Divine Intervention in Dungeons & Dragons

[@00784865]

Divine intervention for war cleric: HQ this is Alfa leader, requesting support, over. HQ: Alfa Leader this is Big Boss what is your situation? War Cleric: We are heavily outnumbered and outguned, requesting immediate assistance. HQ: Stand by Alfa Leader, sending support now. The cleric sees as a squad of angels decends upon the battlefiled raining radiant death upon everything.

[@Nicolas-hj2qj]

War Cleric: *a tear of blood falls from his left eye* This is the most beautiful thing i've ever seen

[@Lectical]

"Tactical nuke inbound"

[@DaDunge]

I'm reminded of firefly: "The Alliance said they were gonna waltz through Serenity Valley and we choked 'em with those words. We've done the impossible and that makes us mighty. Just a little while longer, our angels are gonna be soaring overhead raining fire on those arrogant cod, so you hold!"

[@WisdomThumbs]

“Roger that, Alpha One. Deploying Planetars.”

[@elbruces]

"Meteor strike spell incoming, I suggest you take cover."

[@DerrylTheHero]

I played a post curse of strahd one shot where the cleric of the original game we played rallied a group of clerics to take strahd out once and for all. By the end of the session the area around strahd's coffin was warded from undead so he couldnt actually return. Each cleric in line attempted their divine intervention and the last person had a tempest cleric and succeeded saying "deal with strahd however you see fit". I described it as these massive thick "worms" crashing through the wall of ravenloft and wrapping around the misty form of him and pulling him out from the castle and as the "worms" pulled away, everyone realised they weren't worms, but fingers of a divine hand attached to this massive arm that had arose from the sea (ravenloft was flooded at this point to changed the tone) and with one massive motion, the arm tensed as the hand clutched its fist and strahd was destroyed forever. The shockwave of the hand clenching strahd rippled out and hit the castle and it started to crumble and everyone had to race out of it before it collapsed into the sea. One of my favorite one shots.

[@albogus3374]

DerryltheHero That’s actually kinda creative. Might do something similar

[@DaDunge]

@@albogus3374 Damn that's awesome.

[@nickwilliams8302]

One thing I like about the Divine Intervention ability is that it deals with the inevitable request, "Can't I just pray to my god?" It's a more serious question than it might first appear, since - by the mid-levels - a Cleric PC is among the most prominent of their deity's servants. Divine Intervention provides an actual mechanic to address this: "Yes, you _can_ directly ask your god for aid. Roll percentile dice."

[@maxx8362]

I love how Moradin is both the most and least likely god to just drop an anvil on someone as an answer.

[@lorekeeper685]

Thats moradin for you

[@frankzamary2477]

I have always ruled that Divine Intervention should be stronger than thr wish spell. Wish is at your command every single day once you hit 17th level. Divine Intervention has the seven day limitation and, prior to 20th level, you have less than a one in five chance of it working, less than one in ten when you get it. When Divine Intervention happens, it should be a huge moment for the cleric. Most clerics will never successfully pull this off in a campaign. If it happens, the players should remember that moment.

[@jhinpotion9230]

Wish isn't at your command every single day. If you use the spell for anything other than the purposes of replicating a spell of 8th level or lower, you have a 33% chance of losing the spell forever *and* you weaken the hell out of yourself for a bit.

[@gyorgyor7765]

It might not seem like it, but Divine Intervention IS more powerful then wish because A you can use it at 10th level and B it make mimic 9th level spells and C its coming from the God not the cleric, so a God you gate in one of its most powerful servants to just wreck havoc or gate in a being that can cast wish, or true resurrect a dead bodiless Ancient Gold Dragon, or Planar shift every enemy off the battlefield, and more.

[@jhinpotion9230]

@@gyorgyor7765 Dude, what? There's no such thing as casting it at 10th level; that just isn't a thing. Second, "it can mimic ninth level spells." I mean, it might? But, like... that's not for the cleric to decide.

[@astro7876]

@@jhinpotion9230 I think he meant class levels, not spell levels.

[@jhinpotion9230]

@@astro7876 Oh, wait, that makes a ton more sense. Right.

