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Published by nohersnoopy, 2023-11-11 20:48:57

Corpus Malicious The Codex of Evil

Corpus Malicious The Codex of Evil

2 Designers: Alican Develioğlu, Ekin Topanoğlu, İzel İrem Aydın, Bartu Ağca, Barkın Tokalak, Eyüp Emre Erdem Editor: Aysegül Gürzumar Proofreader: Bruce Powell Art Director: Umut Çomak Cover and Chapter Arts: Jonathan Elliott Interior Arts and Fonts: Muhammet Feyyaz, Ender Coskun, Atagün İlhan, Özge Güngör, Muhammet Ali Parlağı, Murat Gül, Ömer Tunç, Furkan Saraç, Özge Düzgören, Batuhan Titiz, Carles Garrigues, Umut Çomak, Aysenur Dinler Layout and Graphic Design: Umut Çomak © 2020 Dream Realm Storytellers Corpus Malicious is published by Dream Realm Storytellers, under the Open Game License version 1.0a Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Dream Realm Storytellers logo, Corpus Malicious and 5e logos are trademarks of Dream Realm Storytellers. All characters and the distinctive likenesses thereof are property of Dream Realm Storytellers. Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, and are not Open Content: All trademarks, proper names, dialogues, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artworks, and trade dress. In this scene illustrated by Jonathan Elliott, we see all layers of degeneration (rotten essence, foul essence, and maddening essence) reaching every corner of the universe, and encompassing a humanoid figure, symbolizing the author of Corpus Malicious. The humanoid is affected by all of these essences on the outside, just as it is corrupted by the desecrating essence on the inside. On the Cover www.dreamrealmstorytellers.com


3 Inns and taverns are full of bards singing the stories of heroes and their glorious battles against evil. In these stories, heroes fight against villains who have massacred an entire town or a long-forgotten evil awakening and devouring hope. Yet, none of them says how the evil cultists sacrificed the villagers, what their motivation was or which dark gifts they were granted in return. The same stories only tell the battles won against evil, but they do not mention the once-great heroes fell from grace, the innocents butchered by their blades and how hope died. Well, this book does… Corpus Malicious is the codex of evil. It is an unholy book that contains a vast amount of evil, vile, dark, gory and sometimes disgusting materials. Although evil races, feats, monsters, spells, and items can be found in other sources, Corpus Malicious is the collection that focuses on content about evil. It also presents a lot of new archetypes and other player character options. However, these are not the only things you will find. Some of the options presented in the book can also be used to create nonevil characters who can be perfect anti-heroes. While wandering through the pages of this book, the very philosophy of evil will be revealed to you. This book can be used by both Game Masters and players for both good or evil campaigns. Do not forget that the greatest heroes are the ones defeating the greatest evil, and the darkest evil is the one casting purest light away. This is Corpus Malicious, an evil book containing 400 pages of evil content. May you read it within the darkness. WARNING This book is for mature readers. If you find the contents of the book disturbing, please do not proceed. We are creating this book to have a better depth of evil characters, parties, and villains. We do not support evil. We think there is a greater, more fulfilling reward for vanquishing an evil darker than what is presented in 5E. How to Use This Book There are five chapters in this book; new character options, new rules, evil faith and communities, evil magic, and villains & minions. Chapter 1 - Character Options: This chapter includes new races, archetypes, backgrounds, feats, and a new class, Witch. The options presented in this chapter will let you create a vast variety of different characters and villains. Everyone can commit evil acts, but these are the options that will specify your motives and philosophy. Chapter 2 - Offerings of the Dark Powers: This chapter explains the rules of degeneration, vampirism, lycanthropy, and lichdom. Committing evil acts for different forces, and walking on the dark paths they reveal will grant you many different boons and curses. Additionally, you can find detailed information about the powers, cultures, and creation methods of dark masters of night, merciless hunters of the wild, and cheaters of death. Chapter 3 - Orders of Evil: This chapter will introduce new dark deities and evil cults & organizations formed to please evil powers. Since dark powers are not greeted well in most places, the word of the dark gifts and power should be spread by mortal emissaries. Together, the dark deity and the worshippers can dominate the universe or they can bring it to an end one step closer. Common activities, rites & initiation rituals, leaders, and headquarters will be available in detail. Chapter 4 - Dark Magic, Items and Equipment: This chapter includes new spells, rituals, equipment, and magic items. Just as good heroes enter the battlefield with shining armor, radiant weapons or purify their enemies with sunbursts, evil characters can bring havoc to battle with their unholy auras, dark armor, blood storing weapons, or profane spells burning enemies to the soul. Items in this chapter also contain short stories and descriptions about their origins. Chapter 5 - Foes and the Wicked: This chapter includes villainous NPCs and monsters. You can find the important characters of cults and organizations, as well as independent NPCs that you can place in your adventures easily. Backstories, motivations, and roleplaying tips along with their stat blocks are written in detail for every NPC. When it comes to monsters, well, what can we say? They will make your players wish for death. Throughout these chapters, you will notice that a lot of spells are marked with a star (*) sign. Unless otherwise is stated, this sign indicates that the spell is a new spell presented in Corpus Malicious. Also, while you are reading “Villains” in Chapter 5, you will see that each villain has at least one of the following tags: Scoundrel, Spellcaster, and Warrior. These are there to help you understand what kind of a character the villain is in combat. Scoundrel indicates that the villain uses the advantage of environment, numbers, traps, and other kinds of tactics to overwhelm its enemies. A Spellcaster depends heavily on its spellcasting abilities and magical powers. And a Warrior generally charges head on, trusting its abilities in fighting with weapons. Introduction


4 Philosophy of Evil…….........................................................................…5 Evil in TTRPG…………………....................................………………………............5 Concepts of Evil…………………..................................……………………..…….....5 Evil Acts………………………………………………………....................................…...6 Chapter 1: Character Options.......................................................…11 Race Options…………………………....................................…………………….….12 Fallen Angel……………………………….....................................…………….….12 Remnant……………………………………......................................………….…..14 Kartuki……………………………….…….......................................….………......16 Shadowkin…………………………………....................................………………..18 Aberrant………………………………………..……....................................……...20 New Class: Witch…………………………….....................................……….……...22 New Archetypes………………………….........................…................…………….31 Barbarian Paths………………………..……………….......................................31 Gore Gladiator…………………………..…....................................…………..31 Path of the Deviator………………….…....................................…………..32 Path of the Fiendish Rage…………….....................................………….34 Bard Colleges………………………………….…....................................………...35 College of Banshee / Siren……………....................................….……….35 College of Revelry………………………...………....................................….36 College of Woe……………………………...…...................................……….37 Cleric Domains…………………………..………………......................................38 Corrupted Domain………………...……………......................................….38 Devour Domain…………………….………….......................................…….40 Rampage Domain…………………………….…....................................…….42 Druid Circles…………………………………..……....................................……...43 Circle of Bones………………………….……….....................................……..43 Circle of Consuming Flames………….……....................................…....45 Circle of Pestilence……………………….…....................................……….47 Martial Archetypes………………………..……....................................……….49 Corpse Knight……………………………...………....................................…..49 Dark Arts Militant………………….……………....................................…...50 Wicked Fighter……………………………………...................................…....53 Monastic Traditions………………...……....................................…………….55 Way of Ooze…………………...…………...................................……………..55 Way of Pain……………….…………………………...................................…..56 Way of the Skin……………….………………………....................................57 Way of the Void……………….…………………….......................................58 Paladin Oaths……………………..…..………………....................................…..59 Dark Templar…………………….…………………....................................….59 Oath of Tyranny………………..………………....................................……..61 Oath of Undoing………………………...………....................................…….63 Ranger Archetypes………………………………....................................…......64 Forsaken Hunter…………………...……….....................................………..64 Mortal Reaper………………………………....................................……...….67 Scourge of the Seas…………………………….…...................................….68 Roguish Archetypes………………………………...................................……..69 Fiendish Trickster………..……………………...................................……..69 Shade…………………..……………………………......................................…..71 Soul Stealer…………....…………………………...................................….….72 Tentacle Blade………………………………………….....................................74 Thousand Faces……….………………...................................……………….75 Sorcerous Origins…………………………………....................................……..76 Aberration Bloodline….……………………...................................……….76 Fiendish Bloodlines………..……………….…...................................……..77 Grave Blooded……………………………....................................…………….79 Warlock Patrons……………………………....................................…………….81 Ancient Evil Dragon…………..………...................................……………..81 Blasphemous Incantator……...……...................................……………..83 The First Vampire……………...................................………….…………...86 Arcane Traditions………………..……………...................................………...87 School of Blood Magic………….…………...................................………..87 School of Demonology…………...…………....................................……..88 School of Fleshwarping……………....................................……………...90 School of Umbramancy………………......................................………....92 New Backgrounds………………...…………………...................................……...94 Murderer…………………………………........................................……………….94 Cultists……………………………..............………………………......................…..95 Way of Evil………………………………………………...................................…..96 Raised by Savages…………..……...................................……………………...97 Haunted………………………………..…………………....................................….98 Lost Memory…………………………….……………....................................…...99 Cleaner…………………………….…………………...................................……..100 Sacrificed Child…………...................................………..……………………..101 Tyrant…………………………………......................................…………………..102 Outlaw………………………………………....................................………………104 New Feats…………………………………....................................………...………..106 Chapter 2: Offerings of the Dark Powers…..............................110 Lichdom, Lycanthropy, and Vampirism…......................................…….111 Lichdom…………………………………..................................……………..…….111 Lycanthropy……………………………………………......................................115 Vampirism……………………….…...................................……………………...118 Degenerations & Degenerating Essences…....................................…….123 Rotten Essence…………….……………...................................……………….123 Desecrating Essence………...………....................................………………..126 Foul Essence……………………….…....................................…………………..129 Maddening Essence…………..…....................................…………………….131 Possession and Exorcism………………....................................……………….135 Possession…………………………….……...................................……………...135 Exorcism………………………………..………………....................................….136 Curses………..................................………………………………….…………….…..137 Defiled Places……………………………..…....................................……………...138 Making Sacrifice……………....................................……………….……………..139 A New Currency: Soul………....................................……..…………………….141 Black Market………………….…...................................…………..……………….142 Poisoncraft………………………………………...................................…...……...144 Drugs and Addiction……………...………....................................……………..149 Torture…………………………..……………...................................………………..150 Chapter 3: Orders of Evil…......................................................…….154 Dark Deities………….……………………………....................................………….155 Xolarg the Unending Hunger………..…...................................………...155 Milena the Blood Bat…………...................................……………..………..156 Naariel the Grim Queen………...................................………………..…...157 Evil Cults………………...…………………....................................………………….158 Crimson Supremity……...………………………....................................…...158 Dead Strike……………………...…………………....................................……..159 Dewan of Love……………………………...................................……………...159 False of Priests………………..……………....................................…………...160 Inquisition of the Flame……….……....................................……………...161 Librarians of the Mad Court…...…....................................……………….162 Living Ashes……………………………..………....................................……….163 New Life…………………………..……………....................................…………. 164 Nightshade Inns…………………..…………...................................………….166 Numis Bank……………………………...……………........................................166 Path of Dream Walkers…………..………………....................................….167 Silhouettes……………………….……………………….....................................168 Silver Claws…………………..….…..……......................................…………...169 Spears of Vengeance……………..………....................................…………..170 Tears of Heaven………….……………………....................................………..171 The Alien Inquisition…………………....................................……………...175 The Golden Hand………………………………....................................……….173 The Mad Horde……………………………....................................…………….174 The Reavers………………...……………....................................……………….175 The Scarlet Table…………….……....................................…………………...176 Chapter 4: Dark Magic, Item and Equipment…………............ 178 Dark Magic……………………………..…………………....................................… 179 Spell Descriptions……………………….…………....................................…..181 Dark Rituals………………...…………………………….....................................204 Magic Items………………………….……………………....................................….206 Corpus Malicious…………………………………....................................…….206 Armors………………………………………...………....................................…...207 Table of Contents


