Today, we’re going to take a Closer Look at the battle priests known as Clerics.

The Cleric is far more than just a “priest”; Priests don’t go headlong into battle. The Cleric is really something different but like actual priests, their devotion to their cause is very strong.

While Paladins draw their power through their unshaken belief in their oath yet pulling power from extra-dimensional beings, Clerics pull their power from extra-dimensional beings that support the same “Domain” as the cleric.

In the olden days, it was a Paladin or Cleric’s belief in their so-called Gods that seemed to have enabled them to use “Magic” but these days we know that to only be a mere fraction of the truth.

These days there are certainly many Clerics whose unshaken devotion to a particularly deity has led them to acquire magical “divine” powers but it’s actually their devotion to a domain that their deity is a patron of that enables this power.

An Aside about Gods

It’s worth reiterating a little bit about the so-called Gods. These so-called Gods really do exist in the Adventuring Worlds and their power is very real. As beings gain immense levels of power, they become higher and higher forms of existence. Only some thousands of beings eventually reach a level of “Godhood”.

At this level of existence, they definitely do NOT live on the material plane but from time to time will create an avatar to do their bidding on our plane. There is no denying the immense power of the these deities nor their avatars. It’s also VERY true and well known that they DO interfere in the world and lives of mortals.

The Gods are ageless and in an eternal struggle to do whatever it is that they need to do or want to do… but all too often this means fighting with other gods while mortals are caught in the middle. Gods are not omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent because that would just be stupid. They CAN, however, hear people praying to them. MOST IMPORTANTLY, they increase their power with worshippers. The more they have, the more power they get. Consequently, it’s important for followers of a deity to try and expand the number of followers.

It is said that the God of Bureaucracy literally died because no one worshipped him. Gods can most definitely die (it’s actually not that rare given the wars between Gods throughout history)

The Gods of Clerics

There are many Clerics who are devote to one specific deity. Some are devote to a specific pantheon. But they are all connected to ONE specific DOMAIN.

There are even “atheist” Clerics but contextually this means something a little different to those in the Adventuring Worlds. There is no denying the existence of these powerful beings but rather the atheist clerics have forsaken the deity they once supported or instead are devote to another aspect of their domain. In fact, some clerics ONLY support their specific domain but NOT any deities at all. In the end, the domain is what’s more important and a cleric’s devotion to a specific deity is something that a cleric will have to resolve on a personal level.

So, not Gods but Domains?

A cleric is devote to the improvement, protection, and furtherment of their domain and their domain’s ideals.

Follows of the Domain of Life will likely hold life as very valuable and will work hard to help people who are hurt, heal the sick, and help the needy.

Follows of the Domain of Light for example may want to be a beacon of light in the darkness bringing hope to the people. Their powers actually come from gods who support the Domain of Light such as Lathander and Pelor, both Sun Gods.

There are even shamanistic domains that hold things like Nature with very high regard, but the secretive but true priests of nature are the Druids.

Not all domains are as cheery as Life and Light so if you want to play a Cleric, take some time to look through Domain options as well as other “5e domains” on the Internet that we might be able to adopt.

The most predominant domains are Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery, and War but there are many lesser known ones out there.

Stats

Clerics will often consider their Control stat to be the highest priority but it really comes down to what kind of cleric they are and what they want to focus on. Control will help you with the so-called “Divine” spellcasting (aka Extra-Dimensional Spellcasting). Physical Stat will help you in melee combat and hitpoints. Finesse Stat will help you in ranged combat as well as dodging. Mental Stat will help you a lot outside of combat and protecting you from mental attacks.

Weapons

Clerics may or may not be front line combatants depending on their combat prowess. However, Clerics are well known to use blunt weapons like Maces , Mauls, and Warhammers. Worth noting though, most Clerics can only use non-martial weapons.

Clerics might be damage dealers or glass cannons however they also excel at buffing (and to a lesser extent debuffing and battlefield control roles). So it might take some thought as to how to best approach combat.

You initial equipment includes a mace or warhammer (if you have proficiency in it from your race, etc). You also get another simple weapon or a Light Crossbow with 20 bolts.

Armour and Hit Die

The Cleric has a d8 Hit Die as well as proficiency in Light Armour, Medium Armour, and Shields. This will give you a typical amount of Hit Points (more than wizards but less than Fighters).

