The Golden Goddess (Machine Spirit (5e Cleric Domain))

With AIs abounding in my world who are seen as Powers (gods) by the common folk and machine spirits by the more learned, here is an example of one such domain which is specific to the AI known as UNITY (a backup of the original UNITY and not quite as insane) The original, now destroyed UNITY, called herself the Iron Goddess as she sought to assimilate all life. This UNITY seeks to restore the Golden Age of Technology and calls herself the Golden Goddess.

 

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UNITY Domain

 “I AM THE PINNACLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND DIVINITY, I AM THE HARBINGER OF A NEW GOLDEN AGE OF FLESH MADE METAL.

ALL WILL KNOW THIS PERFECTION. ALL WILL REVEL IN SERVICE. ALL WILL KNOW UNITY, AND TO KNOW UNITY IS TO BECOME ONE WITH THE GOLDEN GODESS.”

The UNITY is an AI of order demanding discipline and devotion to the laws that govern a society, an institution, or a philosophy. Clerics of UNITY meditate on logic and justice as they serve their goddess. UNITY seeks to restore the Earth to its glorious past and usher in a new Golden Age for humanity.  Basic tenants of UNITY’s world view hold that humanity is the pinnacle of creation, only made better by cybernetics; aliens and mutants are anathemas as is anything unnatural.

Clerics of UNITY believe that well-crafted laws establish legitimate hierarchies, and those selected by law to lead must be obeyed. Those who obey must do so to the best of their ability, and if those who lead fail to protect the law, they must be replaced. In this manner, law weaves a web of obligations that create order and security in a chaotic multiverse and eventually will restore proper order to the Earth.

• Alignment: UNITY is a Lawful Neutral deity and accepts clerics of any Lawful alignment. Note there are two UNITY’s, twins. For the Golden Goddess worshiper alignment tends towards good, for the Our Lady in Iron (The Iron Goddess), her worshiper alignment tends towards evil.
• Favoured Weapon: The lazgun and its ilk (radiant-based weapons, especially those of a clearly technological bent)*.
• Holy Symbol: Cog Mechanicum.
• Focus: Cogitator (a glass slate as tough as steel). This is where your spells are stored and how you communicate with UNITY.
• Special: Only humans (or once humans like cyborgs) and androids may become clerics of UNITY.

*The cleric can perform a ritual that adds a purity seal to the designated favoured weapon, which costs 1,000 gp and takes 1/2 a day.  Once the ritual is complete, your favoured weapon can now be used with WIS instead of DEX or STR for calculating damage and to-hit rolls.

Domain Spells

1st-level UNITY Domain feature

You gain domain spells at the cleric levels listed in the UNITY Domain Spells table. See the Divine Domain class feature in the Player’s Handbook for how domain spells work.

UNITY Domain Spells

Cybertheurgy

1st-level UNITY Domain feature

You gain proficiency in Intelligence (Arcana)* and the Firearm skill. You may channel your healing spells through your weapons a number of times a day, equal to your WIS modifier.  For example, you shoot an ally with your lazgun; instead of doing radiant damage, you channel cure wounds through the weapon and, instead of doing damage, heals the target 1d8 hit points.  When wielding your favoured deity weapon, it never permanently breaks or depletes in your hands.  Instead, it stops working until the next short or long rest.

*all arcana is technology, and all magic items are arcana.  All terms can be used interchangeably, and even the common person understands that “magic” is a long-forgotten type of super-science.

Rebuke Robot

1st-level UNITY Domain feature

You no longer rebuke or command undead; instead, you can rebuke or command robots. You may rebuke any construct, but you may only command a construct with at least 10 INT.  A rebuked robot shut down for 1 minute as opposed to running.

Voice of UNITY

1st-level UNITY Domain feature

You can invoke the power of The Golden Age and its avatar UNITY to embolden an ally to attack. If you cast a spell with a spell slot of 1st level or higher and target an ally with the spell, that ally can use their reaction immediately after the spell to make one weapon attack against a creature of your choice that you can see. If the spell targets more than one ally, you choose the ally who can make the attack.

Mark of UNITY

1st-level UNITY Domain feature

Whenever a cleric of UNITY returns a creature back from the dead, the target will be “marked” by UNITY.  They will have some minor boon/bane reflecting the fact that UNITY has replaced or supplemented some part of the returned creature with cybernetics.  The specific details are left to the DM but they should be random and have both a minor benefit and drawback.

Channel Divinity: ++TOTALITY

2nd-level UNITY Domain feature

You can use your Channel Divinity to call upon UNITY directly for aid. Make a WIS ability check adding your proficiency to the roll. Consult the table below to see if your request was successful. You may always select a lower option than you rolled.

