Pain Domain

Hello, everyone! This month’s class archetype is a new domain for clerics, the Pain domain. As a quick note, the introductory text of this archetype mentions a couple of unfamiliar gods, which I’ll talk about more in a future article!

Cleric Domain

Pain Domain

Gods whose portfolios include the Pain domain are typically the forces of evil, such as the King of No Nations, or the Lady with the Shared Face. However, some good gods also include the Pain Domain in their portfolios, such as Kiela, who considers pain to be a way to truly filter the selfless, those who will suffer for the good of their allies, from the selfish. Followers of the Pain Domain tend to heavily favor some idea of natural selection – pain weeds out the feeble from the strong. As such, while they may wield magic which can heal the injured, the pain of such superficially mended injuries will tend to linger.

Pain Domain Spells
Cleric Level Spells
1st Inflict Wounds, Witch Bolt
3rd Branding Smite, Warding Bond
5th Mass Healing Wound, Fear
7th Death Ward, Phantasmal Killer
9th Contagion, Dominate Person

Acolyte of Suffering

At 1st level, you learn one warlock cantrip of your choice. You also gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Deception, Intimidation, Investigation, or Nature.

Anguished Vitality

Also at 1st level, when you take damage from an attack, you can use your reaction to gain temporary hit points equal to the amount of damage you received. Even if the damage you received would reduce you to 0 HP, you remain conscious as long as you have temporary hit points. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Channel Divinity: My Pain is Yours

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to make your allies suffer in your stead. When you take damage from an attack made by an enemy, you can use your Channel Divinity to have a willing ally instead take that damage as Psychic damage.

Blinding Agony

At 6th level, whenever you deal Psychic damage to a target, that target must make a Wisdom save equal to your spell save DC. If the target fails, they are blinded until the start of their next turn.

Numbing Nerves

Starting at 8th level, whenever a spell you cast restores an ally’s hit points, they can choose to double the hit points restored and take 1 level of exhaustion.

Share the Burden

At 17th level, you gain the ability to dilute suffering among yourself and your allies. As an action, you and all willing allies within 25 feet of you add together all of your hit points. Whenever one of you would take damage, remove it from this total instead of your own hit points. If this total reaches 0, you and each ally affected by this feature immediately die. When you and your allies are no longer engaged in combat, this effect ends. Divide all remaining Hit Points from this total amongst you and your allies in whatever way you like, provided that each creature under the effect has at least 1 hit point, and no creature has more than their hit point maximum. You cannot use this feature again until you take a long rest.

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