Priest NPC Stat Block 5e: Spirit Guardians, Divine Eminence and the 2024 Priest

This is the Priest NPC stat block, the temple leader or cult preacher the party meets in a town or a crypt, not a cleric player character. It's CR 2 with AC 13 (chain shirt) and 27 hit points (38 in 2024). The 2014 priest is a 5th-level spellcaster with nine spell slots, Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon, plus Divine Eminence, which burns a slot for extra radiant damage on a mace hit. The 2024 Priest swaps the slot list for two attacks a turn, Spirit Guardians once a day and three bonus-action support spells.

Table of Contents

• •Priest Stat Block (2014)
• •The Priest in the 2024 Rules
• •How Priests Fight
• •Running a Priest Encounter
• •How Players Beat Priests
• •Priest Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Priest Stat Block (2014)

SRD 5.1 describes priests as spiritual leaders of temples and shrines, often with acolytes to help them. Any race, any alignment.

The mace is a distraction: +2 to hit for 3 damage. The priest's power is its slots (four 1st, three 2nd, two 3rd), its save DC of 13 and its +5 spell attack. Divine Eminence costs a bonus action and a slot to add 3d6 radiant (10) to its melee weapon hits for the rest of the turn, or 5d6 with a 3rd-level slot. On a +2 mace that rarely pays off: against AC 16 the mace hits only 35% of the time. Spend those slots on spells unless the target is paralyzed or prone and the priest has advantage.

The 2014 priest also walks at 25 feet, slower than most of the party.

The Priest in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 Priest is a fighter-caster hybrid. Strength 16 makes its mace real, and Radiant Flame gives it a 60-foot attack that averages 11. It has fewer spells but every turn is useful, and it has 11 more hit points.

How Priests Fight

2014: open with the aura. Round one, cast Spirit Guardians. Every enemy within 15 feet has its speed halved and makes a DC 13 Wisdom save when it enters the area or starts its turn there: 3d8 radiant (13.5) on a fail, half on a success. A character with Wisdom +1 fails 55% of the time, so the aura averages about 10.5 damage per enemy per turn. Round two, cast Spiritual Weapon as a bonus action (1d8 + 3 force, no concentration in the 2014 rules) and Sacred Flame with the action, the only kind of spell allowed alongside a bonus-action spell. From round three, move the weapon with the bonus action and cast Guiding Bolt (4d6) with the action.

Add it up against AC 15 and Wisdom +1 targets: about 10.5 from the aura per enemy inside it, about 4 from the spiritual weapon (55% to hit for 7.5) and about 8 from Guiding Bolt. That's roughly 22 damage a round with one enemy in the aura and over 30 with two, from a CR 2 creature that never has to move. A level 3 party that rushes a 2014 priest walks straight into it.

2014: protect the caster. Spirit Guardians needs concentration and the priest has 27 hit points and Constitution +1. Sanctuary ends the moment the warded creature attacks or casts a spell that affects an enemy, so a priest that plans to keep casting Guiding Bolt gets more from warding an acolyte or bodyguard. Warding itself only pays off if it stops casting and lets the aura work.

2024: two radiant attacks plus support. Against AC 15, two +5 attacks (55% each, 11 damage per hit) average about 12 damage a round, at melee or 60 feet. Spirit Guardians works much the same once a day, except the 2024 spell triggers when a creature enters the aura or ends its turn there, not when it starts its turn there. Divine Aid adds a bonus action: Healing Word (2d4 + 3, about 8 hit points) to pick up a fallen ally, Dispel Magic to end a party buff, or Bless. Bless and Spirit Guardians both need concentration, so the priest can only hold one. Use Bless when the priest leads a large group of weak allies and Spirit Guardians when the party closes in.

Running a Priest Encounter

The priest is 450 XP. For four level 3 characters, using the 2024 XP budget (600 / 900 / 1,600):

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) count a priest with three acolytes as 600 × 2 = 1,200 XP, a Hard fight for four level 3 characters. For a cult's inner circle, give the priest a ring of cultists to stand in the aura's path.

Priests are as often allies and quest-givers as enemies. A temple priest who can cast Lesser Restoration or Dispel Magic for the party is a useful recurring NPC.

How Players Beat Priests

• •Break concentration. Every hit forces a Constitution save (+1, no proficiency) at DC 10 or half the damage. Two or three hits usually end Spirit Guardians. See concentration.
• •Stay out of 15 feet. Spirit Guardians only hurts creatures in the area. Ranged attackers and spellcasters can fight the priest from outside it.
• •Back off from the 2014 priest. It walks 25 feet a turn. A party that steps out of the aura and switches to ranged attacks forces it to chase slowly or stand there wasting the spell.
• •Paralyze it. Hold Person works in both editions, though the priest's Wisdom save is +3. Target Dexterity (+0) or Constitution (+1) instead when you can.
• •Counter the spell. The 2014 Counterspell automatically stops Spirit Guardians, a 3rd-level spell. The 2024 version makes the priest roll a Constitution save (+1) instead. Dispel Magic ends the aura after it's up.

Priest Encounter Ideas

The plague temple. A village priest has been healing the sick for weeks and is out of slots and patience. When the party arrives with a cure, the priest's acolytes see them as rivals. The fight ends the moment someone proves the cure works.

The quiet heresy. A beloved priest has been secretly turning the temple toward a darker god. Her sermons haven't changed; her spirit guardians now look fiendish. The first time the party sees her cast it is the reveal.

The bargain. A priest offers to cure a party member's poison or disease with Lesser Restoration in exchange for clearing a crypt under her shrine. The crypt holds the bodies of priests who refused the same deal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a priest in 5e?

The priest is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. The 2024 version has 38 hit points instead of 27.

What is Divine Eminence?

A 2014 priest trait. As a bonus action, the priest spends a spell slot to add 3d6 radiant damage to its melee weapon hits until the end of the turn, plus 1d6 per slot level above 1st. The 2024 Priest doesn't have it.

What spells does the priest have?

The 2014 priest prepares Light, Sacred Flame, Thaumaturgy, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Sanctuary, Lesser Restoration, Spiritual Weapon, Dispel Magic and Spirit Guardians. The 2024 Priest casts Light and Thaumaturgy at will, Spirit Guardians once a day, and Bless, Dispel Magic, Healing Word or Lesser Restoration as a bonus action three times a day.

Is the priest NPC a cleric?

The 2024 stat block tags it as Humanoid (Cleric), but it's an NPC stat block, not a cleric character built with class levels. It has no Channel Divinity or domain features. For a junior temple NPC, see the acolyte, which the 2024 rules rename the Priest Acolyte. The 2024 Priest keeps its name.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.