[@ashenwuss1651]

I had a character die at lvl10 while there were about 4 NPCs of the same level helping our party. I took up controlling the Life Cleric NPC after my character died. I ended up using the Intervention when the Cleric was being washed away and drowned by a raging stream of water. The Intervention failed completely. From there, he barely managed to survive on his own and I started roleplaying a nihilistic Life Cleric. I love DnD

[@scottbruckner4653]

when you facing a BBEG and you bust out this puppy after being a good little cleric all year. Cleric/Hp1: GOD! HELP! BBEG: Your God can't hear you scream for yo- **The earth parts as a platinum plated skeleton crawls from the earth in lavish white silken robes with intricate gold lacing of all the different methods of death lining the robe and they look down at the cleric** God: Hey buddy. Cleric: Hi God. BBEG: HOW DARE YOU COME INTO MY- God: S I L E N C E M O R T A L **Zap** BBEG: **Is now at half health** You... God: Go get em, dude **Zap** Cleric: **HP BACK TO FULL** Thanks, God.

[@connorschultz380]

*BBEG Big bad end game?

[@DaDunge]

@@connorschultz380 Big Bad evil guy.

[@fhuber7507]

Any PC can ask for intervention. Clerics have a much higher chance of getting an answer they notice. I had a player way back in early 2nd Edition ask for divine intervention. A fighter (essentially a barbarian) worshiper of Crom. Rolled 00. (the nat 20 of % dice) He got yellow rain.

[@defensivekobra3873]

Is it divine urine or is there some god forgoten feature in 2e called yellow rain

[@tideoftime]

@@defensivekobra3873 And the thing is, in DnD, _that's a legit question_ ... lol

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@tideoftime i mean yellow mold exist

[@tideoftime]

@@defensivekobra3873 ...so you're saying yellow mold is just dehydrated god-pee...? ;) lol

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@tideoftime well _now_ i do

[@gyorgyor7765]

The best spells to cast with Divine Intervention are Planar Ally and Gate because you can make say an Angel or other Celestial/Fiend/Elemental appear as a messager from the God that is free to act out the Gods wishes in the scene, not the clerics.

[@DaDunge]

The gate spell could allow a god to step through the gate themselves. The only thing preventing the gate spell from doing that regularly is that a god can prevent a gate from opening close to them, well if the god is the one casting the gate spell then that's not an issue.

[@alanschaub147]

This conversation was actually quite profound even outside of the context of D&D.

[@gyorgyor7765]

The Cleric is probably the single most profound class in the game because the Cleric is going to be the party Theologian and/or Philosopher.

[@BulkyMcBulkerson]

First campaign I played a campaign as a cleric, I succeeded 7+ times on divine intervention and my DM started imposing a penalty system XD

[@Novenae_CCG]

I mean, there's still a week between uses, right? That seems like a decent drawback.

[@BulkyMcBulkerson]

@Titanium Mage It was unfair, but he later introduced a way to get rid of the penalty and I declined it because it made for better story. Also, in his defense, I did some really stupid stuff. Like asking for assistance in making a Legendary piece of equipment (storm giant gauntlets), the god made it so I could do it in a week; the rest was good rolls and hiring a bard to inspire me throughout the process.

[@BulkyMcBulkerson]

@@Novenae_CCG The thing is, we didn't have anyone that could teleport or transport via plants, so we had a lot of travel time; see where this is going?

[@Novenae_CCG]

@@BulkyMcBulkerson Hm, I guess it depends on the setting, too. If you're just a couple of wandering adventures without time constraints, I could see it posing a problem, since it will always be available at the next major event. However, your DM could start writing more about the world at large, and orchestrate events that happen regardless of where you are, which could be a fair way to 'punish' slow travel. That's just one option, though. If you guys are having fun, then it's all good.

[@justinhurrelbrink596]

Cleric using divine intervention: "hey lord?" Cleric's God: "for the 17th time, call me 'Sky Daddy' and I'm not giving you a bag of Doritos"

[@gregkun1]

God: "All these prayers coming at me all at once...I can't make them all out...Hmm... I know!" *God looks far into the future of moral worlds to find a better system.* "E-mail? That could work!" *Set up a prayer to e-mail conversion.* "999 billion+ prayers.....998.9999999 billion are junk.." *looks annoyed at that.* "What a bunch of blasphemous whiners... Don't they know Sundays are my day off?"

