Alliance, Faultline and d20 Modern

I want to talk about the Modern Magic Unearthed Arcana. I've got two projects that are based around modern times: Faultline and Alliance.  Faultline is going to be a sequel to overland set over 5,000 years into the future, so I'm not going to work on it until I get Overland finished. Alliance is a modern city being invaded by monsters, where an eccentric billionaire hires people to keep the magic away from the common public (and then other groups get involved and hijinks ensue).

Now, in the 3.5 days, Wizards released d20 Modern, using the D&D rules in a normal setting.  I loved the game and its "road to a hero" design.  Characters had to start with one of the basic classes, which are generic classes with talent trees.  They had to multiclass into Advanced Classes, which are more like the D&D classes. Alliance was built more from the d20 Modern idea of normal people slowly trying to understand the supernatural world around them.

The current d20 Modern articles we're getting for 5e is a "D&D in the present day" rules.  I like them, but I don't think I'll use the class options for Alliance.  Use the spells for Alliance, yes. Use the options for Faultline, yes. I can't see having a 1st level mage or warlock in Alliance.

I want to use the class options, but that's what Faultline is for.  With some of these articles, they could try to make a d20 Modern book for 5e D&D. If they do, I want them to have both the "D&D in the present" as much as "Normal world invaded by magic." I think they're going to need some more magic-less, psionic-less, classes to pull it off, though. On the other hand, I don't think they're going to make a d20 Modern book until they work out the kinks with psionics.

Then again, I could use the Steve Jobs method and wait until people start releasing their own modern ruleset and then see what I can use and what I can improve on.

My D&D Realm of Whatever...ish - Pain Domain

I've tried to go against type, but something doesn't sit right with me giving the Life domain to an evil deity. As much as the themes of Overland can make an evil god of life viable, the Life domain focuses on a lot of healing energy which never really has to be repaid. I took my try at making an "evil" version of the Life domain. Take a look and make a comment if you think I'm going in the right direction or not.

Pain Domain

The Life domain focuses on the vibrant positive energy that sustains all life. The pain domain is the dark side of that. Dominance over this domain grants the power to drive searing pain into creatures, or take it away from others.

Pain Domain Spells

Cleric Level      Spells

         1st             cure wounds, inflict wounds

         3rd            lesser restoration, spiritual weapon

         5th             elemental weapon, revivify

         7th             death ward, staggering smite

         9th             mass cure wounds, raise dead

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons.

Disciple of Pain

Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells take the pain they heal and channels it into revenge. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the next time the creature hits with an attack before the end of your next turn, the creature deals extra damage with the attack equal to 2 + the spell’s level.

Channel Divinity: Relieve Pain

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to heal the badly injured.

As an action, you present your holy symbol and evoke energy that can restore a number of hit points equal to five times your cleric level. Choose any creatures within 30 feet of you, and divide those hit points among them. This feature can restore a creature to no more than half of its hit point maximum. You can’t use this feature on an undead or a construct.

Channel Divinity: Wave of Pain

Starting at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to create a wave of pain.

As an action, you present your holy symbol and evoke painful, debilitating energy. Each creature within a 30-foot cone from you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is incapacitated until the end of its next turn.

Divine Strike

At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with either searing light, debilitating psychic pain, or the energy of decay. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 radiant, psychic, or necrotic damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Pain Mastery

Starting at 17th level, you have mastery over pain. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher on a creature or creatures that restore their hit points, each creature affected is protected by a ward until the end of your next turn. While so warded, if that creature is reduced to 0 hit points but doesn't die, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead.

Overland - I will always lie.

A couple of the themes of Overland are Paranoia and Survival. You may not want to work with a demon cultist, but can you put aside your pride and drive to justice when a pyre city can be destroyed and the cultist is the only one helping you?

Now, my Overland posts and material for players will put down common knowledge of characters in the pyre cities.  On occasion, to hide a later plot point, I will deceive or blatantly lie to hide a spoiler. DM Material will have what's really going on. I will not warn anyone, though I may put up a SPOILERS post for the DMs.

So, if you're reading Overland material and thinking that some of the information contradicts other information or one of my posts, you may actually be right. You might want to keep it to yourself anyway. You don't want to be exiled for inciting chaos now, would you?

