Silence Domain
"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” - Mother Teresa
"A talkative soul lacks both the essential virtues and intimacy with God. A deeper interior life, one of gentle peace and of that silence where the Lord dwells, is quite out of the question. A soul that has never tasted the sweetness of inner silence is a restless spirit which disturbs the silence of others." - St. Faustina
Gods of the Silence domain are typically deities of death, nature, or wisdom. They include Auril, Eldath, Kelemvor, Mielikki, Myrkul, Selûne, Shar, Celestian, Ehlonna, Obad-Hai, Rao, Majere, Chislev, Balinor, The Silver Flame, Cults of the Dragon Below, The Path of Light, and Sehanine Moonbow.
Clerics of the Domain of Silence prefer to let others speak while they remain in quiet contemplation. These clerics find peace in the absence of sound, in the stillness within. With this peace also comes power, for if you can quiet your enemy, silence their voice, you can undermine their power, or even take it for yourself. Silence clerics also master the teachings of stealth, extending their inner silence into the world.
Silence Domain Features
| Cleric Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 1st | Domain Spells, Bonus Proficiencies, Unnerving Quietude |
| 2nd | Channel Divinity: Tongue Tied |
| 6th | Shocked Stillness |
| 8th | Potent Spellcasting |
| 17th | Silently Screaming |
Domain Spells
You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the Silence Domain Spells table. See the Divine Domain class feature for how domain spells work.
Silence Domain Spells
| Cleric Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | sleep, silent image |
| 3rd | pass without trace, silence |
| 5th | counterspell, hypnotic pattern |
| 7th | aura of purity, banishment |
| 9th | dominate person, Rary's telepathic bond |
Bonus Proficiencies
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency in the Insight and Stealth skills.
Unnerving Quietude
At 1st level, you gain the ability to turn a targets fear of losing their voice against them. When a creature is subjected to an effect of yours that would prevent it from speaking, you can use your reaction to cause the creature to make an
Intelligence saving throw. The creature takes 2d8 psychic damage on a failed saving throw, and half as much damage on a successful one. This damage does not cause spells that end when a creature takes damage, such as sleep, to fail.
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.
Effects that prevent speech include your Channel Divinity: Tongue Tied feature, detailed below, as well as the incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, stunned, and unconscious conditions.
Channel Divinity: Tongue Tied
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to quell the voice of an enemy spellcaster.
As an action, you choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you, stilling its tongue. The next time the cursed creature attempts to cast a spell with a verbal component it must make a Charisma saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, the spell fails, and then the curse ends.
Fear the Silence
Starting at 6th level, the cleric's ability to still a creatures tongue causes a kernel of fear to take root in the targets mind. When a creature suffers psychic damage from your Unnerving Quietude feature it also becomes frightened of you for 1 minute. The frightened creature can make a Charisma saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Silently Screaming
Starting at 17th level, your devotion to silent reflection has granted you greater insight into the minds of others. You learn the mass suggestion, power word pain, telepathy and psychic scream spells. You add them to your list of domain spells. Like your other domain spells, they are always prepared and count as cleric spells for you.
Changelog
- Changed Channel Divinity: Tongue Tied to a Charisma saving throw.
- Removed counterspell from being able to trigger Unnerving Quietude. Cleaned up text.
- Fixed Channel Divinity: Tongue Tied to trigger on spells with verbal components rather than somatic.
- Changed Unnerving Quietude to not end spells that break when the target takes damage.
- Renamed Shocked Stillness to Fear the Silence. Changed the effect from the restrained condition to the frightened condition.
- Changed blindness/deafness on the Domain Spell list to be pass without trace.