College of Hymns

While many bards find their muse in the legends and heroes of old, or the mystique of the Fey, or the terror that whispers in the shadows of the mind, some find their solace and their song in worship. Bards from the College of Hymns, while not clergy in their own right, often brush elbows with them, packing into pews to sing praise and raising their voices with fellow devotees to echo from vaulted ceilings in hope that their prayer may be better heard. Many poetic scriptures and psalms throughout history have been the work of Hymns alumni, with even great kings and holy men of the past having been rumored to be part of their ranks.

Chorus of Faith

3rd-level College of Hymns feature

As an action, you can spend one use of Bardic Inspiration and speak a prayer or song censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 15 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 15 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.

Mercy's Grace

3rd-level College of Hymns feature

You can now cast healing word at second level, without expending a spell slot. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier. You regain all expended uses of this feature when you finish a long rest.

Divine Blessing

6th-level College of Hymns feature

Your devotion to your faith allows you to learn spells from the cleric class. When your Spellcasting feature lets you learn or replace a bard cantrip or a bard spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose the new spell from the cleric spell list or the bard spell list. You must otherwise obey all the restrictions for selecting the spell. Cleric spells that you learn this way are treated as bard spells for you, using CHA as your spellcasting modifier, and known cleric spells can be cast as rituals if they have the ritual tag.

In addition, you may now use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

Secret Chord

14th-level College of Hymns feature

Choose one domain related to your deity: Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery, or War, or one from another source. The Life domain is detailed at the end of the cleric class description and provides examples of gods associated with it. See the Player’s Handbook for details on all the domains. Your choice grants you domain spells when you choose it at 14th level.

As an action, you put on an inspiring performance to entreat your deity, offering yourself as a conduit for their power.

For 1 minute or until concentration ends (as if you are concentrating on a spell), you may cast your choice of two spells from your deity's cleric domain spell list, without using a spell slot, at its base level. Other spells of your domain may be cast during this period as normal. These are considered bard spells for you when cast, and you do not have to know them. If any of these spells have a duration of longer than 1 minute, their effect ends when your performance does. If any of these spells require concentration, they end the performance. The performance ends if you are silenced, incapacitated, or you voluntarily end it (no action). You cannot use this feature again until you have completed a long rest.

Domain Spells

Each domain has a list of spells — its domain spells — that you gain at the class levels noted in the domain description. You have access to these spells while concentrating on Secret Chord, whether or not you have access to them normally.

If you have a domain spell that doesn’t appear on the bard or cleric spell list, the spell is nonetheless a bard spell for you.

Arcana Domain

Magic is an energy that suffuses the multiverse and that fuels both destruction and creation. Gods of the Arcana domain know the secrets and potential of magic intimately. For some of these gods, magical knowledge is a great responsibility that comes with a special understanding of the nature of reality. Other gods of Arcana see magic as pure power, to be used as its wielder sees fit.

The gods of this domain are often associated with knowledge, as learning and arcane power tend to go hand-in-hand. In the Realms, deities of this domain include Azuth and Mystra, as well as Corellon Larethian of the elven pantheon. In other worlds, this domain includes Hecate, Math Mathonwy, and Isis; the triple moon gods of Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari of Krynn; and Boccob, Vecna, and Wee Jas of Greyhawk.

Death Domain

The Death domain is concerned with the forces that cause death, as well as the negative energy that gives rise to undead creatures. Deities such as Chemosh, Myrkul, and Wee Jas are patrons of necromancers, death knights, liches, mummy lords, and vampires. Gods of the Death domain also embody murder (Anubis, Bhaal, and Pyremius), pain (Iuz or Loviatar), disease or poison (Incabulos, Talona, or Morgion), and the underworld (Hades and Hel).

Forge Domain

The gods of the forge are patrons of artisans who work with metal, from a humble blacksmith who keeps a village in horseshoes and plow blades to the mighty elf artisan whose diamond-tipped arrows of mithral have felled demon lords. The gods of the forge teach that, with patience and hard work, even the most intractable metal can be transformed from a lump of ore to a beautifully wrought object. Clerics of these deities search for objects lost to the forces of darkness, liberate mines overrun by orcs, and uncover rare and wondrous materials necessary to create potent magic items. Followers of these gods take great pride in their work, and they are willing to craft and use heavy armor and powerful weapons to protect them. Deities of this domain include Gond, Reorx, Onatar, Moradin, Hephaestus, and Goibhniu.

Grave Domain

Gods of the grave watch over the line between life and death. To these deities, death and the afterlife are a foundational part of the multiverse. To desecrate the peace of the dead is an abomination. Deities of the grave include Kelemvor, Wee Jas, the ancestral spirits of the Undying Court, Hades, Anubis, and Osiris. Followers of these deities seek to put wandering spirits to rest, destroy the undead, and ease the suffering of the dying. Their magic also allows them to stave off death for a time, particularly for a person who still has some great work to accomplish in the world. This is a delay of death, not a denial of it, for death will eventually get its due.

Knowledge Domain

The gods of knowledge — including Oghma, Boccob, Gilean, Aureon, and Thoth — value learning and understanding above all. Some teach that knowledge is to be gathered and shared in libraries and universities, or promote the practical knowledge of craft and invention. Some deities hoard knowledge and keep its secrets to themselves. And some promise their followers that they will gain tremendous power if they unlock the secrets of the multiverse. Followers of these gods study esoteric lore, collect old tomes, delve into the secret places of the earth, and learn all they can. Some gods of knowledge promote the practical knowledge of craft and invention, including smith deities like Gond, Reorx, Onatar, Moradin, Hephaestus, and Goibhniu.