5 Poisons………………………….………………....................................…………..209 Potions…………………………….………………....................................………..211 Rings………………………………………………....................................………….212 .…………………..………………………………..................................……...214 ……………...………………..………….............................................…….215 Wands…………………………...…………………....................................………..216 …………………………....................................………………………...217 Wondrous Items……………………....................................….………………..221 Chapter 5: Foes and the Wicked……............................……………..230 Monsters………………………………………………........................................…..231 Aberrant Visage…………………………………………….................................232 Ablentor……………………………………….................................……………….233 Angel of Graves……………………………………..............................………….234 Arae…………………………………………………....................................………..235 Assassin Sculpture……………………………..................................………….236 Avatar of Woe………………………………….................................…………...237 Bartur the Swallower…………………….................................……………...238 Blob……………………………………….......................................………………..239 Blood Bat……………………………………………..........................……….........240 Blood Elemental……………..……………………...............................….…….241 Blood Scarab Swarm…………….............................…………………………..242 Bloodweed…………………………………………........................................…..243 Bloody Lady…………………………………....................................…………...244 Cinder Soul…………………………………………...............................………...245 Cloud of Whispers………………………................................………………...246 Corpse Squire………………………………………………..................................247 Corpse Warhorse…………………………………...........................................248 Corruptive Mass………………………………………......................................249 Creatures With Corruption……………………...............................……….250 Dark Phoenix………………………………..................................……………….251 Dead Servants……………………...................................………………………..252 Death Moss………………………………………................................…………...253 Dimling……………………………………………................................…………...254 Dreaded Spirit…………………………………………................................…….255 Eyepoker……………………………………………………….................................256 Faceless Slave……………………………………………................................….257 Flesh Construct……………………………...............................………………...258 Flesh Ooze…………………………………...............................…………………..259 Ghost of the Past………………...……………….................................……….260 Grave Elemental………………..……………….................................………...261 Grave Giant…………………………………………………..................................262 Gravekeeper……………………………………...............................……………..263 Grim Knight…………………………………..................................……………...264 Helnore…………………………………………....................................…………..265 Liquid Silver…………………………………...................................…………….266 Lustrous Amphithere………………………………...................................….267 Malicious Incarnations…………………………...................................…….271 Mana Devourer…………………………………….....................................…...272 Mind Consumer……………………………….....................................………..273 Minotaur Golgothan………………………………....................................….274 Night’s Grim…………………………........................................…...………….275 Pariah……………………………...........................................…………………...276 Rammed Force……………………………….......................................………..277 Rampage Goblin………………………….........................................………….278 Relic Sentry…………………………………….........................................……..279 Rotface………………………………………….........................................……….280 Swarm of Blood Bats……………………….....................................…….....281 Temptation Demon…………………………...................................………….282 Tlaxtil…………………………………………....................................................283 Tryzgus………………………………...….........................................…………...284 Typhee………………………………..........................................….……………..285 Unwanted……………………………….............................................………….286 Vampire Minion…………………............................................……………...287 Wicked Avatar……………………………………............................................288 Wicked Forest………………………………......................................………….290 Xathzxis The “Blue Fever”.................................................................291 Zadulus……………………….................................................………………….292 Zuqnaux……………………………………..............................................……...293 Villains………………………………………………............................................….294 All-Seeing Gaston……………………………............................................….295 Bernar Duresk, New Life Fanatic…...........................................……….297 Debast Veirillen……………………………............................................…….299 Edientath……………………………………….......................................………..301 Elinith Maleficum & Eranahr Maleficum…..................................…..303 Emily the Banshee………………........................................………………….305 Ermat von Carolissen…………………………........................................…..307 Esasha Ivory…………………………….........................………..................…..309 Feveran Goldenkit…………………...………..........................................…..311 Grim Gomir……………………………...........................................….………..313 Herna the Red…………………………............................................………….315 High Ambassador Kalytha…………...………...........................................317 Ignatius the Insane Librarian…………….....................................……...319 Ilveril the First False Priest…………......................................…….……..321 Inquisitor Maveram…………………….......................................…………..323 Jenfine Thridis…………………….........................................………………...325 Joaquin Duskhaven……………………..........................................………...327 Kortar Cragbrace…………...........................................……………………...329 Lilante Cragbrace……………………………...........................................…..331 Lletin the Silent………………………………............................................….333 Lord Mordhak……………………….…………...............................................335 Lyrr the Mischief………………...........................................….…………….337 Marilus Athaertes……………………………...........................................….339 Marshall Gutonsyk………………............................................……………..341 Miamora Quiwen………………………………..............................................343 Morbash the Slaughterer……………............................................……...345 Nanny Ishmilda……………………............................................…………….347 Netharesh the Carrier……............................................…………………..349 Radd the Rat……………………………………...............................................351 Sugad Invraro…………………………………................................................353 Takar Batar…………………………….…….............................................…...355 The Unseen One…………………….............................................…………..357 Vaxx the Collector………………………..............................................…...359 Vretiel…………………………………………..............................................…...361 Xaelos “Ganis”.....................................................................................363 Xaltoran the Head Librarian…….............................................………..365 Xelmin Kandelar…………………………….............................................….367 Zadkiel Tabris……………………..............................................……………..369 Alcestis the Fallen Mother………..............................................………..371 Alejandro Zenith Sapik………………...............................................…….373 Angelique Sorror Emissus…………..............................................……...375 Moltkar………………………………………..............................................…….377 Silvesky Silvers……………………………..................................……………...379 Sukaris………………………………………..................................………………..381 Dark Monarch……………………………………………….....................................383 Archimedes……………………………………………….....................................384 Balthazar…………………………………………………..................................….388 Darius……………………………………………………...................................…...391 Dark Demorge…………………………………………...................................….395 Krampus……………………………………………………....................................398 Meric Ellyon…………………………………………....................................…...402 Backer List...............................................................................................405 Dark Monarchs........................................................................................411 Special Thanks..........................................................................................411 Playtesters...............................................................................................412 OGL............................................................................................................413 Weapons Staffs Rods


6 Many of the sentient creatures have a common sense that they find it hard to act against. Most humans or elves or other races would find it hard to go against the subtle voice that whispers to their ears how wrong it is to slay an innocent (or even slaying someone guilty, as such victims’ faces continue to haunt a character who is not used to taking the life of a creature). This voice even exists when a character wants to steal, or cast magic of evil origin. Even a cultist who doesn’t know the evil nature of the cult will have to fight with the conscience when the truth is revealed. Evilness comes when the voice of conscience starts to fade away. It can happen as corruption, increasing gradually in time, and making the subtle whisper of conscience harder to be heard. On the other hand, it can also happen in an instant as the result of a decision in which one knows is wrong but chooses to do it anyway. Evil in TTRPG is either the darkness in one’s heart that originates from an unholy source or the very corruption of one’s heart itself. Certain acts are outright wrong to do, some deities are outright evil and they wish their followers to do evil deeds. As the moral sides and philosophies are solidified through some monsters, magical powers, deities, and faiths, it is easy to separate the acts into good, neutral, or evil in the game. If your game approaches evil as defined in 5E, setting the determinants of evil will be easy for you. You can just keep in mind how certain deities, creatures, or perhaps magic are described and assess the evilness of a character, villain, or situation accordingly. The topic of evil acts in the upcoming paragraphs can be your guide as a Game Master or player to determine what is evil and what is not. Depth of Evil Philosophically, evil may be harder to define than what is given in TTRPGs. An evil creature often does not know that it is evil, and it can justify its actions with certain logical or philosophical reasons. A wizard may decide the whole knowledge of the cosmos can only be gained by letting go of restrictions such as morality or law. The wizard can state that in a cosmos where everything from birth to death is observable, things such as laws or moral norms are humanmade. A paladin may leave the temple and deity behind in the name of justice and peace, deciding that the previous way was too pacifist for bringing solutions to the chaos around, or too humble against people who believe in other faiths including evil ones. The paladin can state that with only more radical actions such as burning heretics, unbelievers, and monsters instead of arresting or lecturing them, one can bring order and true peace. This path may lead the paladin down to falling from grace slowly. There can be villains who dwell on all sorts of evilness for its own sake, but most often, villains are villains because they challenge the norms of common sense in some aspects. They follow agendas that are unacceptable for societies perhaps, but their goals may be something noble in their own minds. A villain also does not have to be a bundle of every evil concept. Only a number of actions and behavior can be enough to highlight a villain’s evilness, it does not need to include everything from theft to desecration. A warlord may be unmerciful in battle and would be slaughtering armies for total domination, but that warlord may still find theft, pillaging, and murdering children intolerable. Nature or Nurture Another thing that may have more depth in it is the association of certain races and creatures with evilness. In games, creatures such as orcs are almost always evil and destructive. A fantasy story or literature may need such evil minions, but the story becomes even better when it is investigated further why they are evil rather than just pinpointing them as the bad folks. It may not be whole races, but some societies can accept evil common sense and conscience that is prevalent in many other races due to cultural differences, life struggles, or different traditions. Theft and murder may be natural for them. As a result of such cultural environments, a character may be nurtured into evilness slowly as a part of its life and background story. However, instead of relating a race to evilness as nature, you can add more depth to characters if you relate it to nurture. This can also provide some valuable arcs in a story where characters’ or villains’ alignment is dynamic, letting possible the development and shift of character through scenes within the sessions of the story. Also, in this way, the alignment concept can become more meaningful and a part of the story. Concepts of evil in this book are tied to the evil creatures and to the darkness that resides within all sentient beings. Many evil acts lure in either the cosmic forces of evil or unleash the monstrosity within. In Corpus Malicious, evil comes with a price though. This book is not about being a villain type that acts stereotypical, rather it is about a villain who is scarred by the deeds. It is a humanoid being like everyone else, having its own burdens on the road it is set. The villain is also probably resolute with the agendas and objectives it has set, either because it feels they are right, or they are the only things that are left to keep its dignity. Philosophy of Evil Evil In TTRPG Concepts of Evil


