Cosmic Archetypes

The night skies are an endless source of wonder and mystery. In the worlds of D&D, they are also a path to great power. Whether it’s from studying the movements of stars, making pacts with sentient voids, or discovering that the cosmos exists inside your soul, these archetypes provide new and flavorful ways to play characters with phenomenal, cosmic powers.

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good."

—Genesis 1: 14-18

Seldom do D&D players have their characters pause to take in the beauty of the night sky. (Presumably because there's nothing to stab and loot up there. Usually.) However, so much of fiction is permeated with tropes about the stars, the sun, the moon, and the powers of the cosmos in general. So here are six new archetypes to bring this cosmic flavor to your PC's or NPC's. Included in this documents are:

• Clerics of the Moon who can illuminate their foes and bring light to the darkness by channeling the power of a lunar deity.
• Heavenly druids who venerate the sun, moon, and stars the way other druids venerate nature.
• Monks of the Cosmic Mind, who can reach so deep into themselves that they open a window into the cosmos.
• Fated sorcerers, whose life is dogged by prophecy and powers they barely understand.
• Warlocks bound to mind-eating entities that dwell in the darkness between stars.
• Astrologers (wizards) who study the strange influence that the movement of stars have upon the lives of mortals.
• Three new offensive cantrips.