#may or may not be a grave domain cleric

[moonbeambb]

new dnd character just dropped

[stars-in-a-jam-jar]

Moar Buddy Dawn Shit in relation to this post

Buddy was dead for about 10 to 15-maybe-20 minutes. Kristen and Gorgug at the top of Freshman Year were only dead about 3 to 5 minutes and they still got some form of time in the afterlife, (side note: Gorgug not knowing what Orc Heaven looks like and being Deeply Fucking Terrified and shellshocked by the entire experience is So Juicy To Me, like. Something that should by all rights be familiar to him being foreign. Of deep spiritual significance, but not in the way it was 'supposed to be'; he didn't even know how it was 'supposed to be' at the time or after he learned it, he's still not really sure if it was ever a 'supposed to'.) so I'm quite sure Buddy experienced Something beyond the grave and chose to leave it for this nameless aspect of Ankarna. The version of her which exists as a result of her complete death and incomplete resurrection/preservation.

In that 10 to 15 minutes, Buddy passed into the place he was going. Perhaps some cornfield out on the edge of Helio's domain where Helio figured 'I'll get to him or he'll find me sometime, there's literally infinite time here'. Perhaps as a petitioner on the Astral Sea- wait, no, I'm thinking about Rolling With Difficulty cosmology, the Astral Realm is not a sea in Fantasy High. (also go listen to Rolling With Difficulty) Regardless of if he went to the afterlife the adults all told him he'd go to if he'd been a good boy or to some more limbo-like place, he had just enough minutes for the reality to sink in that he's Dead. He's dead and the feeling of a hand gripping his shoulder as if to hoist his assailant high enough to slit his throat presses like a cold weight on his skin. As if this body has skin, no, he's just a solid soul given form in this place.

So jarring. Resting dead in some corner of the cosmos like finding the one empty room at a big loud party where you've mostly been taking things in, sticking close to people you know, not doing anything you're not supposed to. Sitting down on the unfamiliar furniture or swaying idly in place as you listen to the murmur of this foreign world around you. Only it's not like that, not truly at all. You're not at the party anymore, the echoes of your life aren't some thing you're taking a break from to rejoin or building up the nerve to excuse yourself from to get a proper change of scene. There is no going back or moving forward.

He's dead. Buddy Dawn is dead.

How many minutes did it take him to lose composure? Did he even? When the ultimatum was posed to him, did he harden his heart to any regrets about abandoning his original faith, or did he relax into knowing he could live again, in service of something that reached for him and he reached back towards?

Why was he so chipper saying 'Dang, y'all, I worship a nameless god of rage.'? He didn't sound horrified by his decision in much the same way he didn't sound in touch with reality when he said 'Sometimes I raise my hand and magic that burns folks to a crisp comes out, but that's just the lord Helio working through me.' His death didn't change him so much as it fixed his gaze onto something new.

He is still a Cleric. Through and through. His soul needs a divinity to latch onto. And this is the first time he has latched onto a divinity wholly and completely for himself. He was not taught how to live for himself. He was taught how to live and die for a cause. For Helio. He earns a nice afterlife via sacrificing his autonomy to whatever the church tells him is good and right.

But he doesn't want a nice afterlife.

He wants another life.

And he no longer has faith that Helio will deliver him from any hardship, because even after he's just barely grasped how dead he is and has been for the past 11 minutes, his soul is wrent into an ultimatum by a different power. Go back to his body and continue living under a new banner, or be trapped in a dark, solitary purgatory which his soul may never be free from.

It's an easy decision, really. Barely requires any thought, only following a feeling. He no longer wants to stand by the god who allowed him to die so unceremoniously and so unfairly. He honestly feels more betrayed by Helio than he does by Kipperlily. Kipperlily hardly made any promises to him, just asked for him to be the party's cleric. He never expected her to do that, sure, but... His whole life he was promised that every bad emotion he ever felt in response to every wrongness in his life would (should, must, has to) simply evaporate away in the golden light of the corn god. And it's been an eternal 12 minutes, but he only feels worse and worse.

And if all Helio could promise him was a flat expanse of farmland overseen by someone who didn't even properly greet him when he walked in (if the celestial bureaucracy were even doing their jobs and funneled the soul of Helio's cleric to Helio instead of some cosmic waiting room or other), but this nameless deity can promise him a life for himself? Then by god he's taking that ultimatum, come back to life, sit up with a slightly surprised little smile and announce to the world (as he has been taught is right to do when you are devoted to a god) 'I worship a nameless god of rage!'

And he'll be happy with this choice-that-is-not-a-choice which he was betrayed and coerced into. Because it truly feels self indulgent to choose anything. To choose ragefully living for himself instead of obediently dying for an unfulfilling promise. He'll choose the intensity and the darkness because the gentle constant pressure cooker of walking in the light gave him nothing but sunburns and a slit throat.

[dartagnantt]

Entropy Domain | Being a cleric of death is cool, but what if you went further?

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

So, at the end of the year, I couldn't help but think? What about the end of all things? Kind of a thematic parallel of my Circle of Rot. Emissary of the End

Well, if you're worshiping the end of things, killing is probably important. As is making sure that the undead be proper dead.

Nullify Impact

I was considering doing something akin to the grave domain turn a critical hit into a regular hit, but that's a 6th level feature, so that seemed rather unfair, so instead you get some Battle Master parry/missile catching, which seemed more appropriate.

Inevitable Fate

This time I felt like it would be fun for the CD to be more of a "stop struggling" kind of a deal. Maybe I'll should have added an upgrade to make it stop their healing for the same duration, but at just level 2, that was a bit overkill. Vanilla werewolves bewere.

Extra Attack

Well, I gave it martial weapons proficiency, of course I was giving it this.