7 Desecration When a good-hearted knight helps a child to find the way home, the child becomes fascinated by the knight and is left with an innocent smile. When an urchin is saved by the temple of a good deity, the urchin probably becomes a member of the temple and helps others in need. When a good-aligned paladin in shining armors protects a village against danger, the people start to worship the deity of the paladin and even follow the paladin’s path. When one does a good deed, the deed leaves a trace behind so that the others may follow. When one does a good deed, a seed of goodness is planted into the hearts of others, that will slowly grow and spread goodness. Evil wants to erase that trace, it wants to destroy that seed, and it does so by desecrating the very essence behind the goodness. When the saved urchin becomes an evil cleric, when the little child turns to become a harbinger of death and destruction, or when the villagers solve the next problem by a profane poison, the evil not only destroys the goodness within them, but it also spits on the legacy of it. This is desecration. Desecration can also be committed by the help of magic. Consecrated grounds can be turned into desecrated fields, holy artifacts and relics can be corrupted, and temples of the forces of good can be bathed in unholy energies. Evil likes to reside in desecrated grounds. Such places may attract the attention of evil creatures and evil forces of evil. You can find detailed information about this in the Defiled Places (p.138) section of Corpus Malicious. Accepting the Evil Within Desecrating holy concepts, good deeds, innocent hearts and all that is good is evil. However, among many evil acts, desecration one’s self-nature is perhaps the most sinister, most dangerous of them all. Desecrating essence (p.126) lies within the darkness of every humanoid. For those who degenerate because of the other forces, it can be said (to a degree) that they were also victims. On the other hand, for someone who degenerates with desecrating essence, such a thing cannot be said. The one who chooses this path chooses to unleash its inner evil. This evil becomes its nature. This evil becomes it. Desecrating essence is something even fiends of the other worlds look at with respect and a portion of fear. It is a dreadfully marvelous sight to see how wicked someone can be without any interference from creatures of evil. This essence shows the potential of darkness and annihilation in those who are normally thought of as potential victims of cosmic forces. Forces of Evil When making evil acts, casting forbidden or forsaken spells, or contacting evil otherworldly beings, characters may degenerate within the boundaries of four cosmic forces of evil presented in this book. These forces have essences that spread and leak when deeds about their essences are done. These forces are generous, with the gifts they provide to those who are corrupted by them. Yet, they are also merciless, with the curses they cause on those individuals. With the gifts, one makes a habit of the power it has gained, becoming too needy or greedy to let it go. With the curses, one starts to represent the evil forces, becoming a creature it resembles, getting further away from its past self. These four forces are foul, rotten, maddening, and desecrating. Foul essence (p.129) is the cosmic evil behind the fiends. It is the essence of devils and demons. When a character degenerates into foul essence, it becomes more fiendish in nature, perhaps even in physical terms. Rotten essence (p.123) is the price of life that is sacrificed for gaining powers of unlife. Although necromancy is not an evil school of magic as a whole, a considerable portion of the magic it presents causes the balance of life to a mishap, causing dire consequences. If the gain of a necromancy spell is too sweet, the taint it will cause in life will probably be equally dire. Maddening essence (p.131) is the truth of the aberrations. It is the complex and completely chaotic typhoon of knowledge that is too much for a mortal mind to grasp. Characters who dwell into lore or the logic of the aberrations find themselves getting maddened by what they learn and witness. As realms of madness also involve the chaotic form of creation, its results also cause bodies to mutate into abominations through time. The philosophy and concepts of evil described before provide a general understanding of what evil is in TTRPGs and what it can be according to this book. However, in games, it is better to be able to take an action at hand specifically and see whether it is an evil act or not. The evil acts described in this section provide guidelines for you as a Game Master or player to assess the depth or variance of the evilness of a character. Bargaining with Evil Not everyone has to devote themselves to evil for gaining something in return. There may be those who choose to bargain and make a deal that is for an occasion or a longer period of time. Warlocks, for example, may make a pact with fiends to gain their powers, but this does not mean that they follow the fiends’ path, nor it means that they like their patrons. A wizard may summon a fiend for help on a task that takes only minutes. Bargaining with creatures that are evil by creation is an evil act. Magically, it tends to have a foul essence, and it gives way to corruption. Yet, if the character is strong in will and has ideals that cannot be broken easily, a character may not degenerate into an evil alignment just because of such a bargain. Still, it is hard not to be corrupted or cheated in such bargains. The source of degeneration varies according to the type of evil creature that is bargained with. Commonly, it results in foul degeneration as fiends love to make deals with mortals to obtain more power or opportunities to exploit. However, one may gain rotten essence if the source of power is a powerful lich, or maddening essence if the evil entity is an aberration of cosmic power. Evil Acts


8 Causing Misery Mercy is not a method used by evil characters generally. However, sometimes, even if the villain defeats its enemies, it lets them live. This is not because the villain is merciful, but since it wants them to feel defeat and misery, to be overwhelmed by it, to fall into hopelessness, and to be forced to take extreme actions as a result. When there is no hope, a good-aligned paladin can make a deal with a devil to kill the paladin’s rival demon, an honorable knight can use poison, or an honest cleric can tell lies. All of them may feel regret later, however they either seek atonement or keep doing what they have already done and become evil at the end. Leaving their enemies miserable to corrupt them slowly is a common method used by different aspects of evil. Fiends, some aberrations, tricksters, and plotter vampires can be some examples to these aspects. Cheating and Betrayal Lying is something morally wrong, but many people lie for matters big or small. Cheating is worse than lying, but it still does not necessarily make someone evil. For example, there may be rogues who are good at heart and do not harm innocents but lie and cheat their way on their quests. A bard may lie about certain details of a story to make it more convincing or glorious. Betrayal, even when done by a good or neutral man is a deed that is most prone to a path of becoming evil. Many temples, orders, and cultures see betrayal very dishonorable, and honor is important in many societies. Lying, cheating, and betraying another can be used for evil quite resourcefully. As some don’t care about morality, evil schemers may find lying to be a useful tool for setting up the people for devious plans. Betrayal is also often the first step to a dark path: Many people live among their societies according to norms and laws, until they are tempted by an evil character, and their first step to evil generally includes a betrayal. Cheating, lying, or betraying as a means of evil may cause a character to degenerate into foul essence or desecrating essence. On the other hand, the essence also depends on the path that is taken after the betrayal. According to this path, another essence may be the result as well. Evil Spellcasting A character may also cast spells that are evil in nature, carrying an evil or corrupting essence within. Evil spellcasting can be seen as a lighter form of bargaining with evil, as it is effective only for an instance or a short period of time, and there is no evil creature or entity on the other side of the bargain. A careful spellcaster may be protected from the side effects of channeling an evil force. On the other hand, there are examples where an evil ritual not only condemns its spellcaster but also the whole kingdom that the spellcaster rules… Casting evil spells is a gray area that can easily give way to some sort of mishap or potential for corruption. If the spell is something that inflicts unnecessary pain or destruction and if the spellcaster had means to cast an alternative spell that was not evil, then it is an evil act. This is because choosing to inflict more pain just for the sake of it is sadism. Villains and evil characters cast evil spells because the results they provide are often tempting, and makes its spellcaster feel powerful. Casting evil spells often degenerates a character into foul or desecrating essences. Greed Greed is a gray area. Greedy people are quite common in many societies, but their greed is not destructive in a level of evilness. Most often, people keep their greed under control because of their fear of norms or laws. When someone’s greed overcomes that fear, and especially when it starts to result in serious harm on other people’s wellbeing, it transforms into an aspect of evil. A greedy merchant may try to make more money than the goods sold deserve, and this can be considered as minor greed. On the other hand, a lord may order the pillage of a nearby wealthy town, which is a much worse form of greed, as it destroys the wellbeing or even lives of many people. Greed can be found as the source and reason of evilness in many villains and evil characters. The pursuit of a sort of power often deviates such people from morality, laws, and common sense. It is something that can be found on the rich and politicians as well. Greed is the source of corruption for many noble families. Giving way to greed can result in the degeneration into any of the essences, as the power that is obtained may be one of such essences. Yet, greed as a vice may cause degeneration into desecrating essence. Harming Souls If there is something eviler than murdering an innocent, it is to hurt someone’s soul. Murder is just the taking of life, but the soul moves on. On the other hand, a soul can suffer for eternity if it is exposed to evil manipulations. Such things are existentially dreadful, and they are perhaps the evilest acts. Villains manipulate or harm souls if they have no morality at all. Those who make souls suffer is someone that is one of the evilest things imaginable. Some may also use souls to gain certain benefits, which causes the soul to suffer partially or for a small period of time. Such creatures may not enjoy what they do, but they are still obviously morally lost. As gold or other precious items do not have a lot of value in lower planes, fiends use souls as a currency of trade. Harming or manipulating souls may degenerate a character into rotten, foul, or desecrating essences. If it is done out of a form of sadism, it brings desecrating essence. Murder Taking the life of someone else is one of the obvious acts of evil. It is the ultimate violation of one’s right to exist, and it is a taboo for many good and neutral aligned faiths. Killing cannot be reversed and the wrong it causes stains a character forever.


9 Murdering innocents is a great sin for many religions. An innocent being does not have any reason to lead a character to such aggression, and thus the murderer’s act is clearly a selfish and highly destructive one. Additionally, killing people causes a character to gradually lose touch with life as well. Cold-blooded killers slowly become lifeless themselves, in psychological terms. Consequently, the murder of innocents is an evil act. It can be tied to all of the degenerating essences provided in this book. Bringing death captures the attention of many forces. Killing people to raise them as undead may grant rotten essence, sacrificing masses to fiendish masters may grant foul essence, enchanting common folks with aberrant magic may grant maddening essence, and murdering people just for the fun may grant desecrating essence. Even neutral or good characters may suffer from these essences as the result of murder. Many 5E games revolve around the party killing the opposition encounter by encounter. The bandits of the bandit lord, soldiers of the enemy forces, or orcs of the dreadful clan are not mindless beings. Every creature lives through the most horrific experience of their lives when dying. Although it may be for the greater good or out of necessity to defend oneself, a character with a conscience must live through the dread and haunting faces of those it killed. A character who feels sorry for such actions are still soft-hearted and good in nature, but those who don’t care or start to like it may fall into the trap of evil forces. Necromancy Even if not studied for evilness, necromancy is a school of magic that favors death in - sometimes - the expense of life. There are many necromancy spells that do not harm living creatures, such as speak with dead, but it toys and mocks life in some way. Casting necromancy spells is most of the time not an evil act, but a good character would certainly think three times before casting one. On the other hand, there are necromancy spells that are obviously evil acts. Those which bind souls or create undead creatures are blasphemous against life and thus evil in nature. Villains use necromancy and create undead as they often do not care about what it consumes or what it scoffs. Necromancy is a resourceful way to obtain servants that are mindless and obedient. Using necromancy in a harmful way, as well as animating or creating undead, degenerates a character into rotten essence. In time, the practice of necromancy starts to take away the liveliness of its spellcaster as well. Revenge Revenge is at the center of many stories. The knight avenges their family, the remnant avenges their own death, the fallen avenges their falling from grace. It is an effective driving force for both heroes and villains. Although exacting revenge is not evil all the time, it can lead one to evil easily. For instance, let’s think about an honorable knight who was denounced dishonorably by the lord the knight was serving to. After two years of depression and struggle to survive, the former knight decides to avenge the honor it lost. The knight decides to kill the lord, gathers a party to get some help, promises them the treasure of the lord, and together they enter the castle the lord lives in. In the heat of the combat, the lord uses his servants as a cover and tries to escape. To prevent the lord, the knight butchers the innocent servants and kills the lord at the end. In this scenario, revenge blinded the judgment of the knight and made the knight kill innocents for the sake of revenge. Yes, the knight took revenge but committed an evil act and became a murderer. Seeking revenge blindly generally leads to an evil end, and it is one of the most common reasons for falling from grace. Spreading Suffering Seeing the joy in the misery of others is an evil act. Villains usually do this as a sort of bullying to see how powerful they are against their weak enemies. Some also spread suffering because they have fetishes such as sadism. An evil character may spread suffering by hurting others, leaving them miserable or dreaded. It is also a common tool used by some politicians, especially those that are tyrannical. Such rulers may seek to spread fear among the populace, because of their belief that ruling is easier when the ruled are afraid. Bullying is another form of spreading suffering. It is a show of force by proving someone else is weaker and thus recognizing oneself as superior. When done by a kid, bullying is an immoral thing that can be reversed by proper education. On the other hand, many villains and evil characters that are adults also bully others a lot. Their degree of bullying is more devious than that of children as well. Thus, bullying is often an evil act and a means of spreading suffering. If a character sees spreading suffering and misery is fun or satisfying, that person would degenerate into desecrating essence. If a character is using it as a sort of a tool in the service of a higher dark evil power (such as a tyrant paladin does), it may result in degeneration into different essences depending on the evil power. Summoning Evil Servants Evil characters can also choose to summon or create evil creatures instead of undead. A powerful wizard can bind an evil creature to do a deed that has good ends, but it is still not preferred by most spellcasters if there are non-evil creatures as alternatives to it. Evil characters or villains summon or create evil creatures because it is good to have those who can do stuff on behalf of them. With carefulness and precautions, evil creatures are great servants that do not have moral concerns while doing malicious deeds. Summoning evil servants most commonly degenerates a character into foul or maddening essence, as such creatures (not counting undead) tend to have those natures. Yet, of course, it can cause other types of degenerations as well.