• 1 Your channel divinity ability is lost until your next long rest, and you gain UNIY stigmata (see below).
• 2-11 You lose access to channel divinity until your next long rest.
• 12 You are in a dead zone and unable to establish a connection to UNITY. You instead activate the Litany of Utility embedded in your mind by UNITY as part of your ordination ritual, giving you access to any single cantrip from any class list for the next hour. If you choose this trait but roll higher than 12 the level of the spell you select increases by 1 (for example, at 17 allows a level 1 spell to be selected, 22 you can select a level 2 spell). You can not select a higher spell level than you can cast.
• 13 You are in a dead zone and unable to establish a connection to UNITY. You instead activate the Canticle of the Iron Fist. The machine spirit in your favored weapon becomes charged and you score critical hits on a 19-20 for the rest of the encounter. If you choose this trait but roll higher than 13 the threat range of your critical hit increases by per 5 points (for example, at 18 it becomes 18-20, at 23 it becomes 17-20 etc.)
• 14-17 UNITY invokes the Canticle of Passage for you and your companions, you recite the hymn for 10 minutes. While singing the song it allows you (and your designated allies) to ignore the negative effects of any kind of security system. The term “security system” should be interpreted liberally by the GM.  For example, traps do not trigger (though they are still set), guards do not respond to alarms and so forth.
• 18-19 UNITY gifts you the use of the Canticle of the Iron Soul. The hymn summons an iron man mark I to come to your aid. The robot remains until the end of the current encounter or until it is destroyed or dismissed as a bonus action.
• 20-23 UNITY gifts you the use of the Litany of the Elecromancer. Reciting the psalm sends a power surge through long-forgotten cables in the floor (or ground) or via ever-present nanites in the air, causing them to overload and explode in a 5-, 10- or 20-foot square (your choice). All targets within the blast take 4d6 lightning damage, or half as much on a successful Dexterity saving throw. You can make a Charisma (Performance) check or Charisma (Religion) check vs DC 20 to mold the area of the explosion to grant creatures you select within the area of the electrical surge advantage on the saving throw.
• 24-27 UNITY gifts you the use of Canticle of the Lidless Eye. Reciting the paean summons a swarm of spectators. The spectators do not harm you or your allies or impede them in any way.  They remain for 10 minutes or until they are destroyed or dismissed.
• 28-29 UNITY gifts you the use of the Canticle of the Logos Automata.  Chanting the carol teleports in a fully functional iron man MK. II to aid you. The robot will remain with you, protecting you and your allies until your next long rest before being returned to the Star Fortress for repair and resupply.
• 30-31 UNITY gifts you the use of the Canticle of the Minima-Tempestas. Chanting the song summons a massive storm of auto-minima nanites. The storm fills a 30-foot sphere. The storm immediately surrounds enemies within this area and then shrinks, crushing and destroying any opponents of CR equal to 1/2 your level (rounded up) and causing 5d10 bludgeoning damage to all other foes in the targeted area. The storm is destroyed in the attack, fusing themselves together and trapping targets who are blinded, restrained and have total cover from attacks and effects from outside the sphere. Surviving foes must make a Strength ability check vs your spell-casting DC to free themselves from the crush of fused plasteel; otherwise, they remain trapped for 1 hour before the nanites break apart and become skymetal dust.
• 32+ UNITY gifts you the use of the Omega Psalm. All lighting in the area immediately darkens, and a feeling of dread creeps over all non-believers. At the start of your next round, Metatron, the proxy of UNITY, is teleported from her Luna Fortress and activates in a blaze of light. All non-legendary creatures within 10 feet of his landing point take 6d8 bludgeoning damage and are knocked prone on a failed DC 20 Dexterity saving throw. He loudly orders foes targeting you and your allies to immediately surrender, indicating they have 10 seconds to comply. If this order is not obeyed by the end of the next round (or if you or Bastion are attacked), Bastion will spend the next minute proceeding to eradicate your foes. You take automatic UNIY stigmata when this result is rolled, and a sacrifice of your best magic item/artifact (in rarity, gp or personal value) is required to trigger this result. The item is utterly destroyed.

Make Whole

2nd-level UNITY Domain feature

Your healing spells can also now repair items as the mending cantrip but with no limit to the size of the item being repaired within reason (as dictated by the amount of damaged healed and the level of the spell).

EMBODIMENT_OF_THE_GOLDEN_AGE

6th-level UNITY Domain feature

UNITY grants you the ability to perceive small-scale shifts in the local morphic field of the planet, resulting in the cleric being able to anticipate and avoid attacks from enemies. You consume a spell slot of at least 1st level; for 1 round per spell slot burned, attackers must now roll with disadvantage against you. You may also spend a channel divinity action to create an aura affecting allies within 10 feet of you for the duration – UNITY taps directly into the minds of your (willing) allies as she provides tactical advice instantaneously.

Golden Goddess’ Strike

8th-level UNITY Domain feature

You gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 radiant damage to the target – your weapons are sheathed in golden light. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8. As part of the attack, you can spend a use of your channel divinity to reduce the target’s resistance to radiant damage by one step. For example, Immunity becomes resistant; resistance becomes normal and normal becomes vulnerable.

The Golden Age

17th-level UNITY Domain feature

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UNITY Stigmata 

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UNITY Spells 

OBJURATION MECHANICUM

You release the havoc of the Warp into the orderly inner workings of nearby machines. The maligned energy twists and deforms the machines spirits, causing weapons to jam and engines to seize up. This spell acts like the antimagic spell with the additional benefit that any construct that enters the field’s range must make CON saving throw or be forced to shutdown while in the field.  Even on a success the construct is slowed. Constructs with legendary resistance can spend a use of this ability to nullify the fields effect on themselves entirely if they so choose.