Overland - The Gods + new Cantrip

In this post for Overland, I want to show off the gods.  I originally intended to have 15 deities plus Xenia, but some minor gods got onto the list/

The Eight Above, The Seven Below, and other deities of Dukvarrino

 

	Alignment	Domains	Color & Ring	Special Cantrips*
The Eight Above
Ariel, god of air	N	Life, Nature, Tempest	Green, Outer	gust EEPC, thunderclap EEPC
Bridein,* god of light	LG	Life, Light	White, Inner	light, sacred flame
Fhrait, god of water	N	Nature, Tempest	Blue, Outer	acid splash, shape water EEPC
Illyria, goddess of earth	NG	Life, Nature	Orange or Brown, Outer	mold earth EEPC, shocking grasp
Ixzit,* god of fire (deceased)	CG	Light, War	Red, Outer	control flames EEPC, produce flame
Lareun, goddess of darkness	CN	Death,* Life, Trickery	Black, Inner	chill touch, frostbite EEPC
Kazarat, goddess of chaos	CN	Trickery, War	Purple, Inner	prestidigitation, vicious mockery
Stragat, god of law	LN	Death, War	Grey or Yellow, Inner	pacifying field (pg 10), true strike
The Seven Below
He Who Builds	CE	Death, War
He Who Gives	LE	Knowledge, Trickery
He Who Lives	NE	Death, Life
He Who Loves	CE	Tempest, Trickery
He Who Stands	NE	Life, Nature
He Who Unites	NE	Tempest, Trickery, War
He Who Walks Behind	LE	Light, Trickery, War
			Holy Symbols
Minor Gods
Fenris, The Wolf	CN	Nature, Tempest	A white wolf's head outlined in green
Krathis, The Mad Devourer	CE	Light, War	A human skull with two metal spikes in the eyes
Tam Lin, The Trickster	CG	Trickery	A spiral
Xenia, Hospitality	LN	Life	A wine glass with purple liquid

Holy Symbols: The Eight Above use the double ring. Each pyre city has their own variant on the double ring, but they all work as holy symbols. Some holy symbols are marked for one or more of the Eight Above. The design is symmetric (in other words, you cannot hold the holy symbol backwards or upside down, though some clerics prefer to hold the holy symbol so their deity is towards the top. There is, however, a specific order in which the deities' marks must be placed)

Holy Symbol of
Mordat, marked

Holy Symbol of
Mordat, unmarked

Special Cantrips: Clerics of the deity can choose one of the cantrips as a bonus cantrip. The cleric can choose the other cantrip as one of their cleric cantrips later on. A paladin of a deity, after taking the oath of devotion, can also take one of the cantrips as a bonus paladin cantrip. A cleric/paladin can only have one bonus cantrip.

Bridein: Pronounced Brid-ee-in.

Ixzit: Followers of Ixzit have a special glove that acts as their holy symbol. The glove becomes and stays dry within the pyre city. If the cleric or paladin gets the glove wet, cleric and paladin spells of 1st level or higher require you to expend another spell slot or fail. If you spend a spell slot of 2nd level or higher to pay this cost, you regain a spell slot of one level lower. You pay the spell slots at the same time, so if all you have is a 2nd-level spell slot, you can use it to cast a 1st-level spell at 1st level (you lose one level, leaving a 1st-level slot to cast the spell).

Lareun (Death Domain): Lareun is a goddess of rest. She sees undead as being awakened against their will, and wants them destroyed so the bodies can be at peace. Her clerics follow this example, and Lareun grants them a different spell.

Death Clerics of Lareun replace animate dead with speak with dead as one of the domain spells at 5th level.

Krathis: The blind destroyer’s worshipers have an odd splinter group. There’s a group of Chaotic Neutral clerics that blame all of their problems on the goddess. Oddly, this group, without a drop of evil, gain divine spells just like any other deity-worshipping class. No one knows if the splinter group has enough belief to gain spells without Krathis or if the goddess is so insane that she can’t tell the splinter group isn’t made of genuine believers.

Pacifying Field
Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round

You create a field of force around a creature. That creature must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d4 force damage, as the field tries to tighten around the creature.

Whether the target succeeded or failed the saving throw, the field persists for a round. When the target makes its next weapon attack before the end of your next turn, roll 1d6 and subtract that number from any bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage the target deals with its attack. The field then dissipates. 

The spell's damage increases by 1d4, and the dice used to subtract damage increases by 1d6, at 5th level (2d4/2d6), 11th level (3d4/3d6) and 17th level (4d4/4d6).