Domain spells: A mix of mostly support and divinations that are definitely useful if used in the right situations and such situations should occur often enough to make them worth having. I'm not really sure how dissonant whispers is supposed to be considered a thematic fit though; the others can be rather easily explained as influencing someone's fate, tying your fate to theirs, or getting prophetic information about the fate of yourself, others, the world in general, etc, but making somebody hear voices and freak out seems a bit of what competitive shooters would call a drifter. Personally I would think something that influences random chance (ie dice rolls which are generally used to literally determine the fate of events in D&D) like bless or bane, or maybe even protection from evil and good (my first choice would be bane as it basically gives it's targets bad luck and the other first level spell, heroism is already a buff so bless would feel a little redundant).
Omens and Portents: You get a free daily casting of augury and a bump to your chances of good results on other fortune telling spells for the rest of the day. It's a bit situational and not really great compared to other first level domain abilities but not terrible either. It also isn't the only first level feature.
Ties That Bind:The most obvious use here is to boost your outgoing healing to a specific ally, most likely your tank or somebody squishy or likely to be a main target for whatever reason. This can be a good first round or even immediately pre-fight prep action. The tracking feature might help out in certain situations bit is a bit iffy with the saving throw for unwilling creatures and how it does not tell you how far the subject is but only direction. Also the damage boost is something that would only be beneficial if you're going to be repeatedly dealing damage to the target after spending an action to give them the mystical bad touch in melee and this subclass seems more focused on support than direct butt whooping. And that damage bonus doesn't apply to persistent effects like spiritual weapon or spirit guardians, only when you cast a spell, so you're sacrificing an action for a marginal damage increase at best and most combats are going to be over before you get more out of it than just casting inflict wounds while you touch the target instead.
Channel Divinity: Strands of Fate: If the previous features are a bit light on mechanical advantage this one makes up the difference. You spend a bonus action to activate it and then for a minute (meaning the full duration of most combats) you can use your reaction to grant advantage or impose disadvantage on any attack roll or ability check made by any creature you can see. You're limited to once per turn because it uses your reaction and it does require concentration so you can't have another concentration effect up, but this is basically the equivalent of about a first level spell that you can use up to ten times as a reaction, it doesn't use spell slots, and you can do it once per short rest. And you will have chances to use it often. Silvery barbs can suck it.
Insightful Striking: I've mentioned that this domain seems to favor a support role, but the great thing about clerics is their ability to do a bunch of different things so even if you're mostly healing and buffing you can still fire off a guiding bolt and getting single use boosted version of bless for that attack roll as a bonus action can definitely come in handy. Or you can use any number of fun (for you) spells that impose a saving throw and get a similarly boosted bane effect without your target being able to resist it with an initial save. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest, so it can give you multiple boosted attacks per day.
Potent Spellcasting:Nothing unique, but definitely useful. Unless you're multiclassing or taking a feat for extra cantrips this is only really going to apply to to sacred flame or toll the dead, but that extra damage can add up and it's frankly better than boosted melee weapon damage since none of your other domain features favor using such a weapon over spamming such cantrips in the first place.
Visions of the Future: Honestly this is a let down and pretty much pointless, especially for a final subclass feature. Sure, you get to cast a ninth level spell that you normally don't even have access to. And it's a great spell...but when you do it this way it's duration is only one minute instead of eight hours as it otherwise would be. And the feature says nothing about reducing the casting time which is also one minute. You aren't going to be firing this one off as a quick buff in the first round of combat and the only way I see it being useful at all is if you do it before springing an ambush against a target that's just chilling out while oblivious to your party's presence. Compare this to the Life and Death domains' 17th level abilities that effectively double the effects of all spells of a certain category (which you're likely to be casting a lot of in general) up to fifth level and this is a major disappointment.
Conclusion: While the final feature in particular is a let down, I think the other features are generally pretty nice, particularly the channel divinity and the Insightful Striking. As I mentioned the domain spells, while not what many would choose normally, do have solid potential for a general support role. This is something I would definitely like to try out at least for a one shot, possibly for a longer campaign.
It lends itself to several character concepts; and that can be a good thing.
I’d rationalize “Dissonant Whispers” as the various whispers of possibilities that the Cleric receives from alternate realities; which they then weaponize against their target.
I mean, if you received a series of creepy whispers detailing all the different realities where you had died; that might justify putting it on this spell list.
