Five New Cleric Spells

I’m hip deep in editing and development work, which means that occasionally my brain needs a break to create some new stuff. Even after XGTE, TCOE, and Seas of Vodari, the higher spell levels are fairly slim pickings for clerics, so that’s what I’m hoping to deal with a bit today – spells for clerics of 5th level and higher, and maybe some 5th-level spells for paladins. If they’re flavored particularly toward Under the Seas of Vodari, so much the better.

Blood Penance

5th-level necromancy (cleric, paladin, warlock)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute

A creature of your choice within range must succeed a Charisma saving throw or become cursed for the duration of the spell. When the creature deals damage to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you, you deal an additional 2d6 necrotic damage to it the next time you hit it with an attack before the end of your next turn.

A remove curse spell ends this effect.

Healing Flood

5th-level evocation (cleric, druid, paladin)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (30 feet)
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

When you cast this spell, you and creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you regain 2d8 hit points. For the spell’s duration, as a bonus action, you can choose one creature within 30 feet that you can see. A torrent of healing water rushes from you toward it, and it regains 1d4 + your spellcasting modifier hit points. Any number of creatures of your choice standing in a 5-foot-wide line between you and your target regain hit points equal to your spellcasting ability modifier. Constructs and undead can’t regain hit points from this spell.

You can also use a bonus action to heal yourself for 2d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.

Living Lightning

7th-level conjuration (cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a three-pronged copper rod)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You summon three motes of living lightning, tiny elementals found in Vesi’s Rage. They manifest in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of a creature that you can see within 60 feet. As a free action, you can mentally command each mote to move up to 60 feet and attack or defend one creature within 5 feet of it. The motes take their turns immediately after your turn. A mote that is not within 5 feet of a creature at the end of its turn disappears.

A mote that is commanded to attack makes a melee spell attack with a 5-foot reach, using your spell attack modifier. On a hit, the target takes 4d6 lightning damage and can’t take reactions until the end of the mote’s next turn. The mote can only make opportunity attacks against the creature you most recently commanded it to attack.

A mote that is commanded to defend grants the creature it is defending resistance to lightning and thunder damage, and when the creature it is defending is hit with a melee attack, the attacking creature takes 10 lightning damage and has disadvantage on attacks it makes until the end of the mote’s next turn.

Motes are immune to all damage, but they can be banished, charmed, or dispelled. They use your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus as their modifier for all saving throws.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 9th-level spell slot, you can summon a fourth mote of living lightning.

Token of the Seas Beyond

7th-level necromancy (cleric, warlock)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a coin that has been used to pay for the dead)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You and up to six willing creatures within 10 feet of you become ghostly for the spell’s duration. This spell effect ends for any creature that ends its turn more than 60 feet from you. Creatures affected by this spell gain the following effects:

· They have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by nonmagical weapons that aren’t made of silver.

· They have resistance to necrotic and poison damage.

· They have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.

· They can pass through creatures and objects as if they are difficult terrain, and they take 1d10 force damage if they end their turn inside an object.

· They gain a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

· While in sunlight, they have disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

If you maintain concentration on this spell for its entire possible duration and you are on the surface of the ocean or within sight of the ocean, a ship arrives that can take you to the Seas Beyond.

Tomb of Nolgathar

8th-level abjuration (bard, cleric)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a platinum tablet inscribed with the target’s name, worth at least 1,000 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You attempt to bind your target in a tomb of stone and coral, similar to the one that bound the deep dreamer, Nolgathar the Contagion. Coral and stone grow around the limbs of one creature you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or become restrained and unable to teleport. At the end of each of its turns while it is not paralyzed or stunned, it can make a Dexterity saving throw. On a success, it escapes from the tomb and the spell ends.

At the beginning of a turn in which the target is restrained but not paralyzed or stunned, it must succeed a Strength saving throw or become paralyzed. At the end of each of its turns while it is paralyzed but not stunned, it can make a Strength saving throw with disadvantage. On a success, it is no longer paralyzed.

At the beginning of a turn in which the target is paralyzed but not stunned, it must succeed a Charisma saving throw or become stunned. Every 10 minutes after that, it can make a Charisma saving throw. On a success, it is no longer stunned.

If the target is stunned by this spell at the end of its duration, the spell becomes permanent. The tomb of coral and stone that the spell builds around the target is at least twice the creature’s size.

Design Notes

Blood penance is risky in terms of having no set upper limit on damage stacking – cast it on a dragon and watch them die horribly after using a breath weapon on a whole party, I guess? Or if a lich is in the process of murdering a whole town? But that’s also very much the narrative, so maybe it’s okay?

Healing flood is trying to get more aquatic with healing themes, so it’s playing on water of life and healing stream concepts. Its potential healing output is huge, but it does take your bonus actions pretty steadily. If you want to use it for out-of-combat healing, well, a 5th-level slot should be worth a lot, I’d say?

Living lightning is inspired by a moment from Altera Awakens, a local LARP, but also I just think clerics and others should be able to summon bits of Vesi’s Rage and try to use it for their own ends, given a high enough spell slot. We’ll see if that idea earns the approval of the Vodari Keepers of the Canon.

Token of the Seas Beyond is combining a lot of different ideas into one 7th-level spell: pass without trace, etherealness sort of, and a very constrained form of plane shift. I’m hoping it feels awesome for Vodari lore.

Tomb of Nolgathar is intended to be a lesser form of imprisonment, in that it grants a progressive save sort of like flesh to stone. Not 100% sure if it works, and using stunned for the final condition means it probably doesn’t affect the kaiju-like deep dreamers that it is most intended to be used against (that’s what Nolgathar was in Vodari lore, before getting killed).

I hope you like my weird ideas! I hope I'm not repeating myself from a spell I've previously written for Seas of Vodari or anyone else, or accidentally making something too close to existing official spells - that's been happening lately and it's frustrating as hell.