Getting ready to start a Exandria Campaign. Was thinking about giving the Moon Domain Cleric a spin, but reworked a few things. Looking for feedback. I think it would be fun and wouldn't be too overpowered.
Clerics of the Moon Domain draw on their divine connection to the moons to wield light and shadow, invoke good fortune and ill favor, and reveal or conceal as they see fit. Most Moon clerics worship the Moonweaver herself, but her followers are as varied as the stars in the sky. Some seek to protect the vulnerable and do good in the world, while others meddle with impunity and distort the truth for selfish gain. Other Moon clerics worship not the gods but the moons themselves, especially those with an innate connection to the lunar cycles through lycanthropy.
Moon Domain Spells
You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the Moon Domain Spells table. See the Divine Domain class feature for how domain spells work.
Moon Domain Spells
Cleric Level
Spells
1st
disguise self, silent image
3rd
blur, moonbeam
5th
hypnotic pattern, major image
7th
greater invisibility, phantasmal killer
9th
dream, creation
[With the exception of Moonbeam, they are all illusion spells. With the exception of Disguise Self and Creation they're all concentration spells (to emphasize Mind of Two Moons feature). The differences from the original CR subclass are Disguise Self for Faerie Fire, Blur for Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer for Hallucinatory Terrain, and Creation for Passwall. I think the new spells are more thematically appropriate and less redundant. I'm not sure if they're any better or worse overall, but I liked the balance these spells brought more.]
Clarity of Catha
Starting at 1st level, when a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see makes a Wisdom based ability check (Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival) or a Wisdom saving throw, you can use your reaction to grant that creature advantage on the save. You can wait until after the creature makes the D20 roll before deciding to use Clarity of Catha, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
[This ability needed a boost in my opinion, as it originally only effected wisdom saving throws meaning that lots of days it would get fairly little use. So I buffed it to effect wisdom ability checks as well. I also changed the feature that determines uses per long rest from proficiency bonus to Wisdom modifier. It both seems more thematically appropriate and will likely increase number of uses until you get to very high level, where this change actually becomes a slight nerf].
Channel Divinity: Bane of the Blood-Drenched Moon
Starting at 2nd level you can, as an action, expend one use of Channel Divinity to create a small illusory Ruidus directly above your current location. The Moon of Ill Omen brightly casts a foreboding vermillion moonlight 15 feet in every direction, and casts dim light an additional 15 feet. Up to three creatures of your choice that you can see within the moonlight must make Charisma saving throws. Whenever a target that fails this saving throw makes an attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, the target must roll a d4 and subtract the number rolled from the attack roll or saving throw. If any of the targets is in the bright moonlight, they make their saving throw at disadvantage. Concentrating on this feature counts as concentrating on a Moon Domain spell for the purpose of your Mind of Two Moons feature.
[I changed this one a lot because I didn't like the previous Level 2 Channel Divinities. They seemed like options that would not be used much at all after Level 6, and I thought the lycanthropy influence kind of cluttered up what the class was about. It makes more sense in my opinion to take the old 17th level ability (Eclipse of Ill Omen) and nerf it to allow for an earlier curse like ability. Now the Moon Domain Cleric has a useful debuff that recharges on a short rest and should remain useful (but not overly) from here until level 20. It provides light, grants the Bane spell for free every short rest, gives disadvantage on the save if you are close to your targets, and has a really strong motif that will make it seem like you're influenced by the moons themselves from low level. I like it quite a bit.]
Channel Divinity: Mind of Two Moons
Starting at 6th Level, you can expend one use of Channel Divinity to cast a second concentration spell while already concentrating on a first spell as long as both spells are on your list of Moon Domain spells. If you need to make a Constitution saving throw to maintain your concentration on both spells, you make the save with disadvantage. On a failure, you lose concentration on both spells.
[Basically the same as the original].
Empowered Cantrips
Starting at 8th level, your cleric cantrips deal extra damage equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).
[Same as the original text].
Foresight of the Twin Moons
Starting at 17th level, you can cast Foresight without expending a spell slot.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until your finish a long rest.
[Since the "Eclipse of Ill Omen" like ability is granted a lot earlier, this instead becomes a high level spell for free as your one per day high ability. I always thought it was weird Clerics can't cast Foresight. So here it is. Seems like an appropriate spell for someone who is guided by the moons.]
Yeah I thought about giving some buffs at night (or when in direct moonlight) - i.e. concentration not at disadvantage when using two spells in moonlight, or disadvantage to creatures that try to detect your illusion based moon domain spells in moonlight, or saving throw disadvantage to all targets of bane of the blood-drenched moon feature in moonlight, but it made the wording of the features more convoluted, and it would be somewhat situational. Also I felt like the build was pretty strong as is, and didn't want to overdue it. I was really close to adding the disadvantage on detecting illusion domain spells in while the illusion is in moonlight.
Getting ready to start a Exandria Campaign. Was thinking about giving the Moon Domain Cleric a spin, but reworked a few things. Looking for feedback. I think it would be fun and wouldn't be too overpowered.
