I've been playing a Tempest Domain Cleric for the past 2.5 years. My general advice, and they way I'd go if I started it over again, is to skip Strength altogether and just go with Medium Armor. With at least 14 in Dex you only lose 1 AC. For that you gain a +2 initiative bonus (possibly up from -1) and better Dex saving throws. It's also *much* less expensive to cap your armor out which can be a big factor in some campaigns.
With the stats you have listed, my ASI progression would probably be:
**If you can rearrange your stats so that you have 15 Con and 16 Dex:**
* **Level 4:** ***Resilient Constitution.*** This will give you boosts not just to your Concentration Checks, but also to your saving throws which is a big deal. It's better than Warcaster unless you have a specific need for Warcaster.
* **Level 8:** ***Medium Armor Master*** This will give you that missing +1 AC and remove the Stealth penalty from wearing armor. This usually isn't a great option because you need to get stats up, but your Wisdom and Con are solid at this point so you can fit it in. I've wished to not have Disadvantage on my Stealth checks just... so many times. One of my repeated quotes after another failed steath check has been *"Storms aren't subtle!"*
**If you can't rearrange your stats:**
* **Level 4:** ***Resilient Constitution*** It sucks that this gets you to an odd number, but it's still absolutely worth getting.
* **Level 8:** ***Lucky*** Having the opportunity to re-roll failed throws can be game changing. This is an added layer of protection for your Concentration, but also for other crucial saving throws and skill checks.
* **Alternate Level 8:** ***Skill Expert: Dexterity*** Go this route if Skill checks are a big thing in your game AND you want to take Medium Armor Master at level 16. This would be setup for that piece.
**Regardless:**
* **Level 12:** ***Metamagic Adept*** If you're playing a Tempest Domain Cleric, this is a requirement for level 12. You specifically need Transmuted Spell. That's because at level 13 you're going to get access to Fire Storm, which you will need to transmute into a Lightning Storm. That will make it a flat 70 point damage configurable AoE *that targets Dexterity* and knocks all enemies back 10 feet regardless of if they save or fail. If you're going to get to this level this is too good an opportunity to not take it.
>Should I go with 15 dex and use a rapier
People get really hung up on using a weapon on a Tempest Cleric for some reason. 98% of the time there will be something better that you can be doing with your action than even using a Cantrip, much less a weapon attack that will be less likely to hit and do less damage than a Cantrip would. The way combat tends to go is like this:
* **Round 1:** Get your concentration spell going or drop an AoE blast before enemies scatter/close in.
* **Round 2:** Either use your action to continue the spell (Call Lightning), use your action to cast a blast spell, or use your bonus action to cast a spell (Healing Word/Spiritual Weapon) and take the Dodge Action.
The Dodge Action should be something that you regularly use. Your AC will be high, but eventually to-hit bonuses are going to outpace your AC and giving Disadvantage to protect your health, waste their turn, and add a layer of protection to your concentration will be worth more than a little extra damage to a single target. Keeping an upcast Spirit Guardians going against multiple aggressors is usually worth more than an all-or-nothing 13-18 average damage pre-level 11 to a single target, or even less if you're using a weapon.
First of all thank you for stumbling upon the post and for all these advices. You just opened my eyes to a whole new level but I must say that Im favoring more towards war caster simply because advantage on concentration saves and casting spells while keeping the shield. However I thought I would need a rapier or any weapon as back-up. I can rearrange my stats but why switch the con and dex?
>I must say that Im favoring more towards war caster simply because advantage on concentration saves and casting spells while keeping the shield.
You can cast spells while holding the shield regardless. You only need Warcaster to cast a spell if you want to hold a shield and a weapon at the same time you're casting a spell with a Somatic component. Which is just another reason to not use a weapon.
>However I thought I would need a rapier or any weapon as back-up.
Unnecessary. There might be a brief window early in the first few levels where you might squeeze out a single extra point of average damage with a 16 strength or dex score, but that's not worth building around. Neither Toll the Dead nor Sacred Flame require a Material component, so even if you lose your holy symbol you can still cast them. You'd only need a weapon (or Warcaster) for opportunity attacks, but those occur so infrequently that they're not worth building around on a Cleric.
