Rules edition: This guide uses the 2014 Player’s Handbook Dragonborn and Cleric rules, with Forge Domain from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. Its examples use the original +2 Strength/+1 Charisma increases. If your DM uses the optional Customizing Your Origin rule from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, you can reassign those increases; that is separate from the revised 2024 character-creation rules. For those rules, see the separate 2024 Dragonborn Cleric guide.
A 2014 Green Dragonborn Cleric can be a spell-focused healer, a weapon-using frontliner, or something between those roles. The ancestry’s fixed Strength and Charisma increases do not improve Cleric spellcasting, so put Wisdom first when assigning scores. Strength is useful if you plan to make weapon attacks, but it is not a requirement for the class.
What the 2014 Green Dragonborn traits do
The 2014 Dragonborn traits increase Strength by 2 and Charisma by 1. Green ancestry grants resistance to poison damage. It does not grant advantage on saving throws against the Poisoned condition, and resistance does not prevent that condition. A creature can still be poisoned even when it takes reduced poison damage.
Your breath weapon is a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area makes a Constitution saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus, taking 2d6 poison damage on a failed save or half as much on a success. The damage rises to 3d6 at character level 6, 4d6 at 11, and 5d6 at 16. Using it takes your action, and you regain its use after a short or long rest. It deals damage; it does not restrain, push, or otherwise control creatures.
Poison resistance can matter in a poison-heavy adventure, but it is encounter-dependent. It does not make every fight against a poisonous creature safe, and it does not make poison damage unusually common in every campaign. Treat both ancestry features as useful tools rather than the whole build.
Choose a Cleric domain for the character you want
In the 2014 rules, Clerics choose their Divine Domain at level 1. Your domain can grant armor or weapon proficiencies, spells, and other features. Pick one because its features and story suit the character, not because Green Dragonborn requires a particular subclass.
- Life: A strong support choice that grants heavy-armor proficiency. The domain works with a high-Wisdom Cleric whether or not you invest in Strength.
- War: Grants heavy armor and martial weapons. War Priest lets you make a weapon attack as a bonus action after taking the Attack action, a limited number of times based on your Wisdom modifier. That can make Strength useful, but the feature competes for your bonus action with spells such as spiritual weapon and healing word.
- Tempest: Grants heavy armor and martial weapons, with features built around thunder and lightning damage. Poison breath does not become thunder or lightning damage and does not benefit from those damage-specific features.
- Nature: Grants heavy-armor proficiency and a Druid cantrip. Choosing shillelagh lets you use Wisdom for attacks with the affected club or quarterstaff, if that fits your concept.
- Forge: An option from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, not the 2014 Basic Rules. It grants heavy-armor proficiency and features for improving equipment; those features do not make poison breath stronger.
- Trickery: A lighter-armored option for a character interested in secrecy or misdirection. Green ancestry does not require a deceptive personality; those traits are choices for an individual character.
Heavy armor proficiency can support a front-line role, but armor proficiency alone does not make you durable. Check the armor’s Strength requirement, your hit points, and your concentration saves before choosing where to stand.
Ability scores and a legal point-buy example
For a Cleric, prioritize Wisdom for spell attacks, spell save DCs, and prepared spells. Constitution supports hit points and concentration saves. Choose Strength based on whether you expect to attack with weapons; Dexterity remains useful for initiative and Dexterity saves, especially outside heavy armor.
Here is a legal 27-point-buy example before ancestry increases: Strength 14, Dexterity 10, Constitution 14, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 15, Charisma 10. After the 2014 Green Dragonborn increases, the scores are Strength 16, Dexterity 10, Constitution 14, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 15, and Charisma 11. At Cleric level 4, you could increase Wisdom and Constitution by 1 each, bringing them to 16 and 15, respectively. A different domain or campaign may call for a different spread; this is one starting point, not a required formula.
Use actions and concentration carefully
The breath weapon takes your action, so using it means you are not casting an action spell or making the attacks granted by the Attack action that turn. It can be a useful option when several enemies are in the cone, but compare its expected damage with the spells and actions available at your level.
At 3rd-level spells, spirit guardians requires concentration. So do spells such as bless and shield of faith; you can maintain only one concentration spell at a time. The 2014 spiritual weapon does not require concentration, but casting it and making its later attacks use your bonus action. You still have only one bonus action on your turn, so you cannot combine its attack with War Priest or healing word in the same turn.
War Caster can help a front-line Cleric maintain concentration, while Resilient (Constitution) can improve Constitution saves and raise Constitution by 1. These are options, not mandatory picks; increasing Wisdom may help your character more, depending on the starting score and campaign. The 2014 Elemental Adept feat does not offer poison as a damage type, so it cannot improve this breath weapon.
Background and character concept
Choose a 2014 background for its skills, equipment, feature, and story hooks. Acolyte suits a character with a temple connection; Soldier can fit a trained combatant; Hermit supports an isolated or contemplative past; Folk Hero gives a character ties to a local community. These are starting prompts, not restrictions on what a Green Dragonborn Cleric must believe or how they must behave.
Dragonborn ancestry does not dictate alignment, temperament, faith, or relationship with green dragons. A character might follow a deity, serve a community, question a tradition, or have no personal connection to dragon culture. For more character-focused prompts, see the separate Green Dragonborn Cleric roleplay guide.
Official rules sources
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), Dragonborn traits
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), Cleric class and spellcasting
- D&D Beyond: Player’s Handbook (2014), additional Cleric domains
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), Cleric spells
- D&D Beyond: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, including Forge Domain
- D&D Beyond: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, optional Customizing Your Origin