Divine Strike

I may as well repeat the previous sentence

Cessation

As I was creating this, I realised that the timestop spell exists, and it doesn't really feel like you're stopping anything, so I decided instead of stopping the world, what if you stopped one thing in particular. Something very absolute, great for taking a threat out of combat or ensuring something's safety.

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $1 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Oath to Order

Way of Shackled Pandemonium

Tools of Dominion

Bastions: Restructured

I also have four classes, and a splatbook over on DriveThrueRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

[strawbebbynya]

I heard you have an oc called Sabi?

HI YES HE'S MY GRAVE DOMAIN CLERIC!!!!!!! HES A SHADAR KAI WHO MARRIED A SPRING ELADRIN AND HAD A WINTER ELADRIN SON WHO MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE KILLED HER YOU CAN SEE MORE OF HIM HERE

[made-some-ki-points]

Unusual Reasons for Cleric Domains Part 1 (Arcana Through Forge)

Arcana

A trickster figure took a liking to a capable wizard, nudging them along from the shadows. When the wizard finds out, they find the arrangement very agreeable, and revere the figure as a partner in learning “new tricks.”

A cleric’s desperation to learn to resurrect led them to a life god at first, but it was the magic itself that fascinated them, so the god agreed to allow them to revere them for their magical capabilities alone.

A wizarding society has been working tirelessly to recreate the magic belonging to a “dead” god. The god, whose dormant nature is slowly beginning to change, rewards this pursuit, gives them genuine divine magic as a reward for their reverence of the figure’s magical history.

A god of the forge takes an interest in a creator of magical weapons, finding the practice novel and seeking a partnership. The creator is quick to agree.

Death/Grave

A soldier who lost far too many friends in a conflict seeks comfort in the softer side of the god of war, vowing to remind everyone that revering war means revering the dead that are left in its wake.

A caretaker for the dying reaches out to a god of stories, asking for ways to preserve and enshrine the stories of the dying into something other than simple memory. Moved by the request, the god obliges, and allows them abilities to help them in their practice along with their newfound friendship.

A holy person of the god of order or law simply sees death as the great equalizer. They seek to ensure fairness and equality, even in the very end.

A holy person working under the god of the hunt began showing disgust at the way some of their contemporaries finished a kill. Believing everything, animals included, deserve dignity in death, their path changed with the god’s full support behind them.

Forge

A community figurehead in a newly built town seeks out a god of family or home for guidance as to how to build a safe and steady home for them and their people. The god agrees, and equips them with the tools and knowledge to build whatever they may need.

In a moment years ago, a soldier was outnumbered and outgunned, barely escaping a grisly fate thanks, in part, to a cry to the war god. Now, they work as a holy person of that god as repayment for saving their life, and work to forge a weapon strong enough to prevent them from ever feeling that powerless again.

They never thought a god would take a liking to them as a weapons maker for a thieve’s guild, but when the patron of rogues and thieves, who seldom reaches out to anyone, asks them to be their dedicated keeper of a secret forge, only for those outside of the law and purview of other gods.

A god of order grows desperate for stability in a changing, uprising filled world. So they called upon a local forge master to build something better, something for a divided world to unify around. That remains their calling to this day.

[eligobrrrrr]

The guide to me being silly 101

prev url(s): please-dont-mind-me-07

Hello fellow stranger in the internet who has stumbled upon my Tumblr page, the name's Eli I go by He/They and I speak Eng/Esp

Here I mostly draw fanart and the very occasional OC but you may find me rambling a bit about my current brainrot

Are we moots? Feel free to dm me or tag me on something

———————————————————————————————

This user tracks #EliSeesYourStuff, use it in any post of yours, I'll reblog it either here or in my side (side is specifically bg3 related)

Things I have had a brainrot about at some point in my life in no particular order

Mega Man

Hollow knight

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Dungeons and Dragons

Baldur's Gate 3 (I specifically have a sideblog to not flood here with potential spoilers)

Star Wars

Genshin Impact

Omori

Stardew Valley

Pizza Tower

Chicory: A colorful tale

Ace Attorney

Several Alice in Wonderland media

A little masterlist of tags I use to sort out my stuff, may add more in the future:

#EliGoArt - Refers to any art media I make ------------------------------------------------------ #EliGoCharacters - Me drawing my own OCs, most characters will (most likely) also have their own tag ------------------------------------------------------ #Doodle Dump - All my quick sketches, most of them being traditional art ------------------------------------------------------ #EliGoRamble - Me writing silly comments or posting silly images that aren't my drawings ------------------------------------------------------ #EliAnswers - All asks should be tagged like this ------------------------------------------------------ #ReblogoBrrrrr - Me reblogging stuff

My character Tags

Dungeons and Dragons

#Ace Goldstring - Halfling Bard (College of Spirits) ------------------------------------------------------ #Davhomin Siannodel Brightwood - My first ever character, he has a soft spot in my heart - Half-elf Paladin (Oath of redemption) ------------------------------------------------------ #Heinrich von Wenninger - Dhampir Fighter (Monster Hunter UA) / Cleric (Grave Domain) ------------------------------------------------------ #Icarus Nephus - Scourge Aasimar Monk (Sun Soul) ------------------------------------------------------ #Nolan the Undead - Reborn Half-elf Sorcerer (Wild Magic) ------------------------------------------------------ #Professor Ephraim Maenenrum - Shadar Kai Wizard (Order of Scribes) ------------------------------------------------------ #Yín Lóng/Argentum - Variant Human (Actually a dragon) Sorcerer (Draconic bloodline obviously)

Splatoon

#OC: Ryuku “Reef” Okoy - Octoling, ex mechanic for the octarian army ------------------------------------------------------ #OC: Coralia "Coral" Hamasaki - Inkling, Retail worker in Hotlantis

Miscellaneous

#OC: Heng Kusu - A medicine seller variant from Mononoke (not the Ghibli one) ------------------------------------------------------ #OC: Espen Earl of Quicksilver - The character I made for BloodBorne that I grew surprisingly attached to

[skylarynns-1870]

Roll Call: 1870s Adventurer Edition

Josephine "Josie" Doyle, Old West Gunslinger

Player: Skylarynn [Yours Truly] Mark of Handling Human Outlander background Level 7 Gunslinger Fighter

Born on the Western Frontier to an American cowboy and a Mexican senorita, Josie grew up a bit more rough-and-tumble than other young 'ladies' her age. After a monster attack that cost her her eye and her family their lives, leaving Josie irrevocably changed in more ways than one, she finds herself called to battle the eldritch under the guidance of someone - or something - that calls itself Damocles.

