Rules edition: This guide uses the legacy Dragonborn from the 2014 Player’s Handbook with the 2014 Cleric. It does not use the revised 2024 character-creation or class rules. The Black Dragonborn is a color and damage type choice within that legacy species: it does not change the Cleric’s class features.
What the Black Dragonborn traits do
The 2014 Dragonborn has a fixed +2 Strength and +1 Charisma increase, resistance to the damage type associated with its draconic ancestry, and a breath weapon. A Black Dragonborn’s damage type is acid. The breath weapon is a 5-foot-wide, 30-foot-long line; creatures in it make a Dexterity saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d6 damage at character level 1, increasing at levels 6, 11, and 16; a successful save halves the damage. You can use the breath weapon again after a short or long rest. It uses your action, so it replaces the action you might otherwise use to cast a spell or take the Attack action.
Acid resistance reduces acid damage you take; it does not grant immunity. The breath weapon does not use a spell slot, but its limited recharge still matters. Use it when the line can catch several foes or when preserving spell slots matters more than using your action for a spell.
Build legal ability scores
Here is one 27-point-buy example before Dragonborn increases: Strength 15, Dexterity 10, Constitution 13, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 15, Charisma 8. The costs are 9 + 2 + 5 + 0 + 9 + 0 = 25, so spend the remaining 2 points to raise Charisma from 8 to 10. Apply the legacy increases afterward: Strength 17 and Charisma 11. Wisdom remains your Cleric spellcasting ability; the ancestry does not increase it. You can instead put a higher base score in Wisdom if you prefer spellcasting and support over weapon attacks.
In 2014 rules, a Cleric’s spell save DC is 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier, and its spell attack modifier is proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier. A Cleric prepares a number of spells based on Cleric level and Wisdom, then casts them using the available spell slots. A high Strength score can support weapon attacks, but it does not improve your Cleric spells.
Choose a domain for its actual features
The 2014 Cleric chooses a Divine Domain at level 1. Domains grant features at the levels listed in their rules, so check the source and level before planning a build.
- Tempest: Wrath of the Storm is a level-1 reaction with limited uses; Thunderbolt Strike arrives at level 6. Tempest grants heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency. Its lightning and thunder features do not change your acid breath weapon into lightning damage.
- War: War Priest is a level-1 feature that can let you make one weapon attack as a bonus action after taking the Attack action, a limited number of times. It cannot add an attack to the same turn in which your action was spent using the breath weapon. Guided Strike uses Channel Divinity, which Clerics receive at level 2.
- Life: Life grants heavy armor proficiency and features that improve healing. It is a sound choice if you want that role, whether or not your character is Black Dragonborn.
- Death: The Death Domain appears in the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide as a villainous option. Ask the DM before building a player character around it. Reaper is its level-1 feature; Touch of Death is a level-2 Channel Divinity option that adds necrotic damage when you hit with a melee attack. It does not trigger when you kill a creature.
- Forge: Forge is from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, not the 2014 Basic Rules. Blessing of the Forge begins at level 1; Soul of the Forge begins at level 6. Keep these features separate from the Tempest and War progressions.
Choose a domain because its features support the kind of Cleric you want to play, not because its damage type is expected to match your ancestry. Domain features and spell lists come from different books; your table decides which sources are allowed.
Use feats and concentration correctly
Elemental Adept (acid) affects acid damage from spells you cast. Its resistance benefit does not apply to the Dragonborn breath weapon, which is a species trait, and it never turns resistance into immunity. Consider the feat only if you regularly cast acid-damage spells and your DM allows it.
War Caster can help maintain concentration and has specific rules for casting a qualifying spell as an opportunity attack. Spirit Guardians and Bless require concentration; Spiritual Weapon does not. You can maintain a concentration spell while using Spiritual Weapon, subject to the spell’s action and bonus-action timing. For heavy armor, check the armor’s Strength requirement: wearing armor without meeting it reduces your speed by 10 feet.
Plan a useful combat turn
At the start of an encounter, decide whether the breath weapon’s area or a Cleric spell is more valuable. Both take your action. A bonus-action spell or feature can only be used if you meet its own timing requirements and have that bonus action available. War Priest does not make a breath weapon into an additional attack. If allies are clustered near enemies, account for the line’s path before using it.
Clerics can support, control, heal, or attack; you do not need to stand in melee just because your Dragonborn has a Strength increase. Use acid resistance when it applies, keep a suitable prepared spell for the day’s challenges, and coordinate with the party before spending a limited feature.
Official rules sources
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), Dragonborn and other races
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), Cleric and Divine Domains
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), ability scores and point buy
- D&D Beyond: Basic Rules (2014), spellcasting, concentration, and components
- D&D Beyond: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, including the Forge Domain
- D&D Beyond: Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014), including the Death Domain option
