Channel Divinity
is a My Hero Academia fanfic in a Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition) world, by Titus621 (who has also authored What's in a Hoard?, I am [REDACTED] and Heroes by Choice).
A group of adventurers approaches Musutafu after being robbed. One of their own, the half-elf sorceress Ochako, is heavily injured, and she goes ahead to find succor in Pelor's temple. Before the priests come out, a young acolyte arrives and heals her. She takes note of him.
The acolyte, Izuku, has not had a good life. An orphan, he has tried for years to gain the acknowledgement of any deity, but none has answered to his pleas. Still, he perseveres, helping people and gaining knowledge in hopes of finally finding his destiny.
Things turn for the worse when Izuku, while defending a young thief from his former friend Bakugo, is attacked by the latter and left on the edge of death - whereupon he finally finds his fate: the mysterious and powerful god known as One for All has chosen him to become his new Champion. Awakening to find Ochako tending to him, the sorceress offers him the chance to join her adventuring party - and he eventually accepts.
Now, the newly proclaimed Cleric of One for All departs Musutafu along with Ochako, high elf eldritch knight Momo, tiefling warlock Mina, triton druid Tsuyu and human artificer Mei, deciding to fight for his destiny and that of his new friends - and perhaps even the world itself...
Unfortunately, due to Titus' retirement from fanfic writing, this has become a Dead Fic.
Channel Divinity has examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptational Species Change:
- Momo is an elf.
- Ochako is a half-elf.
- Mina is a Tiefling.
- Tsuyu is a Triton.
- Adaptational Superpower Change:
- Izuku is a cleric.
- Ochako is a sorcerer.
- Mina is a warlock.
- Tsuyu is a druid.
- Mei is a artificer.
- All-Loving Hero: Izuku is well beloved in Musutafu due to him helping everyone in town at least once.
- Amazon Brigade: Until Izuku joined them, the adventurers were all female.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Izuku's expansive knowledge allows him to analyze a lot of things.
- The Call Has Bad Reception: Izuku has wanted to become a cleric for his entire life, reaching out to any benevolent god he could find. One For All had been trying to contact him for almost as long, but an unspecified evil somehow managed to block him so totally that he only managed it when Izuku was on the brink of death.
- Carry a Big Stick: Izuku's main weapon is a big mace.
- The Chosen One: Izuku is chosen by One for All to become his Champion in the material world.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Izuku's first reaction when one of the girls is injured is to attempt to heal them. Momo has to point out to him that he needs to pace himself and trust that the others can hold on.
- Deal with the Devil: Literally with Mina, who is a Warlock that gets her powers from an Archdevil. In exchange of that power, the Archdevil may make certain "requests" of her, which she has to fulfill as part of the deal. Izuku points out that it could lead to Slowly Slipping Into Evil.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Izuku really wanted to become a cleric and help people, but since One For All was blocked from reaching out to him, other gods couldn't claim him either. He tried basically every Good-aligned deity he could find before he finally managed to connect to the one he was destined for.
- The Dreaded: Apparently, One for All is such a powerful god that even Bahamut and Kord (both being very powerful gods of their own) hesitate to oppose it. Unfortunately, after being for too long without a cleric (as he only empowers one cleric at a time) the darkness has managed to block its ability to connect with those it chooses.
- Face Palm: Momo's reaction when Mina uses Izuku's Guidance spell to try to do a flip. It is implied to have been something common.
- Familiar: Mina eventually gets a snake familiar through the Pact of the Chain. She's also a Head Pet, as it likes to nestle in Mina's hair.
- The Gadfly: Mina, who will tease anyone that gives her the opening.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Mei, much like her canon self, combined with the powers of an Artillerist Artificer.
- God's Hands Are Tied: One For All had been trying to contact Izuku for years, but dark forces were doing such a good job keeping it away that it took Izuku's brush with death to get him close enough to the deity for the connection to be made.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Whatever is behind the darkness that prevented One for All from acknowledging Izuku as his Champion.
- Instant Expert: While he's not an expert fighter, after Izuku becomes The Chosen One he notes that he can wield weapons in a natural way.
- Lifesaving Misfortune: Izuku nearly dies when Bakugo cleaves him with his axe in a fit of rage, but this gives him the chance to connect with One for All and become a Cleric.
- Magic Knight:
- As an Eldritch Knight, Momo can both cast spells and fight with her bonded sword.
- Izuku, as a Cleric of One for All (with a modified War Domain) can use both divine spells and his heavy mace while wearing heavy armor.
- Master of Disguise: One of Mina's warlock invocations allows her to look completely different. Combined with her high charisma, it allows her to infiltrate places without being found out.
- The Medic: Izuku becomes the group's main healer.
- My Eyes Are Up Here: Subverted. When Izuku meets Momo, his eyes go down and she thinks he's looking at her breasts, but soon realizes he's actually looking at the ring in her hand that marks her as a member of nobility.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Bakugo's reaction when he realizes he just mortally injured Izuku while raging.
- Mythology Gag:
- The first time Izuku uses One for All's signature power, he wrecks his arm.
- Mei calls all of her inventions her "babies".
- Mina names her familiar "Pinky".
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Izuku meets Mei, she's deep in working with her tools and barely pays attention to him. The moment Izuku mentions his god is One for All, she drops her tools, looks at Izuku with fear and dives under the table.
- Polyamory: The tags state that Izuku's going to be in a relationship with the five girls.
- Self-Damaging Attack Backfire: Izuku can channel One for All's power to turning a normal strike into a very powerful attack. Much like his canon self, the first time he uses it he ends up breaking his arm (along with his mace and armor), but fortunately healing is easier, as well as learning how to control how much power he uses in the strike.
- Ship Tease: He initially gets a heavy dose of this with Ochako, and a lighter version with Momo.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Tsuyu can do this with the Speak with Animals spell. She uses it to find out where a goblin band is camping.
- The Straight and Arrow Path: Mei's main weapon is a crossbow, and she can summon a ballista that fires force bolts.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Tsuyu, as a Druid, can use Wild Shape to transform into an animal.
- Wild Magic: Ochako is a Wild Magic Sorcerer, which gives her the power to manipulate her luck (represented in the game as picking the best choice out of two rolls) in exchange of causing a Random Effect Spell (effects can vary from turning into a plant in a flowerpot for a few seconds to being reincarnated if dying within a minute of the effect's activation).
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Momo, while trying to get Izuku to understand that he needs to pace himself and not overreact when one of the others is injured, tells him that she knows he has great potential and doesn't want to see it squandered.