Basil Morgan, Victorian Gentleman Thief

Player: Sage Mark of Finding Human Noble background Level 1 Rogue/Level 7 College of Eloquence Bard

Born in the more refined upper crust of Victorian society, Basil has become a remittance man - a younger son with no hope of inheritance sent away to America and paid a small allowance to stay out of trouble. Basil being Basil, however, tends to walk headlong into trouble anyway, and when he meets a one-eyed lady gunslinger [Josie] haunted by danger at every step, Basil does exactly what his family would forbid and runs headfirst into peril by her side.

Kojiro Mori, Disgraced Former Samurai

Player: Kai Mark of Sentinel Human Haunted One background Level 9 Samurai Fighter

Raised in the hallowed traditions of the Japanese warrior caste, Kojiro's world is now falling apart as the Meiji reign takes over, making the caste - and Kojiro himself - obsolete relics of an older time. Then, when crossing the Pacific to request aid from samurai descendants in Mexico goes horribly wrong, Kojiro spirals into an existential crisis as he questions the futility of his original quest when something as unstoppable and unforgiving as the Sleeper in the Deep exists.

Lafayette Chastain, Elderly French Pirate

Player: Lawrence [Sage's dad] Variant Human Sailor background Level 15 Swashbuckler Rogue

Decades ago, Lafayette was a charismatic young privateer at sea in the Caribbean, adventuring with fearless abandon in a world of excitement and opportunity. Now, he spends most of his time in various bars and saloons across America, regaling fellow patrons with embellished tales of his exploits as he seeks one last adventure; a man who has outlived his destiny.

Dominique Escharra-Romero, Spanish Catholic Priest

Player: Damien Mark of Passage Human Acolyte background Level 6 Celestial Warlock

Charismatic, devout, and ambitious, Dominique was a rising star in the Church of his homeland Spain - which may be why his contemporaries shipped him overseas to serve in Mexico where he was no longer a threat to their careers. Ever-unflappable, Dominique took the transference in stride and immediately began thriving in his new position; though perhaps that has to do with his newfound powers of healing that he ascribes to the divine.

Izel Maria Torres, Aztec-Descended Druid

Player: Iris Plane Shift[?] Human Courtier background [might be wrong on that one] Level 4 Circle of the Primeval Druid/Level 2 Grave Domain Cleric

Born first a daughter of the people and baptized a daughter of the Lord, Izel is as much a child of the native Nahua of Mexico as she is a child of God. Despite the struggles of living in two very different worlds, Izel has successfully bridged the two cultures in her life, reconciling her 'pagan' attunement to nature and the wild with her faith in Christ under the proud tutelage of Father Dominique.

Gideon Ross, Union Veteran Sniper

Player: Gavin [Matt's older brother] Plane Shift Human Marine background Level 12 Renegade Fighter

Already a veteran of the Mexican-American War, Gideon was not eager to fight again until his only son Jesse died for his country in a Confederate ambush. Once the war was over and the Confederacy crushed, Gideon migrated westward, roughing it out in the wilderness.

Boris Starkov, Russian Cossack Deserter

Player: Barry Variant Human Soldier background Level 3 Cavalier Fighter/Level 5 Oath of Devotion Paladin/Level 1 Great Old One Warlock

Boris has always trod the path of the loyal and faithful soldier, but that was shattered when his superiors left his unit to die while they fled. Forever changed, Boris hunts eldritch things wherever he travels, pushed ever onwards by the mysterious Pythia.

Carmen de Oliveira, Brazilian Escaped Slave

Player: Cameron Variant Human Urchin background Level 7 Way of the Capoerista [Drunken Master] Monk

Life on the Brazilian plantations was arduous, exhausting, and abusive, but Carmen has finally broken away and escaped to freedom. Fleeing bounty hunters and slave catchers alike, Carmen makes her way to Mexico to start anew.

Alina Reiter, Austrian Noble Refugee

Player: Alison [Cameron's younger sister] Variant Human Courtier background Level 6 Phoenix Soul Sorcerer

Scion of an ancient and powerful family of shadow sorcerers, Alina's potent and blinding magic is unique, to say the least. But now that her brother Aleksander has taken his role as leader of the family, Alina has absconded into the night, knowing that she cannot let her magic remain in their hands.