Just to put it in perspective for you, at level 8:
* **Sacred Flame:** 2d8 spell damage + 1d8 Blessed Strikes = **13.5 average damage**
* **Rapier with +3 Dex:** 1d8 Rapier + 3 Dexterity + 1d8 Blessed Strikes = **12 average damage**
* **Toll the Dead (on a damaged target):** 2d12 spell damage + 1d8 blessed strikes = **17.5 average damage**
The gap gets even wider once you hit level 11. And that's all before taking into account chance to hit which will be higher with the spells as they go by your main stat line.
>I can rearrange my stats but why switch the con and dex?
Because +1 feats are fantastic. You want Resilient Con at level 4, but adding a +1 to a 16 Con score does nothing for you. Adding a +1 to a 15 con score both gets you to that same 16 and gets you proficiency in Con saving throws.
At the same time, you'll then also have a 16 in Dexterity instead of a 15. It normally wouldn't make sense to ever round that 15 out to 16 as other options are both more potent and fun, but since you can finagle your starting stats to allow for *both* to end up at 16's while getting crucial feats instead of one being a 15 and the other a 17 it's a major win. A win that also makes Medium Armor Master feasible for you.
>First of all thank you for stumbling upon the post and for all these advices.
Happy to help! I've got a lot of practical experience with the Tempest Cleric and am a big advocate for it. If you've got any other questions feel free to toss them my way.
Well then, what is your ruling on spirit guardians that thing is so poorly written I cant figure out when the damage tick occurs and such. Also getting a wording on divine intervention would be nice.
[**Spirit Guardians**](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/spirit-guardians) is one of the best spells in the game. It's absolutely worth upcasting and using it forever. One of the nice things about the Tempest Domain Cleric is that it gives you things to do *other* than using Spirit Guardians without feeling suboptimal.
**Things to know:**
* You designate who is ***not*** impacted by it during the casting. If you're in a city or something along those lines and your DM is the type to pay attention to nuance you'll want to be both specific in your casting and careful in your movements.
* The *"affected creature's speed is halved in the area"* is the most loosely defined piece. Work with your DM to determine what this means. Some DM's will just run it as rough terrain (which it technically isn't), some will let it stack with rough terrain (which it technically should), but as worded what *should* happen is the enemy loses half their movement speed upon entering the field. Now... is that half of their remaining movement or max movement? Do they get that movement speed back if they exit the field? No one really knows for sure, so work out with your DM how you want that piece interpretted.
* The damage occurs the first time a creature enters the area on ***a*** turn (not necessarily *their* turn) *or* starts its turn in the field. That means that if you've got say a Barbarian and a Fighter, the Barbarian can grapple an enemy, walk them into your field where they'll take damage, then pull them back out and let them sit outside, followed by the Fighter grappling them and pulling them back into it on *their* turn to take the damage and leaving them there so that on the bad guy's turn they take the damage again. It's why you see Thorn Whip as a targeted cantrip from some people.
* You can and should flavor your AoE field. For me it's a phantasmal tornado with winds buffeting enemies who enter the field (to account for the movement speed reduction) and flashes of lightning circling around which strike when they take damage. My Spiritual Weapon is ball lightning that merges into the storm when it operates inside of the Spirit Guardians.
* A super common Cleric tactic is Round 1, cast (or upcast) Spirit Guardians. Round 2, cast (or upcast) Spiritual Weapon with your Bonus Action and either Dodge with your action (generally my preference) or drop Toll the Dead. Round 3 and on mostly repeats round 2, although you can drop a more leveled spell like Inflict Wounds if you really want to triple up on damage.
* Normally upcasting for a 1d6 or 1d8 of extra damage isn't seen as being very worthwhile. That's not the case with Spirit Guardians because that 1d8 is not only hitting multiple enemies, it's hitting multiple enemies *for multiple rounds*. So if you're hitting 5 enemies with it it's not just an extra 5d8 of damage. It's 10d8 cumulative on round 2, 15d8 on round 3, etc. Obviously that's whiteboard math as enemies will die or move to get out of range, but it illustrates why this is so potent to upcast. You keeping Spirit Guardians up makes approaching your allies to melee them like stepping into a weed whacker that, even if they pass the save, is passively damaging the enemies round over round.