Life Domain

The Life domain focuses on the vibrant positive energy — one of the fundamental forces of the universe — that sustains all life. The gods of life promote vitality and health through healing the sick and wounded, caring for those in need, and driving away the forces of death and undeath. Almost any non-evil deity can claim influence over this domain, particularly agricultural deities (such as Chauntea, Arawai, and Demeter), sun gods (such as Lathander, Pelor, and Re-Horakhty), gods of healing or endurance (such as Ilmater, Mishakal, Apollo, and Diancecht), and gods of home and community (such as Hestia, Hathor, and Boldrei). 

Light Domain

Gods of light — including Helm, Lathander, Pholtus, Branchala, the Silver Flame, Belenus, Apollo, and Re-Horakhty — promote the ideals of rebirth and renewal, truth, vigilance, and beauty, often using the symbol of the sun. Some of these gods are portrayed as the sun itself or as a charioteer who guides the sun across the sky. Others are tireless sentinels whose eyes pierce every shadow and see through every deception. Some are deities of beauty and artistry, who teach that art is a vehicle for the soul’s improvement. Clerics of a god of light are enlightened souls infused with radiance and the power of their gods’ discerning vision, charged with chasing away lies and burning away darkness.

Nature Domain

Gods of nature are as varied as the natural world itself, from inscrutable gods of the deep forests (such as Silvanus, Obad-Hai, Chislev, Balinor, and Pan) to friendly deities associated with particular springs and groves (such as Eldath). Druids revere nature as a whole and might serve one of these deities, practicing mysterious rites and reciting all-but-forgotten prayers in their own secret tongue. But many of these gods have clerics as well, champions who take a more active role in advancing the interests of a particular nature god. These clerics might hunt the evil monstrosities that despoil the woodlands, bless the harvest of the faithful, or wither the crops of those who anger their gods.

Order Domain

The Order Domain represents discipline, as well as devotion to a society or an institution and strict obedience to the laws governing it. On Ravnica, the domain is favored by clerics of the Azorius Senate, who use it to maintain and enforce the law, and of the Orzhov Syndicate, who exploit law and order for their personal gain. On other worlds, gods who grant access to this domain include Bane, Tyr, Majere, Erathis, Pholtus, Wee Jas, Aureon, Maglubiyet, Nuada, Athena, Anubis, Forseti, and Asmodeus.

The ideal of order is obedience to the law above all else, rather than to a specific individual or the passing influence of emotion or popular rule. Clerics of order are typically concerned with how things are done, rather than whether an action’s results are just. Following the law and obeying its edicts is critical, especially when it benefits these clerics and their guilds or deities.

Law establishes hierarchies. Those selected by the law to lead must be obeyed. Those who obey must do so to the best of their ability. In this manner, law creates an intricate web of obligations that allows society to forge order and security in a chaotic multiverse.

Tempest Domain

Gods whose portfolios include the Tempest domain — including Talos, Umberlee, Kord, Zeboim, the Devourer, Zeus, and Thor — govern storms, sea, and sky. They include gods of lightning and thunder, gods of earthquakes, some fire gods, and certain gods of violence, physical strength, and courage. In some pantheons, a god of this domain rules over other deities and is known for swift justice delivered by thunderbolts. In the pantheons of seafaring people, gods of this domain are ocean deities and the patrons of sailors. Tempest gods send their clerics to inspire fear in the common folk, either to keep those folk on the path of righteousness or to encourage them to offer sacrifices of propitiation to ward off divine wrath.

Trickery Domain

Gods of trickery — such as Tymora, Beshaba, Olidammara, the Traveler, Garl Glittergold, and Loki — are mischief-makers and instigators who stand as a constant challenge to the accepted order among both gods and mortals. They’re patrons of thieves, scoundrels, gamblers, rebels, and liberators. Their clerics are a disruptive force in the world, puncturing pride, mocking tyrants, stealing from the rich, freeing captives, and flouting hollow traditions. They prefer subterfuge, pranks, deception, and theft rather than direct confrontation.

Twilight Domain

The Twilight Domain governs the transition and blending of light into darkness. It is a time of rest and comfort, but also the threshold between safety and the unknown. Deities of healing or respite (such as Boldrei, Hestia, Mishakal, or Pelor), bravery or protection (such as Dol Arrah, Hajama, Helm, or Ilmater), travel or transition (such as Fharlanghn, Hermes, the Raven Queen, or the Traveler), or the night and dreams (such as Celestian, Morpheus, Nut, or Selûne) might grant their clerics the Twilight Domain. Clerics who serve these deities tend to be brave, delving into the dark to hold its dangers at bay and to bring comfort to those lost far from the light.

War Domain

War has many manifestations. It can make heroes of ordinary people. It can be desperate and horrific, with acts of cruelty and cowardice eclipsing instances of excellence and courage. In either case, the gods of war watch over warriors and reward them for their great deeds. The clerics of such gods excel in battle, inspiring others to fight the good fight or offering acts of violence as prayers. Gods of war include champions of honor and chivalry (such as Torm, Heironeous, and Kiri-Jolith) as well as gods of destruction and pillage (such as Erythnul, the Fury, Gruumsh, and Ares) and gods of conquest and domination (such as Bane, Hextor, and Maglubiyet). Other war gods (such as Tempus, Nike, and Nuada) take a more neutral stance, promoting war in all its manifestations and supporting warriors in any circumstance.