DM Nagging: It's pretty much my job

[Anastasia]

Guessing your net crapped out, Neph? We were near pausing time anyway so no big deal, just curious.

[Nephrite]

I have no idea what happened, actually. I was phone posting for the last bit and came back to my computer having restarted.

[Anastasia]

Shit happens, yeah. I might've gone a little longer but not a huge loss, RL was flaring.

[Anastasia]

Been pretty hazy this week, but later today and this weekend should see some DM work done, the sort that's publicly posted.

[Anastasia]

Domain Analysis

Now that divine seeds are a known thing and becoming One is also possible, it's plausible PCs and NPCs could gain divine rank. As such, I'm doing an analysis of what domains would fit characters so far. Alicia, Syala, Seira and Amaryl are already DvR1 or higher as a note, so they won't show until last. For now I'm posting one from each note. Discussion is highly encouraged, be it someone in your node or someone else. This applies even if we talked about it on IRC, this is the sort of thing I'd like to get a good discussion going over. Feel free to disagree with the domains I suggest for each one, that's fine and encouraged. Nothing's written in stone.

A discussion of what domains would fit your PC if they ascend is welcomed as well, as is any discussion of future domains you may take if you're already DvR1+.

Important note 1: Mechnical considerations are noted, but fundamentally, the right domains are a matter of flavor and not mechanics. In a choice between the domain that fits best for flavor and the best that fits for mechanics, the flavor one wins every time. Nonetheless, a mechanical analysis of what the domain granted powers give is noted. An analysis of the SLAs is not.

Important note 2: Deities get any alignment domain they match for free in this game. So for example, a CG character who ascends automatically gets the Good and Chaos domains.

Antenora

Good and Law are automatic for her. She has three others if she gets to DvR1.

Celestial, Charity, Courage, Destruction, Glory, Healing, Hope, Inquisition, Planning, Purification, Redemption, Retribution

Celestial: A later one for her since she wasn't born as a celestial, but she strongly identifies as one now.
Charity: Fits her approaches indirectly, but makes a certain sense to her as she focuses on redemption and hope.
Courage: Eh. Marginal, she is a fearless paladin who tries to redeem evil, but it's tertiary.
Destruction: Antenora is willing to wreck evil when needed, but I think retribution fits that aspect better.
Glory: It fits her, she does tend to play up the opal radiance part and project that. Feels right.
Healing: Very tertiary. It would be a later domain to fill out how she heals and restores the wicked to righteousness.
Hope: She's all about the hope to escape evil and find a better way. It fits big time.
Inquisition: More secondary, but she's all for finding and rooting out evil. It's more an application of her lessons than a main virtue, however.
Planning: A personality fit. She's very much a planner and this is a natural outgrowth of who she is.
Purification: Ties directly into redemption and doubles down on that.
Redemption: The obvious first choice considering her story. A no duh choice if there's ever one. (Note: Homebrew domain, it's in the Spell Collection.)
Retribution: Antenora's all about smiting evil that doesn't repent, this fits for her but maybe not in her first few domains. Hm. Depends on emphasis.

If she reaches DvR1, her starting load would be Good, Law, Planning, Purification and Redemption.

Mechanically this is +1 CL for good and lawful spells, extend spell as a bonus feat, +1 CL abjurations, immunity to effects that would change your alignment and +2 vs enchantments. Not worldshaking mechanical pickups there, but nothing really worthless, either.

Cresiel

Good and Law are automatic for him. He gets three others if he makes it to DvR1.

Celestial, Chastity, Destruction, Endurance, Humility, Life, Patience, Protection, Renewal, Retribution, Strength, War, Wrath

Celestial: Feels more right than for Syala or Antenora, but not immediate. It's a thing, it's a part of him but it's not defining.
Chastity: More for self control aspects of it than literal chastity. It sorta fits?
Destruction: Cresiel is a destroyer. A destroyer of evil, but still a destroyer that I can see taking that domain. Feels right.
Endurance: See all the times Cresiel steps up for Moore and his allies, enduring his wounds and still going. That fits.
Humility: Fits in a general way but not strongly, I guess? It feels right but it's not a home run. He's not one to promote himself.
Life: Very faint since Romiel has some connections to life and has the life domain for his cleric spells. Weakest of his posted.
Patience: Cresiel is quiet, patient and ready to smash evil when he has the chance. Like a 7/10 fit.
Protection: Oh yeah. See endurance. This one feels closer to his core. Destruction and protection go hand in hand for many celestials, understanding that one destroys evil and protects the righteous.
Renewal: His mother and himself have both been saved and recovered from near bad ends. That has some non trivial symbolic aspects for him.
Retribution: A little less of a fit than destruction, but certainly something that makes sense for Cresiel.
Strength: Weaker but I can see it, he's quite strong when he needs to be. An enduring strength, a crushing strength.
War: He is a warrior solar, this is obvious.
Wrath: See retribution.