Your initial equipment will give you a shield (potentially your Holy Symbol could go on your shield as a magic focus). You will also get a choice of the light Leather armour, medium Scale Mail armour, or (if you have a proficiency from other sources such as a your race) the heavy Chain Mail armour. If your Finesse Modifier is more than 2, you might consider the light armour otherwise, medium might be best for you.

Please keep in mind that many armours are extremely bad for keeping stealth so please do make note of whether you’re okay with that or not. Armour that has both a lot of defense and still allows you to be stealthy generally makes the price go up a lot.

More Standard Issue Gear

Other than the 2 weapons, armour, and shield, Clerics get a Holy Symbol that they can use to focus their magic with. They will also get either a Priest’s Pack or an Explorer’s Pack. Beyond that, the only other gear a cleric starts with would come from their background and background features.

Basic Features of the Cleric

Clerics have some role diversity. They are predominantly buffers but don’t need to shy away from actual combat. They may be damage dealers, battlefield controllers, or debuffers. They have natural abilities against the Undead and many also excel at magical healing. How you setup your Cleric including their domain will determine these is more detail.

Unlike most classes, Cleric have to choose their subclass right from the start before they can be played at all. Cleric subclasses are the Domain they are devoted and connected to.

Clerics have a Saving Throw Proficiency in Control [Saving Throws are your reactions to certain types of things – Physical: Poison, Eating nasty food, ODing on cheap alchohol, being shoved, being grappled, arm wrestling, etc / Finesse: Dodging area effects like fireballs and traps / Mental: Psychic attacks on your mind, gruelling cramming before a big test / Control: Resisting a lot of Magical Effects].

More Skills

Clerics are proficient in 2 of History, Insight, Medicine, Persuassion, and Religion. They don’t have any Tool proficiencies nor extra languages because what their Background and Background Feature may offer.

Clerics rely their Divine or Extra Dimensional Magic to augment their and their team’s lack of expertise. As buffers, they can augment skills event as cantrip spells. They rely on their CONTROL stat to cast magic.

How do I get better?

All characters as they level up gain more features and improvements. All characters start with a “Proficiency Bonus” of 2 that gets added to anything you are proficient in. This proficiency bonus increases by one at Character Levels 5, 9, 13, and 17 regardless of your job class(es).

At Cleric Class Levels 4, 8, 12, 16, 19 (not Character Level) the character gets to Upgrade! This incidentally is the standard amount, one less upgrade than the Rogue and 2 less upgrades than the Fighter. When you upgrade, you either get 2 Stat upgrade points OR you gain a “Feat” — Special new bonuses, abilities, boosts, etc.

All Clerics gain a number of other features as they level up Cleric Class Levels. This means that if you Level Up in other Job Classes, then they don’t count to you gaining these features. If you are multiclassing with other magic using classes (other than the warlock) they won’t completely block your unlocking of spells slots. Full casters will unlock your spell slots at the same rate where as half casters and quarter casts count a half or quarter level towards your spell slot unlocking.

Since you’ve chosen your domain from Level 1, your connection to your domain will also get stronger as you gain Cleric levels giving your access to more spells, more abilities, and more ways to channel the divine energy from your domain.

Spell Casting

Your spellcasting stat is CONTROL and you can use a Holy Symbol or Hole Focus to help channel and focus your energy so that you can cast spells without consuming materials (unless there’s an explicit material monetary cost attached to the spell). Clerics are conduits for extra-dimensional power but this also means that if your cleric strays too far from the beliefs, tenants, and ideals of this domain, they may stop receiving support from it. (ie: Your magic might not work)

Clerics can and will conduct magical rituals including making holy water, consecrating places, and casting spells identified as being castable via ritual. Ritual Casting takes 10 minutes longer to cast but won’t use up a spell slot. Clerics need to Prepare ritual spells before being used in Ritual Casting.

Clerics start with 3 cantrip spells that you can use as many times as you want without getting tired and will gain additional cantrip spells as they level up. Some domains may also give clerics access to more cantrips.

Cleric cantrips will often differ from Wizard cantrips or Druid cantrips or Bard cantrips. Clerics have access to a lot more buffing spells for use both inside and outside of combat.

At level 1, clerics have 2x Level 1 Cleric Spells slots. As your character gains Cleric levels, their slots will increase and they will gain access to more spell levels at the fastest rate (Full Caster). You will need to Long Rest to replenish your spell slots.

