Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Public Domain Cleric

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted explore one of the Top 10 homebrew lists from here at the website, in this case the highest rated, most viewed and most added Divine Domains for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. In the comments for the video someone mentions an idea for a cleric option called the Public Domain and several responses enthusiastically support the idea of creating this homebrew option. So let’s get into it and come up with the Public Domain for 5E D&D clerics.

Creating a 5E D&D Divine Domain

Before getting into the details for the Public Domain for clerics it’s worthwhile to lay down the basics. In 5E D&D clerics receive Divine Domain features at 1st, 6th, 8th and 17th levels plus each offers a new use for Channel Divinity at 2nd level.

Outside the realm of game mechanics, according to the Stanford Libraries the term public domain “refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.” Any exclusive intellectual property rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived or simply inapplicable.

Finally, while the material we share here at Nerdarchy the Website is designed to be useful in 5E D&D games it does not undergo the same development process as content we create as Patreon rewards or found at Nerdarchy the Store. Often — and certainly in the case of this Public Domain — we create and share things more for entertainment than practical use. This being said we’ve incorporated many of the concepts from the site into our own games or shared things directly from our games. Balance and tone are all subjective!

Public Domain

The Public Domain draws on ancient codes and bylaws pertaining to how clerics of the past interacted with the world around them. The gods of public domain forego the razzle dazzle displayed by modern day divine agents and instead celebrate the trappings of history. Any deity can claim influence over this domain since no modern day deity holds intellectual property rights over these powers.

While coming up with the features for the Public Domain I drew heavily on earlier editions to see what clerics could do. This began when working on the Domain Spells and continued on through each feature. You’ll find commentary about these features and how they relate to earlier edition D&D clerics under each heading.

Public Domain Spells

Starting off with what I can almost certainly guarantee is way too over the top a cleric of the Public Domain receives a tremendous wealth of domain spells. However there is a caveat — these clerics may only utilize these spells. If a 5E D&D spell isn’t found here then it’s off limits to these clerics who must respect the immutable laws of multiversal intellectual property.

Curating this list meant comparing the 5E D&D cleric spell lists found in the Standard Reference Document to cleric spell tables from first edition AD&D. Since it’s the oldest iteration of hardback D&D rulebooks it makes a terrific foundation from which to determine these spells. If they’ve been around this long on the cleric’s list of spell options then they fit the bill for spells a Public Domain deity would bestow. In some cases the names are slightly different or the spells may work differently. For example back then casting cure blindness in reverse is how a cleric could cause blindness. There’s also quite a few spells with no equivalents in this early edition of D&D. That’s the price you pay for skirting magical property law.

Cleric Level — Spells

• 1st. bane, bless, command, create or destroy water, cure wounds, detect evil and good, detect magic, inflict wounds, protection from evil and good, purify food and drink, sanctuary
• 3rd. augury, blindness/deafness, continual flame, find traps, hold person, locate object, protection from poison, silence, spiritual weapon
• 5th. animate dead, create food and water, dispel magic, glyph of warding, speak with dead, tongues
• 7th. control water, divination, locate creature
• 9th. commune, dispel evil and good, flame strike, insect plague, raise dead

But access to the public domain doesn’t stop here! These clerics balance their hefty selection of always prepared spells by their deity’s going all in with adherence to the concept. As such not only does the Public Domain Spells list restrict their spellcasting to only these spells, the limitations go a step further. Public Domain clerics do not receive spells greater than 7th level and in addition those spells are limited to the following as well, which like like their lower level counterparts are always prepared.

• 11th level. blade barrier, find the path, harm, heal, word of recall
• 13th level. plane shift, resurrection, symbol

Bonus Proficiency

Also at 1st level, you gain proficiency with heavy armor.

The ability to wear any armor was a staple feature of clerics back in the day, which helped compensate for their less flashy spells compared to wizards (who also took their spellcasting potential further into 8th and 9th level spells only they could access).

Channel Divinity: Good Prospects

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to evoke the benefits of clerics from the past.

As a bonus action, you present your holy symbol and invoke the laws of the Public Domain. For one minute you have advantage on saving throws against poison and spells. Furthermore, you have resistance against poison damage and the damage of spells.

Excellent saving throws against poison and magic gave clerics of old much better survivability.

Head of the Flock

Starting at 6th level, you attract a follower. This follower is fanatically loyal and serves without pay so long as you not change deities. This follower is an Expert, Spellcaster or Warrior sidekick (your choice). When the sidekick joins you it is the same level as you and levels up when you do.

Many players — myself included — absolutely loved how D&D characters gained all sorts of followers back in earlier editions. In those times a cleric could attract from 20-200 fanatical followers! I really dig the sidekicks as presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and this felt like a perfect opportunity to incorporate them.

Divine Potency

Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip. In addition you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 radiant damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Neither of the 5E D&D cleric features gained at 8th level — Divine Strike or Potent Spellcasting — have any equivalent to early D&D. Frankly this binary feature is one of the most boring 5E design decisions. Because the Public Domain cleric’s spellcasting is so severely limited I thought it would be neat to give them both features mashed together.

Religious Stronghold

By this point at 17th level you ceased to gain access to 8th and 9th level spells like other clerics although you can use your spell slots to cast lower level spells with scaling as available. However, you have reached the pinnacle of Public Domain access and you can create a fortified place of worship dedicated to your deity.

You can spend one hour deep in prayer. At the end of the hour a temple shimmers into existence on ground you can see within 120 feet. The temple must fit within an unoccupied cube of space, up to 120 feet on each side. The temple remains in place permanently unless you use this feature again. If you then clear the surrounding territory and sentient creatures dwell in this area, there will be a monthly revenue of 9 silver pieces per inhabitant from trade, taxation and tithes.

You make all decisions about the temple’s appearance. The interior is enclosed by a floor, walls, and a roof, with one door granting access to the interior and as many windows as you wish. Only you and any creatures you designate when you cast the spell can open or close the door. The temple’s interior is an open space with an idol or altar at one end. You decide whether the temple is illuminated and whether that illumination is bright light or dim light. The smell of burning incense fills the air within and the temperature is mild. In addition the sensors created by divination spells can’t appear inside the temple and creatures within can’t be targeted by divination spells.

Finally, whenever any creature in the temple regains hit points from a spell of 1st level or higher, the creature regains additional hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1 hit point).

The pinnacle of success for old school clerics was the establishment of a religious stronghold. Gotta have somewhere for all those fanatical followers to hang out, right? For this feature you may notice close similarity to temple of the gods, a 5E D&D spell from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. I made some changes to it and incorporated the income portion from 1E AD&D clerics.

*Featured image — Back in Avalyne The Life Giver’s day clerics didn’t even have cantrips at all, and they had to walk uphill — both ways — to heal companions. [Art by Larry Elmore]

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