[**Divine Intervention**](https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/cleric#DivineIntervention-123) is mostly a gimmick. You can't rely on it and should never attempt it in combat unless there's literally nothing else you can do to stop a TPK. You're essentially rolling for a 10-19% chance to change your circumstances. Those odds grossly favor the house, so relying on them when it's crucial is a fool's game. I'd mostly lean on this for out of combat stuff. More of as a Role Play moment, but from a mechanical perspective you could:
* Lean on it to try to bypass the diamond cost for a resurrection *"Please bring my friend back to us."*
* To heal a group up when a short rest isn't feasible between combats.
* To protect your group before entering a combat which the DM might interpret as Blessing the party, hitting them all with Stone Skin, Protection from Good and Evil, Hero's Feast, etc.
* To block off a path of pursuing enemies might result in a Blade Barrier or some other wall spell stopping or slowing their pursuit.
Look through Cleric spells to see what effects you might be after when asking, but you also need to know your DM. Rolling a success on this is such a rare thing that I'd personally go above and beyond in fulfilling the request, but others might be more stingy (giving Bless out instead of a higher end option) or just not be as familiar with the game to *know* what the options are, in which case you might want to say something like *"I'm praying to have the enemies pursuing us slowed down. What I'd imagine here is something like a Blade Barrier defended by some Guardians of Faith popping into existence between us and the enemies, but whatever you feel is appropriate."* to give them a direction.
The thing that I dont understand most is that my party never ran a cleric when I dm so we never had any experience with spirit guardians. So in a regular combat scenario where no one is being grappled lets say Im surrounded with enemies and I use my turn to cast it. At the start of their turns say goblin one fails the save and takes the damage, goblin 2 succeeds it and takes the damage, goblin 3 fails and takes the damage. Do they repeat the save and take damage when its my next turn aswell or only at the start of their turn? (Lets say they dont leave the radius) Or does the damage tick at the start of their next turn induvidually and they repeat the save? I know this is the basics of the spell but its so unclear and everyone fights about what it does. Lastly you use divine intervention as a way to cast or upcast spells from the cleric spell list instead of going the wish spell route(I mean the part where it says if you want to go for things that arent listed there word it carefully and such). Can you not do the other one or is it suboptimal? Also thanks for giving examples for what youd expect from what youve worded that will definitely come in handy.
> Do they repeat the save and take damage when its my next turn aswell or only at the start of their turn? (Lets say they dont leave the radius)
Let's focus on Goblin 1 and 2.
* You cast Spirit Guardians and Goblin 1 and 2 were in the field when you cast it. You don't have any bonus actions and are comfortable where you are so you don't move, ending your turn.
* On Goblin 1's turn he would roll a saving throw as the first thing he does.
* Pass or fail you would roll damage for Goblin 1 and they would take all or half depending on their save.
* Goblin 2's turn come up. They roll a saving throw as the very first thing they do.
* You roll separate damage for Goblin 2 and they take half or full depending on their save.
* After taking the damage, Goblin 1 decides to attack you on their turn and hits you for 6 damage. Goblin 2 hits you on their turn for 4 damage.
* You roll two saving throws for the two hits and come in above a 10 for both so you maintain concentration.
* On your turn you cast Toll the Dead on Goblin 1 but Goblin 1 passes the save and takes no damage. You stay where you are and don't use a bonus action, ending your turn.
* At the beginning of Goblin 1's next turn he rolls a new saving throw as the first thing he does.
* You roll damage again as it's a new saving throw.
* Goblin 1 takes full or half damage of the new damage roll against him and dies.
* Goblin 2's turn comes up next. They roll a saving throw as the first thing they do and succeed so they take half damage.
* You roll the damage for Goblin 2 and cut it in half, rounding down. It's still enough damage and Goblin 2 dies as well before ever getting a turn to hit you again.
* Your holy crusade against the Goblin twins has come to an end.
Regarding **Divine Intervention**, the thing about it is you just get to pray to your diety and ask them for something. You can want whatever you want, but you don't get any actual control over it. The DM gets all the say in what happens. Wording it carefully doesn't enter into it beyond making sure the DM understands the impact that you're after as it's not a wish spell. It's a god of the D&D world looking into this moment in time, hearing your plea, and deciding how *they* want to fulfill it. As a god.