[@greatgyatso5429]

Arguably the best capstone ability in the game. At 20th, level, your intervention automatically succeeds. Once every 7 days, wield the power of a god. Keeping in mind that this is what Cleric's get instead of the "Wish" spell, its allowed to be pretty powerful! That being said, a true cleric would use this power responsibly. If a cleric were to ask for unlimited gold and riches, the god might punish this request by dropping an unending waterfall of gold and treasure on their head. Keep in mind that DI must be within the god's power to bestow! It is hard for them to challenge another divine being of equal strength, and of course, don't put your DM in a difficult position by derailing their campaign. Ways to use Divine Intervention that wont piss off your DM/God: 1.) Duplicating a spell or Channel Divinity in the game at max level. 2.) Asking for a magic item, or an object relevant to the story. 3.) Trying to resurrect a dead or lost being. 4.) Reinforcements! 5.) Something relevant to your god's place in the pantheon. If your god is Pluto, god of wealth, you could ask for a wallet that will always have funds to pay for something you truly NEED, vs just having infinite money.

[@jasonkiesling]

Im always glad to hear D&D luminaries talking shop. You go Big J. Wish I could run a game with guys and gals that are as into it as you are. I so badly want a job at Wizards

[@Fallenmonkd20]

I've only divine intervention work in one of my games once so I've never got to experience it much. It seems like a really cool power though!!

[@stephensommers4628]

There should be a warlock equivalent of Devine Intervention. Let something evil grant your wish but at a serious cost.

[@gidco6044]

Thanks for the idea! I'm totally going to homebrew that to my campaign

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

Sounds like it should be part of a new pact. Yet making the pact focus on charms, curses, hexes, potion brewing and such could make it part of a ritual and in turn make the warlock more less lean towards a classic witch theme. Yet any female PC or NPC who's a part of the warlock class are witches considering that in modern media and such warlocks and witches are the same. The Chilling adventures of Sabrina is an example of a witch whose part of the pact of the fiend subclass and is trying to break said pact with her patron.

[@twagetomato]

“You saved the party, but at what cost?” taken to a whole new level with this version of intervention

[@ATMOSK1234]

Doesnt the genie patron UA pact have an ability like that?

[@DaDunge]

@@ATMOSK1234 Limited wish yeah.

[@XoRandomGuyoX]

So, "YMMV" is the main warning label for Divine Intervention. Because it's DM-controlled it might be underwhelming. E.g. the DM might just replicate a 5th level spell, turning what might be a once-or-twice-per-campaign moment into an extra spell slot for the day.

[@mrsparkle9048]

The idea of a divine presence being a bit of a trickster in fulfilling your request reminds me of a line from King of the Hill no less, where John Redcorn says: "When we ask for strength the Great Spirit sends us difficulties to make us stronger."

[@lafortya]

Yeah, just ask Elric about his thoughts on divine intervention.

[@johnnylow3352]

I've been using this for a few years now. Always found the Clerics to be cookie cutter in design. A cleric of Talos, and cleric of Zeus would both be Tempest clerics. Yet both gods are different, but both clerics have the same spells? What I do is use the old school books and find their Specialty Priest spells, and convert those. Or tailor something if their deity isn't represented.

[@matt.oconnor]

If my players tried every day to use Divine Intervention to revive someone, depending on how long and what diety, I'd probably consider bending towards reincarnation instead lol.

[@jgr7487]

or bring the revived character as a revenant

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

I think it depends on the deity's domain. A trickery domain goddess may opt for reincarnation while a death domain god would have the player return as a revenant. Yet the newest module covering curses and such makes revanats playable since players can choose undead as a race now.

[@matthewsidewater6641]

Zachary Gadzinski what module is this?

[@jgr7487]

@@matthewsidewater6641 I think he's talking about a UA

[@zacharygadzinski3147]

@@matthewsidewater6641 Ishavar's guide to Curses. It came out a week ago. From the article I read it allows Undead and a few others as a race option, nerfs remove curse, and delves deeper into curses. So if your party tries to cast remove curse on a lycanthrope who embraced their lycanthropy and it fails to remove the lycanthropy, then the DM could build a scenario around the backfire. Not to mention a god of death could bring back a player as an undead.