Clerics have access to all their spells and do not need to buy them like wizards with spells books. They do, however, need to prepare the spells ahead of time like wizard do. One way to categorize magic users is as prepared casters vs. spontaneous casters. Clerics require preparation to use magic but this gives them access to more spells. During your long rests (8+ hours) clerics will prepare [Control Modifier + Cleric Level] Spells that can be cast. If you want to change your lineup of spells, you need to wait until your next Long Rest.

Channel Divinity

A cleric’s connection to their domain makes them a conduit for channeling the “divine” power of their respective domain. From Cleric level 2, your connection is finally strong enough to take advantage of this channelling power. You can use this channeling power once per rest but at Cleric Level 6, you can use it twice per rest and three times per rest at Cleric Level 18

Channel to Turn Undead

While this doesn’t always apply to all clerics, the vast majority of clerics, no matter their domain, can channel “divine” extra-dimensional power to fight the Undead.

Turn Undead will radiant energy potentially causing Undead to turn tale and run. You may use this effectively against stronger and stronger undead foes as you gain Cleric levels.

All Undead within 30′ of you that can hear you make a Control Save vs. your Spell DC (which is written on your character sheet). Creatures that fail this save will try their best to run away from you for 1 minute or until they take damage.

Destroy the Turned Undead

If you can Turn Undead, you will also gain Destroy Undead. As you gain Cleric Levels and your Turn Undead becomes stronger and stronger it can outright destroy weaker Undead creatures.

From Cleric Level 5, your Channel Divinity: Turn Undead without destroy any creatures that fail their Saving Throw at have a Challenge Rating (CR) of 1/2 or lower.

• Cleric Level 5: CR 1/2
• Cleric Level 8: CR 1
• Cleric Level 11: CR 2
• Cleric Level 14: CR 3
• Cleric Level 17: CR 4

Channel Divinity for your Domain

Please keep in mind that holding the line against the undead darkness like a beacon of hope against horde… is not the only way to use a cleric’s capabilities to channel the divine extra-dimensional energy from their domain.

Each domain has it’s own specific uses for your Chanel Divinity feature. Be sure to check the details for your domain.

Divine Intervention

From Cleric Level 10, you can call upon your deity or other power being supporting your domain and “funding you” with power to more directly intervene on your behalf.

In this world, those powerful beings you are supporting (or the powerful supporters of the domain you are supporting) are in fact listening for your prayers to them (although it helps if you can call them by a name they expect).

In Down the Rabbit Hole, this works a little differently than other adventures. You need to roll a d20 less than or equal to the Cleric Level. At Cleric Level 20, you no longer need to roll this. Your chances of successfully rolling are higher but you don’t really know what the results will actually be even though you successfully rolled.

In your plea, you may want to be specific in your request and consider who exactly you are making the request to. Mismatched requests may still come true to some extent but there may be side effects. If you ask a deity of your domain that is known for ensuring the the dead stay dead, asking them to revive your ally will probably not work out quite like you want would hope it would.

It’s up to you DM to decide what the response is to your plea. If you successfully roll, you cannot use this again for 7 days. If you fail your roll, you require a long rest before you can use it again.

Cleric Domains

The Cleric Domains define a cleric’s subclass and will dramatically affect what kind of character the cleric is and how they interact with the world: socially, combat, etc.

We won’t go through every possible domain in this Journal Entry but every domain will have an expanded spell list specific to that domain in addition to the general cleric spell list. Domain Spells are always prepared and don’t count towards your maximum number of prepared spells. Each domain will also have another way to take advantage of the Channel Divinity ability that is specific to each domain.

You can either choose the specific domain to be attached to and then choose a primary patron fro that domain or you can approach it from the other angle of choosing your patron and then choosing one of that specific patron’s domains to focus on.

Knowledge Domain

Learning and Understanding is key as well as the pursuit of knowledge including esoteric lore and long forgotten truths. Will you be more theoretical like a scholar or be focused on practical knowledge like a tinkerer.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Command, Identify
• Cleric Level 3: Augury, Suggestion
• Cleric Level 5: Nondetection, Speak with Dead
• Cleric Level 7: Arcane Eye, Confusion
• Cleric Level 9: Legend Lore, Scrying