If he reaches DvR1, his starting load would be Destruction, Endurance, Good, Law, Protection. Possibly sub out one for renewal.

Mechanically, this is +1 CL for good and lawful spells, a 1/day smite, 1/day gain a +16 enhancement to Con for 1 minute and a +16 resistance bonus to one save. Nothing wrong with getting an all purpose smite and the Con booster can be a nice boost in a pinch.

Dana

Dana's neutral so no alignment domains for her. She gets three others if she makes it to DvR1.

Balance, Competition, Destruction, Endurance, Mentalism, Mind, Nobility, Pride, Spite, Strength, Suffering, War

Balance: Because she's neutral. It's not really her thing at all, she's not balanced per se, but included for the sake of completeness.
Competition: Feels like it's only grazing Dana here. She is competitive in her way, but not quite like this? I'm not sure.
Destruction: Destruction is very Dana. She enjoys wrecking things immensely.
Endurance: Also a Dana thing and you know exactly why.
Mentalism: Both this and mind have associations with psionics. She'd have one or the other to represent that part of herself.
Mind: See above.
Nobility: Not an aspect of herself she cares about, she's anti nobility in a way, or at least the sort of nobility her father wants her to be.
Pride: Yeah, that's Dana's sin, alright. She has pride and a strong sense of 'fuck you, I'll do what I want'ness to her.
Spite: Tangential but Dana is Dana, and that includes a helping of bitchiness.
Strength: Fits in genera but without details. A good domain later on in her career.
Suffering: Dana in a nutshell. (FYI, pain isn't here because it's from BoVD.)
War: Also fits Dana, but not as well as strength, I think.

If she reaches DvR1, her starting load would be Endurance, Mind and Suffering. That's very tentative but that feels right for her starting domains and covers the main points. The others can come in time, she might grab Extra Domain right off for Destruction.

Mechanically, this is 1/day gain a +16 enhancement to Con for 1 minute, +2 bluff/diplo/sense motive and a 1/day pain touch for -2 to physical stats. Nothing huge here but extra Con on demand can be a life saver.

Jarem

Law is automatic for him. He gets three others if he makes it to DvR1.

Army, Competition, Insight, Knowledge, Planning, Strength, War

Army: Obvious.
Competition: One of his weaker ones, but Jarem does strive, even if he doesn't always show it.
Insight: Jarem's good at this sort of insight, or at least he tries to be.
Knowledge: Fits in Jarem's general theme of 'seen a lot and teaching Alyssa' groove.
Planning: General fit.
Strength: It fits Jarem, who is a strength focused warrior and cleric.
War: Obvious.

If he reaches DvR1, his starting domains would be Army, Insight, Law and War. Jarem feels more focused than anything else. There's more to him, but spoilers are holding me as well.

Mechanically, this is a +1 CL for lawful spells, a 1/day +2 morale bonus to a lot of things, uncanny dodge and a free weapon focus in his favored weapon. That fall sin the range of useful but not huge, though a free feat and uncanny dodge is hard to object to.

Sanzha

Chaos is automatic for her. She gets three others if she makes it to DvR1.

Blackwater, Charm, Knowledge, Magic, Nobility, Ocean, Seafolk, Storm, Water

Blackwater: Not really a fit, it's more darkness and evil, but anything tied to water deserves consideration from her.
Charm: Another minor fit, nailing a small part of her.
Knowledge: Fits all she knows about the elements and her studies, but isn't precisely right.
Nobility: Feels like a strong fit, as nobility and her former role is a big part of her. I'd go for it.
Ocean: A strong fit for her, naturally.
Seafolk: Not truly her bailiwick, but maybe a later domain. It's more incidental to her.
Storm: Very incidental to her, weak fit.
Water: Duh.

If she reaches DvR1, her starting domains would be Chaos, Nobility, Ocean and Water. She might need a custom domain, as some of the aspects of elemental harmony aren't well represented by the domains previously made. I felt she was underrepresented due to her particular focus and the way domains fell around her. This is something that needs another look and deeper consideration in the future.

Mechanically, this is +1 CL for chaotic spells, a 1/day +2 morale bonus to a lot of things, some free water breathing and turning fire creatures. That's a remarkably useless set for her, mostly redundant except for the CL boost. She can already channel water so the domain power of water is largely useless, though this is on purpose and meant to be a relic of her past power.

Bonus

I occasionally make homebrewed domains. I'm considering a music domain that would look like the following. It will take some adjustment because a few other deities will want it - most of the homebrew domains are very deity specific, in a case where existing domains don't cover them sufficiently. Speaking of, Sanzha inspired this, though I kicked around making it when I posted Lliira.

Music Domain

Granted Power: Add Perform to your list of cleric class skills. You gain Skill Focus (Perform) as a bonus feat.

