Creating a cleric domain for one of my players and trying to dial in their first Channel Divinity and I'd appreciate help and feedback!
What I have so far is that, as a reaction, they cause a stone to temporarily jut up from the ground granting partial cover until the start of the target's next turn. Target must be within 30 feet and visible to the cleric.
What I can't decide on is whether to make it 1/2 or 3/4 cover. Not sure if +2 to AC and dex saves is enough to make it worthwhile and similarly not sure if +5 is too much... Any thoughts?
That sounds like a really cool concept for an earth or elemental type domain. One question... does the stone just magically appear and magically vanish? Is that why it only lasts until the end of the next turn? Because I'm picturing the cleric summoning a massive boulder that juts up from the ground between the cleric and their enemies. That's a great visual effect. 3/4 cover sounds reasonable for such a massive rock, especially since it's something you can only do a few times per day.
Maybe you could impose a restriction that the cleric can only perform this ability on natural ground. So the rock doesn't just magically appear, rather it is physically summoned from the very ground on which the cleric is standing. Thus, the stone is just there. And it just stays there. It's a natural rock. There it is. Deal with it.
To balance this restriction you could say the rock is big enough to grant 3/4 cover to anyone behind it. Of course, the enemies are free to then maneuver around it. But it'll still be there, as part of the battlefield. Also - maybe anyone who is standing in that spot must make a Dex save against the cleric's SSDC or be knocked back or knocked down by this massive rock that shoots up from underneath them.
Either way, that sounds like a really cool idea!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
The player actually mentioned a location restriction of only while outside or otherwise around stone (underground, somewhere with stone floors, etc.) but I'm hesitant to limit what could be a really clutch feature (especially at low levels) in that way. I imagined it as something like thorn whip where it doesn't have to be a logical place for a plant to magically spring up. You can plant it in a metal wall if you want. But I guess, in an average D&D setting, nonviable areas would be relatively limited and would be specified by me anyway.
I hadn't considered leaving the stone in place to alter the battlefield... I was imagining it as an instantaneous effect like the shield spell and then it crumbles away seconds later. Allowing it to be used by anyone could be interesting. My concern is that that players tend to plant themselves in place during battle and that would give them permanent cover. I know I'm able to control that to some extent but that's a pretty big consideration to take into account. We're playing an entirely narrative game (no battle maps) so I'm not entirely sure if that would make it better or worse.
Any further thoughts on those points? Thanks for the feedback!
It reminds me of a Pavise Shield, a large shield carried by crossbowmen and early fire arm gunners, they would plonk it down and hide behind it to reload their weapons. So you could also apply immunity to attacks of Oppotunity or disengage as a bonus action when the shield is deployed to represent the shield blocking a melee attacker.
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It reminds me of a Pavise Shield, a large shield carried by crossbowmen and early fire arm gunners, they would plonk it down and hide behind it to reload their weapons. So you could also apply immunity to attacks of Oppotunity or disengage as a bonus action when the shield is deployed to represent the shield blocking a melee attacker.
I like the concept! Might be a bit OP for a 2nd level CD but I'll discuss with the player to see if they might want that as an expanded ability later rather than one of the other options I've presented. Thanks for the suggestion!
Creating a cleric domain for one of my players and trying to dial in their first Channel Divinity and I'd appreciate help and feedback!
What I have so far is that, as a reaction, they cause a stone to temporarily jut up from the ground granting partial cover until the start of the target's next turn. Target must be within 30 feet and visible to the cleric.
What I can't decide on is whether to make it 1/2 or 3/4 cover. Not sure if +2 to AC and dex saves is enough to make it worthwhile and similarly not sure if +5 is too much... Any thoughts?
Characters currently being ruined on this forum:
Mis'tuv (Halfling Fathomless Warlock) - The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Meresaa (Vedalken Artillerist Artificer) - Destination Unknown
Hutton Crowcreek (Human Fighter) - Curse of the Crimson Throne
That sounds like a really cool concept for an earth or elemental type domain. One question... does the stone just magically appear and magically vanish? Is that why it only lasts until the end of the next turn? Because I'm picturing the cleric summoning a massive boulder that juts up from the ground between the cleric and their enemies. That's a great visual effect. 3/4 cover sounds reasonable for such a massive rock, especially since it's something you can only do a few times per day.
Maybe you could impose a restriction that the cleric can only perform this ability on natural ground. So the rock doesn't just magically appear, rather it is physically summoned from the very ground on which the cleric is standing. Thus, the stone is just there. And it just stays there. It's a natural rock. There it is. Deal with it.
To balance this restriction you could say the rock is big enough to grant 3/4 cover to anyone behind it. Of course, the enemies are free to then maneuver around it. But it'll still be there, as part of the battlefield. Also - maybe anyone who is standing in that spot must make a Dex save against the cleric's SSDC or be knocked back or knocked down by this massive rock that shoots up from underneath them.
Either way, that sounds like a really cool idea!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
3/4 cover. But remember, the enemies can benefit from it as well, meaning it could be a good trade off.
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The player actually mentioned a location restriction of only while outside or otherwise around stone (underground, somewhere with stone floors, etc.) but I'm hesitant to limit what could be a really clutch feature (especially at low levels) in that way. I imagined it as something like thorn whip where it doesn't have to be a logical place for a plant to magically spring up. You can plant it in a metal wall if you want. But I guess, in an average D&D setting, nonviable areas would be relatively limited and would be specified by me anyway.
I hadn't considered leaving the stone in place to alter the battlefield... I was imagining it as an instantaneous effect like the shield spell and then it crumbles away seconds later. Allowing it to be used by anyone could be interesting. My concern is that that players tend to plant themselves in place during battle and that would give them permanent cover. I know I'm able to control that to some extent but that's a pretty big consideration to take into account. We're playing an entirely narrative game (no battle maps) so I'm not entirely sure if that would make it better or worse.
Any further thoughts on those points? Thanks for the feedback!
Characters currently being ruined on this forum:
Mis'tuv (Halfling Fathomless Warlock) - The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Meresaa (Vedalken Artillerist Artificer) - Destination Unknown
Hutton Crowcreek (Human Fighter) - Curse of the Crimson Throne
Also, Tayn, the character is a Talhund (priest of Dumathoin) so we're very much aiming for an elemental slant!
Characters currently being ruined on this forum:
Mis'tuv (Halfling Fathomless Warlock) - The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Meresaa (Vedalken Artillerist Artificer) - Destination Unknown
Hutton Crowcreek (Human Fighter) - Curse of the Crimson Throne
It reminds me of a Pavise Shield, a large shield carried by crossbowmen and early fire arm gunners, they would plonk it down and hide behind it to reload their weapons. So you could also apply immunity to attacks of Oppotunity or disengage as a bonus action when the shield is deployed to represent the shield blocking a melee attacker.
I like the concept! Might be a bit OP for a 2nd level CD but I'll discuss with the player to see if they might want that as an expanded ability later rather than one of the other options I've presented. Thanks for the suggestion!
Characters currently being ruined on this forum:
Mis'tuv (Halfling Fathomless Warlock) - The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Meresaa (Vedalken Artillerist Artificer) - Destination Unknown
Hutton Crowcreek (Human Fighter) - Curse of the Crimson Throne