10 Theft Stealing someone’s property is a crime that is punishable in many societies. Parents teach their children not to steal from their youth. The thing that is stolen may be something its owner worked very hard for, and it is gone in an instance of sleight of hand. As it is an unfair gain at the expense of someone else’s welfare, stealing can easily be an evil act. However, it may be a gray area as well. A rogue stealing from the local gang, for example, may not be evil as the things that were stolen are probably previously stolen by the gang as well. Thus, it can be said that stealing from innocents is the form of theft that is evil. Evil characters and villains can easily steal from anyone they wish (given that they are skillful enough), without any moral considerations. Stealing is a fruitful and quick way to obtain something a villain wants. Stealing for the sake of stealing is a common evil act as well, something like murdering for the thrill of it. Temptation Tempting someone in a tavern for having a fun night together is not an evil act. Yet, temptation goes much further than that. Temptation as an evil act is tempting someone to do a deed that is destructive for society, for life, or for the person itself. Temptation can also cause corruption. By tempting enough, a guard can get used to having bribes, a person can be tempted to become a murderer, or a priest can be tempted to defy their temple and deity. Villains use temptation for various reasons. Those with good social skills and persuading capabilities use it to take advantage of other people to get their plans done. An evil cultist or a servant to a fiend tempts others for corrupting them and thus defying deities of morality and civilization. Depending on the source of temptation, both the tempted and the tempter may degenerate into the relative essence, possibly foul or desecrating. Taking Advantage of Others Using someone for something that person is skillful for may not be an evil act, such as using the rogue friend in the party to sneak into a keep and opening the gates. Yet, using someone to the expense of that person’s life or wellbeing is an evil act. Scheming villains, such as vampires or other masterminds, often take advantage of others. Because evil characters are often selfish, they like to throw others into dangerous situations rather than getting hurt themselves. A vampire drinking all of the blood of one of its minions in combat to survive, a graverobber killing its fellow worker to not to share the treasure they have newly found, a lich sending its faithful corpse knight to death to cover its own escape is all evil and takes advantage of others. Also, although encouraging the rogue in the party to make it disarm the traps is not an evil action, shooting the fellow barbarian’s leg and wounding it so that you can run away from the monsters chasing both of you is an evil act. Taking advantage of others is also common in politics. In fact, it may be one of the most dominant forms of corruption. Because a ruler commands others to do certain things for the place of the ruling, the ruler may easily slip into the abuse of this power to command others into selfish or harmful deeds. Taking advantage of others tends to degenerate a character into desecrating essence. Worshipping Evil Evil deities have domains that focus on destructive means or ends. They demand their followers to worship them through deeds that are included in or presented by these domains. Fiends (demons and devils) are evil in nature, that are also instinctually invasive, corrupt, and harmful. Abiding by their demands means acting in these manners as well. Thus, worshipping evil is an evil act. Following the means and wishing for the ideals of such evilness are clearly vice intentions. Those who worship evil usually do it to gain more power quicker. They do not care that they are becoming corrupted by their submission, as long as they get what they want. Some may also be completely devoted to their evil master or deity. Such people, for example, fanatic evil cultists, are the worst kind of evil among evil worshippers. There may be those who feel they have to worship evil, as a sort of last resort and out of desperation. In any case, worshipping evil corrupts and degenerates. And eventually, it brings the worshipper to evilness. The source of degeneration varies according to the type of evil identity that is worshipped. It may cause foul, maddening, desecrating, or even rotten degenerations for various deities. It results in foul degeneration for devils and demons, and maddening degeneration for aberrant entities.


12 his section includes a variety of unique races and subraces. Fallen angels are those who fell and lost the majority of their angelic powers, and begin a new life with or without memories from the past. Remnants are people from other races who died, but couldn’t go to the afterlife and stuck. Kartuki is a cannibalistic, tribal race of warriors who value strength and honor, with methods that are seen as grotesque by most. Shadowkins are born in a realm of shadows and can twist shadows to their advantage. Aberrant is someone who is touched by an aberration as an infant or before. Falling From Grace An angel needs to experience an extremely traumatic event to fall from grace. They cannot be born with evil in their hearts, and this purity is also why they become fanatics of their new cause if they fall. They do not know how to feel evil naturally; they learn, they taste it inordinately. Once an angel takes a sip from the cup of evil, they want to embrace it completely. They may become Fallen instantly, or may experience an interval of suspicion and denial before it fully happens. Angelic Ancestry Angels were created in the heavens by the pure powers of law and good, and even the ones who resist worshipping them cannot fully escape their influence. Although they can stop being good creatures, most of them can’t stop being lawful. They tend to be calm, they act wisely, and most of them become zealous protectors of their new ways. Beyond their alignments, their origins and past never abandon them, or leave them alone. They are sought by other angels, for either atonement or retribution. A Lonely Life Many fallen angels generally live lonely lives. They may pass the time trying to win the battle they have started against their pasts or pursue their goals. On their paths to reach the end of their quests, they can be a part of an unholy adventuring party or they can form their own cults or organizations. T Race Options Fallen Angel Sofiel emerged from her dusky study to the common hall of the library. Every time I see her, I think of the day she had come to this library of vast knowledge, two years ago. From the moment she showed up at the gates, I knew that I was not looking at a normal creature. She was, literally, divine. She looked extremely profane with her wings covered in black smoke at all times, with the smell of innocents burning beneath. She walked in with determination and directly demanded information about the sword she had been searching for. Few visitors come to this isolated library that is lying under crimson skies. Not many of these visitors can bear to stay here, talking only to librarians and searching among the books patiently, to find what they seek. It has been 20 years since she arrived and ever since that day, every day, she has been studying the books, seeking the sword’s whereabouts. She is the most valuable treasure this unholy library has ever seen. - Librarian Cantor


13 Fallen Angel Names Male Names: Amael, Rhamiel, Samuel, Sarakiel, Turiel Female Names: Esther, Gatriel, Lailah, Sofiel, Usiel Fallen Angel Traits Your fallen angel character has certain traits that are the legacy of your Angelic ancestry: Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2. Age. Fallen Angels are born already having reached adulthood and they do not age. Alignment. Most Fallen Angels are lawful evil, but neutral, or even chaotic evil-aligned fallen angels are not unheard of. Size. Fallen Angels are generally between 5 - 7 feet tall and weigh 220 - 260 pounds. They look too fit to be regular humanoids and their physical appearance looks as if they are statues. Your size is Medium. Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. When you fall, you lose your angelic wings. However, when your character reaches level 9, you grow wings suitable to your new evil deity and they grant you a flying speed of 30 feet. Your wings can have the appearance of fiery-angelic wings, bloodied-crimson wings or they can be bat-like. You may also choose to have other appearances, at the GM’s discretion. Darkvision. Owing to your celestial blood, darkness cannot impede your vision. You have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. Angelic Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and frightened. Beginning when you reach 4th level, your weapon attacks are magical. Angelic Arsenal. Owing to the nature of your creation, you are proficient with shortsword, longsword, warhammer, spear and greatsword. Angelic Enemies. Although you lost some of the Angelic powers you had before, you know that you still possess the powers bestowed upon you when you were created. This is also known by your former allies. They do not want you to become a servant to an archdevil or to lead undead armies. They want to hunt you down. They may want to capture you, or consecrate you, or directly put an end to your existence. Fallen Ancestry. You have resistance to necrotic and poison damage, and vulnerability to radiant damage. You also have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned. Words of The Fallen. Once you spoke the most peaceful words of creation, your voice put crying babies to sleep. Now, your very existence brings pain with it, and your words make all who hear them tremble in their bones. You can use these words on a target who can hear you within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or it is frightened for 1 minute or until it takes damage (DC is Charisma based). Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Celestial. You can also choose one more language appropriate to your new goals or deity, at the GM’s discretion. Subrace. The opinions and thoughts they have following their fall affect what they become. There are three subraces of fallen angels; Avenger, Corruptor, and Dark Warden. Avenger There is a burning in the hearts of the Avengers that stays ablaze with hatred and vengeance. This hatred can be against angels, mortals or, simply, against what made them fall. An avenger feels these emotions to the core, causing them the need to constantly be on the move. An Avenger dedicates its lives to exacting vengeance. Avengers can easily be seen on battlefields, facing their enemies personally. This subrace grants you the following benefits: Burning Vengeance. You reflect your feelings burning inside of you to the outside. Your melee and ranged weapon attacks deal an extra (1) fire damage. This extra damage increases to 1d4 at 6th, 1d6 at 12th, and 2d4 at 18th level. Corruptor Corruptors choose to plan, wait, and then act, slowly. They execute their plans step by step to reach their goals. Corruptors generally form cults, poison the minds of others, use minions in their games, and usually end up dangerous enemies for many. This subrace grants you the following benefits: Poisoning Words. You can speak poisonous words to alter others’ minds, slowly making them more obedient to you. You can cast charm person at 1st level, detect thoughts at 6th level, dominate person at 12th level, and dominate monster at 18th level. You can only cast these spells by talking to the subject and poisoning its mind as a ritual as if the spell has the ritual tag. Once you cast one of these spells this way, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again. Your spellcasting ability is Charisma for these spells. Dark Warden Dark Wardens dedicate their lives to a person, deity, place or something else, and they try to protect whatever they end up dedicating themselves to with everything they have. They can be encountered while protecting the phylactery of a lich or temple of a dark deity. This subrace grants you the following benefits: Dark Mending. As an action, you can choose two creatures within 30 feet of you and use your twisted angelic powers to harm an enemy and heal an ally. For 1 minute, the enemy you target takes 1 damage at the start of each of your turns and the ally regains 1 hit point at the start of each of your turns. You transfer the life essence you take from one of them to the other. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest beGM TIP This feature should cause great trouble to the player belonging to the Fallen Angel race. If the player does not try to hide their nature, or tells their name openly, that name can easily be found by the player’s angelic enemies. Also, angels, clerics, and paladins tracking down the Fallen have advantage on any roll they make about magical tracking if they know the Fallen’s name.