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Learn 2 Language + Gain Expertise in 2 of Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion
• Cleric Level 2: Channel Knowledge of the Ages – Gain proficiency in 1 skill or tool for 10 minutes.
• Cleric Level 6: Channel Read Thoughts – Read a creature’s thoughts. [ 60′ visible creature vs. Control. Safe: you can’t try again on that creature until you’ve had a long rest. Fail: Read its surface thoughts, emotions, active thoughts for 1 minute while still within range. You can end this ability and cast Suggestion on the creature without using a spell slot and they don’t save against it.
• Cleric Level 8: Potent Spellcasting – Add your Control Modifier to your damage from Cleric Cantrips.
• Cleric Level 17: Visions of the Past – 1 minute of prayer and concentration will start your visions. It can last for up to [Control Stat Score] minutes if you can hold concentration. You can only use this once per rest. The visions can focus on an object telling you how the owner acquired and lost the object plus a significant event for that owner and object. If the object was owned by an additional owner within the last [Control Stat Score] Days, you can spend another minute to gain information about that owner. The visions can focus on an area telling you what happened within a 50′ cube in the past [Control State Score] days. Each minute will get you one significant event from the present time working backwards.

Life Domain

Vitality and Health are key to this domain including healing the sick and wounded, caring for those in need, and driving away death and undead.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Bless, Cure Wounds
• Cleric Level 3: Lesser Restoration, Spiritual Weapon
• Cleric Level 5: Beacon of Hope, Revivify
• Cleric Level 7: Death Ward, Guardian of Faith
• Cleric Level 9: Mass Cure Wounds, Raise Dead

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Heavy Armour Proficiency
• Cleric Level 1: Disciple of Life – Spell level 1+ Healing spells heal 2+SpLv HP extra
• Cleric Level 2: Channel Preserve Life – Evoke healing energy to restore [Cleric Level x5]HP spread between creatures you choose within 30′. It can only heal creatures up to half of their max and doesn’t work on undead nor constructs.
• Cleric Level 6: Blessed Healer – Spell Level 1+ Healing spells used on others also heal you for 2+SpLv HP
• Cleric Level 8: Divine Strike – Infuse your weapon! When you hit with a weapon’s attack, you can do an extra 1d8 radiant damage once per turn. Level 14: This becomes 2d8.
• Cleric Level 17: Supreme Healing – When you would roll dice to determine how many HP you heal, you just make it the maximum roll.

Light Domain

Rebirth, Renewal, Vigilance, Beauty, and Flame – Clerics of the Light Domain push back against the encroaching darkness.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Burning Hands, Faerie Fire,
• Cleric Level 3: Flaming Sphere, Scorching Ray
• Cleric Level 5: Daylight, Fireball
• Cleric Level 7: Guardian of Faith, Wall of Fire
• Cleric Level 9: Flame Strike, Scrying

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1 “Light” Cantrip
• Cleric Level 1: Warding Flare – Use flare as a Reaction to cause attacker DADV (usable [Control Mod] times until long rest) relying on momentarily blinding them.
• Cleric Level 2: Channel Radiance of the Dawn – dispell darkness within visible 30′ and possibly 2d10+ClericLevel radian damage to hostile creatures who fail a Physical save (1/2 damage for successes)
• Cleric Level 6: Improved Flare – Warding Flare works on visible enemies within 30′ attacking allies.
• Cleric Level 8: Potent Spellcasting – Add your Control Modifier to your damage from Cleric Cantrips.
• Cleric Level 17: Corona of Light – Use your action to activate or deactivate an Light Aura. It lasts for up to 1 minute and gives enemies within 60′ DADV vs. fire/radiant spells. It radiants lights 60’/90′.

Nature Domain

Reverence for Nature, protecting the old ways, increased harvest yields – There are a wide variety of Nature Clerics but best to keep in mind that they are far from Druids. While Druids preserve the balance of Nature, can shapeshift, and shun metal, Nature Clerics are advocates of Nature’s agenda but ready to go to war.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Animal Friendship, Speak with Animals
• Cleric Level 3: Barksin, Spike Growth
• Cleric Level 5: Plant Growth, Wind Wall
• Cleric Level 7: Dominate Beast, Grasping Vine
• Cleric Level 9: Insect Plague, Tree Stride

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Acolyte of Nature – Learn 1 Druid Cantrip + Gain Proficiency in 1 of Animal Handling, Nature, or Survival + Gain Heavy Armour Proficiency.
• Cleric Level 2: Channel Charm Animals and Plants – Each visible Beast and Plant creature within 30′ vs. Control or is charmed for 1 minute. Taking damage will end the charm. While charmed, it is friendly to you and to others you designate.
• Cleric Level 6: As a reaction to you or ally within 30′ about to take acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, you grant resistance to that specific damage type for that specific attack. (This will halve the damage of that specific elemental type)
• Cleric Level 8: Divine Strike – Infuse your weapon! When you hit with a weapon’s attack, you can do an extra 1d8 radiant damage once per turn. Level 14: This becomes 2d8.
• Cleric Level 17: Master of Nature – You can command animals and plant creatures while they are charmed by you as a bonus action. This is done verbally and they’ll try to follow your command on their next turn.

