Tips on Statting a Life Cleric as an NPC in dnd 5e

Are you looking for an easy Cleric NPC 5e build guide? Here are some dos and don’ts. Don’t try to create a PC as a “monster” – players generally have very low health relative to the damage they deal and are easily destroyed by focused crowd control. That said, you can give NPCs any class feature you find useful. You may begin with one of the NPCs from the MM or Volo’s Guide. The MM has the Priest or Cult Fanatic (CR 2), which may be appropriate if your group is very low level. If you want something with more punch, the War Priest from Volo’s is CR 9.

The War Priest is probably your best bet to start with, swapping out features for the Life Domain equivalents. Since CR9 is perhaps too tough for your group in an encounter with additional tricks, I’d probably “downlevel” him a bit (lower his HP, take him down a few levels (-1 to his proficiency bonus), swap out his Plate armor for Chain, maybe take away his 5th level spells). You know your group better than me, so balance the encounter accordingly.

Does your city have a 5e cleric NPC, and what can he cure?

If your PCs need to raise a companion from dead, e.g., then there is a possibility like a level 9 NPC cleric 5e can cast the spell (for a fee and the diamond.) Let us say there are some other cleric NPC or a PC. Every one of these has to be able to do this, who uses a scroll. However, it would increase the cost eventually.

In the town the players are located in, both the ally cleric and druid can cast 2nd level spells (a more powerful cleric, but unhelpful). A day away is a small city with a cleric that can cast up to 3rd level spells. To get 5th level spells of 5e raise dead, they have to travel three days by sea or seven overlands through a treacherous forest. Getting higher than that would require several weeks overland, and even then, only up to 7th level spells. Only a handful of clerics can cast 8th & 9th level spells, and they’re pretty much unavailable except under extreme circumstances.

Suppose you want to confine NPCs to Tiers rather than Levels.

Local Heroes (small cities, towns, etc.) are going to have simple magic at best.

Heroes of the Realm – these people are known. They have significant power and are in major cities or enclaves that the public knows about.
Masters of the Realm – this is where powerful magic comes online. These are rare and famous.
Masters of the World – yeah, basically unique.

Cleric NPC 5e Build

Let us create a high-level cleric NPC 5e. Let us consider six attacks a round (3 legendary actions, two from multi-attack, and one from spiritual weapon bonus action) to solve the offensive CR (as per the DMG ‘Creating a Monster’ section. It might wreck a party of 5 levels 11-12 characters or that it would be a fair fight. If you cast a spell with your bonus action, the only other dnd spells you can throw on your turn are cantrips with your action.

Technically, the CR could probably be higher. The most damaging spell is probably flame strike. Suppose someone cast it using her 9th, 8th, and 7th level slots. And then he uses legendary actions to smack with the Warhammer. In that case, the CR is calculated to be 18. The CR might be higher with casting spirit guardians and then using flame strike in subsequent rounds, but that’s too much math.

That said, a party of 5 levels 11-12 characters would almost certainly destroy it if she tried to fight alone. And if they weren’t worn down after a long adventuring day. Proficiencies don’t always work like that with NPC and monsters.

High-level cleric NPC 5e build ideas.

“human” should be “humanoid (human).”
The AC parenthetical should be emphasized.
The average of (17d8 + 51) is 127, not 136

Add a space between average and calculated HP.
Add a space before “ft” in Speed and elsewhere.
A DR, add a comma after “piercing.”

In Languages, are the dialects? If so, perhaps “Common (Eladrian; Silverite)” might be appropriate.
In Legendary Resistance 5e, “would fail” should be “fails.”
Altering Guided Strike to “(Recharge 5-6)” or similar instead

War Caster 5e
Remove “all”
Add “her” before “concentration”

Warhammer 5e
Add a colon after “Hit.”
The aggregate is 9, not 10

Change “and” to “plus.”
Add a period in the end.
Legendary Actions

LA names shouldn’t be distinguished.
Systematize them as well
Emphasize spiritual weapon

Tips on Statting a Life Cleric as an NPC in dnd 5e

Does your city have a 5e cleric NPC, and what can he cure?

Suppose you want to confine NPCs to Tiers rather than Levels.

Local Heroes (small cities, towns, etc.) are going to have simple magic at best.
Heroes of the Realm – these people are known. They have significant power and are in major cities or enclaves that the public knows about.

Masters of the Realm – this is where powerful magic comes online. These are rare and famous.
Masters of the World – yeah, basically unique.

Cleric NPC 5e Build

High-level cleric NPC 5e build ideas.

“human” should be “humanoid (human).”

The AC parenthetical should be emphasized.
The average of (17d8 + 51) is 127, not 136
Add a space between average and calculated HP.

Add a space before “ft” in Speed and elsewhere.
A DR, add a comma after “piercing.”
In Languages, are the dialects? If so, perhaps “Common (Eladrian; Silverite)” might be appropriate.