Hello everyone, and welcome to another 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: Repose.
The Repose domain is described as “You see death not as something to be feared, but as a final rest and reward for a life well spent. The taint of undeath is a mockery of what you hold dear.” – as such it’s likely that your deity is one of death, and restful death at that, where corpses and spirits are to be protected, and willful undead are a travesty and must be destroyed, while “incidental” undead are to be pitied, but also laid to rest.
The first power you get is “Gentle Rest” with living creatures getting staggered by your touch (staggered may take a single move action or standard action each round (but not both, and no full-round actions). A staggered creature can still take free, swift, and immediate actions; in effect, the touched creature becomes a bit like a zombie in terms of actions). One that’s already staggered falls asleep and even undead creatures are affected, though they do not get the “asleep” condition, with the staggered condition instead lasting longer.
The second power you get is “Ward Against Death” which is an aura that protects against all death effects, energy drain, and negative level effects (though any lost previously aren’t removed, they simply have no effect). That means that none of those spells or abilities work in those areas, something that is extremely handy for those who hunt particular types of monsters, especially the undead.
Spells:
The spells you get with the Repose domain are as follows:
Deathwatch
Simply put, this spell allows you to see the state of any creatures in range. More specifically if they’re dead, fragile (with fewer than 3 hp left), fighting off death, healthy, undead or none of the above (like a construct). For most games, this likely will not see much use, except perhaps as an alternate detect undead, but certain GMs do not allow the passing of information, such as remaining hit points, among players, in which case this spell becomes invaluable to any healer.
Gentle Repose
Usually used only by adventurers when they wish to preserve a comrade for the use of a raise dead spell or similar magic, gentle repose also has a much less creepy/sinister/disgusting use: keeping meat fresh after a normal kill. It would allow you to bring a valuable dead creature to a customer, where you could sell it as fresh meat (such as a fresh dragon corpse), that they could then harvest for organs or whatever they wished to do.
Speak with Dead
Used to commune with those who’ve passed away, this spell allows you to ask questions of a corpse, though it can ONLY answer questions, so you cannot have a conversation with it. Answers will normally be brief or cryptic, like riddles, and those who disliked you before they die might well still do so. Further, it gets a saving throw if it had a different alignment to you, and if that is successful, it can try to deceive you using the Bluff skill, or even just refuse to answer your questions. Finally it only also knows that which it knew while alive, so its information might be incorrect, incomplete or lacking. One thing to note, especially for GMs, is that this is a spell that could well require a lot of preparation on your part, due to the “cryptic” answers being possible. If you expect your players to cast this spell on a corpse, it’s worth taking a little time to consider what it might say.
Death Ward
Sort of a discount version of the Ward against Death domain power, death ward only gives a +4 bonus on saving throws versus death spells and magical death effects. It still grants immunity to energy drain and negative energy effects though, and it has a fairly long duration, so it may still be worth taking for a cleric with the Repose Domain.
Slay Living
This is a simple spell. Melee Touch attack and then 12d6+9 points of damage (at minimum). That means an average of 51 points of damage provided they fail their saving throw. Quite possibly the best 5th level attack spell that a priest can get access to, though annoyingly it still gives the saving throw, in spite of requiring an attack roll (normally it’s one or the other).
Undeath to Death
This is an excellent spell for clearing away undead minions of the villain (as it is somewhat unlikely to kill the villain himself at this level, since it can only affect undead 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.
Destruction
Right, so this is the FIRST save or die spell. It does an automatic 130 points of damage (at minimum level) and 10d6 points of damage if you make the saving throw. Furthermore, if your opponent dies, then it becomes incredibly difficult to restore them to life, requiring either a true resurrection, a wish spell along with resurrection, or a miracle spell.
Waves of Exhaustion
An excellent spell to deal with large crowds, even those of powerful creatures, as there is no saving throw, and it has a decent range of a 60 ft. cone-shaped burst. Anyone caught in the cone is exhausted, meaning they are at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. And it takes them an hour just to recover to fatigued. (A fatigued creature can neither run nor charge and takes a –2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. Doing anything that would normally cause fatigue causes the fatigued character to become exhausted. After 8 hours of complete rest, fatigued characters are no longer fatigued).
Wail of the Banshee
And here is the ULTIMATE “save or die” spell. The closest creature to you dies if they fail a save, and even if they make it, they take a minimum of 170 points of damage. (10 points of damage per level, and minimum level 17 to cast). Incredibly powerful spell, and should you make it to this level of spellcasting ability, I suggest you pick it up.
New Deity
Ereshkigal
Guardian of the Dead, Queen of the Vast Realm, Great Lady under the Earth
Alignment LN
Worshipers morticians, mourners, embalmers, those who work with the dead, undead-hunters
Cleric Alignments LG, LN, LE, N
Domains: Earth, Glory, Law, Protection, Repose, Rune Domain
Sub-domains: Ancestors, Caves, Defense, Honor, Judgement, Souls
Favored Weapon: chakram
Symbol: a winged woman, wearing a headdress consisting of 4 pairs of horns ending topped by a disc.
The Queen of the Vast Realm is a god of death–not of the act of dying, but of the act of BEING dead and having suffered death. She cares not for how someone got to her realm, but only with maintaining order in the afterlife. As such, she sees undead creatures as things to be destroyed, so that their souls may return to her realm, and their bodies may find rest once more. She cares little for the living, safe in the knowledge that eventually, everyone passes through her realm. She shuns those who may end their lives needlessly, as everything has a place and a time to pass into her realm, one that should not be hastened until the soul has matured and is ready.
Erishkigal does not have many worshippers, and only a small clergy, but almost every community has a single worshipper of Erishkigal, one who takes care of the dead, to ensure that they remain in their graves. They’re a morose lot, having little humor, and seeing life only as a necessary stop before embracing the Great Lady under the Earth.
The clergy of Ereshkigal does not celebrate any holidays. Instead, they observe equinox and have a small ceremony honoring the passing of anyone that they’re in contact with, whether through work or personal acquaintances. This tends to make the society in which they live consider them to be somewhat ghoulish and macabre, though none can question the seriousness with which they approach their work.
Join us next time as we look at the Ruins domain.
Kim Frandsen
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