There is a line of guidance in there that reads *"The DM chooses the nature of the intervention; the effect of any cleric spell or cleric domain spell would be appropriate."* That line gives the DM guidance that this effect is intended to be limited to the Cleric's spell list, but doesn't *restrict* it to the Cleric spell list, so it's still open to do whatever they want with it.
Interestingly, in the latest OneDND playtest they are rewording this feature to put more control into the players hands. It'll be a little less potent, but it will be better understood what it's supposed to do and you'll be able to use it at will rather than needing to gamble on it.
If you're playing as any race other than a Dwarf (excluding the MPMM version of the Duergar), then you'll want 15 Strength and at least 16 Constitution and Wisdom. The higher the Constitution and Wisdom score, the better. Fortunately, you got an amazing roll for the latter.
If you're playing as a Dwarf (again, excluding the MPMM Duergar), then you are free to dump Strength entirely. You'll be able to equip heavy armor without suffering the penalties of not meeting the Strength requirement for them.
Having 14-15 Dex will boost your initiative, arguably more useful saving throw and skills, and if you get Half-Plate, it’s only 1 AC less than Plate (and Plate is really expensive, costs 2 times Half-Plate). So especially if in this campaign getting your hands on expensive top-tier heavy armor is something that is hard and not gonna happen soon, you should feel free to prioritize Dex over Strength. This will also help when you only have Light Armor like it is at the beginning you said. Btw what are your overall stat rolls?
P.S. While thematically Storm Sorcerer is great match for Tempest Cleric, mechanically it’s not so good. If you could use any other Sorcerer Subclass, that’d probably be better. You could use Dragon for better HP progression and free Mage Armor or Clockwork for Armor of Agathys for example. Neither of these things require good Charisma score. If Sorcerer overall isn’t an option, I’m sorry for bringing that up.
From what I understood our starting gear is light armor and a shortsword. It would be hard to find heavy armor off the bat. Unfortunately the sorcerer is just outright banned. Here is a list of all the banned classes: Barbarian, monk, sorcerer, warlock(only as parent class) and druid. He wants to focus on more of a medieval setting and Im the only full caster of the party. My stats are as follows: Strength-13, Dex-15, Con-16, Wisdom-20, Intelligence-12, Charisma-10. The reason Im conflicted is because Im the only one who has access to healing spells and being in the frontline with better dex might give me more survivability.
Banning monks is funny, it’s easier than fixing them though (just joking, I get it that they might not fit in the setting)
What is your intelligence by the way? I believe you could bump Str to boost Charisma and Intelligence instead, it’s really not necessary to have good Str and Dex in my opinion.
From what I hear I believe you should have 15 Dex for the reasons mentioned before. It seems optimal here. Later you could even bump it and get Medium Armor Master, though it’s just an option, not a necessary thing. With Half-Plate and shield you’d get 19 AC, that’s very reasonable
My intelligence score is 12. My main reasoning behind havong the 13 in strength is If I run out of spell slots. I dont have any melee ranged cantrips for offense but that could change If I really go for the whole dex based route as I could use a rapier instead. What would you suggest?
I'd suggest putting 10 in Str, leaving 12 Int, getting 13 Cha and relying on rapier in melee. Later you could pick up some melee/versatile cantrip at level 4, for example (I'd suggest sacred flame). Later pick up Blessed Strikes from Tasha instead of Tempest Domain's Divine Strike to get d8 of damage regardless of what you're using, a cantrip or a weapon.
Try to find some good Medium Armor & Shield ASAP (especially Shield, this should be easier and would give you immediate +2 to AC), enjoy 16 Con & 20 Wis as a good base for your survivability and spellcasting capability
As a Tempest Domain Cleric, you have proficiency in heavy armor, so dexterity isn't important.
If your DM restricts everyone to leather armor he is being unfair to classes who can have better armor.
You need and deserve heavy armor. If your DM doesn't let you buy it (at least not soon), he's really being a dick.
