Player's Handbook
War has many manifestations. It can make heroes of ordinary people. It can be desperate and horrific, with acts of cruelty and cowardice eclipsing instances of excellence and courage. In either case, the gods of war watch over warriors and reward them for their great deeds. The clerics of such gods excel in battle, inspiring others to fight the good fight or offering acts of violence as prayers. Gods of war include champions of honor and chivalry (such as Torm, Heironeous, and Kiri-Jolith) as well as gods of destruction and pillage (such as Erythnul, the Fury, Gruumsh, and Ares) and gods of conquest and domination (such as Bane, Hextor, and Maglubiyet). Other war gods (such as Tempus, Nike, and Nuada) take a more neutral stance, promoting war in all its manifestations and supporting warriors in any circumstance.
hit dice:
1d8 per level
hit points at 1st level:
8 + your Constitution modifier
hit points at higher levels:
1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per level after 1st
armor proficiencies:
Light armor, medium armor, shields
weapon proficiencies:
Simple weapons
tools:
None
saving throws:
Wisdom, Charisma
skills:
Choose two from History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion
starting equipment:
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a mace or (b) a warhammer (if proficient)
- (a) scale mail, (b) leather armor, or (c) chain mail (if proficient)
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
- (a) a priest’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
- A shield and a holy symbol
spellcasting:
As a conduit for divine power, you can cast cleric spells.
Cantrips
At 1st level, you know three cantrips of your choice from the cleric spell list. You learn additional cleric cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Cleric table.
Preparing and Casting Spells
The Cleric table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your cleric spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare the list of cleric spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the cleric spell list. When you do so, choose a number of cleric spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your cleric level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
For example, if you are a 3rd-level cleric, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a Wisdom of 16, your list of prepared spells can include six spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell cure wounds, you can cast it using a 1st-level or 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.
You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of cleric spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.
Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your cleric spells. The power of your spells comes from your devotion to your deity. You use your Wisdom whenever a cleric spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a cleric spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Ritual Casting
You can cast a cleric spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your cleric spells.
class features:
War Domain Spells
Cleric Level | Spells |
1st |
divine favor, shield of faith |
3rd |
magic weapon, spiritual weapon |
5th |
crusader’s mantle, spirit guardians |
7th |
freedom of movement, stoneskin |
9th |
flame strike, hold monster |
Bonus Proficiencies
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor.
War Priest
From 1st level, your god delivers bolts of inspiration to you while you are engaged in battle. When you use the Attack action, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Channel Divinity
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy directly from your deity, using that energy to fuel magical effects. You start with two such effects: Turn Undead and an effect determined by your domain. Some domains grant you additional effects as you advance in levels, as noted in the domain description.
When you use your Channel Divinity, you choose which effect to create. You must then finish a short or long rest to use your Channel Divinity again.
Some Channel Divinity effects require saving throws. When you use such an effect from this class, the DC equals your cleric spell save DC.
Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity twice between rests, and beginning at 18th level, you can use it three times between rests. When you finish a short or long rest, you regain your expended uses.
Channel Divinity: Turn Undead
As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Channel Divinity: Guided Strike
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to strike with supernatural accuracy. When you make an attack roll, you can use your Channel Divinity to gain a +10 bonus to the roll. You make this choice after you see the roll, but before the DM says whether the attack hits or misses.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Destroy Undead
Starting at 5th level, when an undead fails its saving throw against your Turn Undead feature, the creature is instantly destroyed if its challenge rating is at or below a certain threshold, as shown in the Destroy Undead table.
Destroy Undead
Cleric Level | Destroys Undead of CR... |
5th |
1/2 or lower |
8th |
1 or lower |
11th |
2 or lower |
14th |
3 or lower |
17th |
4 or lower |
Channel Divinity: War God’s Blessing
At 6th level, when a creature within 30 feet of you makes an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant that creature a +10 bonus to the roll, using your Channel Divinity. You make this choice after you see the roll, but before the DM says whether the attack hits or misses.
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 damage of the same type dealt by the weapon to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.
Divine Intervention
Beginning at 10th level, you can call on your deity to intervene on your behalf when your need is great.
Imploring your deity’s aid requires you to use your action. Describe the assistance you seek, and roll percentile dice. If you roll a number equal to or lower than your cleric level, your deity intervenes. The DM chooses the nature of the intervention; the effect of any cleric spell or cleric domain spell would be appropriate.
If your deity intervenes, you can’t use this feature again for 7 days. Otherwise, you can use it again after you finish a long rest.
At 20th level, your call for intervention succeeds automatically, no roll required.
Avatar of Battle
At 17th level, you gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks.
subclass options:
Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Cantrips Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
---|
1st | +2 | Spellcasting, Bonus Proficiencies, War Priest | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2nd | +2 | Channel Divinity (1/rest), Channel Divinity: Guided Strike | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
3rd | +2 | - | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5th | +3 | Destroy Undead (CR 1/2) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
6th | +3 | Channel Divinity (2/rest), Channel Divinity: War God’s Blessing | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7th | +3 | - | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement, Destroy Undead (CR 1), Divine Strike | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
9th | +4 | - | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
10th | +4 | Divine Intervention | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
11th | +4 | Destroy Undead (CR 2) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - |
12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - |
13th | +5 | - | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
14th | +5 | Destroy Undead (CR 3) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
15th | +5 | - | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
17th | +6 | Destroy Undead (CR 4), Avatar of Battle | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
18th | +6 | Channel Divinity (3/rest) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
20th | +6 | Divine Intervention Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |