Madness Domain

His form wreathed upon the stone alter in the forest clearing, howling towards the moonless sky, contorting in inhuman ways. His eyes glazed over for a moment as reality pealed away revealing the truth, the empty night. After the moment passed he stood, fixed his clothing and motioned for his companions to follow. He knew the way. He always did.

Madness is a cancer upon the world of Menden. It is insidious and spreads like a plague. Entire empires have fallen to the spread of mandness, and the cults of the Empty Night are mere symptoms of its will.

Author’s Note:

For far too many people in our world, mental health is a real struggle. A battle that you cannot run from, and for many, one that feels unwinnable. This subclass is not meant to be a representation of any real mental disorder and should not be an excuse for players to be insensitive to others around the table.

Remember, as DM, you are responsible for creating a safe space for your players to explore your world.

Madness Domain Spells

Starting at 1st level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in the Cleric class as shown in the Madness Domain Spells table. These spells count as Cleric spells for you, but they do not count against the total number of Cleric spells you have prepared.

Call of the Empty Night

Additionally, at 1st level, you gain the vicious mockery cantrip. It counts as a cleric spell for you.

Channel Divinity: Assail Consciousness

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to assult your foes with waves of alien sensations.

As an action, you present your holy symbol and call out to the lurkers in the void. One creature of your choice that you can see within 60 feet must succeed at a Wisdom saving throw or suffer a random effect from the Assail Psyche table until the end of its next turn.

Once a creature is effected by your Assail Psyche ability, it is immune to the effects of another use of this ability until you finish a long rest.

Clouded Mind

At 6th level, your mind has twisted from exposure to the madness of your god. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. If you are successful on the save and aware of the source of the effect, you may use your reaction to expend a use of your Channel Divinity: Assail Psyche. If you choose to use this reaction, the creature has disadvantage on the Wisdom saving throw to resist the effect.

Potent Spellcasting

At 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.

Fray Reality

Starting at 17th level, you gain the Wish spell. It counts as a cleric spell for you. It is always prepared and does not count against the total number of prepared spells you may have.

Additionally, if your use of the wish spell would result would result in losing your ability to cast Wish, you instead permanently lose 1d4+1 points of wisdom and gain a form of indefinite madness. If this wisdom loss would result in your wisdom score dropping to 3 or less, it instead becomes 3 and you lose the ability to cast Wish. The wisdom loss from this ability cannot be reduced or cured in any way. The madness caused by this ability cannot be cured or suppressed in any way.

Touched by Madness

Finally, at 1st level you become subject to periodic bouts of both madness and brilliance. When you complete a long rest, choose 2 skills that you are proficient in. Randomly select one of the two chosen skills. Until you complete your next long rest, you may add your proficiency bonus twice when making ability checks associated with that skill. The skill that was not chosen does not add your proficiency bonus to checks until you complete a long rest.