I imagine that Visions of the Future is intended to be an Action, and it's an oversight.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Omens and Portents only gives you the ability to cast augury saving you 9 minutes, and the components. And being able to cast it again reducing the possibility of failure. It is a spell that I really like, but the feature adds little to it.
Channel divinity isn't bad, but it uses concentration to give advantage/disadvantge to one attack per turn. Soon you will stop using it because you will have better things to occupy your concentration.
Ties that binds has a quite situational part. And the other part is 1d6 when healing or dealing damage with spells of level 1 or higher. It also stops being useful pretty soon.
INSIGHTFUL STRIKING isn't bad, but it's also nothing to write home about. -1d6 to a save, being able to use it x times per day, when there are cantrips like Mind Sliver, it's not that exciting. The good thing is that it's BA and it's not a spell (you can use it and cast your spell on a save). And the +1d6 to an attack, well, if you combine it with feats like sharpshooter or GWM, it can come in handy. Not bad, but nothing crazy.
Visions of the future is a level 17 feature, so you will hardly ever see it. But it's also not super exciting at those levels.
I imagine that Visions of the Future is intended to be an Action, and it's an oversight.
If it were an action then it would definitely become much more viable. Arguably still not amazing compared to comparable features from other domains, but definitely a useful ability to have in your arsenal to make a significant difference in one encounter per day.
And yes, Ties That Bind is going to be much more impactful at low levels because the 1d6 effect doesn't scale. But by the time it becomes marginalized you will have more powerful abilities.
I can see using the CD into higher levels because it does work every turn for ten rounds. Yes, there are powerful concentration spells that can produce greater effects but giving advantage/disadvantage to a big attack roll every turn can still make a big swing in the battle if used judiciously. You use it on your party's melee specialist or sniper when they use GWM or Sharpshooter, or when a caster uses a powerful spell that requires an attack roll (including enemy casters). It's still the equivalent to a second or even third level spell that doesn't use a slot and refreshes on short rests; if you're in a game where you regularly have enough encounters per day to really require you to manage your resources this is a good way to conserve spells while still providing potent support.
Worst subclass. One of the features gives the Augury spell, literally the second-worst spell in the game. (First is Find Traps.)
In all reality, the other level 1 feature, Channel Divinity, and 6th-level abilities are cool. 17th-level feature is pretty good, but limited in scope.
Worst subclass. One of the features gives the Augury spell, literally the second-worst spell in the game. (First is Find Traps.)
In all reality, the other level 1 feature, Channel Divinity, and 6th-level abilities are cool. 17th-level feature is pretty good, but limited in scope.
Any divination spell depends very much on how the DM implements it. However, Augury is the least ambiguous about the answers you can get. It's my favorite divination spell. As long as you ask the right question, it allows you to gain valuable information. And the DM can't trick you, or be ambiguous if your question is well formulated.
It really is a fantastic spell.
The problem with Fate Domain is that it doesn't add anything remarkable to the spell. Not the spell itself, which is fantastic if you know how to use it.
Worst subclass. One of the features gives the Augury spell, literally the second-worst spell in the game. (First is Find Traps.)
In all reality, the other level 1 feature, Channel Divinity, and 6th-level abilities are cool. 17th-level feature is pretty good, but limited in scope.
Augury is not the second-worst spell in the game, and Find Traps is not the worst spell (though it is still pretty bad). The worst spell is True Strike.
Also Augury, in practical terms, lets you ask the DM up front "Will this thing we are about to do be a problem or will it go fine?" For example, if you or someone else is about to attune to a suspicious-looking magic item, or if you or someone else is about to press a sus-looking button.
Augury is too vague to truly be useful. Last time I used it, it was as we were about to use an artifact to resurrect a dragon in a world where they were extinct. Got Weal and Woe. Weal: The plan worked. Woe: The dragon got corrupted by the artifact three months down the line in a way we couldn't possibly predict or prevent.
Then the spell worked as it should, and it was what you did with that information that frustrated you. Augury already told you: The result will be good and bad. It was predictable that the bad would be at the same level as the good, if not the prediction would have been different.
It is also true that the usefulness or not of a spell is subjective. And that is especially true with divination spells. For me, augury is a very useful spell. I use it almost every day of my adventures. Someone else, because of the DM, because of how he uses it, or whatever, may not like it. It is a respectable opinion. But what cannot be said is that it is one of the worst spells in the game. That is not true. You may not like it, but the spell itself is objectively good.
