Character: Redvus Dundonald Cleric

Dwarven Clerics in Fifth Edition D&D.

Another D&D Character concept I like is the Hill Dwarf Battle Priest.  While Clerics have a lot of healing they also get heavy armour (at least the ones I play) and a good selection of combat spells.  Divine Strike feature makes them want to be weapon users but melee attacks can often be less effective than cantrips even with Clerics lacking a direct attack roll cantrip spell.

Redvus ~ Devotion to the Forge

Forge Clerics get nine none-cleric spells from their ten domain spells as well as +2 AC, without magic items, by sixth level. While half these spells may be more thematic than generally useful they do get a couple of my favourite Wizard spells with Animate Objects and Wall of Fire.

Build Plan

I originally built this character with rolled stats and a free feat. I got 15, 15, 15, 14, 11, 10.  I have since played them in some one shots and recreated them with Point Buy on the D&D Friends server where they can progress to twentieth level.

Hill Dwarf Cleric ~
S 8; D 10; C 15+2 = 17; I 8; W 15+1 =16; Ch 14; HP 13
Background: Sailor (Athletics, Perception). Skills: Insight, Persuasion
Domain: Forge

Magic Items 

The server uses Treasure Points to allow you to buy what you want.  I have not taken a Magic Weapon at lower levels as 'Blessing of the Forge' gives me that.  At Level 17 I can have the following.
Attuned: Ring of Protection; Belt of Fire Giant Strength; Staff of Power
Other: Plate Armour +1; Shield +1 (level 10) & +2 (Level 15); Cape of Montebank

Having a second shield is useless but it fills the gap between levels and I can possibly lend it out.  After that it would be getting +3 Armour at level 20 and then playing more super powered adventures to get the +3 Shield.

ASI/Feats

For Clerics I have a short list of boosts I want to take and it gets even shorter with point buy when I need to use two of them to boost Wisdom.
Heavy Armour Master: Strength boost and minor damage reduction
Lucky: Always good to smooth out variance. Our default level 16 pick.
Magic Initiate ~ Druid: The only other spell list that uses Wisdom and they have some great cantrip with Shillelagh, Produce Flame and Thorn Whip.  We then have Goodberry as our stand out Level One spell.
Resilient ~ Con: Assuming we have an odd number to start with we get a big boost to saves  from proficiency and a hit point boost.
War Caster: If we are fighting with weapons this helps us juggle the problem of having our hands full.  It also allows cantrips as opportunity attacks.
Wisdom Boost: Depending on stats we are going to need 1-2 of our ASI's to get 20 Wisdom.

Decedent of a God

Reading Percy Jackson books to my daughter it got me thinking about what his children would be.  First quarter-gods then eight-gods and after ten generations there would still be some divine blood in the lineage.  This seemed a great idea for a character background.  Drawn towards the Cleric class by a natural affinity for the Gods and then multi-class with Divine Soul Sorcerer to play up the bloodline.

Why Adventure?

I always like to have some reason for a character to be wandering around adventuring.  In the game world there is a schism between the Luddites and Steamer in Dwarven culture; those that want to embrace new technology and those that do not.  How does this affect the priesthood?  Might priests get banished from the order or choice to remove themselves seeking to try and find an answer by spending time  with other cultures.  A self-imposed exile as a journey of discovery or a penance seems a good reason for a character to be out and about in the world.

Background
Viking Dwarf Priest!
Following a self-imposed exile from the order or Solarus Redvus is seeking to try and find an answer to the infighting between the dwarven factions by spending time with other cultures.
He can trace his ancestors back ten generations to a dwarven demi-god and was drawn to the priesthood at a young age when he felt the healing magics flowing through his blood.

Sailor seems a good background choice for a Saltmarsh game. I also really like the idea of Viking style dwarfs sailing the seas raiding and plundering as they go. We are proficient with Smith and Masons tools making us a skilled craftsman. We get a minimum of 10 Hit Points each level coupled with good armour class giving us a high survival rate.

What are we going to do in Combat?

Action: Other than casting we have cantrips for Necrotic or Radiant damage and a Warhammer for Bludgeoning and later Fire damage.
Bonus Action: Spirital Weapon Attacks (level 3)
Reaction: Nothing until Level 10 with Shield and Absorb Elements!
Concentration: Bless (Level 1-4); Spirit Guardians (Level 5+); Banishment or Wall of Fire (Level 7+); Animate Objects (Level 9+)

