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For my cleric character, she worships Hestia. I want to know what domains Hestia has control over(besides Life) so I can better determine how my cleric should progress in her faith.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Life cleric is a pretty good subclass; the answers to your recent question (Does healing work better than offensive spells to minimize losses at the end of combat?) are mostly considering typical subclasses for druid / cleric; Life clerics heal enough that it can sometimes be worth it. Especially since Channel Divinity: Preserve Life isn't a spell, you can do that and Spiritual Weapon in the same turn (e.g. if you got Spirit Guardians or Bless going on the first turn of combat before people took damage). \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 13:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ So I think you're trying to switch away from Life cleric because you heard healing wasn't worth doing. But actually, in-combat healing is rarely worth the actions and spell slots for characters not specialized in healing. Also, more efficient out-of-combat healing from being a Life cleric is nothing to sneeze at, especially when a short rest isn't an option but a 10-minute Prayer of Healing is. Or a Channel Divinity before a short rest if anyone's below half, saving hit dice. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 13:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ I have proficiency in the herbalism kit thanks to my background, so I can make potions of healing. Having that might make real healing moot, so I asked the question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Playmaker
    Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 16:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Playmaker Proficiency with an Herbalism Kit does not guarantee the ability to mass produce potions of healing. As potions of healing are a magic item, it is entirely up to your DM whether or not there are available reagents to produce them. and it takes time. If your DM is using Xanathar's Guide for magic item crafting rules, it takes a full uninterrupted work day (8 hours) and 25gp worth of materials to make a baseline potion of healing...and your DM may decide that it requires reagents from a particular CR 1-3 creature. And that's for a mere 2d4+2 hp. Far less efficient than a Life Cleric \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 18:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Playmaker By comparison, a Life Cleric can heal [level]x5 hp, distributed between targets as they please, and the ability refreshes every time they take a Short or Long Rest. (their 'Channel Divinity' ability) And as they level up, they get more uses per Rest. By level 2, you've already matched the maximum roll of a base Potion of Healing. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 18:28

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Her sole domain is Life

That's all the rulebooks ascribe to her. See below for more details.

Hestia is not a 'core' deity for any of the D&D settings

Hestia is the IRL Greek goddess of hearth and home. D&D 5E's Player Handbook includes 4 RL pantheons as alternative options for players to use. The extent of what we have on her for 5E is this:

The Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, and Norse pantheons are fantasy interpretations of historical religions from our world’s ancient times. They include deities that are most appropriate for use in a D&D game, divorced from their historical context in the real world and united into pantheons that serve the needs of the game.

and for the Greek Pantheon specifically

The gods of Olympus make themselves known with the gentle lap of waves against the shores and the crash of the thunder among the cloud-enshrouded peaks. The thick boar-infested woods and the sere, olive-covered hillsides hold evidence of their passing. Every aspect of nature echoes with their presence, and they’ve made a place for themselves inside the human heart, too.

and that she's a Neutral Good deity of the Life domain, whose symbol is the Hearth.

That's it. That's all there is about her in D&D because she's not part of any of D&D's invented settings. She's a real world mythological figure.

Thus, to answer your question simply: she has no other domain but Life. Because D&D's domains are a D&D invented concept, and they've only assigned Life to Hestia.

So, most importantly...

Talk to your DM

If your DM has decided that a Greek goddess is permitted in your campaign, you need to talk to your DM about how they fit into their setting.

Because (from the same Appendix A linked above):

Your DM determines which gods, if any, are worshiped in his or her campaign. From among the gods available, you can choose a single deity for your character to serve, worship, or pay lip service to. Or you can pick a few that your character prays to most often. Or just make a mental note of the gods who are revered in your DM’s campaign so you can invoke their names when appropriate. If you’re playing a cleric or a character with the Acolyte background, decide which god your deity serves or served, and consider the deity’s suggested domains when selecting your character’s domain.

Outside of that, you're going to need to look at other sources outside of D&D, because Hestia is an import. If you want to be historical about it, well, here's her wikipedia article.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Hestia absolutely needs the Fire domain, though. That seems like a bit of an oversight. \$\endgroup\$
    – Obie 2.0
    Commented Oct 26, 2023 at 16:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Obie2.0 5E doesn't have a Fire domain...closest thing to that is Light. Fire would presumably be in Hestia's "divine portfolio" but that's not a thing in 5E rules. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 26, 2023 at 16:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ I don't think Hestia fits well into the Fire domain as it's historically been used. The symbology of the hearth-fire is totally different. A D&D fire god is usually all about fire's destructive aspects, but the hearth-fire is specifically a symbol of warmth and cooking. It's about home, hospitality, and healing, not destruction. Fireball and wall of fire would be a terrible fit for Hestia's spell list. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 17:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ To be clear, I know that in real life, "fire" gods often represent some or all of sunlight, blacksmithing, and the hearth, and deities that represent only the destructive aspects of fire are pretty unusual (and usually more about volcanoes or deserts or storms than fire as such). But D&D's Fire domain has historically leaned into the destructive aspects as essentially a way to give Clerics more of the fun explodey spells, and doesn't do much of anything to represent creative aspects like smithing and cooking. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 17:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ @DarthPseudonym Yeah, if I were to tack an extra Domain onto Hestia, it would probably be the 'Peace' domain, maybe also 'Order' (those two domains were never ascribed to RL mythological pantheons). Peace representing her association with the home and family. 'Order' due to the Greek tradition of, when a new colony was built--the primary civic building(prytaneum)'s hearth was the center of the building's meeting space, was always dedicated to Hestia, and was lit by a flame carried in from another Hestian hearth. Thus the 'center of government' in any colony was a Hestian Hearth \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 27, 2023 at 18:15

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