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As a cleric enthusiast I'm intrigued by the new UA's Fate domain and wondering about others' thoughts on it. (It can be found at https://media.wizards.com/2022/dnd/downloads/UA2022-WondersoftheMultiverse.pdf ) My thoughts follow.
Domain spells: A mix of mostly support and divinations that are definitely useful if used in the right situations and such situations should occur often enough to make them worth having. I'm not really sure how dissonant whispers is supposed to be considered a thematic fit though; the others can be rather easily explained as influencing someone's fate, tying your fate to theirs, or getting prophetic information about the fate of yourself, others, the world in general, etc, but making somebody hear voices and freak out seems a bit of what competitive shooters would call a drifter. Personally I would think something that influences random chance (ie dice rolls which are generally used to literally determine the fate of events in D&D) like bless or bane, or maybe even protection from evil and good (my first choice would be bane as it basically gives it's targets bad luck and the other first level spell, heroism is already a buff so bless would feel a little redundant).
Omens and Portents: You get a free daily casting of augury and a bump to your chances of good results on other fortune telling spells for the rest of the day. It's a bit situational and not really great compared to other first level domain abilities but not terrible either. It also isn't the only first level feature.
Ties That Bind: The most obvious use here is to boost your outgoing healing to a specific ally, most likely your tank or somebody squishy or likely to be a main target for whatever reason. This can be a good first round or even immediately pre-fight prep action. The tracking feature might help out in certain situations bit is a bit iffy with the saving throw for unwilling creatures and how it does not tell you how far the subject is but only direction. Also the damage boost is something that would only be beneficial if you're going to be repeatedly dealing damage to the target after spending an action to give them the mystical bad touch in melee and this subclass seems more focused on support than direct butt whooping. And that damage bonus doesn't apply to persistent effects like spiritual weapon or spirit guardians, only when you cast a spell, so you're sacrificing an action for a marginal damage increase at best and most combats are going to be over before you get more out of it than just casting inflict wounds while you touch the target instead.
Channel Divinity: Strands of Fate: If the previous features are a bit light on mechanical advantage this one makes up the difference. You spend a bonus action to activate it and then for a minute (meaning the full duration of most combats) you can use your reaction to grant advantage or impose disadvantage on any attack roll or ability check made by any creature you can see. You're limited to once per turn because it uses your reaction and it does require concentration so you can't have another concentration effect up, but this is basically the equivalent of about a first level spell that you can use up to ten times as a reaction, it doesn't use spell slots, and you can do it once per short rest. And you will have chances to use it often. Silvery barbs can suck it.
Insightful Striking: I've mentioned that this domain seems to favor a support role, but the great thing about clerics is their ability to do a bunch of different things so even if you're mostly healing and buffing you can still fire off a guiding bolt and getting single use boosted version of bless for that attack roll as a bonus action can definitely come in handy. Or you can use any number of fun (for you) spells that impose a saving throw and get a similarly boosted bane effect without your target being able to resist it with an initial save. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest, so it can give you multiple boosted attacks per day.
Potent Spellcasting: Nothing unique, but definitely useful. Unless you're multiclassing or taking a feat for extra cantrips this is only really going to apply to to sacred flame or toll the dead, but that extra damage can add up and it's frankly better than boosted melee weapon damage since none of your other domain features favor using such a weapon over spamming such cantrips in the first place.
Visions of the Future: Honestly this is a let down and pretty much pointless, especially for a final subclass feature. Sure, you get to cast a ninth level spell that you normally don't even have access to. And it's a great spell...but when you do it this way it's duration is only one minute instead of eight hours as it otherwise would be. And the feature says nothing about reducing the casting time which is also one minute. You aren't going to be firing this one off as a quick buff in the first round of combat and the only way I see it being useful at all is if you do it before springing an ambush against a target that's just chilling out while oblivious to your party's presence. Compare this to the Life and Death domains' 17th level abilities that effectively double the effects of all spells of a certain category (which you're likely to be casting a lot of in general) up to fifth level and this is a major disappointment.
Conclusion: While the final feature in particular is a let down, I think the other features are generally pretty nice, particularly the channel divinity and the Insightful Striking. As I mentioned the domain spells, while not what many would choose normally, do have solid potential for a general support role. This is something I would definitely like to try out at least for a one shot, possibly for a longer campaign.