Level	Details
1	Hill Dwarf Forge Cleric HP 13. Blessing of the Forge: Gives us a floating +1 to armour or a weapon. This means we start at AC 19 with Chain mail, Shield. Cantrips: Guidance, Sacred Flame, Toll the Dead. First Level Spells: Bless, Cure Wounds, Healing Word Domain Spells: Identify, Searing Smite We can fit the rest of our spell slots with Rituals such as Detect Magic and Purify Food and Drink
2	Level 2 HP 23. Turn Undead makes us a proper Cleric; let the Undead fear us! Artisan's Blessing: Our other channel divinity power. We can create simple items worth up to 100 gp by transforming metal into items. We can make weapons and armour if we need them.
3	HP 33. Second Level Spells: Spiritual Weapon, Lesser Restoration
4	HP 43. ASI Wisdom 18 giving us 8 prepared spells Second Level Spells: Aid and occasionally Silence or Blindness/Deafness Extra Cantrip: Mending suits the character.
5	HP 53. Level 3 Spells! Destroy Undead (CR 1/2): Goodbye Skeletons and Zombies; 80% are instantly destroyed. Third Level Spells: Revivify ~ Given the time restraint we need this prepared in case a party member dies. Spirit Guardians ~ Our main combat spell a decent AoE that also slows Water Walk ~ We are in a water based campaign and I am wearing heavy armour. We could call this protection from drowning.
6	HP 63. AC 22 [Plate + Shield + BotF + SotF] Soul of the Forge: Resistance to Fire and +1 AC when in Heavy armour. Channel Divinity is now twice a day. Even more Zombies turned to ash.
7	HP 73; Level 4 Spells! Domain Spells: Fabricate ~ is the economy breaking spell. If we do not have plate armour yet all that is needed is 750 GP of materials and a day, not a year, to craft with this spell. Wall of Fire ~ Battlefield control with Fire! 22 damage to any monster jumping through to attack. Fourth Level Spells: Death Ward
8	HP 83; ASI Wisdom 20 gives us 13 prepared spells Destroy Undead (CR 1): Ghouls and Specters are now vaporised. Fourth Level Spells: Banishment, Freedom of Movement Divine Strike: Our Warhammer now deals Fire damage. A minor melee boost but we are still mostly a spell caster.
9	HP 93. Level 5 Spells Domain Spells: Animate Objects ~ Lets throw ten silver coins on the floor and then kill everyone with them! Creation ~ If we got shipwrecked we cam make some stuff. Fifth Level Spells: Greater Restoration and Mass Cure Wounds
10	Divine Soul Sorcerer. HP 102 Favored by the Gods: We can add 2d4 to a failed save, or attack. We might even pass some Dex saves now! Extra Cantrips: We get Booming Blade and all the fun Wizard options such as Minor Illusion, Mage Hand Spells: Shield, Absorb Elements and Bless [Law]. The last one frees us up a clerical preparation slot.
11	Back to Cleric. HP 112 Extra Cantrip: Word of Radiance is another AoE and there is not much else to pick. Divine Intervention: This is a rather odd power. It can only work once a week but we can try and activate it once a day. While DM depentant it is essential one Clerical spell without material component. Lets pray for Heroes’ Feast each night. Possibly Resurrection or a healing spell before a boss fight. We now have a 6th level spell slot and no corresponding spells. Both Aid and Banishment are good spells for up-casting. In fact Aid gives us 75 HP [25x3 targets] and Heal would do 70 HP
12	HP 122 and Sixth Level Spells Sixth Level Spells: Heal and Word of Recall Destroy Undead (CR 2): Ghasts are now eliminated. This will probably be where the campaign ends.
13	HP 132 another Feat ~ Might be a bit late for HAM? It would give us the melee attack boost.
14	HP 142 and Seventh Level Spells Seventh Level Spells: Conjure Celestial and Regenerate
15	HP 152 Destroy Undead (CR 3): Mummy's and Wights watch out! Our Warhammer now adds 2d8 Fire damage; hopefully we have a belt of Giant Strength to make best use of it.
18	HP 182 Saint of Forge and Fire: Immunity to Fire and resistance to B/P/S from normal attacks (when wearing our armour). Destroy Undead (CR 4): Banshee, Flame Skull and Ghosts are vanquished. Eighth Level spells give us Antimagic Field and Holy Aura Ninth Level spells give us Mass Heal
20	For the last two levels back to Sorcerer gives us HP 200. We either go back to Sorcerer to get Meta-magic and a few more spells or carry on with Cleric for a final Feat and an extra use of Turn Undead

Other Domains

Buttercup the Nature Cleric
Concept: A weed smoking hippy dwarf from a commune.  He grew up in a forest living with fairies. 

Build Notes: Similar to Forge we have another battle cleric.  This time we get easy access to Shillelagh druid cantrip and an extra skill.  Our level six power gives us Absorb Elements as a reaction every round and Divine Strike gives us options for damage type.  Downside is we do not get the AC boost and our domain spells are a lot worse.

Etri the Life Cleric
Concept: This is the standard party need a good medic who can also dish out some damage.

Build Notes: Much more of as support role making use of spells such as Warding Bond and Blessed Healer to restore our own hit points as we heal others.  Domain spells may not give us any none-clerical spells but we get eight of the best clerical spells without needing to dedicate preparation slots to them.



Image Credits
Dwarven Clerics by BobKehl