Ruinwake Cleric

Where other Clerics find grounding in their gods, their doctrines, or the certainty of their faith, Ruinwake Clerics are caught between the opposing forces of Genesis and Collapse. They are bound to the restless laws of entropy, which govern the unraveling of all things, and to the inexplicable impulse for new things to emerge from what has been lost. Neither force is merciful, and neither is malicious. They are simply the truths upon which existence turns.

To follow Ruinwake is to live in constant contradiction. Genesis calls these Clerics to nurture, restore, and preserve, while Collapse reminds them that every structure will crumble, every flame will gutter, and every life will end. Entropy is not merely destruction; it is the slow, inevitable dispersal of what has been ordered, the dissolution of certainty, and the reminder that nothing exists beyond the reach of change. Even the most precious things they save are only borrowed from oblivion.

Some Ruinwake Clerics struggle desperately against this truth, seeking to preserve every fleeting thing as though devotion alone might defy the inevitable. Others surrender to entropy, accepting decay as the natural conclusion of all things. Most are torn between these extremes, unable to fully embrace either preservation or destruction. They rebuild what they know will fall, heal those they know will die, and nurture beginnings whose endings are already written in the nature of existence.

Yet Ruinwake offers no easy peace in this understanding. Its Clerics know that giving never comes without a cost. To heal is to expend something that cannot be recovered without limit. To create is to draw upon what already exists. To preserve is to delay a process, not abolish it. Every act of salvation pushes against the current of entropy, but never escapes it entirely. Even destruction makes way for new arrangements, and even creation begins the long process of its own undoing.

For a Ruinwake Cleric, faith is not an anchor against the chaos of existence. It is the struggle to find purpose within it: to choose what deserves to be preserved, what must be allowed to end, and what price they are willing to pay when the world demands its due. They do not command entropy, nor can they escape it. They can only stand within its relentless turning, pulled between what may yet be and what must inevitably pass away.

Genesis and Collapse

3rd Level: Genesis and Collapse

You can channel the opposing forces of becoming and unmaking.
At the end of a long rest, choose either Genesis or Collapse as your active state. You can switch between these states as a bonus action on your turn.

Genesis. Once on each of your turns, when you restore hit points to a creature with a spell, you can grant that creature temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).

Collapse. Once on each of your turns, when you deal damage to a creature with a cleric spell, you can deal extra necrotic damage to one creature damaged by the spell. This extra damage equals your proficiency bonus.

You can benefit from only one of these effects on a given turn.

Entropy's Pull

Neither force was meant to exist in isolation, and remaining within one for too long invites its influence to overwhelm you. At the end of each turn, if you’ve used one of these benefits, roll a d6. 

On a 6, you experience a surge in power based on your active state, the effects of which you apply to Genesis or Collapse before the end of your next turn:

• Surging Genesis. The next time you grant a creature temporary hit points using Genesis before the end of your next turn, increase the temporary hit points it gains by an amount equal to your Wisdom modifier.
• Surging Collapse. The next time you deal damage to a creature using Collapse before the end of your next turn, add your Wisdom modifier to the total necrotic damage dealt.

On a 1, if you didn’t switch between states that turn, the imbalance spreads, the force of your active state takes hold of you, and you become entrenched until you switch your active state. While you are entrenched, you do not roll the d6 for this feature, you cannot switch states until after the end of your next turn, and you suffer the corresponding effect below:

• Excessive Genesis. Each time you restore hit points to a creature with a cleric spell, one hostile creature of the DM’s choice within 60 feet of the target gains an amount of temporary hit points equal to the healing the target received. In addition, the target has resistance to all damage until the end of your next turn.
• Excessive Collapse. Each time you deal damage to a creature with a cleric spell, you take necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus, which ignores any resistance or immunity and can’t be reduced in any way. In addition, you cannot regain hit points.

 

Channel Divinity: The Turning

3rd Level: Channel Divinity: The Turning

You can use your Channel Divinity to invoke the force of Genesis or Collapse.

As an action, you present your holy symbol and choose one of the following effects.

Genesis: Wellspring. Choose a number of creatures you can see within 30 feet of you, up to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of one creature). Each target regains hit points equal to 2d8 + your cleric level.

Collapse: The Breaking. Choose a point you can see within 30 feet of you. Each creature of your choice within 10 feet of that point must make a Constitution saving throw against your cleric spell save DC.

On a failed save, a creature takes necrotic damage equal to 2d8 + your cleric level and cannot take reactions until the start of your next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and suffers no other effect.

The Great Pendulum

6th Level: The Great Pendulum

Your power gathers momentum whenever you turn from one state to the other.

Once on each of your turns, when you use a bonus action to switch your active state, you can invoke the effect associated with the state you enter.

Genesis: Steadying Force. Choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. It gains temporary hit points equal to your cleric level.

Collapse: Cast Down. Choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. It must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your cleric spell save DC or be pushed up to 10 feet directly away from you.

You can invoke only one of these effects per turn.

The Path that Remains

8th Level: The Path That Remains

You can alter the physical integrity of the world, reinforcing what must endure or weakening what has reached its breaking point.

As an action, you touch an unattended nonmagical object or a section of nonmagical structure no larger than a 10-foot cube. Choose Genesis or Collapse. The effect lasts for 10 minutes.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Genesis: Reinforce. The target becomes remarkably resilient. If it is a structure or object that supports weight, it can support twice its normal load. Ability checks made to break, force open, or dislodge it are made with disadvantage.

You can use this effect to stabilize a crumbling staircase, reinforce a door, create a more secure handhold, or keep a damaged support from giving way.

Collapse: Weaken. You accelerate the deterioration of the target. Ability checks made to break, force open, dismantle, or dislodge it are made with advantage. In addition, the target has vulnerability to bludgeoning damage.

This feature cannot affect creatures or magical objects. It does not automatically destroy a building or bypass an obstacle that would ordinarily require powerful magic to overcome. The DM determines whether a particular object or section of a structure can be affected and how the change interacts with its materials and construction.

The Unending Cycle

17th Level: The Unending Cycle

You have learned to sustain the forces of Genesis and Collapse in an unbroken cycle, drawing on their combined power without being entirely consumed by either.

As a bonus action, you enter an empowered state that lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.

While this state is active, you can switch between Genesis and Collapse as a bonus action. In addition, you gain the following benefit according to your active state.

Genesis: Abundance. Once on each of your turns, when you restore hit points to a creature with a spell, you can choose a second creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The second creature regains hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).

Collapse: Entropy. Once on each of your turns, when you deal damage to a creature with a cleric spell, you can deal extra necrotic damage to one creature damaged by that spell. This extra damage equals your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1), in addition to the extra damage granted by your Genesis and Collapse feature.

While The Unending Cycle is active, you do not make Entropy's Pull rolls, and you cannot become entrenched. You have achieved a brief equilibrium between the forces that usually tear at you, though it cannot last.