Music Domain Spells

1: Ghost Sound
2: Sound Burst
3: Sculpt Sound
4: Shout
5: Body Harmonic
6: Song of Discord
7: Sympathetic Vibration
8: Greater Shout
9: Dirge

[Yuthirin]

Interesting.

[Anastasia]

Interesting.

That is the intent: Food for thought. What parts of are interesting and why, though? Much of this comes down to perception and character, domains are an outgrowth of that. So defining why one does or doesn't fit for a character's important.

[Iron Dragoon]

Considering these for Alyssa:

Courage Domain - Faces things head on, doesn't flinch away.
Endurance Domain - Keeps pushing herself to accomplish the task/goal
Family Domain  - Keeps them close and in her heart instead of growing away.
Insight Domain - Has good intuition into things.
Knowledge Domain - Values this above almost all else.
Magic Domain - Loves magic and what it allows her to do.
Nobility Domain - (Kinda iffy on this, more a feeling like she simply displays inherient nobility. Got a lot of fairy tale prince/princess stuff from reading.)
Planning Domain - She does this, a lot. Tactics, plans, unusual use of skills and objects.
Spell Domain - Loves the construction and creation of spells.
Travel Domain - Exploerer at heart.

[Anastasia]

Considering these for Alyssa:

Courage Domain - Faces things head on, doesn't flinch away.

Possibly, I could see it but it's not firmly established yet. More...determination, which is close.

Endurance Domain - Keeps pushing herself to accomplish the task/goal

Feels extraneous to it, ties back to more determination than anything else.

Family Domain  - Keeps them close and in her heart instead of growing away.

I could see it, yeah, something emphasized as time goes on with her family. Feels like there's some fit there for sure. This will likely firm up in time as well.

Insight Domain - Has good intuition into things.

I can see it but it feels like it needs a smidge more, or maybe a signature event that really sells it. It does fit the character's general themes, though.

Knowledge Domain - Values this above almost all else.

Agreed and it fits better than insight to me. I'd consider this one of her starting ones if I were doing it, it's a big part of how she does things and wants to do things.

Magic Domain - Loves magic and what it allows her to do.

Makes sense there, too.

Nobility Domain - (Kinda iffy on this, more a feeling like she simply displays inherient nobility. Got a lot of fairy tale prince/princess stuff from reading.)

It...mmm. It doesn't quite feel right to me? I get what you're saying, but if anything she feels a little egalitarian for it to really work for me. I'd agree with it being iffy and while it could be a character aspect, as of now I don't think it would be a good domain fit.

Planning Domain - She does this, a lot. Tactics, plans, unusual use of skills and objects.

Agreed. A bit at odds with her chaotic nature, but there's a few reasons the Red Knight was interested in her.

Spell Domain - Loves the construction and creation of spells.

Agreed. That and magic are self evident.

Travel Domain - Exploerer at heart.

Yes, though I wouldn't right off, I think. It may just be the current focus of the character and would make more sense if she'd gone 1-30 in normal play instead of being created at that level.

[Nephrite]

I would add "Zeal" to Cresiel's, but I don't know if it'd be part of his starter pack.

To do one of these for Moore... hmm.

Hope is given, Good probably has to be too.

I feel like Community fits him very well -- he's nothing without all the people he meets and tag along with him.

I could see Courage, but I don't think it really fits him to the point where I'd say "yes, that's his domain."

Destiny sort of fits him, but I have to wonder if that's really "right" for him. He does help people push themselves past what they think is possible, so one could argue he helps people achieve what they're destined to do, rather than limited to do.

Fate could fit too, but I don't understand why there's a domain for both Destiny and Fate. Are they really meaningfully different in the DnD universe?

Fey domain gets a "meh," Moore really isn't that much of a fey anymore, at least insofar as he doesn't act like one.

Joy... maybe? Maybe. It fits, but I don't know if it fits the right way.

Knowledge would fit, but I think that's more because he's ended up pursuing a path that leads to more knowledge of the world around him, rather than anything that he really embodies.

Truth is one I didn't realize it was an option until I found it, but I definitely think he'd have that in his portfolio. He's very big on being honest about things and doesn't like to lie or boast about things unless there's a good reason.

If I were to make up a domain (that wasn't the Music one, because, yes?) I think it'd be the "Inspiration" Domain.

[Anastasia]

I would add "Zeal" to Cresiel's, but I don't know if it'd be part of his starter pack.

Yeah, I had it on there but deleted on the last pass. It's there but it's tertiary for him at best. I felt it got outcompeted more than anything else.

To do one of these for Moore... hmm.

Hope is given, Good probably has to be too.

You'd get alignment domains for free if they match so that's a thing. Hope is a natural with the tack he's taking, no argument there.

I feel like Community fits him very well -- he's nothing without all the people he meets and tag along with him.