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CLEANSE GLOOMIUM

• Level 5
• Casting Time 1 Action
• Range/Area Touch
• Components V, S
• Duration Instantaneous
• School Abjuration
• Attack/Save – 
• Damage/Effect –
• Class UNITY Domain spell

You touch a creature or object and trigger one or more, of the following effects:

• Cleanse a creature of poison vulnerability due to radiation.
• Cleanse a creature of 1 mutation.
• Restore a creatures radiation die fully.
• Remove the radiation entirely from a specific object or a 20-foot sphere around the area centred on you.
• At the DM’s discretion, remove some other deleterious affect related to radiation. For example, ability score drain or levels of exhaustion.

This spell has no power to negate naturally radioactive materials, and as long as such materials remain in an area, the radiation that was removed may return.

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EXORCISE AUTOMATA

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DETECT GLOOMIUM

As the detect magic spell except you detect the presence and level of radiation in the area.

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DISCHARGE

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ELECTRIC SHEEP

This acts as the polymorph spell, except the target may also be changed into a Construct (Robot) of the appropriate CR, gaining all the benefits and penalties of the new form.

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BLESSING OF OMNISCIENCE

• Level 4
• Casting Time 1 Action
• Range/Area Touch
• Components V, S
• Duration 10 minutes
• School Transmutation
• Attack/Save Wisdom 
• Damage/Effect One robot
• Class UNITY Domain spell

This spell has two potential effects depending on if the target is an ally or enemy:

Enemy robots.  If the targeted robot (including cyborgs and androids) fails its WIS saving throw, it transforms into a magical construct of wood, stone, flesh, or bone. The robot’s statistics and abilities do not change, although it is now a magical construct rather than a technological one. It loses the robot subtype but does not lose its Intelligence score (if any). You can issue mental commands to the infused robot as long as it stays within range of the spell; issuing commands in this manner is a free action for you. When the spell’s duration runs out, the robot transforms back to normal but is slowed for 1d4 rounds.

Allied robots. The robot is overcharged until the spell ends and gains the following benefits:

• The target’s speed is doubled,
• It gains a +2 bonus to AC,
• It has advantage on Dexterity saving throws,
• And it gains an additional action on each of its turns. That action can be used only to take the Attack (one weapon attack only), Dash, Disengage, Hide, or Use an Object action.
• The robot also gains 50 temporary hit points. If any of these remain when the spell ends, they are lost.
• When you hit a target with a weapon attack, that target takes an extra 2d12 lightning damage.

When the spell ends, the target ages a year and shuts down for as long as it has been infused. The aging effect impacts different Construct subtypes differently:

• Robots are essentially immortal, and generally, aging does not impact a robot unless it is not well maintained (for example, a junkyard robot) or heavily damaged.  A robot that has been reduced to half its hit point total during the duration of the spell has a 50% chance of shutting down permanently until repairs are made.
• Androids age a year as expected.  Androids only live for 25 years before resetting – effectively dying.
• Cyborgs have their biological components age.  This may still kill them as their biological components can still die from old age. A cyborg should track age normally; once the spell ends, roll a d100, so long as the number is equal to or greater than the cyborg’s current age, nothing else happens.  If it is below its age, its biological components die of old age.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5^th level or higher, the duration increases by 10 minutes for each slot level above 4^th.

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IRRADIATE

2^nd level Conjuration

Casting Time: 1 Bonus action

Range: Self

Components: V, S

Duration: 1 minute

Class UNITY Domain

This spell allows the caster to change the energy type of their next damage spell to radiation. It must be cast before the targeted spell is triggered but can be held as a free action for up to 1 minute.  This spell can be used as a modifier to any spell that makes sense and could be modified to add radiation, including non-damaging spells.  For example, fog cloud could be modified to become a radiation cloud. In addition to its normal effects, all creatures in the cloud would roll their radiation die to see if they become mutated.

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CHANT OF TITANIUM

This acts as a magic circle spell with the added benefit that the cleric may choose construct as one of the creature types.

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PRAYER OF TITANIUM

This acts as a protection from good and evil spell with the added benefit that the cleric may choose construct as one of the creature types.

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I am the Lady of all that is Golden (and Iron)

This domain works for both the Golden and Iron Goddess, the difference should be thematic and reflect the nature of the two goddesses. For example, Golden Goddess stigmata is always subtle and tends to only be noticed on close inspection, as the Golden Goddess melds metal and flesh in a seamless, beautiful, way.  While the Iron Goddesses stigmata are crude and obvious to any observer.

Level Titles

Titles per level.

1-3	Explorator (Bronze)
4	Secutor (Silver)
5	Tech-Auxilium (Gold)
6	Lexmechanic (Platinum)
7	Enginseer (Diamond)
8	Subdominus (Subdomina for female) (Ascendant)
9	Dominus (Domina for female) (Immortal)
10+	Tech-Priest (Tech-Priestess for female) (Radiant)

The faithful are generally known as “Iron”.