Thoughts?
I think it’s fine.
It lends itself to several character concepts; and that can be a good thing.
I’d rationalize “Dissonant Whispers” as the various whispers of possibilities that the Cleric receives from alternate realities; which they then weaponize against their target.
I mean, if you received a series of creepy whispers detailing all the different realities where you had died; that might justify putting it on this spell list.
I imagine that Visions of the Future is intended to be an Action, and it's an oversight.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I think it's a rather weak subclass, frankly.
Omens and Portents only gives you the ability to cast augury saving you 9 minutes, and the components. And being able to cast it again reducing the possibility of failure. It is a spell that I really like, but the feature adds little to it.
Channel divinity isn't bad, but it uses concentration to give advantage/disadvantge to one attack per turn. Soon you will stop using it because you will have better things to occupy your concentration.
Ties that binds has a quite situational part. And the other part is 1d6 when healing or dealing damage with spells of level 1 or higher. It also stops being useful pretty soon.
INSIGHTFUL STRIKING isn't bad, but it's also nothing to write home about. -1d6 to a save, being able to use it x times per day, when there are cantrips like Mind Sliver, it's not that exciting. The good thing is that it's BA and it's not a spell (you can use it and cast your spell on a save). And the +1d6 to an attack, well, if you combine it with feats like sharpshooter or GWM, it can come in handy. Not bad, but nothing crazy.
Visions of the future is a level 17 feature, so you will hardly ever see it. But it's also not super exciting at those levels.
If it were an action then it would definitely become much more viable. Arguably still not amazing compared to comparable features from other domains, but definitely a useful ability to have in your arsenal to make a significant difference in one encounter per day.
And yes, Ties That Bind is going to be much more impactful at low levels because the 1d6 effect doesn't scale. But by the time it becomes marginalized you will have more powerful abilities.
I can see using the CD into higher levels because it does work every turn for ten rounds. Yes, there are powerful concentration spells that can produce greater effects but giving advantage/disadvantage to a big attack roll every turn can still make a big swing in the battle if used judiciously. You use it on your party's melee specialist or sniper when they use GWM or Sharpshooter, or when a caster uses a powerful spell that requires an attack roll (including enemy casters). It's still the equivalent to a second or even third level spell that doesn't use a slot and refreshes on short rests; if you're in a game where you regularly have enough encounters per day to really require you to manage your resources this is a good way to conserve spells while still providing potent support.
Worst subclass. One of the features gives the Augury spell, literally the second-worst spell in the game. (First is Find Traps.)
In all reality, the other level 1 feature, Channel Divinity, and 6th-level abilities are cool. 17th-level feature is pretty good, but limited in scope.
Any divination spell depends very much on how the DM implements it. However, Augury is the least ambiguous about the answers you can get. It's my favorite divination spell. As long as you ask the right question, it allows you to gain valuable information. And the DM can't trick you, or be ambiguous if your question is well formulated.
It really is a fantastic spell.
The problem with Fate Domain is that it doesn't add anything remarkable to the spell. Not the spell itself, which is fantastic if you know how to use it.
Augury is not the second-worst spell in the game, and Find Traps is not the worst spell (though it is still pretty bad). The worst spell is True Strike.
Also Augury, in practical terms, lets you ask the DM up front "Will this thing we are about to do be a problem or will it go fine?" For example, if you or someone else is about to attune to a suspicious-looking magic item, or if you or someone else is about to press a sus-looking button.
I forgot about True Strike, you got me there.
Augury is too vague to truly be useful. Last time I used it, it was as we were about to use an artifact to resurrect a dragon in a world where they were extinct. Got Weal and Woe. Weal: The plan worked. Woe: The dragon got corrupted by the artifact three months down the line in a way we couldn't possibly predict or prevent.
Then the spell worked as it should, and it was what you did with that information that frustrated you. Augury already told you: The result will be good and bad. It was predictable that the bad would be at the same level as the good, if not the prediction would have been different.
It is also true that the usefulness or not of a spell is subjective. And that is especially true with divination spells. For me, augury is a very useful spell. I use it almost every day of my adventures. Someone else, because of the DM, because of how he uses it, or whatever, may not like it. It is a respectable opinion. But what cannot be said is that it is one of the worst spells in the game. That is not true. You may not like it, but the spell itself is objectively good.