[@SicXtail]

I'm waiting for Lord of Madness adaptation for 5e, that is my kind favorite of God intervention. I mean, we need villain for new good stories.

[@SeattleFira]

I'm really happy to hear this. I used a Hallow spell during a Devine intervention moment in my campaign. I just spruced up the spell and what it could looked like

[@DaDunge]

I could also see a deity gating the cleric to his domain having a long talk with him then putting him back super buffed a round later from the combats perspective but hours later from the Clerics perspective.

[@Abelhawk]

Since you can only attempt to do Divine Intervention once per day, I can’t really see a god getting bothered.

[@TheCart54321]

A week

[@DaDunge]

@@TheCart54321 Once per day if it fails.

[@hypatiaatheiria5868]

I set divine intervention as a DC 23 which shoots up to DC 47 when successful, droppping back to DE 23 at 1 DC per day

[@binolombardi]

I think it would require a good bit of investment in the knowledge of the particular god. I like the idea of the god having access to knowledge and wisdom to help in a way that might not seem to be directly useful. answering the call with a boon that might also be a test of faith. Also perhaps tying in a level of effectiveness to reflect on the standing of the cleric with the god.

[@teagan_p_999]

I gave a player a solar in a fight against Tiamat in a 20th level one-shot. Dropped a figure on the board and handed them the stat block. They wished they had tried it sooner, they thought I would just replicate a spell, but I think that's rather underwhelming for a favour from god. If it's a spell, it should be a high-level one, I might have done the 9th-level healing one of their health was in a worse place.

[@JacksonBockus]

I have at times told a player what the result of a successful Divine Intervention is likely to be, sometimes with an Intelligence (Religion) check. The cleric's player was wondering if they could use Divine Intervention to destroy a lich's phylactery, so I had them roll and said "You worship a goddess of life. She would likely destroy the phylactery by pulling the soul out and putting it back in the lich, restoring them to life." Of course I didn't tell them what they could not know, which is how the lichee might feel about the sudden termination of their undeath.

[@connorschultz380]

X lick: ....dame it...it took me sooo long to get that form like..... 2 campaigns...

[@TopcatsLair]

Trickery domain clerics would be interesting to call upon

[@Lore-se8fh]

I agree. As some one who plays a trickery cleric who reluctantly worships Beshaba and tries to subvert/ignore her requests, it could get intresting.

[@TopcatsLair]

@@Lore-se8fh i kinda want to be a cleric of Loki now. Me: I cast Divine Intervention DM: Suddenly Tom Hiddleston appears and says "Kneel... kneel before your king"

[@Lore-se8fh]

@@TopcatsLair Sounds Beautiful!

[@David-hx6hw]

I was playing a Tempest Domain Cleric in a homebrewed campaign and had to use this the session I got it. My party had a signed a binding magical contract that had us wandering in a tomb... long story short we awoke an evil death god who turned anyone who failed the Wisdom save in 200 miles into a zombie, both the Rogue and Fighter failed. So I used it as an attempt, hoping for maybe some lightning to allow us to get away, but no my deity decided to drop right into combat and personally remove us from the area so he could fight this death god

[@carlossantiago7374]

Playing a hombrew adventure we were fighting a litch and losing, i brock was the las one standing (viking theme life domain cleric) i yell to the bard bottleneck wake up( healing word curing him 8hp ). I said to my dm I'll start praying to odin. What do u ask said the dm, i ask him to forgive this litch and grand him the honore to live in valhalla for all eternity. I roll successfully, he got banish to valhalla in an everlasting war between the litch and all of ancestors.

[@aidanfilby8824]

I love the idea of a BBEG who's god is a rival to the party's Cleric. Cleric uses divine intervention but so does BBEG and so both try to help out as their gods war in the skies above them. Everyone else is just trying to survive the chaos caused by this huge battle.

