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If you only knew the amount of time I've spent trying to find a thematic enough iteration of a self-flagellating, penitent Cleric—and then I finally stumbled upon James Rathwell's homebrewed subclass that captured that fantasy perfectly. The Penance Domain Cleric offers a high-risk–high-reward playstyle where your power increases the lower your hit points are, as most subclass features are enabled or become stronger once your hit points go below 50%. Worth noting is that, while you are of course free to do whatever you want, the Penance Cleric is less "I worship Loviatar and thrive on pain" and more "I've done some stuff in my past that I need to atone for." Thus, it could be an interesting take on a resisting Dark Urge character in the sense that you constantly feel the need to atone for your gruesome thoughts and deeds.
This mod also features a brand new spell available for all Clerics, as well as two spells available in 5e that was part of this subclass's domain spell list, all of which are marked with an asterisk in the domain spell list and detailed further below.
When you choose this domain at first level, you gain Proficiency with Martial Weapons.
Furthermore, your god grants you aid in battle for your penance. When you are below half your maximum hit points, once per turn when you deal damage to an enemy, they suffer an additional 1d8 Radiant damage. This increases to 2d8 Radiant damage at 10th level in this class.
They instead take Necrotic damage if your alignment is evil.
NOTES The first of your subclass features that is activated once you go below 50% hit points. You also deal Radiant or Necrotic damage based on your chosen deity! If you're unsure what deities are good, neutral or evil, you can take a look here.
Also at 1st level, you can perform a prayer of penance to ask for your god's aid both in and out of battle. When you or an ally within 9m must roll a Wisdom- or Intelligence-based check or Saving Throw, you can expend your reaction and suffer 1d4 Radiant damage to add 1d4 to the roll's result. If you are below half your maximum hit points when this occurs, you do not need to expend your reaction.
You instead take Necrotic damage if your alignment is evil.
NOTES Kind of similar to Guidance, but not restricted to only ability checks and uses your reaction rather than your action. You will unlock two similar-looking spells at level 1, but one unlocks a targeted ability that you use similarly to Guidance (and which can hopefully be used in dialogue), while the other unlocks an interrupt that triggers when you or an ally could make use of a 1d4 bonus to a Wisdom or Intelligence save. Going below 50% hit points removes the reaction cost, meaning you can continually sacrifice your own health to potentially mitigate or prevent a far more harmful effect while still being able to use your reaction to do other important stuff. Again, the damage dealt to you changes depending on alignment.
Starting at 2nd level, as an Action, you can expend one use of your Channel Divinity to begin a rite of atonement for 1 minute, as you flagellate yourself in penance. As part of this action, make one melee weapon attack against yourself. This attack automatically hits. All enemies within 6m of you must make a Wisdom Saving Throw. On a failure, they suffer an amount of Psychic damage equal to the damage you self-inflicted + your Cleric level. On a successful save, they suffer half damage. You can repeat this action on following turns during this minute.
In addition, if your current hit points are below half your maximum hit points when you use this action, enemies that fail their Saving Throw also become Frightened of you until the beginning of your next turn, as your gruesome flagellations shake them more deeply.
NOTES This domain's Channel Divinity. You essentially attack yourself, dealing weapon damage (and any bonus damage it deals, but without on-attack effects) to deal an equal amount of Psychic damage + a bit more to surrounding enemies. You might think that e.g. two-handed weapons might wreck you, but keep in mind that the larger your weapon's damage die, the more damage you'll deal to your enemies as Psychic damage in turn. The less-than-50%-hit-points effect makes enemies Frightened of you in the process, which interacts nicely with the next subclass feature, Unnerving Ardor.
At 6th level, when an enemy you can see deals damage to you, you can expend your reaction to stare into their soul, unflinching. They must succeed a Charisma Saving Throw or become Restrained until the end of your next turn, as they are frozen in fear. If they are afflicted by the Frightened condition when this happens, they instead become Stunned until the end of your next turn, as the fear grips them more intensely.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom Modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
NOTES I admit, the "frozen in fear but becoming Restrained" reads a bit like being Frightened, but I feel like it's more of a flavor rather than mechanically accurate. Like I mentioned in the previous feature, if you manage to Frighten your enemies before using this, you'll be able to stun them instead, offering brilliant battlefield control.
At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. 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 damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.
NOTES The same Divine Strike as the one Life Domain gets. I toyed with the idea of introducing a choice between Radiant and Necrotic as most other features are based on your alignment, but figured that the author probably only chose Radiant on purpose, so that's what it's going to be.
At 17th level, your penance has strengthened your faith to a bottomless degree, granting you the following benefits:
• You become immune to the Frightened and Charmed conditions.
• While your current hit points are below half your maximum hit points, you have Resistance to all damage.
NOTES *Requires a mod that allows levelling past level 12.* You are now able to capitalize on all your features while being a lot less at risk when below 50% hit points.
BONUS 1st LEVEL SPELL
As a Bonus Action, you can enter into a state of atonement for up to 1 minute, beckoning others to join you. Enemies can add a d4 to attack rolls that target you, but whenever they hit you, they suffer 1d6 Radiant damage as they are lashed with a jolt of penance.
At Higher Levels. The Radiant damage enemies suffer increases by 1d6 for each slot.
NOTES A non-5e spell that was included with the subclass, which is extremely on brand for a Penance Cleric. Nothing too advanced, but makes it easier for you to reach lower health while dishing out free damage to any attacker. This spell is also added to the base Cleric spell list, so any Cleric subclass can use it as long as you have this mod enabled.
BONUS 3rd LEVEL SPELL
As an action, you steel a creature's mind against intrusions. For the duration or until your concentration ends, you or one willing creature you can see within 9m has Resistance to Psychic damage, as well as Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma Saving Throws.
At Higher Levels. You can target one additional creature for each spell slot above 3rd.
NOTES One of two 5e spells that were included in the domain spell list that was easy enough to implement. Steeling your resolve feels appropriate for a Penance Cleric, and is pretty useful in a number of situations in the game given the amount of psionic-based enemies you face.
BONUS 5th LEVEL SPELL
You choose a point within range and cause Psychic energy to explode there. Each creature in a 6m radius sphere centered on that point must make an Intelligence Saving Throw. A creature with an Intelligence score of 2 or lower can't be affected by this spell. A target takes 8d6 Psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
After a failed save, a target has muddled thoughts for 1 minute. During that time, it rolls a d6 and subtracts the number rolled from all its attack rolls and ability checks, as well as its Constitution Saving Throws to maintain concentration. The target can make an Intelligence Saving Throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
NOTES The second of the two. Also easy enough to implement, and thematic enough for BG3 to make me wonder why it wasn't included in the base game.
POTENTIAL ISSUES/DISCLAIMERS
• The original subclass also included a cantrip named Shame, but—although interesting—given its mechanics, it would've been too annoying to implement.
• I exchanged a few spells from the original domain spell list, either because it included spells that are annoying to make, or because they're impossible to implement. Absorb Elements was exchanged for Shield of Faith, to provide some more evasiveness, and Rary's Telepathic Bond was exchanged for Destructive Wave, to build on the Radiant/Necrotic theme.
1. Start BG3 Mod Manager and press the "Open Mods Folder" button on the top bar, or press Windows + R and type %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\Mods\. 2. Open "PenanceDomain.zip" and place "PenanceDomain.pak" in the Mods folder. 3. inactive mods to active mods in the mod manager window. If you encounter any issues, try placing it further down in the load order. Make sure you use the "Public" profile. 4. Click "Save Load Order to File" in the top bar and launch the game.
