Repose Domain
The Repose Domain treats death as a final rest rather than a source of power to exploit. Its clerics guard graves, oppose undeath, protect souls from violation and preserve the boundary between the living and the properly dead.
At a Glance
| Divine Sphere | Rest, funerary protection, proper death, souls, graves and resistance to undeath |
|---|---|
| Typical Role | Anti-undead support cleric, funerary guardian and protector against death effects |
| Published Rules | Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e |
| Modern D&D Status | Original GM-approved Repose Domain conversions for 2024 and 2014, not official published subclasses. The separate 2014 Grave Domain is a published thematic alternative. |
| Important Distinction | Repose protects death’s proper course; it is not a licence for necromancy or the creation of undead. |
| Possible Patrons | Anubis, Osiris, and other powers whose established portfolios protect the dead or the passage of souls |
Edition Applicability
All four editions have playable Repose rules here. The 2024 and 2014 panels are site-original adaptations requiring GM approval, not official Cleric subclasses; their level progression follows the appropriate edition. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e retain their printed powers and separate domain-spell-slot rules. The published modern Grave Domain is a different option.
Repose Domain — D&D 5.5e / 2024
Rules status: original 2024 Cleric subclass conversion for SpiralWorlds, subject to GM approval. This is not an official 2024 Repose subclass or the published 2014 Grave Domain. Choose it at Cleric level 3; use the 2024 Cleric’s normal Channel Divinity, Divine Order and Blessed Strikes features.
2024 Repose Domain Spells
These spells are always prepared from the listed Cleric level, do not count towards your usual preparations, and are Cleric spells for you.
| Cleric Level | Always-Prepared Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Sanctuary, Protection from Evil and Good, Gentle Repose, Lesser Restoration |
| 5 | Speak with Dead, Revivify |
| 7 | Death Ward, Banishment |
| 9 | Hallow, Raise Dead |
Level 3: Keeper of the Last Rite
You learn the Spare the Dying cantrip; if you already know it, choose another Cleric cantrip. When you cast Spare the Dying on a creature, you may also ward its body against reanimation as an Undead for 24 hours. This ward does not prevent resurrection or interfere with souls already captured by another effect.
Level 3: Channel Divinity — Quiet Threshold
As a Magic action, present your Holy Symbol and expend a use of Channel Divinity. Choose up to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one) living creatures you can see within 30 feet. Each gains Temporary Hit Points equal to 1d6 plus your Cleric level. One Undead of your choice that you can see within 30 feet must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your Cleric spell save DC or have its Speed reduced to 0 and be unable to take Reactions until the end of your next turn. You can use this Channel Divinity option even when no Undead are present.
Level 6: Guard the Final Breath
When a living creature you can see within 30 feet would be reduced to 0 Hit Points by damage but not killed outright, you can use your Reaction to cause it to drop to 1 Hit Point instead. You cannot use this feature on yourself, Undead or Constructs. Once you use it, you must finish a Long Rest to use it again.
Level 17: The Quiet Gate
As a Bonus Action, create a 30-foot Emanation centred on yourself for 1 minute, ending early if you have the Incapacitated condition. Undead within the area have Disadvantage on attack rolls against living creatures in the area. Living creatures within the area have Advantage on Death Saving Throws, and Undead cannot regain Hit Points while inside it. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until after a Long Rest.
Repose Domain — D&D 5e / 2014
Rules status: original 2014 Cleric domain conversion for SpiralWorlds, subject to GM approval. It is not the official Grave Domain. Select it at Cleric level 1; keep the 2014 Cleric class and Channel Divinity progression.
2014 Repose Domain Spells
You always have these spells prepared at the listed Cleric level, without counting them against normal preparation. They are Cleric spells for you.
| Cleric Level | Always-Prepared Spells |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sanctuary, Protection from Evil and Good |
| 3 | Gentle Repose, Lesser Restoration |
| 5 | Speak with Dead, Revivify |
| 7 | Death Ward, Banishment |
| 9 | Hallow, Raise Dead |
Level 1: Last Mercy
You learn Spare the Dying if you do not already know it, without counting it against your cantrips known. When you use Spare the Dying to stabilise a living creature at 0 Hit Points, you can restore it to 1 Hit Point instead. You can use this healing benefit a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum once), regaining uses after a long rest.
