The Pestilence Domain is an eerie and unsettling realm, presided over by deities whose dominion encompasses the darker facets of existence—sickness, disease, and the relentless scourge of pests that plague the world. These gods are harbingers of decay and suffering, wielding their malevolent influence over the frailty of mortal life.
Clerics who pledge themselves to the Pestilence Domain are as enigmatic as the plagues they serve. They are the chosen vessels through which the vile forces of pestilence and malady manifest. Their faith is not for the faint of heart, for they are tasked with understanding and harnessing the very afflictions that afflict the world. They are often referred to as the “Plaguebearers” or the “Verminbound”, though this often changes depending on the deity they serve.
These Plaguebearers wield the divine power of contagion, their prayers and incantations laden with the poisons and pestilences that seethe within the world. Unlike other clerics who offer solace and healing, Plaguebearers embrace the darkness, using their powers to spread affliction and suffering. Their spells are bittersweet symphonies of decay, their touch a harbinger of the relentless march of disease.
The Pestilence Domain is a realm steeped in darkness and dread, where the boundaries between life and death blur and suffering is both a test and a testament to one’s faith. It challenges the conventional notions of clerical duty and morality, beckoning followers to explore the sinister depths of existence and contemplate the complex interplay of life, decay, and the relentless march of pestilence.
Domain Spells
1st-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
You gain the following spells at the listed cleric levels as domain spells.
Disease Magic
1st-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
You learn the
Infestation cantrip, which counts as a cleric cantrip for you and does not count against your number of cantrips know.
Additionally, all spells with the
Disease tag are added to the cleric spell list for you, and you ignore the
Rare tag of such spells for the purpose of preparing them.
Infectious Touch
1st-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
You can make a special melee weapon attack while not holding anything in your hand. This counts as a natural weapon. On a hit, you deal 1d6 poison damage. If you are infected with a disease, you instead deal 1d8 poison damage and can use your Wisdom modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls of this attack. If you are infected with at least one disease, damage from this attack is treated as having the Disease tag.
Inured to Disease
1st-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
You are immune to the effects of disease, but can still carry and spread diseases. Additionally, you can choose to willingly fail Constitution saving throws against diseases, and any time you would be magically cured of a disease, you can make a Charisma saving throw to resist the effect. If the source of the cure is a spellcaster, this is against the caster’s spell save DC. Otherwise the DC is the same as the disease.
Channel Divinity: Rot Explosion
2nd-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
While infected with at least one disease, you can use an action to present your holy symbol and cause your disease to explode from your body from every pore in a wave of puss, rot, and other fluids. Each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or the highest DC of a sacrificed disease, whichever is higher. On a failure the target takes poison damage equal to your Cleric level plus 1d8 for each disease you sacrifice in this way. If you do not sacrifice at least one disease, this effect fails. Each creature that fails it’s saving throw contracts each of the sacrificed diseases. The damage of this feature is considered to have the Disease tag.
Rot Priest
6th-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
Whenever you hit a creature with your Infectious Touch, you can choose to end a disease you are currently afflicted with to force that creature to make a saving throw against that spell with a DC equal to your spell save DC or the saving throw of the disease, whichever is higher. Additionally, whenever you finish a long rest and have less diseases than your Cleric Power Reservoir, you gain one random disease.
Potent Spellcasting
8th-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
You add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll of any cleric cantrip you cast.
Exarch of the Plague
17th-Level Cleric (Pestilence Domain) Feature
The rot and filth within you forms a protective crust over your body. You gain resistance to all damage equal to the number of disease you’re currently infected with to a maximum of twice your Cleric Power Reserve.
Deities of the Pestilence Domain
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