Base Class: Cleric
Clerics of the Hive Domain may have a primary deity, their power comes from those who are members of their home colony, or Hive. While they can be from any race, the majority of Hive Clerics are from races such as the Thri-kreen, mothfolk, or Kraul. In many cases, Hive Clerics develop a sort of telepathic bond with their people if their race does not inherently have one. Outside of standard magic, Hive Clerics also have control of a magical swarm that is influenced by their origins. These swarms can be anything from bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, or anything that can form a swarm.
Bonus Proficiency
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with heavy armor.
Health of the Hive
Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, you can restore half as much healing to one additional creature. Casting the spell at a higher level allows for one additional creature to receive half healing for each level above 1st.
Channel Divinity: Damaging Swarm
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to heal the badly injured.
As an action, you present your holy symbol and evoke your hive that can deal poison damage equal to three times your cleric level. Choose any creatures within 30 feet of you, and divide that damage among them. This feature cannot kill creatures, only bring them down to 1 hitpoint. You can’t use this feature on an undead or a construct.
Swarm Shield
Beginning at 6th level, you can manifest your chosen swarm to protect your allies. As an action, you can release your swarm to add a protective layer to your allies for the next minute. The number of allies you can protect is equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1) and imposes disadvantage on any attack until they get hit. This feature can be used twice per day and refills at dawn each day.
Divine Strike
At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 poison damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.
Member of the Hive
Starting at 17th level, you can release a small (5), medium (10), or large (15) members of your swarm and self polymorph into one of those members and it lasts for one hour. You retain your Intelligence stat, but all others are now the stats of a Swarm of Beetles. You have control over this swarm.
The HP of your swarm varies based on size, equaling the number of swarm members you choose.
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Posted Mar 31, 2024Alright, let's take a closer look at the Hive Domain for clerics and see if it's all it's cracked up to be.
Bonus Proficiency: Heavy armor proficiency for clerics might sound nice, but does it really fit the theme of the Hive Domain? It seems like an odd choice for a subclass focused on insects and swarms. Maybe something more thematically appropriate, like proficiency with herbalism kits or nature-related skills, would make more sense.
Health of the Hive (1st Level): This ability definitely adds some versatility to healing spells, allowing the cleric to spread healing across multiple targets. However, it might be a bit too powerful, especially at higher levels when spell slots become more plentiful. It could potentially overshadow other healing-focused subclasses by making them feel less necessary.
Channel Divinity: Damaging Swarm (2nd Level): While the concept of summoning a swarm to deal poison damage is intriguing, the limitation of not affecting undead or constructs feels arbitrary. Why would a swarm of insects suddenly become ineffective against certain types of creatures? It feels like an unnecessary restriction that detracts from the versatility of the ability.
Swarm Shield (6th Level): This ability seems like a solid defensive option, providing protection to multiple allies with a swarm of insects. However, the mechanic of imposing disadvantage on attackers until they hit seems a bit convoluted. It might be simpler and more effective to provide a flat bonus to AC or resistance to certain types of damage instead.
Divine Strike (8th Level): Adding poison damage to weapon attacks fits thematically with the subclass, but the scaling of the damage might be too potent. Doubling the damage dice at 14th level could result in some serious burst damage, especially when combined with other abilities that enhance weapon attacks.
Member of the Hive (17th Level): The ability to transform into a swarm of insects is a flavorful capstone ability, but the mechanics of controlling the swarm could be a bit cumbersome in practice. Keeping track of multiple swarm members and their individual actions might slow down combat and add unnecessary complexity to gameplay. Simplifying the mechanics while retaining the thematic flavor would likely result in a more enjoyable experience for players.
Overall, while the Hive Domain has some interesting thematic elements, there are areas where the mechanics could be refined and streamlined for better gameplay balance and enjoyment.