporary hit points.
Wolf. Channel this effect as an action. Up to two allies within 60 feet may spend their reactions to make a melee weapon attack.
Constant Guardian
Starting at 8th level, when you deal damage to a creature that is adjacent to your spirit companion, your spirit companion makes a melee weapon attack against the same enemy. On a hit, it deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, based on its creature type, equal to 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier.
World-Soul
Starting at 17th level, you achieve a new measure of oneness with all natural things. You gain resistance against acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, and thunder damage.
Further, as a bonus action, you may gain proficiency with any one language, saving throw, skill, or tool. This ability lasts until you take a short rest. Once you use this ability, you may not do so again until you complete a long rest.
Snake Totem (Totem Warrior Barbarian)
These options are added to the Totem Warrior barbarian path.
Totem Spirit (3rd level)
Snake. While raging, you regenerate 1d6 hit points at the start of each of your turns, or 3d6 if your current hit points are less than half of your maximum hit points. The spirit of the snake is endless and self-replenishing.
Aspect of the Beast (6th level)
Snake. The wisdom of the snake spirit whispers to you. You gain proficiency in Insight, and with a successful Wisdom (Insight) ability check opposed by the target’s Charisma (Deception) check, you can learn one Ideal, Bond, or Flaw that they possess. If you spend at least 1 minute interacting with a creature outside of combat, you can learn certain things about it. Choose two of the following:
- The name of any tribe or nation that it belongs to
- Its most powerful spellcasting class, and whether that spellcasting class level is lesser, equal to, or greater than your barbarian level
- Whether its Armor Class is less than, equal to, or greater than your own
- Whether its current and total hit points are less than, equal to, or greater than your own
- Its weakest saving throw
- Up to two damage types or conditions to which the creature is immune
Totemic Attunement (14th level)
Snake. While raging, you gain resistance to poison damage, and may make a new saving throw against the poisoned condition at the start of each of your turns. Whenever you succeed a saving throw against the poisoned condition, your next successful attack before your next long rest deals 1d12 additional poison damage.
New Spell
The intention is that this spell requires the Spirit Domain, and clerics of other Domains cannot choose it (because it does not do anything without a spirit companion class feature). Of course, if you have something that the DM rules to be sufficiently like a spirit companion from some other source, then do as you will.
Spirit Claw
Conjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round
When you cast this spell, your spirit companion makes a melee weapon attack using your spell attack bonus. On a hit, it deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (as appropriate to its type) equal to 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier. Whether you hit or miss, the first time the target creature takes damage from any source before the beginning of your next turn, it suffers an additional 1d4 damage of the same type.
Your spirit companion’s damage for this attack increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6 + your Wisdom bonus), 11th level (3d6 + your Wisdom bonus), and 17th level (4d6 + your Wisdom bonus). The additional damage that the target suffers from a following attack also increases by 1d4 when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4).
Design Notes
Well, that’s a whole lot of different stuff, but once I got started on the Spirit Domain, it felt necessary to support Snake totems within the barbarian class as well. I wanted to add a Snake totem both to make one of the Spirit domain options more about healing, and to write something drawing on traditions that don’t just see snakes as pure evil. (Not all of my friends will agree with me on this, and my mother certainly wouldn’t.)
I like the fact that the domain changes up a cleric’s gameplay with a pet, and I like that it isn’t too jarring for the pet not to attack every round in addition to the cleric’s attack – it’s a spirit, not a completely corporeal animal, and it has its limitations. Once you gain Constant Guardian, it deals damage more often because it acts as your damage scaler, comparable to Potent Spellcasting or Divine Strike in other cleric domains. 1d6 + Wisdom modifier is more average damage, but it requires a separate attack roll, so it’s probably fine. I like that time you spend on in-combat healing might still let you deal damage with your pet.
Lesser and Greater Spirit Ally are pretty much in “who even knows?” territory for me, vis-a-vis balance. 5e gives you very few chances to move an ally short of flashy teleportation, and I miss the movement game of 4e, so that’s what the Lesser Eagle power is about. The Greater Eagle power is probably the weakest of them, but then Eagle is the “best” spirit companion because it can engage other flyers, so I’m going to claim that this is fine. I definitely might need to tone Lesser and Greater Wolf powers down.
Priest of Free Folk is not super subtle in being a lift of the Nature domain, and a way to hand out spirit claw without tightening the cleric’s already limited budget of cantrips. Spirit claw itself is another in my line of new cleric cantrips intended to make their gameplay more varied than sacred flame alone supports.
On the Snake Totem barbarian, I again wanted to focus on healing and wisdom themes. I really, really like the Battle Master fighter’s “Know Your Enemy” feature, in part because it feels so much like a Dungeon World move, so I riffed slightly on its structure for the Snake totem.
Favored Enemy Sidebar
If you’re looking for ways to make the Ranger’s Favored Enemy feature more about actually knowing stuff, consider rewriting it to be more like Know Your Enemy:
When you spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting outside of combat with a creature that belongs to one of your favored enemy types, you can learn certain information about its capabilities. If a creature has taken significant steps to disguise its nature or attributes, you may instead recognize that something is amiss with a successful Wisdom (Perception) ability check opposed by its Charisma (Deception) roll. Choose two of the following pieces of information:
- The name of any tribe or nation it belongs to
- Whether its Dexterity score is less than, equal to, or greater than your own
- Whether its Armor Class is less than, equal to, or greater than your own
- Whether its current and total hit points are less than, equal to, or greater than your own
- Its weakest saving throw
- Up to two damage types or conditions to which the creature is immune
But I digress. The initial Totem Spirit power, the one that grants regeneration while raging, is probably too good at early levels and not good enough later on. I’m open to alternate implementations here.
I’m pretty sure that the Totemic Attunement power is just fine.
In conclusion… any use of themes and concepts derived from indigenous cultures has a huge potential to be offensive. My intentions are good, but that’s not enough; if I give offense, please talk to me about how I can present ideas in a more acceptable way.
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