The Madness Domain (Cleric)
Sometimes the game has a way of driving you just a little mad…
Art Credit: https://www.amazon.com/Priest-Genesis-Vols-Min-Woo-Hyung/dp/1427854769
This cleric domain is the other side of the same cynical and pessimistic coin as the Oath of Grief paladin subclass that’s also appearing alongside the Madness Domain in The Impermissicon. The class has two 1st-level features in addition to the bonus cantrip because one of them, Divine Hallucinations, isn’t always even a benefit, depending on the DM’s level of deviousness. The 6th level feature, Crazed Stumbling, is conscientiously modeled after the Tempest Domain’s 6th level feature, with some changes that have upsides and downsides alike. The Madness Domain is less martial than the Tempest Domain (since it has more of a mental focus), and thus it receives a boost to its cantrips. The 17th level feature is a powerful, mouth-watering and immensely flavorful reason to pursue the domain in the first place that still aims to be within the realm of balance for capstone abilities. You can’t break a mind that’s already been broken into fine sand…
The Madness domain has some new spells that were previously previewed here, namely incite self-harm and phantasmal plunge. The Madness Domain doesn’t gain access to spells that generate conventionally visible illusions, only hallucinations and personal illusions. Let the Trickery Domain fool others into thinking they’re going crazy. The Madness Domain will make them crazy and forget what the word even means! If you don’t like some of these domain spells, though, there are others that also suffice at each spell level: cause fear (XGE) for 1st-level, mind spike (XGE) for 2nd-level, enemies abound (XGE) for 3rd-level, confusion for 4th-level, and contagion (specifically the mental afflictions: intelligence, wisdom, and dexterity) for 5th-level.