14 fore you can do so again. This damage, as well as the hit points regained through the healing power of the feature increases to 2 at 9th, and 3 at 15th level. Remnants are what remains of a mortal race who died but somehow did not perish. Their bodies have died, but their soul remains bound to their flesh, which they are able to animate just as they could during the days when they lived. The origins of remnants are unclear. Some scholars say they are cousins of revenants, who deny death and become the undead for the sake of an ultimate goal they had before their passing. Others say they are the result of necromancy. Even remnants themselves may not know the source of their condition, and they seem to sprout from any and all races. A Life Without Breath Remnants don’t require food, sleep or anything a mortal requires to survive. They don’t become exhausted, nor hungry, and they don’t have to breathe. However, they carry within themselves an ever-existing dread of restlessness. Their dreams are abstract visions accompanied by this existential dread, as they go into their dream-realm fully conscious. They have to focus on something that can distract them from the dread within, in order to rest. Their body resembles what they were before they turned into this abomination. They can be a human, dwarf, elf or another race’s remnant, carrying the traits and looks of its race, but a rotten version of it. Because of the status their soul provides their body, they do not decompose. However, they smell foul and their skin is extremely cold to the touch, just like a corpse. Additionally, their eyes have a blurry gray hue. A Life Taken Away Although some may think not being gone after death is a gift, a favor from gods or goddesses, or a stroke of luck, a remnant often realizes that its former life will inevitably slip from its grasp, more and more, as time passes. Their foul nature starts to irritate their former friends or family, and their condition eventually results in all the others passing away of old age, leaving the remnant behind. In the end, a remnant knows that there will only be the silence of their twisted grave. Even if there are friends or family who insist on staying together, the aforementioned unknown dread haunts the remnant. Life around the remnant may seem like it is still the same, but the dread clawing at them from within makes it seem as though an apocalypse is imminent, at all times. Lost in Time Remnants can remain in this state for all eternity. As their body is preserved and animated by their souls, they can bear the wear and tear of time indefinitely. Still, their eternal existence is anything but pleasant. Their dreadful sleep and restlessness make them lose track of time. After a year, or a decade, of their existence as a remnant, they start to forget the date and how much time has passed between the events of their (un)life. In this sense, some of them try to seek the aid of those who tend to live long, such as elves. If a remnant was an elf before its death, it can adapt to its endlessness more easily than a human remnant. Remnant I am nothing but bones and rotting flesh. My dear life has passed me by, without even taking my soul up to the heavens, or down to hell. Now I remain, unable to die of old age, hunger, or disease. Whether it was a twist of fate or a sick prank of the gods, I simply exist... without the pains or pleasures of a mortal life. - The final words of Avon the Remnant, years after his known death


15 A Life Unseen Many realms and kingdoms harbor hostile feelings towards the undead. In fact, common creatures outright fear walking corpses since necromancy is a well-known practice. Most often, seeing an undead is not a good sign. It can herald anything; from a curse to an invasion of undead hordes commanded by a lich. Consequently, folks are rarely pleased when they come across remnants. Because they are exceedingly rare, remnants are often misjudged regarding their nature. Many people do not even try to listen to them, as there are undead who can talk and still have the ultimate aim to eat one’s flesh. The reactions of the temples to the remnants are even (and perhaps especially) harsh, as their instinct is to either turn or destroy them. As a result, remnants tend to hide their true nature. They try to blend into society and be seen as normal, living people. They can wear perfumes to hide their smell and excessive clothing to hide their distorted flesh. Remnant Traits Your remnant character has a number of traits in common with all other remnants. Ability Score Increase. An ability score of your choice increases by 1. Racial Traits. Remnants lose all racial traits of their former race. Age. Remnants can be of any age, and they always look like the age at the time of their passing. Alignment. Remnants do not tend toward one particular alignment, but there is a higher number of remnants that are neutral-aligned or evil-aligned rather than good. It is hard to stay on the good side when you are seen as an abomination and are rejected by society. Evil remnants accept that they are monsters, and act accordingly, thinking it is better to be feared than to be pitied or rejected. Size. Your size is the same as that of your former race. Speed. Your speed is the same as that of your former race. Benefits of Unlife. You do not require food or water to survive, and you are immune to being poisoned, poison damage, and diseases. You cannot fall asleep, you are immune to being unconscious except if you drop to 0 hit points. You do not suffer from exhaustion unless it is inflicted through magical means. Additionally, you do not have to breathe and therefore do not need to hold your breath underwater. Skillful in Hiding. You have proficiency in the Deception and Stealth skills. Unholy Rejuvenation. You are immune to necrotic damage, and, receiving damage of this type will heal you by half of the damage dealt. Turn Vulnerability. You can be affected by the Turn Undead feature, but cannot be destroyed by it. Languages. You know the languages you knew. Resting by Distraction. You rest by distracting yourself enough so that you don’t feel the dread that always haunts you. You cannot sleep, and distract yourself with anything such as the sound of the campfire. Subrace. There are two subraces of remnants. They become what they are as the result of different causes and thus have different traits. Choose one of these subraces; one that suits you and your background story. Risen Corpse You were long dead, but somehow, something pulled your soul back from the afterlife and raised you from the dead. You do not remember what your soul witnessed in the afterlife, but perhaps the dread that you feel is related to that. You can become a risen corpse as a result of many occasions and you can work with your GM about it. Your soul can be unlucky (or lucky) enough to encounter a necromantic ritual or someone may bring you back to learn from your experiences. Risen corpses are outright rotten. They look even less like Rejected by the Society Remnants try to maintain what is left of their lives without drawing attention to their nature. Their ideas of races vary according to what race they belonged to before they became remnants. Yet, they also acquire new views and stereotypes about other factions when they become a remnant. Clergy. “They are hypocrites! They preach the words of their deity, and perhaps my deity as well. Yet they think of us as a curse or abomination that is to be pitied or saved.” Commoners. “I understand why they fear us. I would be frozen in dread if I saw a zombie in my previous life. We have to keep them in ignorance in regard to our true nature. This would be safer for them, as well as for us.” Undead. “We may look alike, but I have no sympathy for these hideous creatures. Still, this may just be me. I have heard of other remnants who accepted themselves to be undead, and do the same atrocities as they do.” Your Former Life Although your character’s story involves you dying and becoming a remnant, thus belonging to the remnant race, you choose to belong to the remnant race while creating your character. Thus, it is likely that you died when you were a commoner (a level 0 character not belonging to a particular class). On the other hand, you can also be a remnant who lost its abilities in (and perhaps its memory of) its former life. Additionally, you can become a remnant in the middle of an adventure or a campaign. In this case, simply substitute all the traits of your former race with the remnant traits listed below.


16 people and more like a zombie. It is difficult for risen corpses to hide their true nature from humanoids. On the other hand, they are less prone to effects that would overwhelm living creatures. Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2. Dead cannot be Slain. You automatically succeed on your death saving throw when you drop to 0 hit points. However, if you are dealt damage while you are unconscious, you still suffer from death saving failure as normal. Flesh for Mending. You can eat the meat of a fresh corpse (meaning one that has been dead less than 1 hour) to mend your body. As an action, you can consume the remains of a fresh corpse to regain 1d4 hit points. A small corpse is consumed totally within 2 rounds. This time is 4 rounds for a medium corpse, 8 rounds for a large corpse, 16 rounds for a huge corpse, and 32 rounds for a gargantuan corpse. Walking Corpse. It is nearly impossible to hide your true nature. You have disadvantage on your Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks to hide what you are. Undying Your soul somehow stayed in your body when you died, and thus you are somehow not dead. Your body is still perceived as a fresh corpse, cold and stiff, but humanoid-looking in general. You think it is the will of your soul that holds on to your body, and that leaves your (un)life intact. You don’t know what this dread you feel is. It is perhaps a side effect of what you have become. Undying remnants look very much like living creatures, as their corpse did not decompose and was preserved by the power of their souls when they died. It is relatively easy for them to hide their true nature from others by using simple disguise techniques, but they still have to hide it to steer clear of injustice or prejudgment. Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2. Possession. You possess a creature that is within 10 feet of you. When you attempt to do so, the creature makes a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, you possess the mind of the creature (see mind possession in Possession and Exorcism section for details) for 1 minute. You cannot harm the creature’s body willingly, and the creature repeats its saving throw at the start of each of its turns, and each time it takes damage. While you possess another creature, your body lies unconscious and any damage done to it decreases your hit points. Yet, any damage (except psychic) done to you in your possessed body is not inflicted on your hit points but on that of the creature you possessed. When the possession is over and you return to your own body, you suffer one level of exhaustion. Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. Disrupted Animation. The animation of your body gets disrupted when your soul and mind are harmed. When you take psychic damage, you have disadvantage on your ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws until the end of your next turn. Willful Soul. The strength of your soul is also reflected in your mental resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened through magic. Kartuki culture is a culture of brutality, bloodlust, and cannibalism. They are pure savagery in humanoid form. They carry a savage and pure bloodlust within their souls. To satiate this bloodlust, they sustain themselves with raw flesh, bone, and blood. They are said to be created as a result of the experiments conducted by a demon lord on humans. Although it is not known whether this is true, or who created them or when it happened, Kartukis’ brutality certainly competes with the chaos and the evil of demons. Their appearance also reflects their corrupt nature. Their skin looks as if it has been burnt and healed, covered in scars and textures, and they have sharp claws and teeth. Many of them have bone spikes poking out from under the skin, bloodred or pitch-black birthmarks, etc. Also, they have the ability to shape their bones to use them as weapons. Cannibalism Cannibalism is the Kartukis’ way of life. They believe that consuming the raw and bloody flesh of the dead heals and strengthens them. They think that cooking meat kills the soul. According to them, there is no afterlife. You exist as long as you hold on to your own blood, or you have another creature’s blood within. So, they eat their dead members, both to pay respect and to have their blood inside them. They also consume their defeated enemies because when they win, they have the right to own the enemy. They believe that they carry their ancestors’ Wisdom in this way, as well. The greatest punishment that could befall a Kartuki is being burned, as this would wipe their entire existence off the face of the universe . They hate the Undead because of their rotten flesh. Becoming an Undead creature is heresy for the Kartuki. Kartuki This is Taletir, one of the master explorers of the Elven Exploration Society. I am not sure whether you will find this note before it is eaten by these brutes or not, but it is my last remaining hope to leave behind one last exploration that is somehow witnessed or understood. If you find this, make sure that these will be remembered. First of all, I want to say that I know you will probably assume that I am mad as I’ve written this note in my own blood, but I am not. It is all that I have while I am being held captive by these cannibalistic monsters. I secondly want to say this: They eat everything, they hunt everything, they survive everything. If we could, perhaps, educate these people and turn them into a disciplined army, we could conquer anything, and everything. Their determination to survive knows no equal. Thirdly, and lastly, there is one of them approaching, smiling. Know that they do not have the habit of cooking their meals… - Taletir, an unlucky explorer


