Hello everyone, and welcome to the next installment in a series of articles focusing on the Cleric Domains in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. (Or, for this week, a particular Druid domain, as this week’s domain is only available to them). The goal for each of these is to provide you with a quick overview of your domain powers, spells, and introduce you to a god or goddess from real-Earth mythology who could be a deity using this particular domain.
All that said, welcome to this week’s article on the domain of Glory.
The Glory Domain is described as “You are infused with the glory of the divine, and are a true foe of the undead.” – logic, therefore, follows that this is someone who’s tied to life itself, anathema to the undead. Glory is also often tied to the concepts of victory in combat, honor and the like, but that is not what is seen here. Here it is more a matter of life and the radiance produced thereby.
So, what does a Cleric with this domain get?
First, the Touch of Glory. This allows you to give a creature a bonus to any single Charisma or Charisma-based check equal to your Cleric level. This becomes very effective with things like Diplomacy or Intimidate checks. This
Secondly, you get the Divine Presence aura. This allows you to emit a powerful sanctuary aura, with a much higher DC than you would normally get from the spell itself (since normally the Sanctuary spell is 1st level, but at the point where you get this, it’ll be the equivalent of a 4th level spell, with a correspondingly much higher DC, that grows as you get to higher levels).
Spells:
The spells you get with the Glory domain are as follows:
Shield of Faith
Simple and elegant, the spell gives you a minimum +2 deflection bonus to your Armor Class. Deflection bonuses are relatively rare, but they’re taken by some of the most useful magic items (like rings of protection), so this would allow the cleric to use the spell-slot that these items would normally take to be used for something more interesting.
Bless Weapon
Bless weapon is useful to a good-aligned cleric, as it allows them to bypass the Damage Reduction of Evil creatures, as well as making the weapon good-aligned for the duration.
Searing Light
A fairly simple attack spell that deals 1d8 points of damage per two level, though this damage is almost doubled against undead, with a 1d6 points of damage per level against the undead. Critically though, it does NOT offer a saving throw, which is a rarity at this level.
Holy Smite
Similar in the damage to how Searing Light works, this does damage in an area instead of on a single target, and it has the potential to blind evil creatures as well. However, unlike Searing Light it offers a saving throw. However, the potential for damage against a larger group of creatures cannot be ignored, especially if you’re in an exclusively good group, as you then do not have to worry about the collateral damage.
Righteous Might
Combining all the elements of an Enlarge Person, Bull’s strength and Bear’s Endurance. So you get a whole host of bonuses to your stats, extra damage from being enlarged, and, not only that, but damage reduction and an enhancement bonus to your Armor Class on top of it all. In short, one of the best personal buffing spells that you’ll ever be able to get access to.
Undeath to Death
This is an excellent spell for clearing away any undead minions of a necromancer/undead villain (as it is somewhat unlikely to kill the villain himself at this level, as it can only affect creatures of 8 HD or below). However, for what it does, it is excellent. At the level where you get it, you will be able to kill 11d4 worth of Hit Dice, provided they fail their saving throw. And with a minimum save DC of 19 (10+6 for the spell’s level and another +3 for your minimum stat to cast 6 level spells) you stand a good chance of clearing away at least SOME of the opposition. Just don’t rely on it exclusively.
Holy Sword
This spell instantly turns your weapon into a +5 holy weapon, meaning that it has +5 to attack and damage, and on top of that does another 2d6 points of damage to evil creatures. Finally it also produces a Magic Circle Against Evil, so that you get bonuses to Armor Class, as well as some resistance against mind control abilities, and defences against otherworldly creatures, even if these are not evil.
Holy Aura
This provides a whole bunch of defensive abilities and bonuses. Deflection bonuses, resistances bonuses, spell resistance; not only that, but any evil creatures attacking you might get blinded at the same time.
Gate
Gate is the final spell in the Glory Domain. It has two uses, one is as a simple gateway, allowing you to travel in both directions while the spell lasts, and so can anyone else on either side of the gate. This is the only spell that allows you to send multiple creatures through in relatively short order, with the use of only one spell. (In principle how many creatures could physically get through the doorway in that time would depend on their movement speed, if they were lined up in a line, but, if they have a normal 30 foot speed, then it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that you could get at least 6 creatures through in each round).
The second use of the spell is to call someone or something to your location. This, unlike the various summon creature spells, is a specific creature that you’re getting to come to your location, one that must be named during the casting of the spell. This allows you to pull anyone through to your location, though things like deities do NOT get pulled through automatically (similarly, neither would demon lords, the lords of the Nine Hells and so on), but a normal Pit Fiend (if named) would get summoned. It’s worth noting that this costs 10,000 gold pieces in materials though.
Finally, you CAN use it as a normal summoning spell, but you get to choose the specific monster type that comes through, with a total amount of HD up to your level, so it would, with the right choice, allow you to significantly reinforce your party in short order.
New Deity
Brig(id)
Brig(id) the Smith, Brig(id) the Healer, the one adored by poets, the Tri-Goddess
Alignment NG
Worshipers healers, poets, craftsmen, those who chase the undead
Cleric Alignments LG, NG, CG, N
Domains: Artifice, Community, Glory, Healing, War, Weather
Sub-domains: Family, Heroism, Honor, Industry, Medicine, Seasons
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
Symbol: a woven square with four arms protruding from the center, none of which are centralized on the square.
It is not known whether Brig(id) is one or three goddesses, as she reacts and treats her worshippers very differently depending on their focus, but most suspect that she is one goddess with 3 personalities.
She is the muse that inspires smiths to great works and legendary weapons, the one who leads bards and musicians to create epic poems and stories and she is a warrior who protects the family and heals the injured.
All of these mean that she has three distinct personalities when communing with her worshipers. The Warrior and Smith are taciturn, taking their duties very seriously, and demanding the same from those who worship these aspects, asking them to be industrious, diligent and always ready to step in. The Muse is flighty, daydreaming constantly, often manifesting as the sound of faint music floating on the wind. She asks her followers to live in the moment, enjoy life and seize any opportunities that they can.
The final facet is the Healer, a gentle, nurturing, and caring deity. She is the one who soothes the screaming child, eases the pains of the elderly, and ensures the safety of the home. She only asks that her followers are kind to friends and strangers, that they help where they can, and that they work to ensure peace and prosperity within their community.
This also affects her clergy. Clergy dedicated to the warrior, smith, and healer aspects rise early in the morning and spend their days training, working, and educating both themselves and those they work with. The clergy dedicated to the muse aspect, however, tend to be late risers but can be found out and about at all hours of the day, either indulging in things like food and drink or engaging in the arts, such as painting, music, and writing. Chances are that if there’s good food, pleasant company or a beautiful sunset, one of the muse’s clergy will be near.
Worship for all of them, however, tends to be a private matter. Brig does not endorse large temples, instead preferring small shrines, often within the home of the clergy, to ensure a level of privacy and intimacy that larger religions often lack. Usually, this means that the community surrounding the clergy is very tight-knit and within the faith, everyone in the region knows each other personally.
Kim Frandsen
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