Level 2: Channel Divinity — Quiet Threshold
As an action, present your holy symbol and expend a use of Channel Divinity. Choose up to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one) living creatures within 30 feet whom you can see. Each gains Temporary Hit Points equal to 1d6 plus your Cleric level. One Undead you can see within 30 feet must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your Cleric spell save DC or lose its reactions until the start of your next turn. The benefit to living creatures does not require an Undead target.
Level 6: Gravewatch
When a living creature you can see within 30 feet takes Necrotic damage, you may use your reaction to reduce that damage by 2d8 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1). You can do so a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum once), regaining all uses on a long rest.
Level 8: Potent Spellcasting
When you deal damage with a Cleric cantrip, add your Wisdom modifier to that cantrip’s damage, using the 2014 rules.
Level 17: Hallowed Stillness
As an action, create a 30-foot-radius aura centred on yourself for 1 minute; it ends if you are incapacitated. Living allies in the aura have resistance to Necrotic damage, and Undead within it cannot regain Hit Points. Once you use the aura, you must finish a long rest before using it again.
Repose Domain — Pathfinder 1e
Rules status: published Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook domain.
Gentle Rest
As a melee touch attack, you can stagger a living creature for 1 round. Touching a living creature that is already staggered instead puts it to sleep for 1 round. An undead creature you touch is staggered for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. Uses per day equal 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Ward Against Death
At 8th level, you can emit a 30-foot aura for a total number of rounds per day equal to your Cleric level. Living creatures in the aura are immune to death effects, energy drain and effects that impose negative levels. Existing negative levels remain but have no effect while the creature stays inside the aura.
Pathfinder 1e Repose Domain Spells
| 1st | Deathwatch |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Gentle Repose |
| 3rd | Speak with Dead |
| 4th | Death Ward |
| 5th | Slay Living |
| 6th | Undeath to Death |
| 7th | Destruction |
| 8th | Waves of Exhaustion |
| 9th | Wail of the Banshee |
Repose Domain — D&D 3.5e
Rules status: published 3.5e SRD additional domain.
Granted Power: Death Touch
Once per day, make a melee touch attack against a living creature. Roll 1d6 per Cleric level. If the total equals or exceeds the creature’s current hit points, it dies. In this ruleset Repose deliberately shares a death-touch style power with Death while changing the surrounding divine theme and spell list.
D&D 3.5e Repose Domain Spells
| 1st | Deathwatch |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Gentle Repose |
| 3rd | Speak with Dead |
| 4th | Death Ward |
| 5th | Slay Living |
| 6th | Undeath to Death |
| 7th | Destruction |
| 8th | Surelife |
| 9th | Wail of the Banshee |
How the Repose Domain Plays
Pathfinder makes Repose a dedicated defence against undeath and hostile death magic: Gentle Rest controls living or undead targets at close range, while Ward Against Death can protect a whole group from some of the most punishing effects in the game. D&D 3.5e is mechanically simpler and more lethal, but the domain’s spell list still emphasises proper death and the destruction of undeath.
Repose Is Not the Death Domain
The two domains overlap because both deal with mortality, but their theology is different. Death can represent killing power, negative energy and necromantic force. Repose is about keeping death final, preventing violation of corpses and souls, and opposing creatures that refuse or corrupt the proper passage into death.
Priests, Temples and Rites
Repose clergy keep burial grounds, record the dead, recover bodies, prevent corpse theft, destroy uncontrolled undead and investigate places where spirits cannot pass on. Their sanctuaries are often quiet, practical places attached to cemeteries, ancestral halls or mortuary compounds rather than centres of death worship.
What Are Repose Priests Doing Now?
They are tracing grave robberies, protecting funeral roads, containing outbreaks of undeath, determining why a dead person cannot rest and recovering relics taken from tombs before those objects awaken something that should have remained quiet.
Related Domains and Character Options
Rules Sources and Licensing
- D&D 2024 and 2014: the Repose Domain mechanics and spell selections are original SpiralWorlds campaign conversions, not published Wizards of the Coast subclasses. Use with GM approval; follow the chosen edition’s normal Cleric spellcasting and Channel Divinity rules.
- Pathfinder 1e: Gentle Rest, Ward Against Death and the spell list follow the Pathfinder Core Rulebook Repose Domain.
- D&D 3.5e: the granted power and spell list follow the SRD additional Repose Domain.
- Other modern option: there is no official same-named Repose Domain; the separate 2014 Grave Domain provides an alternative for campaigns that prefer published mechanics.
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