Dreams of Madness Domain

Scourged Lands of Valenor    Religions    Skills & Powers      Dreams of Madness Domain

The worshippers of the Ancient Gods are cleric devoted to the ancient being of the world. Many of those priest belongs to ancient, alien beings, called by our ancestors krakens, leviathans, horrors and sea monsters but that belongs to a deeper race of cosmic horrors.

Those ancient being ruled the world before the awakening of the mortal races. Only the elves remembers scattered memories about the tragic domination of such creatures. Demigods in nature, the ancients were an unmentionable race of horrors that spread their influence all over the world. When their reign fell off, and their body died, their worshippers built the great underwater tomb of R’lyeh to preserve them for aeons. Their corpses are dead, sleeping in an eternal slumber.

However, this fact didn’t mind their worshippers. The ancient gods will return, as prophesied at the beginning of the world, when the stars where favorable to them.

A priest of the ancients forever remember: “That is not dead which can eternal lie, / And with strange aeons even death may die.”

Dream Worshipping

Your god is not a common celestial of the upper planes. Your masters is, sleeping, in a state deeper than death, and can communicate with the fervent mind only is dreams and nightmares. While even refined artists with an open mind have the ability to perceive it, you have a special link with your ancient master. It can communicate with you at any time through dreams and nightmares images, when you rest or when your mind is near to one of the ancient artifact those ancient brought with them into our world.

Your mission is to find the old relics of your master, till the city of thousand pillars, to open again the grave where your lords awaits.

Subclass Features

By choosing the Ancient Gods domain, you gain the following features at levels 1st, 6th, 8th and 17th.

Ancient Gods domain spells

Cleric Level	Spells
1st	Armor of Agathys, Silent Image
3rd	Darkness, Spider Climb
5th	Fear, Hypnotic Pattern
7th	Evard’s Black Tentacles, Hallucinatory Terrain
9th	Dream, Nightmare

Bonus Spellcasting

At 1st level, you can replace any of your cleric cantrip with a cantrip from the Wizard spell list. Additionally, whenever you learn a cleric cantrip, you can replace it with a Wizard one. Each cantrip you learn this way counts as a cleric cantrip for you.

Alien Mind

Starting at 1st level when you choose this domain, your research of the fallen sign of the decaying civility of your masters opens your mind to extraordinary feeling. Your alien knowledge gives you the ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can communicate telepathically with any creature you can see within 30 feet of you.

Forbidden Idol

Also at 1st level, you gain a sign of your master’s inheritance. Your spellcasting focus is replaced with a tiny effigy of your master (as an idol of the great Cthulhu), and works as a common spellcasting focus. The idol is made with a green rock with black stripes, and it is made of a stone that doesn’t belong to our world. It is immune to all damage, and can’t be destroyed.

When a creature sees the Idol for the first time, it must make a Wisdom sawing throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, that creature is subjected to a random Short Term Madness effect (Dungeon Master’s Guide, pag. 258-259) for the next 1 minute. That creature can repeat the sawing throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A creature who succeeds on the throw, or that free itself from this effect is immune to it for the next 24 hours. You are immune to its own effect.

Channel Divinity: Invoke Nightmare

As an action you can tap into the nightmares of a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You create an illusory, immobile manifestation of the creature’s deepest fears, visible only to that creature. The target must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 1d10 + your cleric level psychic damage and is frightened of the manifestation, believing it to be real. You must concentrate to maintain the illusion (as if concentrating on a spell), which lasts for up to 1 minute and can’t be harmed. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. ending the effect on itself on a success, or taking the same psychic damage on a failure.

Oath of Contradiction

When you reach the 6th level you learn how to manipulate the other’s mind and feeling with your attacks. Whenever you hit a creature with an attack or you damage a creature with a spell of 1st level or higher, you can use your bonus action to force that creature to make a Wisdom sawing throw. On a failure, that creature is either frightened or charmed (your choice) by an object or creature of your choice it can see till the end of its next turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses after a long rest.

Bearing the Horror

Also at 6th level, the horror of your knowledge starts to bear less on your soul. Due to your attunement to anguish and fear, your mind is more resistant to such effects. You have advantage on sawing throws against being frightened.

Potent Spellcasting

Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.

Delirium

At 17th level your mind fuses with the otherwholly beings you worship for so long. While the contact is on, you are immune to any effect that would sense your emotions or read your thoughts, as well as to all divination spells. Wisdom (Insight) checks against you automatically fails. Additionally, the horror is now so deep in your mind that you can no longer be frightened.

Finally, you can hear your master’s voice when you sleep. Your masters’ interest can’t be comprehended by a human mind, but it can send you messages through images and feelings. During a long rest, if you sleep for at least 4 hours during that rest, you can ask your master for advice. The effect is the same as the Divination spell, but it has no chance of failure. However, remember that your master have no interest in its fellows, its schemes aren’t mortal and its reason not Euclidean, so its answer is noteless cryptic.