[@jonathanbionicle36]

I find it funny that as these two talk they refer to "divine intervention" as a 10th level cleric ability. In two separate campaigns, I've played, in I have seen a 6th (or so) level, paladin "pray" to her God and with a natural 20 (because shut up) the party got a Deus ex machina to help out. And in a different game, a level 8 cleric similarly prayed to his god and (again with a high d20 roll) a legendary creature was teleport directly on top of us. Mine you these games had different DMs. Ultimately the players at my game group don't know how divine intervention is supposed to work or the significance of it, BUT that being said I can't lie and say I didn't have fun in those campaigns. Recently I did DM a game where a level 1 cleric prayed to his Patheon and I really liked how he did it. The player took the time to visit a Temple pay the fee and respects, didn't ask for anything specific only the safety of his new comrades. In response, I gave the low-level party a free bless spell that only one of them made use of before the eight hours were up. With MY opinion being that's how you should run clerical prayer, it feels more significant than a free get out of prison card (which is what happened in the paladin story).

[@goyasolidar]

R'hllor allowed Thoros of Myr to resurrect Beric Dondarrion six times. Just saying.

[@Demonsthere]

That was just revivify, didn't return him his eye

[@jgr7487]

and Beric grew weirder everytime he came back

[@jasminpoljak6115]

In campaigns I played DI was largly underused and considered crapy. Low chance to cast a cleric spell was used when you run out of spells. It was no big swing, at least by that recomendation from PHB.

[@theothomas7312]

Looking forward to using this with my cleric

[@joelsmall8565]

Divine intervention is great i saved my lv 10 party from an Ancient green dragon with it.

[@AllThingsFascinate]

Am I the only one that thinks a channel divinity or cleric spell seems super underpowered? I can just cast that myself? I guess maybe you could get a spell higher level than you can cast, but if I'm choosing to use my action in dire circumstances and get lucky enough for divine intervention to work, I feel like it should actually turn the tide. Not "whoop di do, you cast a spell"

[@jshricks]

5E is so nerfed. Divine intervention has been a feature in DnD forever. For instance, in Keep of the Borderlands one of the foes could plea for divine intervention and if he succeeded his god would "remove him from the threat the PCs pose" by killing him. How is that for divine intervention?

[@davidlewis8814]

When I played a cleric thru 17th level, I never once had it actually work. The dice were always against me, and I felt so frustrated by that. Alas for me, but we beat Tiamat anyway!

[@feylights166]

I love that the gods have personalities

[@LeBigsou]

Remember to vote with your Johnson!

[@tommyboymp]

Question about the rules. Devine intervention states that it always succeeds at 20th level. It does not specify at level 20 in the cleric class. If one were to multi class and reach level 20, does divine intervention still automatically succeed?

[@SilverScribe85]

Say that my character's a Cleric and she's protecting herself from harm; particularly from a spell cast by another Cleric. Is Divine Intervention the right spell to use for this sort of thing or is something else required

[@probablythedm1669]

I'd be careful about using divine intervention to get *ex. That's how you get Aasimar or Tieflings, which might solve the issue later on but in the moment I doubt that's the best use of the ability. (I'm sorry, I just had to when Jeremy kept saying "getting X" like he was censoring himself. :P)

[@saintpoli6800]

I wonder how Kelemvor would react to Divine Intervention... The Lord of the Dead, Judge of the Damned.

[@waybig10101]

I remember as a DM, a player asked me what was more powerful...wish or divine intervention, and I in turn ask do you think a level 20 wizard is more powerful then a god?

[@KodyackCasual]

I'd vote wizard tbh. people tend to think that gods are "beyond the possibilities of all in the realm" to which I respond, what's the point of the player's adventures then? more importantly, I view levels 17 to 20 as equivalent to say, superman. Superman is beyond most of the pagan gods in DC, or at least able to compete with them (DC is a little vague on actual god though, but he doesn't apply here either way.) basically, Hercules, I'd say is a 14th level fighter or barbarian. And he can wrestle and defeat gods, sometimes with ease, and even someone like an 11th level here like Perseus can compete with a god in combat. thus, a 20th level wizard is, in my opinion, beyond or on par with a god in 5e. Does this mean a cleric someday surpasses their god? yes and no. In pure power, perhaps, as they gain a greater connection and conviction and grant *themselves* the power they want, yet they still serve their god. They may not be able to do or live as long as the god, though, and thus are akin to a brightly burning flame; eclipsing the constant bonfire they were sparked from, but soon to fade and burn out.