17 As they are inherently cannibalistic, if they decide to worship or serve a greater power, they generally choose the forces of blood, cannibalism, savagery, bloodlust. Mercy Kartukis do not know what mercy is. For them, mercy is one of the greatest weaknesses one can possess. From birth until death, they learn that the powerful survive. If you forgive an enemy, you give it a second chance to kill you. Instead, you should kill it and consume its flesh to show your domination over it. To benefit your children, do not show mercy and leave behind a worthy blood. A Tribal Life Kartukis live a tribal life. They build tent cities which they call kartuk. These kartuks are governed by chieftains. The most powerful kartuki in a tent city becomes the chieftain and can be challenged at any time. The words of chieftains are considered the law. They are generally counseled by the spiritual leader, called the shaman, of the tribe. The shaman is usually a spellcaster. Kartuki Names Male Names: Atoka, Bam, Otok, Rakal Female Names: Bin, Enka, Rina, Zinra Kartuki Traits Your Kartuki character has certain traits in common with all other Kartukis, which it has learned through its tribal and wild origins. Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2. Age. Kartukis mature at the same rate as humans but they live longer. They can live up to 150 years. Alignment. Most Kartukis are chaotic evil. This could either be due to their rumored demonic ancestors or their general traditions Size. Kartukis have a weight and height that is similar to humans. Your size is Medium. Cannibalism. Kartukis feed on raw flesh, bone and blood. They believe the consumption of these commodities heals them. As an action, you can eat raw meat, bone or drink blood to regain 1d6 hit points on each of your turns, and you can keep consuming a fresh chunk for the following 3 rounds. However, you cannot consume the flesh of others if it is still connected to their body because it would be too hard to rip the flesh off. Harsh Survival. Due to their wild way of life and cannibalistic traditions, Kartukis are exposed to many dangers, poisons, and diseases throughout their existence. Surviving these dangers makes you gain the following benefits: • You gain proficiency in the Wisdom (Survival) skill. • You have advantage on saving throws against disease and being poisoned. • Your determination to survive strengthens your defense against charms. You gain advantage on your saving throws against being charmed. Twisted Body. Kartukis value their blood, bone and flesh. You can manipulate them in minor degrees to gain the following benefits: • You can use your reaction to harden your flesh and gain a +1 bonus to AC until the end of your next turn. Once you use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again. • You can use your bonus action to grow the bones in your arms to create a long spike which deals 1d6 piercing or slashing damage. You must choose the damage type while creating the spike. You can have up to 2 spikes growing at the same time. If a spike is broken, you must finish a long rest before you can regrow it with this feature. these spikes has light and finesse weapon properties, and any ability that gives you benefits while wielding two weapons applies to them.


18 Predator. Kartukis behave the way savage animals do when they hunt and fight. You have claws and sharp teeth you can use as weapons. They deal 1d4 slashing and 1d6 piercing damage, respectively. Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Kartuka, which is a language specific to Kartukis. It is composed of growls and snarls that resemble the sound of breaking bones. Subrace. There are three different subraces of Kartukis. Their methods of survival, and of course their favorite dishes, set them apart from one another. These spikes has light and finesse weapon properties Blood Kartuki The power carried by the blood flowing in your veins is even more powerful. As a result, you feel the blood of your ancestors, of the ones consumed by them, and the ones consumed by you even more, as well. Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1. Specified Cannibalism (Blood). When you consume blood and use the Cannibalism feature, you regain 1d8 hit points instead of 1d6. Blood of The Consumed. You can invoke the power of the blood. As an action, you gain advantage on the checks of a skill of your choice for 1d4 hours. Once you do this, you cannot do so until you finish a short or long rest. Bone Kartuki Your bones are sturdier and you have more control over them. Ability Score Increase. One of the following ability scores of your choice increases by 1: Strength or Dexterity. Monstrous Outlook. Your claws and teeth are larger than those of the other members of your race. While this makes you a better predator in close combat, it might be off-putting to other races. They see you as a frightening and non-friendly creature. As a result, when dealing with humanoid races, you have advantage on your Charisma (Intimidation) checks, and disadvantage on your Charisma (Persuasion) checks. The GM can decide whether this feature is applicable or not. Specified Cannibalism (Bone). When you consume bones and use your Cannibalism feature, you regain 1d8 hit points instead of 1d6. Stronger Bones. Your Twisted Body feature deals 1d8 damage instead of 1d6. Flesh Kartuki You are obsessed with flesh. You believe that it holds secrets within and that exploring them is what you were born to do. Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1. Specified Cannibalism (Flesh). When you consume flesh and use your Cannibalism feature, you regain 1d8 hit points instead of 1d6. Body Twister. You can gain a +1 bonus to AC for 1 minute while using your Twisted Body feature. Also, you can use the same feature to increase the AC of a creature you touch until the end of its next turn. You are a creature born in the realms of shadows, or that was brought to these dark realms when you were still a little baby. In either case, while growing up in these lands, shadows infused within both your body and soul, granting you special powers and twisting your physical appearance. Parents in Shadow On rare occasions, mortals have the ability to make extraordinary decisions. One could, for instance, decide to sacrifice their children to the shadows, or to live in the realm of shadows, or to mate with a denizen of shadows. And most of the time, there is a dark motive lurking behind these decisions. This could be a desire to please a dark deity, a will to build a temple for a forbidden power that is long forgotten, or a necessity to be hidden from forces of good. On some other rare occasions, creatures of the shadows have been known to abduct children from the material plane, to use them as pawns in their dark and shadowy plans. You are the product of such an occasion and your personality bears the characteristics of your parents as well as the shadows. Shadows of the Past Whatever your origins, you have witnessed, or even committed, many atrocities in the shadows: bloody sacrifices made in the dark, imprisoning lost souls in the shadows, unlucky creatures murdered by many types of undead, creation ceremonies of vampires, liches, mummies. These memories never leave you even if you do leave the shadows. They always accompany you; wherever you go and whatever you do. Shadowkin She was the strangest barbarian I have ever seen. She attacked the bandits just as they were about to kill me. I was the last survivor of my trade caravan. At first, I thought her to be a sorcerer or a wizard because she appeared to have materialized amidst the shadows. She then started to yell with a furious rage and to swing her axe at an incredible speed, which made me think that she was a barbarian. Afterwards, she spread her shadowy wings and leapt into the air, only to land on top of the last bandit, cutting him in half. I was so confused and frightened that I just gave all my gold when she asked me to do so, without questioning why she saved me only to rob me herself. - Bernard, the trader telling the story to local inquisition


19 Shadowy Future Whether a shadowkin chooses to embrace its cold, dark and deadly experiences or follow a different path, it is always hard for them to find peace because of the terrors lurking in their dark past. They are mischievous and treacherous in the eyes of many civilizations and societies. No matter what kind of path it chooses, a dark, surprising and twisted future is always what awaits a shadowkin. Shadowkin Traits Your shadowkin character has certain traits it has acquired throughout its dark life in the shadows. Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and Charisma score increases by 1. Age. Shadowkin mature at the same rate as humans but they live longer,averaging around 900 years. Alignment. Shadowkin are known to be wild in their spirits, so it is a bit hard to generalize their alignments. Although it is known there are Shadowkin that serve both good and evil forces, they tend to gravitate towards evil as a result of the atrocities they have witnessed and the creatures of the shadows they have come across since their childhood. Like the shadows where they reside, they like to be free and neutral. Darkvision. Your time spent in the realms of the shadows has granted you the ability to see in darkness. You have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. Size. Shadowkins weigh the same as humans. Your size is Medium. Gift of Shadows. Your body is twisted by the shadows. You have shadowy claws. The claws deal 1d6 necrotic damage and do not grow in time. Shadow Form. As a bonus action, you can transform into a shadow along with what you are wearing, whatever you are carrying, and gain the following traits: • You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. • You can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without having to squeeze. • You have advantage on your Stealth checks. • You can make melee weapon attacks with your shadowy claws. The shadow form remains until the end of your next turn. Once you use it, you have to finish a short rest to use it again. Shadow Point. By performing a 1-hour ritual, you can choose the shadow of a nearby structure (a tree, a building, etc.) and form a connection with it. The chosen shadow becomes a shadow point. It is now a permanent and magical shadow that can be detected with a detect magic spell.It carries a conjuration aura and it can only be dispelled by a dispel magic spell that is cast by using a spell slot of 5th level or higher. Since it is magical, the shadow point remains even if the other shadows change as a result of a change in the lighting in the area. You can now teleport into this shadow. This teleportation does not work if you and the shadow are on different planes. You can change your designated shadow point by remaking the ritual and you can have only one shadow point at a time. Once you teleport using this feature, you must finish a long rest to use it again. Shadowy Behavior. You can act as though you were a shadow; you can be frightening, persuasive or sneaky, depending on what you might need at a given occasion. You gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Intimidation, Persuasion, or Stealth. Sunlight Sensitivity. While in the sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.


20 You are one of the most bizarre creatures to walk the land. You look like a humanoid but you have aberration blood running through your veins. As you grow in power, this blood, of this otherworldly creature, makes you view the universe in a whole new light and unlocks unique powers. You may have lived a normal life, up to a certain point at least. But on the day you stepped into adolescence, your physical condition started to change along with your understanding of life. The blood within grows as you grow, waits patiently, and when the right time comes, changes you permanently. As you mature, you become more and more aware of the potential within you. Your blood is unique and sentient. It whispers to you the moment you think you are alone, reminding you that you will never be so, not even after death. It is something that gnaws at your body, as well as at your mind and at your soul. There is nothing you can do but to accept this fate. A Unique Bloodline Aberrations are some of the most unique creatures in all the realms. From their anatomy to their goals and motives, they are completely strange and frightening. You carry the blood of such an otherworldly creature. This makes you quite precious in the eyes of some. Your blood can be used in many different rituals, or it can be used to unlock the doors leading to the secrets of hidden powers. Some mages may want to capture you, study your anatomy or experiment on you. In short, your life is an interesting one, but one that has many hardships, nonetheless. A Mystic Birth Since your existence is not like most others, both anatomically and spiritually, your birth also brought with it certain mystic events or signs. For instance, unending rain, different sky colors, unlucky events, creatures lurking in the shadows, unintelligible whispers coming from thin air, strange shadow plays or other things of a similar nature could accompany your birth. These can be seen as good or bad omens depending on the society doing the interpretation. As a result, you could be called “destined” just as you could be dubbed “cursed”. You can bring your family luck and wealth, or just as well cause them to move away. Plans of Eons As mentioned above, the natures and motives of aberrations are strange and unknown. Concepts like time and place are relative and insignificant for them. They are creatures of another universe or time. Whether your character is good-aligned or evil-aligned, lawful-aligned or chaotic-aligned, you know that you are a part of these strange creatures’ plans, which were prepared to be executed in eons. Aberrant Traits Your aberrant character has the following traits granted by the aberration blood that flows in its veins. A Dominating Bloodline. There can be aberrants of any race. Instead of choosing a subrace of your race, you can choose Aberrant and gain different features than your race generally has, making you a unique character. Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1 and your Wisdom score decreases by 1. The aberration blood helps you unlock the secrets of the universe but it leaves you with a thinning concept of reality. Age. Thanks to your blood, you live a longer life than your race is expected to. Although you mature at the same rate as your race, you live an extra 100 years. Alignment. The creature whose blood you carry stands outside the parameters of reality. So, your instincts urge you to act against the rules. Hence, aberrants tend to be chaotic-aligned. Darkvision. Your eyes are affected by your aberrant blood, granting you darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. Size. You are the same size and build as your race. Speed. Your speed is the same as your race. Aberrant Lucidity. The aberration blood in your veins grants you a lucidity about whichever environment you are in, both socially and physically. You gain advantage on your Wisdom (Insight) checks and your Wisdom (Perception) rolls. Madness will not die. If you die, your soul leaves your body, but your blood does not. When your consciousness abandons you, the aberration within you takes over. It can use your character to do anything it wants until your soul is brought back by spells like revivify, resurrection, wish or true resurrection. The motives of the aberration are at the GM’s discretion and is only known by the GM. Shattered Mind. The whispers you hear and the maddening dreams you see distort your mind, your thoughts and your ability to focus. You are immune to being frightened, but you have disadvantage on ability checks to remember names, historic information, etc. Submitting to Madness. You can choose to bring forth the madness within you. The sentient blood of yours takes control, Aberrant Ten days of rain. Ten nights of nightmares. Ten murders committed in darkness. A cursed, purple sky. This is what that cursed child brought upon our village when it was born. We did not want the boy. We did not want his mother, either. The mother was judged by the paladins who were summoned to the village for the purposes of the trial, and before their arrival, we took the child from the mother by force and left him in the wilderness. We didn’t have the heart to kill him. I… I couldn’t make the life in those innocent eyes wane, though cursed they may be. Every night, I pray to the gods for atonement because I left the child there and every night I wish for the child to have been killed by the wolves. I will never forget his eyes and I know that even if the boy does not remember us, those cursed eyes of him will. - Jofran Valto, elder of the aforementioned village