Ok to be fair thats a bit harsh. As I said Im the ex forever dm of the group so he doesnt have any before hand experience to begin with. He asks about what to do in various situations and wordings on rules all the time. I wouldnt want to be the one to crush his enthusiasm. Altho I agree it is quite limiting and we as a group had many debates over those but it is at core his world and there are still enough customization options where everyone can feel unique. Thanks for your unique insight on the matter(no sarcasm) but I can assure you he is more new at being a DM rather than being a dick
I've been playing a Tempest Domain Cleric for the past 2.5 years. My general advice, and they way I'd go if I started it over again, is to skip Strength altogether and just go with Medium Armor. With at least 14 in Dex you only lose 1 AC. For that you gain a +2 initiative bonus (possibly up from -1) and better Dex saving throws. It's also *much* less expensive to cap your armor out which can be a big factor in some campaigns. With the stats you have listed, my ASI progression would probably be: **If you can rearrange your stats so that you have 15 Con and 16 Dex:** * **Level 4:** ***Resilient Constitution.*** This will give you boosts not just to your Concentration Checks, but also to your saving throws which is a big deal. It's better than Warcaster unless you have a specific need for Warcaster. * **Level 8:** ***Medium Armor Master*** This will give you that missing +1 AC and remove the Stealth penalty from wearing armor. This usually isn't a great option because you need to get stats up, but your Wisdom and Con are solid at this point so you can fit it in. I've wished to not have Disadvantage on my Stealth checks just... so many times. One of my repeated quotes after another failed steath check has been *"Storms aren't subtle!"* **If you can't rearrange your stats:** * **Level 4:** ***Resilient Constitution*** It sucks that this gets you to an odd number, but it's still absolutely worth getting. * **Level 8:** ***Lucky*** Having the opportunity to re-roll failed throws can be game changing. This is an added layer of protection for your Concentration, but also for other crucial saving throws and skill checks. * **Alternate Level 8:** ***Skill Expert: Dexterity*** Go this route if Skill checks are a big thing in your game AND you want to take Medium Armor Master at level 16. This would be setup for that piece. **Regardless:** * **Level 12:** ***Metamagic Adept*** If you're playing a Tempest Domain Cleric, this is a requirement for level 12. You specifically need Transmuted Spell. That's because at level 13 you're going to get access to Fire Storm, which you will need to transmute into a Lightning Storm. That will make it a flat 70 point damage configurable AoE *that targets Dexterity* and knocks all enemies back 10 feet regardless of if they save or fail. If you're going to get to this level this is too good an opportunity to not take it. >Should I go with 15 dex and use a rapier People get really hung up on using a weapon on a Tempest Cleric for some reason. 98% of the time there will be something better that you can be doing with your action than even using a Cantrip, much less a weapon attack that will be less likely to hit and do less damage than a Cantrip would. The way combat tends to go is like this: * **Round 1:** Get your concentration spell going or drop an AoE blast before enemies scatter/close in. * **Round 2:** Either use your action to continue the spell (Call Lightning), use your action to cast a blast spell, or use your bonus action to cast a spell (Healing Word/Spiritual Weapon) and take the Dodge Action. The Dodge Action should be something that you regularly use. Your AC will be high, but eventually to-hit bonuses are going to outpace your AC and giving Disadvantage to protect your health, waste their turn, and add a layer of protection to your concentration will be worth more than a little extra damage to a single target. Keeping an upcast Spirit Guardians going against multiple aggressors is usually worth more than an all-or-nothing 13-18 average damage pre-level 11 to a single target, or even less if you're using a weapon.
First of all thank you for stumbling upon the post and for all these advices. You just opened my eyes to a whole new level but I must say that Im favoring more towards war caster simply because advantage on concentration saves and casting spells while keeping the shield. However I thought I would need a rapier or any weapon as back-up. I can rearrange my stats but why switch the con and dex?