[aliasedfruit]

Sabri Skörda

I finally managed to finish a portrait of the character I play as in a dnd campaign! A deep gnome cleric serving the grave domain of Kelemvor. She's the party's healer and grandma (she's not that old, only 351 years young). She definitely does not have a dead twin brother that may or may not be alive and definitely no magically induced memory alterations no siree-

[cagemasterfantasy]

Grave Domain Rankings (5e)

Guide:

1=Useles

2=often useful

3=sometimes useful

4=perfect

Level 1 Bane and False Life 4 False Life provides temporary hit points for an hour. As a 1st level spell it will eventually become a trivial expenditure of your daily spellcasting. When you get to high levels casting this before your first and after every fight is a great use of a spell slot. Oh and you get some other spell that’s already on your spell list that I don’t care for

Level 3 Gentle Repose and Ray of Enfeeblement 1 both spells are situational and neither is particularly good

Level 5 Revivify and Vampiric Touch 4 Revivify is a Cleric tax and every Cleric should take it because it’s too good to not do so. Vampiric Touch is a great option if you get dragged into melee but try to avoid needing it

Level 7 Blight and Death Ward 4 a decent damage option that’s not on the Cleric spell list and a crucial buff with a nice long duration

Level 9 Antilife Shell and Raise Dead 4 Antilife Shell is a fantastic defensive option which will keep melee enemies at bay while you kill them with ranged spells. Saddling you with Raise Dead every day is pointless

Circle of Mortality 3 this makes Cure Wounds considerably more appealing when an ally hits 0 hit points. The difference in the amount healed between Cure Wounds and Healing Word can be significant especially if you up-cast the spells. This on its own is great but it only marginally improves the tactical benefit of in-combat healing. The ability to use Spare the Dying at range as a Bonus Action is intended to fill in for Healing Word so that Cure Wounds is more appealing but personally I still think that Healing Word is a better tactical option in most cases. You can notably choose to cast Spare the Dying as either an Action or a Bonus Action which is neat if you want to do something like cast Sacred Flame in the same turn. Just remember that if you cast any spell as a Bonus Action including a cantrip you can’t cast leveled spells that turn. Circle of Mortality can be abused by taking allies who are at very few hit points and beating them unconscious to get extra free healing which can be cathartic but your allies may be nervous about allowing you to do so and your DM might get ideas about imposing a drawback of some kind

Eyes of the Grave 1 Detect Evil and Good is on the Cleric spell list and does the same thing, but detects more creatures. Sure the area is smaller but that doesn’t seem like enough to make this meaningful

Path to the Grave 4 use this with a Rogue or with a spellcaster with a high-damage spell that requires an attack like Inflict Wounds

Sentinel at Death's Door 4 critical hits on your allies can turn a tough fight into a crushing defeat in a single roll. Abilities which mitigate critical hits are few and far between making this a rare and potent defensive option

Potent Spellcasting 4 by this level you can easily have 20 Wisdom giving an excellent boost to your damage output. Note that this only applies to Cleric cantrips so you can’t use it in conjunction with Magic Initiate or cantrips gained by multiclassing

Keeper of Souls 3 This probably won’t provide a significant amount of healing but it’s a fun passive ability and it might even allow you to rescue an ally at 0 hit points without cutting into your actions on your turn

[understandableparadox]

hey, do you need a good aligned death or (mostly) grave god for your dnd game because nerds are scared of death? heres one for ya!

Vultarim (Vault-tear-em)

God of the cyclical life, of the dead, of the carrion blessed, of the sacred final passage

Domains: Decay, the dead (not death), funerals, mourning, 

Minor domains: death ceremonies, numbers, cleansing, law

Symbols: a dead tree with a vulture on its lower most branch, record books

Forms: 

Business casual: a skeleton wrapped in a cloak of vulture feathers, a pair of half moon spectacles perched on a non-existent nose. 

True form: a massive sprawling tree, its bark pulsing with slime molds and mushrooms and lichen, its branches laden with dark feathers and blooming with vultures and crows, the soil that its roots rest in an impossibly rich black. 

Divine realm: The Halls of Records. A massive gothic office complex filled with ever expanding spaces to store the needed files. The walls decrypt and overgrow with grave plants, you know, for decor. The denizens of this realm are kenku esque vultures, the type of vultures show their ranking and clearance. 

Damned pencil pusher: low level necromancers - cali-condor - forced to undergo the hellish tedium of data entry and copy filing.  

Beloved intern - low level clergymen - Slender billed vulture - provides nourishment and acts as divine couriers. 

Blessed committee - mid ranking church members - cinereous vulture - works on the behalf of the dead, ensuring they reach the afterlife. They work all sorts of jobs, some work the gates, some act as legal representatives for souls, some work to help file the paperwork needed for revival request forms. 

Divine Executors - Paladins, powerful clerics - eurasian griffon vulture - the highest level mortals can obtain through acts of divine righteousness in the world. They are the ones summoned by clerics to settle the restless dead, they are the ones to deny mass transfers of souls, they receive direct instruction from their god to ensure the dead are given their needed protections. 

Vultarim is the divine incarnation of the gateway between life and death, sharing divine connection with multiple planes of existence as a true impartial witness of the ever march, the parade of souls that must be separated into their prospective final destinations and one day, their dissolvement all together. 

Vultarim has an active account on all souls, it is said in religious texts that it is from their permission and their permission alone that the souls of the dead can be ripped back vie necromantic means, though those same texts state that such exceptions to their gleaming machine of efficacy is that of great offense. For every day of “stolen life”, preachers state that instead of rest, they must make up for this “hiccup” through a year of toil. aiding the god as either vultures, record keepers or for the worst offenders, to become part of the great network of fungus that work tirelessly to reduce the forms to their most base parts. Lending such base cellular beings to gods of life as a means to fuel their own toils.  This sort of offender leasing program has made them astoundingly populer with druidic nature gods. A divine relationship shared with some branches of the church and druid covens. 

The vultaric church prides itself as keepers of grave yards, protectors of those attempting to keep to their final rest. Employed by many to ensure that their loved ones final rest is actually peaceful.  Their clerics are often sent to chase news of rampant necromantic use to quell it and set free the souls under their control, to send them to their judgment under vultrim. 

Ritual practices: 

The most general and base level of worship is actually gardening and masonry. Cultivating graveyards to ensure that they do not fall into states of disrepair and repairing gravestones. 

The second is a specific style of coffin making, ensuring the coffin is strong enough to hold the body but permeable to ensure the body may rot effectively. The act of making a coffin is said to be rather therapeutic, a form of calming meditation that forces the mind and body to work in tandem towards a specific goal while ensuring that there is a noted benefit towards the community. 