21 twists your physical appearance and grants you new powers. When you choose to unleash the madness within, your physical appearance changes and you look more similar to an aberrant. For example, dark-purple or pale green veins become visible on your skin, which may also turn a cloudier color, you may develop a foul stench. You can talk to your GM to determine in what way your appearance becomes more aberrant. Your submission to madness lasts for 1 minute. Since this is a very painful process for your mortal body, although you gain unique powers during the submission, you also suffer 2 levels of Exhaustion at the end of the duration. When you set the aberration within you free, you gain the following benefits: • Your creature type changes to aberration. • Because of your aberrant appearance, you have disadvantage on your Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks and gain advantage on your Charisma (Intimidation) checks. • You gain the ability to breathe underwater. • You start to talk and understand Deep Speech and you cannot talk in a language other than Deep Speech even if you do not know it normally. This does not affect your spellcasting, meaning that you can still cast spells that have a verbal component. • You can cast the crown of tyranny* spell once. The DC of the spell equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier. • You can use your action to summon an ooze-like aberration that is connected to your body. It is a reflection of the sentient blood within you, an Aberrant Visage (p.232). As you grow in power, it becomes more powerful as well. You can call forth an aberrant visage of CR ¼ at 1st level, of CR 1 at 5th level, of CR 2 at 9th level, of CR 3 at 13th level and of CR4 at 17th level. You can use your bonus action to dismiss the aberration, or it is dismissed automatically when the duration of your Submitting to Madness ends or its hit points drop to 0.


22 Human sisters began to chant their song with hollow voices in a language that the ogre magi couldn’t understand. The sister in front of him was practicing magic, but he didn’t care. Her breathing was all but spent, blood pouring down from the top of her head and down her face. “I will take her first.” he thought to himself, “take her and eat her in front of her petty sisters.” His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rush of pain, emerging from his back. He looked back in bafflement, realizing too late that the incantations of the magic performed by the sister in front of him was actually coming from the sister standing in the back. “I will serve and obey, master.” a half-elf thought as he faced the priest in white, radiant in light. “I let you into me, possess me, own me and wreak havoc upon our enemies!” he shouted. Then his face grew grim, his eyes reflecting the blackness of the darkest abyss. The once glorious priest of the good god now trembled with fear in front of his new master. It was now time to end this. He held his finger towards the petty priest, and shouted “Now, you die!”. The priest’s flesh grew cold with the intensity of the magic, there was no way he could resist such power. “Hear me god and goddess!” an elf screamed as she yearned towards the sky. “Lend me your womb, goddess, so I can give birth to the sacred magic of the living. Lend me your will, god, so I can crush these monsters who think they are above you, above nature!” she yelled with fury. The flock of bandit lumberjacks just laughed at her, until the ground beneath them began to shake. Witches are those who practice witchcraft to cast spells. Witches draw on the essence of arcane magic to cast their spells, although the source of their magic varies greatly according to their witch’s affiliation. Witches affiliate themselves with a source to make witchcraft. As a coven, witches can learn arcane secrets and cast spells like a wizard, and as an infernal witch, channels their power from a fiendish master. The magical ability of a nature witch comes from nature itself. Arcane Heart Wizards may cast spells combining components of mind and logic, and sorcerers cast spells because it comes naturally to them, as magic is in their blood. Witchcraft, on the other hand, is rooted in sensation and emotion, rather than cold, hard logic and arcane symbolism. This allows witches to be much more intuitive than other spellcasters. They rely on their instincts and insight more than a wizard or sorcerer. For a witch, magic is a glorious parade of emotions, and a bold strike of passion. Passion and Desire The paths and goals of witches vary greatly, but they all share one common aspect: their lust for new sensations and experiences. Whether they are the dark servants of an infernal master, the guardians of a forest’s grove, or a coven of elders in a small town, all witches strive to find emotion through something new in life. This drive frequently pushes them to some kind of adventure or another. No matter what their aim or nature, witches try to fulfill their desires to the extreme. An infernal witch’s hunger for power would surpass even that of liches or red dragons. The faith of a nature witch to the deities of nature would overshadow a paladin guided by the brightest light. The dedication of a coven witch to its coven is a bond that can match that between the dearest lovers. Because of this passion, witches tend to attach too much value on people whom they accept to be true friends. A witch can easily take on the role of a paternal or maternal figure in an adventuring party, and can make the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom in the blink of an eye, with no hesitation. Creating a Witch When creating a witch character, think about the source of your witchcraft, or in other words, your affiliation. Unlike many other classes, witches tend to differ greatly according to their affiliation. A witch affiliated with a coven would be most fun to play if there are other members of the coven around, as they derive their magic from the power of their coven, and are able to make their magic more powerful with coven members beside them. A witch affiliated with nature tends to be more giving, wild, selfless, and less evil-hearted, which makes them similar to druids. A witch affiliated with an infernal master is often evil, although there may be special cases. Irrelevant to their affiliations, witches can have various goals in life. No matter which path you choose for your witch character, the foundation of your witchcraft comes from sensation and emotion brought about by personal experiences. Witchcraft is an artform, a lantern, or a tool to unfold the desires within. Quick Build You can make a witch quickly by following these suggestions. First, the spellcasting ability tied to your witch’s affiliation should be your highest ability score, followed by Dexterity or Constitution. Second, choose the Acolyte background. itch is a new class that has a unique approach to spellcasting. It is inspired by all the aspects that make a witch, as well as witchcraft, tales, works of fiction, and a collection of belief systems and practices that are followed by people around the world. It involves many qualities and tropes of what makes a witch, letting you choose from three vastly different themes and playstyles. W New Class: Witch Witch


23


24 Third, choose the resistance and spare the dying cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells for your spellbook: bolts of waning*, charm person, command, cure wounds, detect magic, inflict wounds. Class Features As a witch, you gain the following class features. Hit Points Hit Dice: 1d6 per witch level Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per witch level after the 1st Proficiencies Armor: None Weapons: daggers, darts, light crossbows, quertarstaffs, slings Tools: Alchemist’s Supplies, Herbalist’s Kit Saving Throws: Intelligence and Charisma (Infernal) or Wisdom (Coven and Nature) Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Deception, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Performance, Persuasion and Religion Equipment You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: • (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger • (a) a component pouch or (b) a fetish (a voodoo doll, an amulet, or a totem, etc.) • (a) a scholar’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack • A spellbook (Book of Shadows) Spellcasting As a witch, the source of your witchcraft is your soul-bound Book of Shadows as well as the way that the spells it contains were taught to you according to your affiliation. See New Spells section of this book for the witch spell list. Cantrıps At 1st level, you know two cantrips of your choice from the witch spell list. You learn additional witch cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Witch table. The Witch Proficiency Cantrips Level Bonus Features Known 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 1st +2 Spellcasting, Witch’s Familiar, Familiar’s Guidance , Witch’s Affiliation 2nd +2 -- 2 3rd +2 Affiliation Feature 4th +2 Ability Score Improvement 5th +3 -- 6th +3 Charms and Hexes 7th +3 -- 8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 9th +4 Affiliation Feature 10th +4 -- 11th +4 Witch’s Broom 1 12th +4 Ability Score Improvement 1 13th +5 -- 14th +5 Altar Magic 15th +5 -- 16th +5 Ability Score Improvement 17th +6 Third Time’s A Charm 18th +6 -- 19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 20th +6 Affiliation feature 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2


25 Spellbook At 1st level, you have a Book of Shadows containing six 1st-level witch spells of your choice. These spells can include the spells that have been made available to you by virtue of your affiliation. Preparing and Casting Spells The Witch table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots after you finish a long rest. You prepare the list of witch spells that are available for you to cast. Spells provided by your affiliation are also counted among these spells. To do so, choose a number of witch spells from your Book of Shadows equal to your spellcasting ability modifier + your witch level (minimum one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, if you’re a 3rd-level witch, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With an Intelligence of 16 (as a witch of coven affiliation, see Spellcasting Ability), your list of prepared spells can include six spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination, chosen from your Book of Shadows. If you prepare the 1st-level spell false life, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells. You can change your list of prepared spells after you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of witch spells requires time spent studying your Book of Shadows and memorizing the incantations and gestures you must make to cast the spell: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list. Spellcasting Ability Your spellcasting ability for your witch spells depends on the way through which you learn witchcraft, meaning, what you are affiliated with. If you are affiliated with a coven, it means that you learn and cast magic through your coven’s traditions, which makes Intelligence your spellcasting ability. If you are affiliated with nature, you draw your magic from the essence of nature and thus Wisdom is your spellcasting ability. If you are affiliated with infernal masters, your master is the source of your magic, making Charisma your spellcasting ability. You use your spellcasting ability whenever a spell refers to it. In addition, you use your spellcasting ability modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a witch spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one. Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Spellcasting Ability modifier Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Spellcasting Ability modifier WITCH’S BOOK OF SHADOWS A Book of Shadows is a witch’s special spellbook. It has a bond with the witch, which is not the case for other spellcasters and their spellbooks. A witch’s Book of Shadows is written in the language related to the affiliation of the witch (Abyssal, Draconic, Infernal, or Sylvan) as the words written in the book are connected to the source of the witch’s powers. As you discover new spells from scrolls or tomes, you can copy them in your relevant language to your spellbook. Copying a Spell into the Book of Shadows. When you find a witch spell of 1st level or higher, you can add it to your Book of Shadows if it is of a level for which you have spell slots and if you can spare the time to decipher and copy it. You can also acquire your Book of Shadows as an heirloom from a more experienced witch of your affiliation. Witches can give their Book of Shadows to other witches from their affiliation as gifts or tokens of gratitude as well. It may even have spells that are higher level than those you can yet cast. Such a spell simply fails, and you cannot prepare it even if you try until you reach the level required to cast the spell. Copying a spell into your Book of Shadows involves recognizing the essence of the spell through feeling, and then translating and transcribing it into your book in the language related to your affiliation. You can recognize the essence of a spell if it is in draconic even if you don’t speak the language. As long as your mind and soul can comprehend the essence of the spell, you gain the ability to cast it after you transcribe and imbue it into your Book of Shadows. For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp. The cost represents material components you expend as you write the spell into your book, as well as the special ink you use to transcribe it. Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell just like your other spells. Soul-Bound. Your Book of Shadows is a special spellbook that has a bond with your soul. The spells written in it are also written in the ethereal plane. If the book is destroyed or moved more than 1 mile from where your witch character is, you can replace the book by taking it out of the ethereal plane again. When you do so, the previous copy of the book’s bond to your soul is cut but it can still be used as a regular spellbook. The Book’s Origins. It is a continuing source of debate for scholars that when the first Book of Shadows was created, as are its similarities with the warlock’s book of shadows. Witches state that their Book of Shadows is the original one as it is something that can be tied to their souls, whereas the warlock’s book of shadows is merely a magical tome provided by a patron from the outside. They believe the warlock’s book is a much simpler replica that was created by a resourceful patron and that was then given to other patrons as a useful tool.