Mmmmm.

Yeah, that's probably the best fit for it. It's definitely a plank of his I'd see pop up, possibly in his first domains. Depends if he spent an SDA on Extra Domain early, too, since I suspect he'll be a bit squeezed so far.

I could see Courage, but I don't think it really fits him to the point where I'd say "yes, that's his domain."

Yeah.

Thing is, I think most epic level characters could say that. It takes more for courage to be a good domain choice, I was just chewing on that with Alyssa's post. It needs to stand out, be a strong part of the message. Worth keeping in mind, and I don't feel courage by itself would be Moore's watch word there, y'know?

Destiny sort of fits him, but I have to wonder if that's really "right" for him. He does help people push themselves past what they think is possible, so one could argue he helps people achieve what they're destined to do, rather than limited to do.

Fate could fit too, but I don't understand why there's a domain for both Destiny and Fate. Are they really meaningfully different in the DnD universe?

Not really, no. Two different books made similar domains, it happens. It sort of fits but at the same time he strove a long time to break destiny, so he'd need to spend some effort on...I don't know, reconstructing? Right now it doesn't feel right, no.

Fey domain gets a "meh," Moore really isn't that much of a fey anymore, at least insofar as he doesn't act like one.

Agreed.

Joy... maybe? Maybe. It fits, but I don't know if it fits the right way.

I'd lean towards yes on it, but I wouldn't have it as a first domain. It's an aspect of him but not an overwhelming aspect, I think.

Knowledge would fit, but I think that's more because he's ended up pursuing a path that leads to more knowledge of the world around him, rather than anything that he really embodies.

Half a dozen of one, half a dozen of another. I could see grabbing it as a secondary aspect later on. Depends on how your domains, portfolio and everything ended up stacking up.

Truth is one I didn't realize it was an option until I found it, but I definitely think he'd have that in his portfolio. He's very big on being honest about things and doesn't like to lie or boast about things unless there's a good reason.

Yes. Moreso since Celestia in general represents a certain transcendent truth, above and beyond the norm here. It's a grab for Xandra (hers is half done at the moment) and some other people related to it. With what the truth is and can be, there's definitely elements of transcendence in choosing that domain. I don't hand it out too often for that reason. Of the Hebdomad I believe only Pistis Sophia has it, because she focuses on that and enlightenment, above and beyond the rest of the Hebdomad.

That all being said I think it would be a grab for Moore as well.

If I were to make up a domain (that wasn't the Music one, because, yes?) I think it'd be the "Inspiration" Domain.

Yeah, for sure.

[Nephrite]

Fuck it, let's try.


Inspiration Domain

Granted Power: Once per day, you may inspire yourself or another ally. You may increase a single attack, damage, skill check or saving throw roll by your Cleric level / 2.

Inspiration Domain Spells:

1. Divine Favor
2. Share Talents
3. Glibness
4. Battlecry
5. Atonement
6. Surge of Hope
7. Empyreal Ecstasy
8. Crown of Glory
9. Moment of Prescience

[Anastasia]

Okay, so let me ask you something right off. How do the spells of your domain all come together as coherent whole to establish a theme of the domain? Feel free to walk me through it, there's no wrong answers here, I just want to know your thoughts.

[Nephrite]

Some of them I'm a bit iffy on, but for the most part they all offer various boosts to things (i.e. ways to inspire someone).

1. Divine Favor gives you a little bit of inspiration from a divine source, the entry way to show what Inspiration can do.
2. This gives someone a small boost in their ability to do something better, continuing the trend.
3. I'm not totally sold on this one, but sometimes you have to bluff a bit to make someone feel better or to get them to consider other options.
4. This starts the battle-oriented inspiration, now that you've mastered the "hey you can do x a little better" side of things.
5. Iffy here too, but I think it fits in regards to "hey, you fucked up really bad. Let me inspire you to get back to your path and better yourself."
6. Again, totally going with the "helps other people do a little bit better" theme.
7. Sometimes pushing someone to do better means inspiring them to take on the burden of pain and remain steadfast. This can inspire someone to endure a lot more than they realized they could.
8. This one I'm not totally sold on either, but I can see it as an argument of "I'm inspiring you to glory, here's why this is important"
9. This one I'm probably the least sold on, but in order to inspire others sometimes you have to be able to overcome adversity, and I think it makes sense to be able to totally inspire yourself with a huge boon in a pinch.

[Anastasia]

Some of them I'm a bit iffy on, but for the most part they all offer various boosts to things (i.e. ways to inspire someone).

To frame my own thinking here, I'd define inspiration as primarily morale bonuses. That's what bardic music's most famous features do and inspiration best maps to morale. This isn't an iron rule, but I think that's a good place to work from. Alternately, something that's inspirational in flavor or design could work.

Would you agree or disagree with that?