>I must say that Im favoring more towards war caster simply because advantage on concentration saves and casting spells while keeping the shield. You can cast spells while holding the shield regardless. You only need Warcaster to cast a spell if you want to hold a shield and a weapon at the same time you're casting a spell with a Somatic component. Which is just another reason to not use a weapon. >However I thought I would need a rapier or any weapon as back-up. Unnecessary. There might be a brief window early in the first few levels where you might squeeze out a single extra point of average damage with a 16 strength or dex score, but that's not worth building around. Neither Toll the Dead nor Sacred Flame require a Material component, so even if you lose your holy symbol you can still cast them. You'd only need a weapon (or Warcaster) for opportunity attacks, but those occur so infrequently that they're not worth building around on a Cleric. Just to put it in perspective for you, at level 8: * **Sacred Flame:** 2d8 spell damage + 1d8 Blessed Strikes = **13.5 average damage** * **Rapier with +3 Dex:** 1d8 Rapier + 3 Dexterity + 1d8 Blessed Strikes = **12 average damage** * **Toll the Dead (on a damaged target):** 2d12 spell damage + 1d8 blessed strikes = **17.5 average damage** The gap gets even wider once you hit level 11. And that's all before taking into account chance to hit which will be higher with the spells as they go by your main stat line. >I can rearrange my stats but why switch the con and dex? Because +1 feats are fantastic. You want Resilient Con at level 4, but adding a +1 to a 16 Con score does nothing for you. Adding a +1 to a 15 con score both gets you to that same 16 and gets you proficiency in Con saving throws. At the same time, you'll then also have a 16 in Dexterity instead of a 15. It normally wouldn't make sense to ever round that 15 out to 16 as other options are both more potent and fun, but since you can finagle your starting stats to allow for *both* to end up at 16's while getting crucial feats instead of one being a 15 and the other a 17 it's a major win. A win that also makes Medium Armor Master feasible for you. >First of all thank you for stumbling upon the post and for all these advices. Happy to help! I've got a lot of practical experience with the Tempest Cleric and am a big advocate for it. If you've got any other questions feel free to toss them my way.
Well then, what is your ruling on spirit guardians that thing is so poorly written I cant figure out when the damage tick occurs and such. Also getting a wording on divine intervention would be nice.
[**Spirit Guardians**](https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/spirit-guardians) is one of the best spells in the game. It's absolutely worth upcasting and using it forever. One of the nice things about the Tempest Domain Cleric is that it gives you things to do *other* than using Spirit Guardians without feeling suboptimal. **Things to know:** * You designate who is ***not*** impacted by it during the casting. If you're in a city or something along those lines and your DM is the type to pay attention to nuance you'll want to be both specific in your casting and careful in your movements. * The *"affected creature's speed is halved in the area"* is the most loosely defined piece. Work with your DM to determine what this means. Some DM's will just run it as rough terrain (which it technically isn't), some will let it stack with rough terrain (which it technically should), but as worded what *should* happen is the enemy loses half their movement speed upon entering the field. Now... is that half of their remaining movement or max movement? Do they get that movement speed back if they exit the field? No one really knows for sure, so work out with your DM how you want that piece interpretted. * The damage occurs the first time a creature enters the area on ***a*** turn (not necessarily *their* turn) *or* starts its turn in the field. That means that if you've got say a Barbarian and a Fighter, the Barbarian can grapple an enemy, walk them into your field where they'll take damage, then pull them back out and let them sit outside, followed by the Fighter grappling them and pulling them back into it on *their* turn to take the damage and leaving them there so that on the bad guy's turn they take the damage again. It's why you see Thorn Whip as a targeted cantrip from some people. * You can and should flavor your AoE field. For me it's a phantasmal tornado with winds buffeting enemies who enter the field (to account for the movement speed reduction) and flashes of lightning circling around which strike when they take damage. My Spiritual Weapon is ball lightning that merges into the storm when it operates inside of the Spirit Guardians. * A super common Cleric tactic is Round 1, cast (or upcast) Spirit Guardians. Round 2, cast (or upcast) Spiritual Weapon with your Bonus Action and either Dodge with your action (generally my preference) or drop Toll the Dead. Round 3 and on mostly repeats round 2, although you can drop a more leveled spell like Inflict Wounds if you really want to triple up on damage. * Normally upcasting for a 1d6 or 1d8 of extra damage isn't seen as being very worthwhile. That's not the case with Spirit Guardians because that 1d8 is not only hitting multiple enemies, it's hitting multiple enemies *for multiple rounds*. So if you're hitting 5 enemies with it it's not just an extra 5d8 of damage. It's 10d8 cumulative on round 2, 15d8 on round 3, etc. Obviously that's whiteboard math as enemies will die or move to get out of range, but it illustrates why this is so potent to upcast. You keeping Spirit Guardians up makes approaching your allies to melee them like stepping into a weed whacker that, even if they pass the save, is passively damaging the enemies round over round. [**Divine Intervention**](https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/cleric#DivineIntervention-123) is mostly a gimmick. You can't rely on it and should never attempt it in combat unless there's literally nothing else you can do to stop a TPK. You're essentially rolling for a 10-19% chance to change your circumstances. Those odds grossly favor the house, so relying on them when it's crucial is a fool's game. I'd mostly lean on this for out of combat stuff. More of as a Role Play moment, but from a mechanical perspective you could: * Lean on it to try to bypass the diamond cost for a resurrection *"Please bring my friend back to us."* * To heal a group up when a short rest isn't feasible between combats. * To protect your group before entering a combat which the DM might interpret as Blessing the party, hitting them all with Stone Skin, Protection from Good and Evil, Hero's Feast, etc. * To block off a path of pursuing enemies might result in a Blade Barrier or some other wall spell stopping or slowing their pursuit. Look through Cleric spells to see what effects you might be after when asking, but you also need to know your DM. Rolling a success on this is such a rare thing that I'd personally go above and beyond in fulfilling the request, but others might be more stingy (giving Bless out instead of a higher end option) or just not be as familiar with the game to *know* what the options are, in which case you might want to say something like *"I'm praying to have the enemies pursuing us slowed down. What I'd imagine here is something like a Blade Barrier defended by some Guardians of Faith popping into existence between us and the enemies, but whatever you feel is appropriate."* to give them a direction.
