D&D 5E The multiclass cleric-cleric (aka the follower of two gods)

[Ancalagon]

Hello

So in the Yoon-Suin game I'm running, the players are exploring forested ruins, got lost, and stumbled upon the shrine of the Beetle of Mislaid Memories. This long forgotten shrine is inhabited by a very puny god (The Beetle of Mislaid Memories) who has almost no powers left due to being devoid of all worshipers. This is in part due to this section of the city being abandoned, and due to people forgetting where the temple was.

The players, feeling sorry for the godling, offered it a few sacrifices. Then the player playing the cleric (a slugman following the Memory Tree) wondered if she could also start following this god, as she felt it sort of went hand in hand with her original god. I said, semi-kiddingly "you mean... like multiclassing cleric cleric?". She answered "If I have to".

So now I'm wondering... how would that even work? Obviously it would have to be a different domain, and it would kill your access to high level spells, but... I'm intrigued. Are there huge pitfalls to multi-classing two archetypes?

 

[MechaPilot]

Just from a story perspective, I would not allow a cleric to have two deities in that manner. Instead, I would have a religion exist with a set of beliefs that incorporates both deities, and would allow mixing and matching of domain features (with DM approval).

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

I wouldn't allow it. Instead, I would allow the cleric to focus on pantheon beliefs, with a limited pantheon of two deities. For mechanics, what MechaPilot suggested.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

It is probably fine to self-multiclass with Cleric. You'll probably end up with 4 channel divinity uses at some point and more available spells and cantrips, but you will lose access to high end spells and my guess is that it will feel underpowered. As a DM I would probably encourage the mixing and matching of features or homebrewing a special unique domain for that character. Clerics are probably the easiest class to create homebrewed subclasses for in the game just follow the general pattern of the ones in the PHB and you will be fine.

 

[Satyrn]

This doesn't have to be represented mechanically in any way whatsoever.

But if y'all want to, I'd go with something like was suggested above, prbobably just swap in a channel divinity power that relates to the second god along with a smattering of bonus spells to replace a small handful of the clerics current ones.

Just to provide a taste of the second god.

You could also create a feat along the lines of Martial Adept that grants use of Channel Divinty, opening up the ability for any character to gain power from worshipping a god, now and in all your future games.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Use Magic Initiate feat to represent the weak god. Doesn't sound like he's powerful enough to grant much more. Maybe make her split her domain spells, one from each god.

Sent from my SM-G900P using EN World mobile app

 

[mrpopstar]

In concert with the posters above, I would merely allow the player to choose appropriate abilities from the domains of each deity.

 

[Li Shenron]

Domains don't equate to deities.

Each deity offers several domain, but each Cleric only gets one domain.

Your domain represents a specialty within your religion, so if you have two deities, you can just allow the Cleric to choose one domain from either deity's list.

I wouldn't do anything more complicated, there is no need to, although I like the option of Magic Initiate.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Henotheism is the norm for clerics in 5E but it's still weird. Just let the cleric be polytheistic and have done. "I beseech Apollo for the blessing of healing, and Diana for swiftness in the hunt." Etc.

 

[CapnZapp]

I said, semi-kiddingly "you mean... like multiclassing cleric cleric?". She answered "If I have to".

So now I'm wondering... how would that even work? Obviously it would have to be a different domain, and it would kill your access to high level spells, but... I'm intrigued. Are there huge pitfalls to multi-classing two archetypes?

I wouldn't automatically assume each god needs a new cleric class progression.

As you say, mechanically it's a disaster power-wise.

Instead, I'd ask the player first to identify the respective domain for his two gods.

If both gods can be represented by the same domain, you're done. Simply keep progressing as a Cleric (a single-cleric cleric that is).

If the player ends up pointing to two domains, your next step should be based on how much powergaming is a concern in your group, and on how much of a minmaxer the player is.

If he is, you should mix and match domain spells and powers yourself, creating a new domain out of the two existing ones.

If he isn't, but still is reasonably well-versed with the mechanics of the game, you can ask him to do this mixing himself, also ending up with a new domain.

If power abuse is not a thing at all, simply grant him both domains. You could ask him to only manifest powers from one domain per day, but you could also simply trust his roleplaying will limit whatever power-up there is to be had.

I would recommend against using the cleric-cleric multiclass as a first option. I'd only use it if I knew the game was more of an one-off than a long campaign. (That is, if the character will be retreated before, say, level 9, the difference between having high-level spells and not having them will be small enough to probably not matter)