Divine Domain
Apocalypse
For every beginning there must be an end. There are gods for whom this declaration is paramount. Gods of Apocalypse--such as Apep, Garyx, Talona, and Tharizdun--believe that the creatures of the material plane have overstayed their welcome, and they prepare to bring the end times. The clerics of such gods foresee this coming and seek to bring it swiftly. They might seek out calamitous and apocryphal artifacts from the origins of time, send souls to their god for an early judgment, or travel across the world to spread news of the coming end of days.
Apocalypse Domain Features
| Cleric Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 1st | Domain Spells, Threat of Disaster |
| 2nd | Channel Divinity: Announce End |
| 6th | Unholy Harbinger |
| 8th | Potent Spellcasting |
| 17th | Inevitable Annihilation |
Secrets of the Apocalypse Domain Cleric
No mortal soul is entirely free of second thoughts or doubt. Even a cleric must grapple with dark desires or the forbidden attraction of turning against the teachings of one's deity.
Consider the following secrets when creating a cleric of the Apocalypse Domain. You might choose a secret from the table, roll a d6 on the Apocalypse Secrets table to have one chosen for you, or use the table for inspiration when making a secret of your own.
Apocalypse Secrets Table
| d6 | Secret |
|---|---|
| 1 | You worry that your deity is too heavily opposed to succeed in bringing the end of days. |
| 2 | You think it more likely that wizards will bring the end of the world than divinity, and secretly envy them. |
| 3 | You don't believe in your god's mission; you seek oblivion so that your enemies will perish for what they've done to you. |
| 4 | Even though you can work divine magic, you have never truly felt the presence of a divine essence within yourself. |
| 5 | You hope that spreading news of the coming apocalypse will encourage others to live life to its fullest before the end. |
| 6 | You've never actually been sure how to spell apocalypse and it torments you often. |
Domain Spells
You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the Apocalypse Domain Spells table. See the Divine Domain class feature for how domain spells work.
Apocalypse Domain Spells
| Cleric Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 1st | earth tremor*, thunderwave |
| 3rd | blindness/deafness, darkness |
| 5th | call lightning, tidal wave* |
| 7th | blight, sickening radiance* |
| 9th | contagion, insect plague |
Threat of Disaster
At first level, your belief in the coming end empowers your voice. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill, and you learn the thunderclap* cantrip, which is a cleric cantrip for you.
Additionally, you can replace the normal components of thunderclap with a verbal component. When you cast it using this component, the range is 10 feet, instead of 5 feet.
Channel Divinity: Announce End
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to exact the fear of mortal peril in your enemies.
As an action, you present your holy symbol and force each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you that can hear you to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature becomes frightened of you until the end of its next turn, or until it next takes damage. A creature frightened in this way is also incapacitated for the duration, forced to contemplate its mortality and the frailness of life in a world beheld to the whims of gods.
Unholy Harbinger
At 6th level, you become a harbinger of a particular arm of annihilation. Choose pestilence, war, famine, or death. Your choice grants you an effect detailed below, and you can change your choice whenever you gain a level in this class.
- Pestilence. You are immune to disease, and you can use an action to spread a random disease (DM's Choice) to a Tiny CR 0 beast within 30 feet that you can see.
- War. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened, and you can use an action to force a creature within 60 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it believes to have been placed under the effects of the friends cantrip by a different creature of your choice within 60 ft of it. On a success, the creature is immune to this feature for 24 hours.
- Famine. You do not need to eat or drink, and when a creature you can see within 120 feet of you uses an object interaction to eat, you can use your reaction to cause the food to decay in the creature's mouth. They receive no nourishment from food consumed in this way and the taste is offensive.
- Death. You regain 1 hit point on a death saving throw of 19 or 20, and a creature within 100 feet of you suffering the effects of old age takes a level of exhaustion for every minute it spends within range.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Inevitable Annihilation
At 17th level, you are synonymous with the end of days.
When you finish a long rest, you can change your arm of annihilation. You also gain additional benefits for the arm, as follows:
- Pestilence. Your diseases cannot be cured by lesser restoration or Lay on Hands, and you can target any type of creature, except constructs or undead, to spread disease using your Unholy Harbinger feature.
- War. You are immune to being frightened, and creatures that you target with your Unholy Harbinger feature suffer the effects of compelled duel, rather than friends.
- Famine. You can cast insect plague once per day without expending a spell slot, and you no longer need to see a creature nor use your reaction to cause food to decay in its mouth.
- Death. You regain 1 hit point on a death saving throw of 18-20, and a creature that remains within 30 feet of you for 10 minutes or longer, regardless of age, suffers a level of exhaustion if you choose.
*spells with this mark can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
homebrew by u/ryanrows
art by MarkWilkinson
Special thanks to:
u/BladeBotEU, u/dedicated-pedestrian,
u/Flareporeon, u/NeverendingCodex,
and Scoobydoom2 for design help.