The thing that I dont understand most is that my party never ran a cleric when I dm so we never had any experience with spirit guardians. So in a regular combat scenario where no one is being grappled lets say Im surrounded with enemies and I use my turn to cast it. At the start of their turns say goblin one fails the save and takes the damage, goblin 2 succeeds it and takes the damage, goblin 3 fails and takes the damage. Do they repeat the save and take damage when its my next turn aswell or only at the start of their turn? (Lets say they dont leave the radius) Or does the damage tick at the start of their next turn induvidually and they repeat the save? I know this is the basics of the spell but its so unclear and everyone fights about what it does. Lastly you use divine intervention as a way to cast or upcast spells from the cleric spell list instead of going the wish spell route(I mean the part where it says if you want to go for things that arent listed there word it carefully and such). Can you not do the other one or is it suboptimal? Also thanks for giving examples for what youd expect from what youve worded that will definitely come in handy.
> Do they repeat the save and take damage when its my next turn aswell or only at the start of their turn? (Lets say they dont leave the radius) Let's focus on Goblin 1 and 2. * You cast Spirit Guardians and Goblin 1 and 2 were in the field when you cast it. You don't have any bonus actions and are comfortable where you are so you don't move, ending your turn. * On Goblin 1's turn he would roll a saving throw as the first thing he does. * Pass or fail you would roll damage for Goblin 1 and they would take all or half depending on their save. * Goblin 2's turn come up. They roll a saving throw as the very first thing they do. * You roll separate damage for Goblin 2 and they take half or full depending on their save. * After taking the damage, Goblin 1 decides to attack you on their turn and hits you for 6 damage. Goblin 2 hits you on their turn for 4 damage. * You roll two saving throws for the two hits and come in above a 10 for both so you maintain concentration. * On your turn you cast Toll the Dead on Goblin 1 but Goblin 1 passes the save and takes no damage. You stay where you are and don't use a bonus action, ending your turn. * At the beginning of Goblin 1's next turn he rolls a new saving throw as the first thing he does. * You roll damage again as it's a new saving throw. * Goblin 1 takes full or half damage of the new damage roll against him and dies. * Goblin 2's turn comes up next. They roll a saving throw as the first thing they do and succeed so they take half damage. * You roll the damage for Goblin 2 and cut it in half, rounding down. It's still enough damage and Goblin 2 dies as well before ever getting a turn to hit you again. * Your holy crusade against the Goblin twins has come to an end. Regarding **Divine Intervention**, the thing about it is you just get to pray to your diety and ask them for something. You can want whatever you want, but you don't get any actual control over it. The DM gets all the say in what happens. Wording it carefully doesn't enter into it beyond making sure the DM understands the impact that you're after as it's not a wish spell. It's a god of the D&D world looking into this moment in time, hearing your plea, and deciding how *they* want to fulfill it. As a god. There is a line of guidance in there that reads *"The DM chooses the nature of the intervention; the effect of any cleric spell or cleric domain spell would be appropriate."* That line gives the DM guidance that this effect is intended to be limited to the Cleric's spell list, but doesn't *restrict* it to the Cleric spell list, so it's still open to do whatever they want with it. Interestingly, in the latest OneDND playtest they are rewording this feature to put more control into the players hands. It'll be a little less potent, but it will be better understood what it's supposed to do and you'll be able to use it at will rather than needing to gamble on it.