[@ryanmillar5467]

@@KodyackCasual Can't say I agree. A 20th level PC would get easily destroyed by many, many different enemies. Depending on stats you could get one shot by low CR enemies like an intellect devourer. Most dragons could kill you in just a couple rounds of breath unless you have a resistance or are a bear totem barbarian. Most DnD groups are just that, groups of people, so an entire team of 20th level pcs working together could eaaily beat dragons and be considered stronger than a god when they're together, but I don't think a single 20th level PC is stronger than a god, not without some shenanigans going on anyway

[@User-he6zd]

@@KodyackCasual However gods can cast spells above level 9

[@amamemuse]

DnDBeyond, you need a new sound guy. Todd’s voice is at least 5db higher than Jeremy’s throughout the entire video

[@TheDontbeEvil]

a mini karsus avatar?

[@raylordofkhalah28]

war cleric: help my lord! deity: wassup cleric: this guy mad deity: lmaoooooo *9th lvl fireball, BBEG autofailed because divine intervention* BBEG: fools, i WANTED TO DIE MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA bye thanks for killing me i can't die as a lich so thanks for letting me pass on

[@nathanduclos5045]

storytelling, you wish to bring someone back, but you find your self pregnant and the kid is the re-incarnation of the individual you wanted to raise.

[@wallytusks6417]

Wheres the thumbnail artwork sourced?

[@greatstoryteller9459]

Cleric: please god! Give me your holly army! *the sky opens as one angel apears. A spear in there hand and a shield in the other in white probes. And the cleric bows down knowing that's its Michael the arc angel. Aka a angel of holly war and combat that is stupid strong*

[@Slayer_Jesse]

Wow, I didn't know Holly trees had such power.

[@ShadowCoH316]

Oh hey, new camera?

[@quintinsteevessenior5568]

Soooooo, for those types of players that don't like the clerics that believe in god, they use the "essence" of peace? In a game with as much supernatural lore as it has, devils, demons, dragons, vorpal magic, celestials, patrons, etc etc and some folks have a problem with gods existing? Lols. The irony is thick with that one

[@KungfooBucket]

Nothing wrong with fictitious gods...

[@agilemind6241]

People don't mind the existence of gods, so much as they dislike the idea of being dependent on the whims of a god or having to worship/be subservient of a god. It's why warlocks are more popular than clerics.

[@quintinsteevessenior5568]

@@agilemind6241 makes sense, but some folks take the game too seriously that way. However warlocks are still subservient to their patrons

[@boitata2617]

Olá somebody like the video, I want to, but I can't be the six hundred sixty six one, the irony is to much

[@captainpandabear1422]

I hate this ability as a DM. The clerics always try to sell it as much more than it is: "Oh, my divine intervention should let me cast meteor swarm." Or "My tempest cleric god should let my lightning bolts all hit at once instead of over 10 minutes, that's only 100d10, no big deal!"

[@ANDELE3025]

Hey why not, especially if they use it as a trump card against a good thematic fight, after all its a weekly cooldown ability thus one doesnt actually have to worry about it much.

[@captainpandabear1422]

@@ANDELE3025 My campaign has a week of downtime between each session, so yeah, it's a problem.

[@ANDELE3025]

@@captainpandabear1422 At least a week of ingame downtime between each session? Damn. Still shouldnt be really much of a issue being a % roll till 20.

[@armanhammer]

Isn't it a once per day power with a [cleric level] percent chance of working? Even with a lot of downtime and luck, that's one successful use per adventure. But, I do agree that the cleric shouldn't dictate exactly how the miracle should happen. It should be powerful and unpredictable, but always in the cleric's favor.

[@gyorgyor7765]

Make it clear it's the God casting the spell, not the cleric, for it's own agenda. Then have it say summon a Deva or other servant that you think is fitting (via Planar Ally or Gate), to act as a divine messager on behalf of the God, not as a servant to the cleric, unless that makes sense for the God or circumstances like the Cleric has served the Gods interests well. It's much better RP that way, then just having the God smite someone or raise them from dead. A representive of the God and be payed in sooooo many ways.

[@eduardolimayung931]

First! Im a huge fan guys! D&D is life!

[@defensivekobra3873]

Thousanth like!

[@m1xxx3r]

and then Cad rolls 2% for DI