The third is the overseeing of funerals. All members of the church are expected to study the various death rites of religions across the realms, as to ensure that the body is given the proper respect it deserves. Priests are encouraged to keep a book of different funeral ceremonies. The act of creating a book of funeral arrangements is often seen as a step forward in the priests career, a show they are ready to enact the work of vultarim in a public setting. 

The final is the preparation of the body After the funeral.  These rites are performed on the grave site itself, a complex assortment of hymns, prayers in celestial said over candles and sigils drawn in the dirt. The clerics and clergymen learn all they can about the deceased, become almost intimately familiar with as much of their life that they can. Using that information to alter the rituals in subtle ways.  This is their method of directly appeasing their god, by sending the spirit of the soul off with all the relevant information. Allowing them to almost directly ascend to their spot of rest, and in some cases or special circumstances, to absolve the soul so their final rest may be less restless. 

The members of the vultaric church are given specific codes of conduct to keep their divine gifts. 

Resurrection is a vile act that rips the dead from their rest for usually selfish means. The god allows you to resurrect those but under the understanding that you are directly sacrificing your own rest in the afterlife if you cannot provide a substantial reason on the day of your death.  Superfluous resurrection, forcibly dragging multiple beings from beyond the brink time and time again is called for immediate removal of the clarics ability. 

1a. The god does not consider healing spells or spare the dying to be a form of resurrection, to be considered a resurrection, the spell must force a creature that has undergone funeral rites to awaken. That being to force the soul to re-inhabit its former vessel.  

Desecration of a grave site is a profane act. Even if a graveyard is nearly overflowing, you may not dig up a body. You may ask a druid to speed up the process of decay but no more than that. The body must be turned to soil completely by the natural process of decay before it can be reused as a new grave plot. The grave stone itself must undergo a ritual of cleansing and recording, a scrubbing being taken and stored in a dry vault to preserve the name. Then and only then can the stone be reused. To destroy a gravestone or dig up a body will force the cleric to justify their actions to a divine messenger of vultarim, if they do not plead their case then they are relieved of their divine power. 

If a ghost is seen, you must do your utmost best to find a way to set their spirit to rest as peacefully as you can. A vultaric priest will do their best to find the proper steps to their custom ritual of consecration and send them on their way, the more violent means of dispatchment must be done only in instances where it is reasonable to assume that the ghost will not accept this gift. Attacking a peaceful spirit is seen as an act of unneeded cruelty, a vulture will be sent for you to plead your case. Your powers, if found guilty, are not removed but may be lessened. 

In addition to rule 3, soulless vessels of the undead are not held to the same regard to things that hold the soul of the dead. They do not require the same level of care as those proven to still have the soul. That being said, they still require the body to either be buried once more to the best of the priest's ability, burned and turned to ash or forced to undergo the process of decay. 

Willful undead include creatures such as liches, wights, wraiths, specters, vampires or any creature that have been given the chance to pass but have refused of their own volition. they are considered greatly profane and a cleric should do their best to dispatch them posthaste. This is not to say a cleric should rush crucifix first towards the first dracolich that rattles a bone at them, please exercise restraint when undergoing removal of such creatures. If you yourself cannot dispatch them, they are expected to find help in removal of that creature or alert the church of its presence so they may undergo the proper procedures of gathering a war band or gathering payment to a Plucky group of Adventurers.

[fantasy-escapism-and-dnd]

The Pantheon: The Mother Of The Lost

Goddess of Wanderers, Vagabonds, and the Abandoned

Lawful Neutral

She/Her

Holy Symbol: Compass

Cleric Domains: Protection, Blood, Grave

"Care for those who roam Guide those searching for the path Prepare those who wish to find their own Never be scared to lose your way"

Her temples sit on the far edges of the cities and towns they inhabit. However, more often you'll find her temples standing in the middle of prairies. Her temples tend to stay on the smaller size, no bigger than a modest cottage. Two pillars flank each entryway to her temples. Above the door is a representation of a compass in whatever style the temple architecture is. The compass is always accurate to the Cardinal Directions. The Mother Of The Lost is generally more accepted in rural towns and villages than she is in larger urban cities.

A common ritual of those who follow is to intentionally become lost (usually blindfolded and planted somewhere by other followers) and to find their way back to the temple. This ritual is usually a yearly show of faith that each member does on the anniversary of the day they began their worship as a remembrance of how they found their own path in the world.

The inside of her temples usually hold four alters, one in each of the Cardinal Directions along with a skylight in the very center with a small patch of earth with a small Willow Tree growing. Most temples are built out of a plain dark grey stone but the materials can change to match the town or city it may be built in.

Many cities and towns in Arendbach don't allow her temples to be built, but some people will make their own small personal alters in their own homes. Her temples are outlawed/unliked mostly due to Emperor Luka Kindellan's personal beliefs.

[verosvault]

My Struggles with D&D

‼️This is gonna be a LONG POST‼️

This is a rant about my struggles with D&D and while it is my favorite game. I oftentimes will struggle with playing it. (I am one of those rare people that usually loves to WATCH D&D rather than PLAY it 💀💀) Read more:

So...Just to put some context for right now. I am currently in 2 different D&D campaigns. There's 1 campaign which I play on Sundays. That's my free campaign game that I'm in with some friends I made through a different friend. Friends of a friend basically.

My 2nd game is a paid game that I'm in that I play through StartPlaying. It's a Curse of Strahd Game. :)

Both of these campaigns I'm in are both with the D&D 5E system!

I'm going to organize this blog as best as I can...here we go...

1. Being the Notetaker of the group

I am the Number 1 Notetaker in both campaigns...and...I take EXTREMELY EXTENSIVE notes! I-

Just for a little bit more context. In both of those campaigns. The character that I'm playing is a cleric detective. My Free game, I play a Death Domain Cleric Tiefling Detective. In my Paid game, I play a Grave Domain Cleric Satyr Detective.