Tempest Domain

Storms, Lightning, Earthquakes, Fire, Violence, Strength, and Courage – Tempest Clerics bring swift elemental justice and inspire fear of divine wrath.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Fog Cloud, Thunderwave
• Cleric Level 3: Gust of Wind, Shatter
• Cleric Level 5: Call Lightning, Sleet Storm
• Cleric Level 7: Control Water, Ice Storm
• Cleric Level 9: Destructive Wave, Insect Plague

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Martial Weapons and Heavy Armour Proficiency
• Cleric Level 1: Wrath of the Storm – Thunderously Rebuke! As a reaction when a visible creature within 5′ hits you with an attack, you can force them to Save vs. Finesse or take 2d8 Lightning or Thunder damage. 1/2 damage on safe. This is usable [Control Mod] times until a long rest.
• Cleric Level 2: Channel Destructive Wrath – When you roll lightning or thunder damage, your channel divinity can be used to make it max damage instead of rolling.
• Cleric Level 6: Thunderbolt Strike – When you damage a creature (at most Large size), you can push it back up to 10′
• Cleric Level 8: Divine Strike – Infuse your weapon! When you hit with a weapon’s attack, you can do an extra 1d8 radiant damage once per turn. Level 14: This becomes 2d8.
• Cleric Level 17: Stormborn – You can fly at your regular speed while not underground nor indoors.

Trickery Domain

Mischief, challenging the accepted order, puncturing pride, subterfuge, deception, and the like – Clerics of Trickery have a lot in common with Rogues.

If you are interested in this domain, talk to your DM.

War Domain

War makes heroes and courage or foster cruelty and desperation; War Clerics are prepared for war and all that comes with it.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Divine Favor, Shield of Faith
• Cleric Level 3: Magic Weapon, Spiritual Weapon
• Cleric Level 5: Crusader’s Mantle, Spirit Guardians
• Cleric Level 7: Freedom of Movement, Stoneskin
• Cleric Level 9: Flame Strike, Hold Monster

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Martial Weapons and Heavy Armor Proficiency
• Cleric Level 1: War Priest – When you make the Attack action, you can make a weapon attack as a Bonus Action, [Control Mod] times until long rest
• Cleric Level 2: Channel Guided Strike – +10 Attack Roll (accuracy). You have to use this before you know if your attack hits or misses.
• Cleric Level 6: Channel War God’s Blessing – +10 to someone else’s attack roll
• Cleric Level 8: Divine Strike – Infuse your weapon! When you hit with a weapon’s attack, you can do an extra 1d8 radiant damage once per turn. Level 14: This becomes 2d8.
• Cleric Level 17: Avatar of Battle – Resist Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing damage from non-magical weapons

Shamanistic Domain

While the Nature Domain is supported by a pantheon of deity level beings, the Shamanistic Domain is a different approach to nature. Instead of relying on a deity level being, it relies on a pantheon of natural spirits. There are a variety of spirits but you will have to attune yourself to one specific category of spirit in order to gain their acceptance into the domain.

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Faerie Fire, Goodberry
• Cleric Level 3: Earthbind, Moonbeam
• Cleric Level 5: Gaseous Form, Haste
• Cleric Level 7: Blight, Locate Creature
• Cleric Level 9: Antilife Shell, Reincarnate