Clerics of the Moon Domain draw on their divine connection to the moons to wield light and shadow, invoke good fortune and ill favor, and reveal or conceal as they see fit. Most Moon clerics worship the Moonweaver herself, but her followers are as varied as the stars in the sky. Some seek to protect the vulnerable and do good in the world, while others meddle with impunity and distort the truth for selfish gain. Other Moon clerics worship not the gods but the moons themselves, especially those with an innate connection to the lunar cycles through lycanthropy.
Moon Domain Spells
You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the Moon Domain Spells table. See the Divine Domain class feature for how domain spells work.
Moon Domain Spells
1st
disguise self, silent image
3rd
blur, moonbeam
5th
hypnotic pattern, major image
7th
greater invisibility, phantasmal killer
9th
dream, creation
[With the exception of Moonbeam, they are all illusion spells. With the exception of Disguise Self and Creation they're all concentration spells (to emphasize Mind of Two Moons feature). The differences from the original CR subclass are Disguise Self for Faerie Fire, Blur for Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer for Hallucinatory Terrain, and Creation for Passwall. I think the new spells are more thematically appropriate and less redundant. I'm not sure if they're any better or worse overall, but I liked the balance these spells brought more.]
Clarity of Catha
Starting at 1st level, when a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see makes a Wisdom based ability check (Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival) or a Wisdom saving throw, you can use your reaction to grant that creature advantage on the save. You can wait until after the creature makes the D20 roll before deciding to use Clarity of Catha, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
[This ability needed a boost in my opinion, as it originally only effected wisdom saving throws meaning that lots of days it would get fairly little use. So I buffed it to effect wisdom ability checks as well. I also changed the feature that determines uses per long rest from proficiency bonus to Wisdom modifier. It both seems more thematically appropriate and will likely increase number of uses until you get to very high level, where this change actually becomes a slight nerf].
Channel Divinity: Bane of the Blood-Drenched Moon
Starting at 2nd level you can, as an action, expend one use of Channel Divinity to create a small illusory Ruidus directly above your current location. The Moon of Ill Omen brightly casts a foreboding vermillion moonlight 15 feet in every direction, and casts dim light an additional 15 feet. Up to three creatures of your choice that you can see within the moonlight must make Charisma saving throws. Whenever a target that fails this saving throw makes an attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, the target must roll a d4 and subtract the number rolled from the attack roll or saving throw. If any of the targets is in the bright moonlight, they make their saving throw at disadvantage. Concentrating on this feature counts as concentrating on a Moon Domain spell for the purpose of your Mind of Two Moons feature.
[I changed this one a lot because I didn't like the previous Level 2 Channel Divinities. They seemed like options that would not be used much at all after Level 6, and I thought the lycanthropy influence kind of cluttered up what the class was about. It makes more sense in my opinion to take the old 17th level ability (Eclipse of Ill Omen) and nerf it to allow for an earlier curse like ability. Now the Moon Domain Cleric has a useful debuff that recharges on a short rest and should remain useful (but not overly) from here until level 20. It provides light, grants the Bane spell for free every short rest, gives disadvantage on the save if you are close to your targets, and has a really strong motif that will make it seem like you're influenced by the moons themselves from low level. I like it quite a bit.]
Channel Divinity: Mind of Two Moons
Starting at 6th Level, you can expend one use of Channel Divinity to cast a second concentration spell while already concentrating on a first spell as long as both spells are on your list of Moon Domain spells. If you need to make a Constitution saving throw to maintain your concentration on both spells, you make the save with disadvantage. On a failure, you lose concentration on both spells.
[Basically the same as the original].
Empowered Cantrips
Starting at 8th level, your cleric cantrips deal extra damage equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).
[Same as the original text].
Foresight of the Twin Moons
Starting at 17th level, you can cast Foresight without expending a spell slot.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until your finish a long rest.
[Since the "Eclipse of Ill Omen" like ability is granted a lot earlier, this instead becomes a high level spell for free as your one per day high ability. I always thought it was weird Clerics can't cast Foresight. So here it is. Seems like an appropriate spell for someone who is guided by the moons.]
I think it would be really cool if the spells would have additional effects at night since it is a moon cleric.
snaptube vidmate
Yeah I thought about giving some buffs at night (or when in direct moonlight) - i.e. concentration not at disadvantage when using two spells in moonlight, or disadvantage to creatures that try to detect your illusion based moon domain spells in moonlight, or saving throw disadvantage to all targets of bane of the blood-drenched moon feature in moonlight, but it made the wording of the features more convoluted, and it would be somewhat situational. Also I felt like the build was pretty strong as is, and didn't want to overdue it. I was really close to adding the disadvantage on detecting illusion domain spells in while the illusion is in moonlight.
Made final changes to the variant Moon Domain Subclass I finally published. Added some notes on why I did what I did in the OP. Link to the subclass here - https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/1503410-moon-domain-cr-variant