Woebound Domain
Cleric Subclass — Heretics of the Old Gods homebrew
Overview
The gods chose mortality, and the world calls them gone. The Woebound refuses the word “gone.” Somewhere in Nuxan, their god walks as a mortal — footsore, nameless, deaf to prayer — and one day will remember what they were and return to lead the faithful. Until then the Woebound channels a divinity no one is present to receive, and the unanswered offering curdles: the life they give to others is torn out of them, and the decay they deal flows back as life. They are vampires of grief, keeping faith through a resurrection that has not yet come.
A Woebound chooses a deity like any cleric, but it changes nothing mechanical — the domain is a posture toward divine absence, identical whichever god is mourned. To the Luxon church this is heresy twice over: it insists a god still lives, and it names that god something other than the Luxon. To the folk traditions of the Hellcatch, who long ago stopped waiting, it is a sad and dangerous nostalgia. The Woebound wait anyway.
Woebound Domain Spells
You always have the following spells prepared. They don’t count against the number of spells you can prepare.
| Cleric Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Inflict Wounds, False Life, Gentle Repose, Wither and Bloom |
| 5th | Vampiric Touch, Speak with Dead |
| 7th | Blight, Death Ward |
| 9th | Enervation, Contagion |
Grief’s Ledger (Level 3)
Your magic runs on a vampiric exchange: the life it gives is torn from you, and the decay it deals feeds you. Your grief die is a d8.
- Wither. Once per turn, when you cast a spell that restores hit points, you take necrotic damage equal to your grief die. Necrotic damage you take from Grief’s Ledger can’t be reduced or prevented.
- Bloom. Once per turn, when you cast a spell that deals necrotic damage to a creature, you regain hit points equal to your grief die.
If the triggering spell fails to take effect — for example, it is countered — Grief’s Ledger doesn’t trigger, and no grief die is rolled.
Channel Divinity: Grief’s Shroud (Level 3)
As a Magic action, you expend one use of Channel Divinity and shroud a number of creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one) that you can see within 30 feet in mourning-decay — yourself included, if you choose. For 1 minute, the first time each turn a creature hits a shrouded creature with an attack, the attacker takes necrotic damage. This damage scales with your level in this class: 2d6 at 3rd level, 3d6 at 9th level, and 4d6 at 15th level.
Directed Grief (Level 6)
You learn to control the exchange. When you cast a spell that triggers Grief’s Ledger, choose one:
- Redirect. The grief die’s result lands on a creature of your choice other than yourself, within 30 feet, instead of on you: that creature takes the necrotic damage (if your spell restored hit points) or regains the hit points (if your spell dealt necrotic damage). The triggering spell resolves normally.
- Maximize. The grief die’s result falls on you as normal, and the triggering spell deals or restores its maximum possible value instead of rolling its dice.
Grief Unbound (Level 17)
When Grief’s Ledger triggers, choose one of the following. The level 6 options are no longer available to you.
- Two targets. The grief die’s result is split onto two creatures of your choice other than yourself, within 30 feet — each takes the necrotic damage, or each regains the hit points, equal to one grief die. The triggering spell resolves normally.
- Double. Choose one creature of your choice other than yourself, within 30 feet, as the grief target. The grief die becomes 2d8. The triggering spell resolves normally.
- Overflow. You take the grief yourself. The triggering spell deals or restores its maximum value plus a roll of its dice (a 2d8 spell becomes 16 + 2d8), and the grief die’s result on you becomes 3d8: you take 3d8 necrotic if the spell restored hit points, or regain 3d8 hit points if the spell dealt necrotic damage.