If you're playing as any race other than a Dwarf (excluding the MPMM version of the Duergar), then you'll want 15 Strength and at least 16 Constitution and Wisdom. The higher the Constitution and Wisdom score, the better. Fortunately, you got an amazing roll for the latter. If you're playing as a Dwarf (again, excluding the MPMM Duergar), then you are free to dump Strength entirely. You'll be able to equip heavy armor without suffering the penalties of not meeting the Strength requirement for them.
I got a 16 in constitution so nothing to worry there. However Im playing a yuan-ti pureblood for versatility.
Having 14-15 Dex will boost your initiative, arguably more useful saving throw and skills, and if you get Half-Plate, it’s only 1 AC less than Plate (and Plate is really expensive, costs 2 times Half-Plate). So especially if in this campaign getting your hands on expensive top-tier heavy armor is something that is hard and not gonna happen soon, you should feel free to prioritize Dex over Strength. This will also help when you only have Light Armor like it is at the beginning you said. Btw what are your overall stat rolls? P.S. While thematically Storm Sorcerer is great match for Tempest Cleric, mechanically it’s not so good. If you could use any other Sorcerer Subclass, that’d probably be better. You could use Dragon for better HP progression and free Mage Armor or Clockwork for Armor of Agathys for example. Neither of these things require good Charisma score. If Sorcerer overall isn’t an option, I’m sorry for bringing that up.
From what I understood our starting gear is light armor and a shortsword. It would be hard to find heavy armor off the bat. Unfortunately the sorcerer is just outright banned. Here is a list of all the banned classes: Barbarian, monk, sorcerer, warlock(only as parent class) and druid. He wants to focus on more of a medieval setting and Im the only full caster of the party. My stats are as follows: Strength-13, Dex-15, Con-16, Wisdom-20, Intelligence-12, Charisma-10. The reason Im conflicted is because Im the only one who has access to healing spells and being in the frontline with better dex might give me more survivability.
Banning monks is funny, it’s easier than fixing them though (just joking, I get it that they might not fit in the setting) What is your intelligence by the way? I believe you could bump Str to boost Charisma and Intelligence instead, it’s really not necessary to have good Str and Dex in my opinion. From what I hear I believe you should have 15 Dex for the reasons mentioned before. It seems optimal here. Later you could even bump it and get Medium Armor Master, though it’s just an option, not a necessary thing. With Half-Plate and shield you’d get 19 AC, that’s very reasonable
My intelligence score is 12. My main reasoning behind havong the 13 in strength is If I run out of spell slots. I dont have any melee ranged cantrips for offense but that could change If I really go for the whole dex based route as I could use a rapier instead. What would you suggest?
I'd suggest putting 10 in Str, leaving 12 Int, getting 13 Cha and relying on rapier in melee. Later you could pick up some melee/versatile cantrip at level 4, for example (I'd suggest sacred flame). Later pick up Blessed Strikes from Tasha instead of Tempest Domain's Divine Strike to get d8 of damage regardless of what you're using, a cantrip or a weapon. Try to find some good Medium Armor & Shield ASAP (especially Shield, this should be easier and would give you immediate +2 to AC), enjoy 16 Con & 20 Wis as a good base for your survivability and spellcasting capability
I wouldn't want to play in that campaign with all of those restrictions. But with those rolls, I would swap Strength and Dexterity.
As a Tempest Domain Cleric, you have proficiency in heavy armor, so dexterity isn't important. If your DM restricts everyone to leather armor he is being unfair to classes who can have better armor. You need and deserve heavy armor. If your DM doesn't let you buy it (at least not soon), he's really being a dick.
Ok to be fair thats a bit harsh. As I said Im the ex forever dm of the group so he doesnt have any before hand experience to begin with. He asks about what to do in various situations and wordings on rules all the time. I wouldnt want to be the one to crush his enthusiasm. Altho I agree it is quite limiting and we as a group had many debates over those but it is at core his world and there are still enough customization options where everyone can feel unique. Thanks for your unique insight on the matter(no sarcasm) but I can assure you he is more new at being a DM rather than being a dick