Hello everyone, and welcome to the next installment in a series of articles focusing on the Cleric Domains in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. 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 Good.
The Good Domain is described as “You have pledged your life and soul to goodness and purity” – as such we have to assume that you, and your deity, are benign with all that comes with it (mercy, helpfulness, and so on), though you could also be a holy crusader, one that destroys evil, but always offers mercy.
So, what does a Cleric with this domain get?
First, the Touch of Good, which gives you a sacred bonus on almost all checks (except damage) for the next round. As sacred bonuses are rather hard to come by, and this can go all the way up to +10, it can be a very useful one-time boost.
Secondly, you get Holy Lance, which imbues your weapon with the holy special quality. It is the equivalent of a +2 bonus, and it causes an extra 2d6 points of damage against evil creatures, which will be by FAR the most that any adventurer will fight, and as such, it becomes very useful indeed.
Spells:
The spells you get with the Good domain are as follows:
Protection from Evil
Simply put, this spell provides protection against evil creatures, i.e. most of the ones you’ll face in your career as an adventurer. However, and more importantly, it provides protection against mental control against all creatures, regardless of their actual alignment. As long as you can cast if beforehand, you’ll do well (and since you get it for free, there’s no real reason that you wouldn’t cast it whenever you’re expecting combat).
Align Weapon (Good only)
This allows you to make your weapon good, allowing it to bypass the damage reduction of some creatures. In many ways, it’s a lesser effect than your “Holy Lance” ability, though you get access to this spell much earlier.
Magic Circle against Evil
As Protection From Evil, except this one has a radius!
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. But, 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.
Dispel Evil
This has a number of effects, in that it grants you a +4 deflection bonus to AC against evil creatures, and you can discharge it against evil outsiders, to drive them back to their plane, as well as dispel any enchantment cast by an evil creature or any one evil spell. Quite handy, pretty much all the time.
Blade Barrier
Simply put, this creates a wall of whirling force blades, causing massive damage to anyone walking through it (up to 15d6), with only a reflex to reduce the damage by half. Finally, it also provides cover against attacks made through the Blade Barrier – importantly though, is that it has a duration, so people could potentially be forced to move through it multiple times..
Holy Word
This has a number of effects, depending upon your targets. Any target with HD up to your level are dazed unless they save. However, the lower they are, the more effects they take. Creatures that are 10 HD less than your caster level (for example a level 14 caster surrounded by 1-4 HD creatures of non-good alignment, is basically a living bomb of death and chaos). It’s important to note that it doesn’t affect good creatures, so again it can be used without much in the way of thought if you’re in a good (only) party.
Holy Aura
This provides a whole bunch of defensive abilities and bonuses. Deflection bonuses, resistances bonuses, spell resistance and not only that, but any evil creatures attacking you might get blinded at the same time.
Summon Monster IX
This is the “I need back-up” spell of choice. While you can only summon the good creatures here, it’s not much of a limitation, since they’re all CR 13 or 14. It comes in very handy if you’re alone, or if you need some quick menace to take the heat off yourself.
New Deity
Guanyin
The Merciful one, Goddess of Mercy, The One Who Perceives the Sounds of the World
Alignment LG
Worshipers apothecaries, healers, midwives, certain monastic and knightly orders, those wishing for peace.
Cleric Alignments LG, NG, LN
Domains: Glory, Good, Healing, Law, Liberation, Nobility
Sub-domains: Freedom, Friendship, Honor, Martyr, Medicine, Redemption
Favored Weapon: an open hand (Unarmed Attack)
Symbol: a pink waterlily on a white background
Guanyin is known as the goddess of mercy, a benevolent deity willing to take anyone in need under her wing and extend her protection and healing to the suffering, but she is not a pacifistic deity. She will go out of her way to try to help those in need, and while she generally spurns violence, she realizes that sometimes the “way of the sword” may have more effect or at least be more effective than any other solutions currently available.
Her worshippers and clergy are peaceful folks, sometimes working as monks, trying to keep the peace and uphold the law in the lands in which they live.
The worshippers of Guanyin tend to get up early in the morning, to see the sunrise, reminding them always of the beauty present in the world. They spend their days helping in their communities, mending fences (both figuratively and literally), and many often find work as diplomats, for their natural tendency is to seek a compromise that is agreeable to all parties of an argument. Once it is time for them to retire they often spend their evenings in quiet contemplation of the day that has passed, and it is generally expected for priests to raise families of their own.
Kim Frandsen
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