Despair Domain

Not all who walk the path of the Despair Domain chose it freely. Though the Steel Ministry may name it faith, and though the Lord Ruler’s teachings casts it as divine purpose, the truth is darker. Some few do worship the Lord Ruler as a god, but most who bear the mark of Despair do not kneel out of reverence. They kneel because they have been broken.

A domain for the ruined, the forgotten, and the punished. It binds those who have lost everything, family, freedom, face, and future, until despair is no longer a feeling but a state of being. In the Final Empire, such people are plentiful. Their faith in the Lord Ruler does not come from joy, nor from awe, but from the stark certainty that pain is inevitable and survival itself is a form of worship. They serve because they must, and because their grief has become sacrament.

However, they are possibly some of the largest sources of hope in the universe, both for themselves and for others. As dark and thick as despair may be, there always remains a meager thought that it might one day be cleansed by the light of the coming day. The larger the tragedy befallen one of the Despair Domain, the grander their revival could be.

In this way, the Ministry's greatest truth is made manifest: suffering refines. Despair purifies. The future belongs to those willing to crawl through ash, clawing toward a dawn they do not believe will come, but fight for anyway.

Level 3: The Sword Sharpened With Tears

Uncertain of your place in the world, whether a warrior of hope or a knight of despair, your still try to radiate what you believe in to your allies. You gain proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor, and you always have a ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair counter on, which can have a maximum value equal to your Proficiency Bonus and a minimum equal to the negative value of your Proficiency Bonus. Your ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair  counter can only be changed while within active combat, with the lone exception that if your ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair counter does not change during a minute, it shifts 1 point toward 0 (positive decreases by 1, negative increases by 1). 

While the value of your ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair counter is greater than 0, you are considered to be in ㅤBlessing Mode, which makes it so during this state, any creature that attacks you or is subjected to a saving throw that originates from you gains 1 count of Sinking for each attack that hits you and each save they fail. Additionally, while in this mode, you can use a reaction when a creature within 15 feet of you other than yourself is targeted by an attack to give them a bonus to their AC equal to half your proficiency bonus rounded down, which lasts until the end of their next turn.

While the value of your ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair counter is lower than 0, you are considered to be in ㅤDespair Mode, which grants 3 counts of ㅤSinking to any creature you hit with a weapon, spell or saving throw they fail against you. Additionally, if you miss an attack roll against a creature with ㅤSinking count, you may use a reaction to roll again.

The ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair counter changes as per following, or, alternatively, you may use a Bonus Action on your turn to make the counter raise or lower by 1:

Blessing	Despair
Rises by one when you heal another creature.	Lowers by one when a friendly creature becomes Unconscious.
Rises by one when you deal a Critical Hit.	Lowers when you suffer a Critical Hit.
Rises by one when you succeed a Saving Throw.	Lowers by one when you fail a Saving Throw.
Rises by one when a creature you forced to make a Saving Throw fails.	Lowers by one when a creature you forced to make a Saving Throw succeeds.

Your ㅤBlessing / ㅤDespair counter resets to 0 at the end of a long rest.

Sinking

A creature that is Sinking has trouble focusing on anything as a deep unease washes over them, making way for inherent terror or difficulty performing what they must. While suffering Sinking, the afflicted creature has their rolls to Hit reduced by a negative modifier for each 3 Sinking afflicted to them, to a maximum of -5. E.g: A creature with 12 stacks of Sinking suffers a -4 penalty to Hit. Additionally, that creature has their Wisdom Saving Throws reduced by a negative modifier for each 10 Sinking, to a maximum of -3.

The stacks of Sinking are halved down at the end of the creatures turn, rounded up. When they have only one point remaining it is removed entirely instead.

Level 3: Despair Domain Spells

Your connection to this divine domain ensures you always have certain spells ready. When you reach a Cleric level specified in the Despair Domain Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Despair Domain Spells

Cleric Level	Prepared Spells
3	Arms of Hadar, Sanctuary, Spiritual Weapon, Warding Bond
5	Beacon of Hope, Conjure Barrage
7	Death Ward, Phantasmal Killer
9	Conjure Volley, Hallow

Level 3: Mandation of Chivalry

Starting at 3rd level, you can use your channel divinity to summon forth the constellations from your tears, turning them into physical swords that surround you and protect your allies.

As a bonus action, if you are in ㅤ Blessing Mode, you can lift your holy symbol and become surrounded by starry swords. For 1 minute, when a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to force one of your swords to pierce you. The creature only takes half of the damage of the attack, while you take the other half. This ability ignores your resistances and immunity.

As an action, if you are in ㅤDespair Mode, you can lift your holy symbol and choose a number of creatures within 30 feet of you equal to your wisdom modifier (minimum of 1) to be surrounded by sharp swords pointing towards hostile creatures. For 1 minute, each time a chosen creature is hit by a melee attack, the attacker takes 2d8 cold damage.

Level 6: The Knight's Sanctuary

As you cry in the battlefield, your teardrops transform into stars that float around you, forming constellations of weapons that remind you there is still a battle to be fought.

At the start of your turn in combat, if you are in ㅤㅤBlessing mode, you gain 1 count of ㅤProtecting Sword. You may use a reaction when a creature within 30 feet of you is attacked to spend all counts of ㅤProtecting Sword, diminishing the damage by a number of d8s equal to the counts. If you spent 6 counts of ㅤProtecting Sword this way, the damage is reduced to 0. When you have Protecting Sword, you gain a +1 bonus to their AC for each 2 counts of Protecting Sword you have, and you can only have a maximum of 6 counts of Protecting sword, losing all counts once combat ends.

Alternatively, at the start of your turn in combat, if you are in ㅤㅤDespair, you gain 1 count of ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤPiercing Sword. You may use a reaction when a creature within 30 feet of you deals damage to another creature to spend all counts of ㅤPiercing Sword. adding a number of d6s in cold damage to their damage roll equal to the count spent. If you spent 6 counts of ㅤPiercing Sword, the damage ignores resistance. When you have Piercing Sword, you have a +1 bonus to your attack and damage rolls for each 2 counts of Piercing Sword you have. You can only have a maximum of 6 counts of Piercing sword, losing all counts once combat ends.

Level 17: Repentint Piercing

You have reached the culmination of your suffering and guilt, and as your swords pierce you, they bring forth all manner of emotions that flood and mold the battlefield with their crushing weight. As an action, you may pierce yourself with a spiritual sword for the next minute, gaining ㅤㅤTear-Sharpened. A creature with Tear-Sharpened has been pierced by a weapon that carries an enormous amount of despair and regret, gaining the following features:

• You become vulnerable to piercing damage.
• Whenever you hit an enemy with an attack, you roll an additional damage dice when determining the damage dice for your weapon.
• Whenever you or a friendly creature within 30 feet of you is hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to apply 6 counts of Sinking to the attacking creature.

If you are in ㅤBlessing mode, as part of the same action and as an action on subsequent turns while Tear-Sharpened, you may choose a number of creatures within 30 feet of you equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1). If the chosen creatures have made attack rolls on their previous turn, they must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, your swords pierce them, and they become restrained until the start of your next turn. On a success, they don’t become restrained, but they gain 2 counts of ㅤ Sinking.

If you are in ㅤ Despair mode, as part of the same action and as a bonus action on subsequent turns while Tear-Sharpened, you immediately cast the Spiritual Weapon spell without expending a spell slot, at your highest available spell level. While you are concentrating on this Spiritual Weapon, all of your spell attacks apply 2 additional counts of Sinking.