I joined my Free game in February of this year. I joined the Paid game in April. The gap between my entry of both of the games were really close, and I kinda just- I really like-

Let me go backwards a little bit. The main inspiration for me when playing D&D is Riz Gukgak from Dimension20 Fantasy High. I just LOVE RIZ! Also, the character background "investigator" from Van Richten's is my favorite character background! My favorite stats in D&D to be proficient in are "Perception", "Insight", and "Investigation". If I'm proficient in those 3 things, then I'll be the happiest person ever to exist. :') So...Yeah...It's...That's just who I am and what I like.

What doesmthis have to do with me being the note taker?

Well...one of the biggest fears I have when playing D&D is "WHAT IF I MISS SOMETHING?!"

I'm ALWAYS scared that I'm going to miss stuff. I want to- When I play, I want to go through every single thing that I'm possibly able to find! I don't wanna- like- The Dungeon Master made this whole place for us to explore and I MUST uncover EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY of this place! I don't wanna leave ANY place unsearched and undiscovered! I am like-

So...What I do is I take a TON OF NOTES that I can always look back at to see if there was anything that I may have missed. Or anything that I can just go back to look over and read and be like "I need to bring this up later" or something like that. Basic things like that.

Now...the bad thing about me being a notetaker is I get SO occupied on taking notes, that I'm not really IN IT? If that makes any sense?

It's not that I'm NOT Having fun! Because I'M HAVING A BLAST! But...I get so wrapped up in my extensive note taking that I'm like---My character just fades into the background and usually just stays there until someone interacts with her? I don't really bring my character up to the forefront? It's just like-...My character is just there???

2. My MILD OCD and Anxiety

I am an EXTREMELY ANXIOUS person! ESPECIALLY playing D&D! As well as taking notes! I'm mild OCD. So I want SO MUCH things in my notes...and I'm also really anxious. Sometimes the players will be roleplaying and me as my character is always like "hey guys...we got this weird key...it should go somewhere...like- we should figure this out-" and it's like- the DM later on describes that the key goes to the front door of the house that we've been locked inside of.

The thing is...in earlier sessions when we came across this house, we didn't need a key to open it. The door opened on its own by itself. So, me- i was like "this key we just came across must lead to some really important chest"...nope! It was the key to the front door! I was like...I was wracking my brain because nobody seemed to be caring about the key and I'm there just sitting being like "How are we going to find the chest? This house is so big and we just went through all 3 floors and the cellar. Do we need to go back and traverse this scary house to try to find this chest that this key will fit inside?"...like...I sometimes forget that the DM is there and they're not going to always screw us over like that...💀💀

But I ALWAYS get scared about that type of stuff! It's almost like my OCD and Anxiety prevents me from ACTUALLY being IMMERSED AND PLAYING THE FREAKING GAME! It's- Ahhhh! I just end up overthinking everything. Taking notes on everything. Being scared about missing stuff. Being scared about where to go next. Being scared about potentially getting screwed over by future things down the road if we don't do certain stuff now. Like- Ahhhh! I honestly don't understand how people will play this game and not go absolutely insane with all the things there is to think about. XD

I feel like when I'm playing, I just end up getting DM BRAIN SYNDROME! And I'VE NEVER BEEN A DM BEFORE! But I feel like I end up worrying about ALL the stuff that the DM should be worrying about! NOT ME! XD LOL!!

3. Social Anxiety with Roleplay (Do I actually know my character?)

I have another fear. That is social anxiety, roleplay, and if I actually TRULY KNOW MY CHARACTER! I'm MAINLY talking about my paid game for all of these scenarios I've been talking about. My paid game is where I've been struggling the absolute most.

I feel like...Now...I haven't been playing this game for a long time. I started playing like...FREQUENTLY...JUST this year! My New Years Resolution for 2023 was to join a D&D campaign! And I have done exactly that! But like- Again...I haven't been playing for a long time. Some of the D&D stuff I'm not used to.

I'm also NOT A THEATER KID! So...I have quite some struggles with roleplaying and not being embarrassed sometimes about doing it! I always feel weird or OFF when talking and doing things in character. But I think that might partially be due to me feeling like "maybe I don't understand my character. Maybe this isn't what my character would do." And I'm constantly getting these thoughts. I feel like it's imposter syndrome but in D&D and for my freaking character.

My character in my Curse of Strahd campaign. She's a Satyr detective named "Yona". Her parents went missing at a young age. Later on, she's studying at a Faerun detective agency. In the campaign, the actual term we use for detective is actually "pathfinder". So..yeah..Faerun Pathfinder Agency and my character has a badge and all that. Anywho, she misses her first day of class due to her feeling unwell and her classmates and her professor all go to Barovia and end up getting lost in the mist. So not only has she lost her parents, but she's also lost her classmates and her professor. One of her classmates being a close older friend of hers named Opal. They had a little argument the last time she saw Opal because Opal had told her to give up on trying to find her parents after being so supportive about Yona never giving up on trying to find them beforehand.

Anyways, we've had over 20 sessions in this campaign and we haven't heard a lot about the pathfinders in Barovia. They're a very hidden organization of people and talking about pathfinders here is exceptionally very dangerous because they're being hunted down. So...my character hasn't been able to go around and ask people willy nilly if they have seen any pathfinders around or that she's even a pathfinder herself because she's worried and me out-of-character would be very nervous to find my character in a tricky situation due to her having a big mouth, and I feel like if Yona (my character) knew that it was a dangerous word to spread around, she'd be smart enough to hush up about it, and that goes along with her hiding her pathfinder badge ever since she heard that it was dangerous for people to know.