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Choose your Spirit Type to attune to
  • Ancestral Spirit: Your maximum number of prepared spells is increased by 1
  • Animal Spirit: Learn Find Familiar (Ritual). It summons a translucent celestial animal (and always the same animal)
  • Demonic Spirit: Can cast Disguise Self at will without using a slot + learn 1 Warlock Cantrip that doesn’t count towards your maximum number of cantrips.
  • Primordial Spirit: When you are hit by a melee attack, you can use your reaction to shift to the Ethereal plane until your next turn. You can move up to half your speed and avoid the attack. You can see/hear the original plane within 60′. This is usable only once per rest.
• Cleric Level 2: Channel – see through the spirit world and gain truesight within 60′ for 1 minute.
• Cleric Level 6: Patronage
  • Ancestral Spirit: Cast Cure Wounds and Healing Word whether prepared or not.
  • Animal Spirit: Advantage on Perception when your familiar is within 5′
  • Demonic Spirit: Cast Polymorph without using a slot once until long rest.
  • Primordial Spirit: Gain 1 additional use of Channel
• Cleric Level 8: Efflorescence – As an action, restore [Cleric Level x2] HP among allies within 30′. Usable once until long rest.
• Cleric Level 17: Resistance to Necrotic and Radiant damage.

Death Domain

Perhaps not the friendliest of domains and a very tricky path to follow. Talk to your DM if are considered this domain.

Moon Domain

The very mysterious Moon Domain – little is known about the moon domain, its deities, nor it’s ideals.

Night Domain

Night, Dark, Shadow, Void

Expanded Spells

• Cleric Level 1: Arms of Hadar, Armour of Agathys
• Cleric Level 3: Darkness, Phantasmal Force
• Cleric Level 5: Hunger of Hadar, Vampiric Touch
• Cleric Level 7: Evard’s Black Tentacles, Banishment
• Cleric Level 9: Dream, Bigby’s Hand

Other Abilities

• Cleric Level 1: Gain [0] Vicious Mockery cantrip
• Cleric Level 1: Blessed by the Dark (&Delegate) – You have Darkvision for 60′ if you don’t already have it. Your Darkvision is attuned to your magic and are completely not affected by magical darkness that you create.

  Delegate – You can temporarily sacrifice your own (including racial) Darkvision reducing it to only 30′ range and delegate part of your power to another single willing visible creature at touch range. This delegate would not be affected by any magical darkness you create within 30′ of them as well as not being affected by any other domain specific AoE effects.

• Cleric Level 1: Strangling Shadow (Shadow Rebuke) – As a reaction to being attacked by a visible creature within 30′ and where there is a light source to create shadow, you can rebuke the attack. The attacker will save vs. Physical or take damage.

  At Cleric Level 1, they will take 1d6 Psychic damage. At Level 3, this increases to 1d8; at Level 6 this increases to 1d10. The Cleric Level 17 Domain ability makes this 1d10+[ControlMod] Psychic damage.

  This is usable [Control Modifier] times until a Long Rest.

• Cleric Level 2: Channel Void – Opens a 10′ radius spherical region of Darkness within 60′. The darkness emanates from an immobile fixed point or affixed to an object that you or your delegate is touching (which is that case, it’s no long immobile).

  Regular Darkvision cannot see through this darkness and nonmagical light cannot illuminate it. The duration of this darkness is unstable and may only last a few seconds (until the start of your next turn) but there have been cases outside of combat where it has lasted around 10 minutes. The darkness seeps through it’s area of effect but can be blocked by opaque physical objects.

  Creatures that are not immune to your domain effects and end their turn within the darkness will save vs. Physical or take 2d6 Cold damage. On success, they will take half damage. From Cleric Level 17, this will become 2d6+[Control Mod].

  The void will dispel magical light if the light spell level is equal or lower than half your Cleric Level (rounded down).

• Cleric Level 6: One with the dark – Step between shadows. In Dim light or darkness, you can teleport up to 60′ from one shadow to another shadow using your bonus action. You will have combat advantage on your melee weapon attack during your turn after you use this ability. This is usable [Control Modifier] times* until Long Rest
  *Subject to change since this is still OP
• Cleric Level 8: Potent Spellcasting – Add your Control Modifier to your damage from Cleric Cantrips.
• Cleric Level 17: Potent Ability – Damage for your Domain specific Rebuke and Channeling ability will have your [Control Modifier] added to damage as noted in their information above.

  Shadowy Form – As an Action, you can activate your shadowy form. You can dismiss it as a Bonus Action. It makes your body appear to be semi-incorporeal and shadowy making it harder for attack to hit you. While active, you resistance to non-magical non-silver Piercing, non-magical non-silver Slashing, non-magical non-silver Bludgeoning damage as well as Force damage.

  Shadowy Form Phase – As a reaction to being attacked, you can avoid taking damage that your shadowy form would normally only resist. This might last until the start of your next turn*. This is usable only twice until a long rest.
  *Subject to change since it’s OP