But like- we haven't heard much else. There has been no trace of her students or her parents. One of the party members, the party bard asked a shop owner if they'd seen any pathfinders around and that shop owner claimed to have seen a couple of satyrs a couple of days ago. So...we've heard LITTLE info...but nothing super significant yet.

But it's like- at some moments, I feel like my character doesn't have much to do and that she's just been along for the ride?

It's also been established from how little my character speaks and her anxiety of speaking to others that my character herself has social anxiety. Like- that is an actual canon aspect to her character because of my small fear and unease with the whole roleplay concept. It's something I'm not fully used to yet and STILL! And we're in November! I started this campaign in April!

Umm...but yeah. I just...and then when we're playing...I just end up doing what myself would end up doing. Like...not the character...but me the player because I feel like me and my character go hand-in-hand? Like...I feel like other than backstory, me and my character are kind-of one-and-the-same??? Which makes it hard for me sometimes to make character choices because I don't fully know what is me and what is my character. I don't really know where the line is? I don't have any acting experience. Theater experience. I'm basically in this D&D campaign playing myself...because I don't even know how to BE or ACT as someone else??? I'm- It's hard...:')))

Like- I don't understand how people do it so easily :''')) and how they're not afraid about potentially making a fool of themselves. Which like- I'm not judgemental at all. I love seeing people playing and being in character but I guess I just struggle with seeing myself doing the same thing??? :""")))) I don't know how to explain it. :'''))))

4. This is my absolute favorite game but I feel like I suck at playing it

I LOVE this game SO BAD!!! SO MUCH!!! But I feel like I'm just GARBAGE AT IT!!! I don't talk much. I overworry about everything because ALL I want to do is BE helpful! That's why I also always play clerics! I want to HELP people! Like- Oh! You're down??! I have HEALS! TAKE 'EM!

Like I see more worth in the other players and characters than I do see for myself...which...I know that's the negative self-talk talking...but like...I feel like everyone else plays the game so much better than me and that I still haven't been able to get it yet?

I STILL HAVE FUN PLAYING! Even though I guess it IS in a MORE META context/way??? BUT I STILL HAVE A BLAST! I LOVE rolling perception and investigation and getting to gain some info about things! I LOVE seeing the lore! The lore drop sessions have by far been my favorite??? Like- YES! GIVE ME THE JUICY JUICY LORE!

But yeah...I don't know. I feel like I just suck at playing. It's-...

I don't fully know how to take myself out of doing the note taking.

I don't fully know how to make my character feel like I'm playing an actual character and flesh her out more. And I've been trying different stuff! I've been using the RPG Card deck with character and campaign questions and I have been uploading them to the discord where I have everyone else that I play with and I've been trying to use them to flesh out my character but I feel like it's still hard and that I still struggle sometimes.

I don't fully know how to play without being exceptionally anxious about everything.

Wanna know something dumb? I was playing in my free campaign and my character is a detective and I'M THE LITERAL NOTETAKER and I was focusing SO MUCH on NOTES that ANOTHER PARTY MEMBER LITERALLY UNDERSTOOD a REALLY OBVIOUS IMPORTANT DETAIL about an NPC that my character was talking to in the moment before I EVEN DID! I was- I felt so destroyed. I was like "wow--great. What kinda detective am I?" Like what?! I'm taking all these notes and I'm still slow at understanding and figuring out these gigantic big reveals! Like what- why?

But yeah-anyways

5. Feeling left-out

I am someone that usually ALWAYS feels left-out! In about every social situation I find myself in???

At work. With my parents. Just- Just anywhere. I'm usually always the person that will fade into the background.

This is why I don't like parties. I end up feeling 10 times more alone. I just always feel like I get tossed over to the side.

And you know what's even sadder? Is when I end up getting left out in a freaking game that I love and have a passion for. :')...But it is ABSOLUTELY what happens! AT LEAST in my paid game! I end up feeling left out.

Everyone is roleplaying and getting into their character and their emotions and I'm just there...feeling like I'm doing something wrong or that I'm not playing the same game that everyone else is?

Like- when I play D&D. I am that person that is there and all I want to do is push the story forward? It's like...Let's skip over all the mushy gushy or sad feeling depressy stuff...I wanna have the plot keep going?

Like...and I feel like the mushy gushy and sad feeling depressy stuff is so important sometimes but I feel like I'm just not good at it. :')

I justify it by saying that my character is a grave domain cleric. She doesn't have time to mourn the dead. She'll pray to her deity for people who have passed and died. But she won't cry and become an emotional mess over it. She understands death and feels like mourning over the dead will take up time that could be used for doing more productive things? I don't know...That's at least how I've justified it for my character but like- Idk

It's just...and I know it's BAD to compare ANY HOME D&D Game to ANY LIVE STREAM D&D Live-Play such as "Critical Role" or "Dimension20"! But I feel like everyone at those tables are always so much more involved. But maybe that's just them acting? I don't really know. But I feel like D&D should be a game where every character should get a moment of spotlight on them so that character can grow and blossom? But I feel like at least for my paid campaign...my character doesn't really get that spotlight? But..then again...I also don't ask for it??? I don't know.

It's just- I see all these people playing D&D and I can't help but feel like "Maybe there's something wrong that I'm doing or something that I'm not getting? Like- why am I not in the same world as everyone else even though we're playing the same game at the same time? You know? Again...I don't know. That's just my little rant. :')

If you read all of this, you're a cool person and I love you!

I don't really expect anyone to read this whole entire blog. I just felt like it was something that I desperately just wanted to share...because yesterday I had my paid d&d game, and I was feeling bad about it again and just having negative thoughts and feelings about how I was playing the game and whatnot. Even though it was an absolute blast and I loved playing it and I'm so glad that I get to be around this group of people at this wonderful, cool table! Sometimes I just feel like there's something wrong with me. 🥴🥴 But...ya know- I don't really know 🥴🥴🥴

If you read this and you know of any tips or even struggle with some of this yourself. I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts out in the comments or if you wanna straight up reblog it! I LOVE hearing other people's thoughts and opinions and I've just been struggling with this for a long while. 🥴🥴🥴 I almost feel bad about feeling like this...but it's the truth and I don't wanna lie to myself about it.

But yeah! I'd love to hear any of your opinions and stories if you have any!! Hehe!! Thanks for reading!! I hope y'all have an absolute fantastic, and spectacular day!! 🥲🥲❤️❤️

[kingdomresetkey]

OPTIONAL RULE: magic, and affecting the body

There is an optional rule in our games where magic integrates itself into the nervous system and muscles of the person wielding it at a certain level ( for the original game, around level 24-27 - for the other games, around level 8-9 ). This causes the wielder of the magic in question to become more receptive to the world around them in a way that is unique to their magic, unique to their specific perception of the way they use their magic. No two magic casters at the designated level will perceive the world in the same way if this optional rule is applied.

Ideas:

A Druid of the Land (Underdark), Grave Domain Cleric, and Totem Warrior Barbarian may perceive the world much differently than a Druid of the Land (Ocean), Trickery Domain Cleric, and Zealot Barbarian. (Academy Troubles)

A Sun Soul Monk and Wild Magic Sorcerer may perceive the world differently than a Kensei Monk and Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer. (GvS)

Example:

An NPC in the first game of the series is a Twilight Cleric, Creation Bard, and Watchers Paladin (bordering on Vengeance). His Wings of Twilight, at his level, are not magical constructs so much as they are summonable wings that connect to his nerves; if they are damaged, he feels that pain himself. The creations he makes with his Bard abilities come from his own strength and energy, draining him to make. His Paladin aura of being immune to fear has left him with the inability to feel any fear that isn't so intense it sends him into a spiraling panic. He has an aptitude / affinity for ice magic, and has the ability to regulate the natural body temperature of both himself and others, though keeps to himself usually, making himself comfortable to be near to most. He is also naturally lucky. [This is an extreme case.]

[cinaed]

playtest, feat, crit fail and backup!

Playtest: What class (or subclass) do you want to try out?

I was slowly going through the cleric subclasses (and still want to play grave domain at some point) but I absolutely want to play an abjuration wizard in my next longer campaign.

Feat: What’s one habit, trick, tip, etc. you picked up from another player?

Listen I may have played clerics for almost five years now, but I fundamentally misunderstood that Channel Divinity was an action but not a spell which meant I could use a bonus action spell in the same round. So now I get to do Channel Divinity + Spiritual Weapon/Healing Word/Mass Healing Word haha.

Crit Fail: Have you ever had a character death? What happened?

Well, my Order of Scribes beloved boy Yolov died last session, but he did get better! We were squaring off against the warlock who had kidnapped his mentor, and he learned "talk shit, get hit" as he told her she wasn't a real doctor and didn't deserve her magic and she hit him with a Power Word Kill. Oops! It's okay, he got to have tea and conversation with the goddess of arcana and knowledge and now has a little golden thumbprint under his chin from where she tapped him and told him most stories have the potential of a happy ending. (We're also not talking about how he prefers that he died instead of any of his friends, but that sure is a thing.)

Backup: Do you design backup characters? What’s your process? Have you ever had to use one?

I do NOT design back up characters because I consider that bad luck. If either my cleric in my Curse of Strahd game or Yolov died permanently I would either make a new character then or talk to my DM about a potential revenant route or something.

[ihavenoideaw]

Ima throw a bunch of ideas here for those who want em, from a forever dm, lots of these were made as backup or new campaign characters and thus have vague to non-existent backstories to fit into stories as the user sees fit

1. A firbolg way of the drunken master monk who Carries a alchemy jug or keg of beer on his back (bonus points for tavern brawler).

2. (Need to find a Lilith home brew subclass for warlock, I got one of u need it just not gunna grab it now) an order of the profane soul blood hunter who uses their blood curse to puppet people around (ties into the spider themeing)

3. (Based lots on a UA element) A Warforged, gate warden, echo knight fighter who was created to guard a gate to another plane and who was, overtime, warped and twisted by its influence leaving it changed, eventually the gate collapsed (or not) and the guardian was left without purpose, without a commander or an objective they left their post

4. (Based lots on a UA element) A Githzerai, artificer, archivist, haunted one, who being haunted by a memory from their past and the thought that they will never truly know what is was all those years ago they set out for information, even if it means ripping the flesh from the dead to turn into a twisted archive (book, skin book)

5.(based on a UA element) a Viashino, witchlight hand (past hand, or could have been part of some magic show of no witchlight available) path of the wild magic barbarian.

6. A Kherson lorehold (or magic college) student, bard college of spirits who uses the power of the spirits to cheat in college, (I think there was supposed to be something more to this but I don’t remember).

7. A reborn, faction agent, sorcerer of the clockwork soul who doesn’t remember who made/saved them but all they knows is that he was deeply integrated into a faction who still recognize the new them as one of their members, they may or may not want to uphold their previous faction position.

8. An eladrin, faction agent, cleric of the grave domain who is a pretty successful undertale because they take care of the clearing for a local (or large) crime family, (opting l tiny robotic spider who only moves when unobserved and just kinda scuttles around a large topcoat they wear)

9. (Based of a UA element) A Viashino, order of the mutant blood hunter, sailor (or pirate) who has seen enough murder and stories to take up the art of storytelling via masks, going to the extent of holding a complete personality behind each mask (could be made up or people they have met), made with a duel curved sword play style in mind but really it’s your choice

ok now that i have your attention can you give me dnd character ideas?? Can be backstory or build

[checkyalaterallygator]

My latest D&D character Kaia Vitalis, grave cleric of Persephone.

*click for better quality*