26 Ritual Casting You can cast a witch spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell in your Book of Shadows. You don’t need to have the spells prepared. Spellcasting Focus You can use a fetish as a spellcasting focus for your witch spells. You can create your own fetish as an 8-hour ritual with materials that are appropriate to your way of casting magic. You can also ask fellow witches to create one for you. Learning Spells of 1st Level or Higher Each time you gain a witch level, you can add two witch spells of your choice to your Book of Shadows. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown on the witch table. On your adventures, you might find other spells you can add to your Book of Shadows (see the “Book of Shadows” sidebar). Witch’s Familiar Witches have a familiar that is specific to, and special, for them. Familiars are beasts that have a special connection with the witches. They consider familiars as guiding spirits that take an animal form. They believe their familiar grants them additional powers of magic. Starting at 1st level, you can choose to have a familiar appropriate to your character. Your familiar understands you perfectly as if you have cast a speak with animals spell on it, and tries to fulfill any commands you give it, as much as its Intelligence score permits. You can command your familiar as a bonus action. If your familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can call the familiar back as a 1-hour ritual. If you do so, it appears in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you. Familiar’s Guidance Also at 1st level, you gain the ability to receive guidance from your familiar a number of times each day. The list of familiars, and the particular guidance they provide, are as follows: You can use the guidance a number of times equal to your spellcasting ability modifier (a minimum of once) and receive it if the familiar is within 30 feet of you. You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. Witch’s Affiliation Choose an affiliation at 1st level as the source of your witchcraft, to what your witchcraft is dedicated. Each affiliation is quite different from one another, and they each grant you quite different benefits. You must choose wisely, as some affiliations condemn you to be evil. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 9th, 13th, and 20th levels. Ability Score Improvement When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th levels, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. Charms and Hexes Starting at 6th level, you can prepare charms to protect yourself or your allies, or hex bags to undermine your enemies. In order to create a charm or a hex bag, you expend a spell slot of a level according to the object’s power, as shown in the table below, and perform a ritual that takes 1 hour to complete. As long as the charm or hex remains, the spell slot remains expended. You can implant a charm or hex bag on a creature by making a successful Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check (DC determined at Game Master’s discretion). You can also ask another person to implant it in your stead. You can withdraw the powers of a charm or hex bag by intently focusing on it as an action. When you do so, the object stops functioning and you regain your spell slot. Charms Familiar Benefit Cat Raven Rabbit Mouse Owl Advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks. Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks. Advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks. Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. Advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks. Charm Spell Slot Attribute Clarity Evil Eye Luck Protection Spirit Ward Vitality 1 1 3 2 1 1 The wearer has advantage on saving throws against being charmed. The wearer has advantage on saving throws against being cursed or hexed. The wearer can reroll any die, up to three times per day. The wearer can activate the Protection from Evil and Good spell on itself once per day by touching its charm. The wearer cannot be possessed. Whenever the wearer rolls dice to heal, it takes one die as maximum.


27 Hex Bags Witch’s Broom At 11th level, you learn how to craft your trustworthy companion, the witch’s broom. In order to craft it, you must find a broom and spend 4 hours imbuing it with witchcraft. After you finish, it becomes a magical broom that obeys only you. As an action, you can hide it in the Ethereal Plane or call back. When you summon it, the broom manifests within 30 feet of you and flies into your hand. Additionally, you can use the following features with your broom: • You can fly on your broom with a flying speed of 30 feet. • By spending 10 minutes sweeping an area of 30-foot-square with your broom, you can cleanse the area as if you have cast protection from evil and good on all friendly creatures within it. • As an action, you can swing your broom and cast the gust of wind spell. • As an action, you can sweep the magic away from a target, as if you cast the dispel magic spell. You still have to make an ability check to successfully dispel a spell. While traveling, you can walk while sweeping the ground with your broom, emulating the effects of the pass without trace spell. When you use one of these features (except for flying, which can be used at will), you must finish a long rest before you can use it again. Altar Magic At 14th level, you learn how to create and use the witch’s altar. Your altar includes a set of objects such as a ceremonial knife, candles, a metal plate, a metal goblet, a small bell, an idol, talismans, and a rug to place the components on top. After you obtain the components, you must perform a ritual of 4 hours to imbue them with your essence before you can use them. You can pack all components into the rug and put them into your backpack. Your altar is magically protected and cannot be destroyed except by a spell of 7th level or higher. By using your entire turn, you can set up your altar in the space you occupy. You cannot use the benefits of your altar if you leave this space. Using your action, you can pack your altar back up. Your altar grants you some additional benefits: Far Reaching Magic. You can cast an enchantment spell targeting any location when your altar is set as long as you and the target of the spell is in the same plane of existence. You only need to know the location of your target. Your target still understands that you cast the spell if the spell indicates that your target does so. Imbued Magic. If you have cast a spell that requires concentration and you wish to cast a second one, you can transfer one spell’s concentration to your familiar and thus can maintain concentration for two spells at once. Third Time’s Charm Starting at 17th level, while casting a spell, you can speak its last word three times. When you do so, you can choose from one of the following benefits: • You have advantage on the spell attack roll. • The target of the spell makes its saving throw with disadvantage. • You can make your spell much stronger, turning it into a Heightened Spell or an Empowered Spell (using your spellcasting ability). You can use this feature three times. You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. Every witch is affiliated with a source of magical power to practice their witchcraft. These affiliations vary greatly, and they have a significant influence on a witch’s character. The coven affiliation is closest to wizard schools. A coven is a society of witches with an arcane tradition, emphasizing magic that excels when practiced as a group. The infernal affiliation requires a witch’s agreement with and/or dedication to an infernal servant, and witchcraft of the witches with this affiliation partially resembles the magic practiced by warlocks. The nature affiliation concerns a bond between a witch and nature. Witches with this affiliation draw their powers from nature, and tend to follow both a god and a goddess of nature. Affiliations of Witchcraft Hex Bag Spell Slot Attribute Burden Clumsiness Entrancement 2 1 3 The wearer suffers 1 level of exhaustion, this effect cannot stack. The witch makes 3 attack rolls of their choosing against the wearer, with advantage, per day. The wearer becomes charmed as if it is under the effect of the charm person spell for 8 hours. It breaks free from the effect if harmed by the witch or one of its companions. Misfortune Spell Vulnerability Restlessness 1 1 2 The wearer has disadvantage on three of its rolls per day, chosen by the witch at the time of the roll. The wearer has disadvantage on saving throws against spells that are cast by the witch, and the witch has advantage on its spell attacks that targets the wearer. The wearer must spend twice the time in order to finish a short or long rest.


28 Coven Affiliation A coven of witches is like a small mage’s guild with only a few members. It is like a family for its members. In fact, there are covens that are made of real families. The number of witches in a coven always equals multiples of three. The number of members in a coven is usually equal to 3, 9, or 12, but covens with a number of members that are equal to other multiples of three also exist. The goals and traditions of covens vary, but they all have traditions that are passed down from one generation to the next. As a witch affiliated with a coven, you rely on your fellow members and your coven as much as your own powers. You learn a secret language called Witches’ Tongue through the witchcraft practiced by your coven, and you can channel and share the magic of your fellow members. Your coven’s main location also functions as an altar, making you and your members become much more powerful when you are within its bounds. Expanded Spell List Your affiliation with your coven lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you add spells to your Book of Shadows. The following spells are added to the list of witch spells for you. You can choose them to be part of your starting spells (cantrips and 1st level), or add them to your Book of Shadows in the course of your adventures. COVEN AFFILIATION SPELLS Bonus Language When you choose this affiliation at 1st level, you learn the Draconic language. Witches’ Tongue When you choose this affiliation at 1st level, you learn the secret language of witches. It is not really a unique language in itself, but it has an alphabet that is an encrypted version of the Common tongue. It is spoken just like bird speech, distorting the sayings of Common into something that cannot be understood unless trained. When you and your coven members are speaking in this language, a creature who tries to understand what you are saying must succeed on a DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check. A creature who tries to decipher the language in its written form must succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check instead. Coven Initiation Also starting at 1st level, you learn the ritual to initiate others to your coven. Your coven members do not have to all be witches. You can initiate your friends that are not witches as coven members as well. To do so, you draw a circle and perform an 8-hour ritual which involves the chanting of your coven words and drinking a pint of each other’s blood from a cup. Once a creature becomes your coven member, you can use your coven features that involve coven members with that creature. However, most witches prefer to form covens with coven affiliation witches only, as only a coven witch can make use of the coven powers. You can mark up to 3 allies as your coven members. You cannot mark a creature as a coven member against its will. If a coven member betrays you, it makes all its rolls and checks with disadvantage against you until it curses your name and the coven three times to your face with spoken words. Coven Magic Starting at 3rd level, you can share your magic and spellcasting with others in your coven. Coven magic grants you several benefits: Magic Channeling. When you cast a spell, you can make a fellow coven member the origin point of the spell. Share Components. When you cast a spell that requires an action, a coven member of yours can use its reaction to speak, perform, or use one of the components for you. If you can allocate all of the components except Verbal, you can cast the spell as a bonus action instead. Share Essence. When you cast a spell, you can use a fellow coven member’s spell slot rather than your own. A spell with which you choose to use this benefit has to be of a level you can cast, meaning that you cannot cast a spell at a higher level if you yourself don’t have slots of that level based on your character level, even if your fellow member does. You can use one of these features if your coven member is within 120 feet of you. You cannot use them if your fellow member is charmed, paralyzed, petrified, stunned or unconscious. Altar of the Coven When you reach 9th level, you have enough experience to be one of the coven’s trusted members. The coven lets you use its sacred ground as an altar. Your coven altar holds powerful potential for magic, and has the following features: • Because of the well of essence that flows through the coven, you can cast spells of 3rd level or lower as cantrips while within the coven grounds. You also have twice your spell slots for 4th, 5th, and 6th level spells while within the coven grounds. • You can cast any spell in your Book of Shadows while within the coven grounds. You don’t need to have the spell prepared. • You and your friends (who you mark as coven members) Spell Level Spells Cantrip 1st 3rd 2nd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th guidance, message alarm, sanctuary glyph of warding, sending dark knowledge*, suggestion deadly ward (area)*, private sanctum blood scry*, telepathic bond guards and wards, mass suggestion project image, labyrinth of shadows* mind blank, truths hidden in shadows* reflection within shadows*, lock the fate*


29 teleport back to the coven grounds as if you have cast the word of recall spell. Once you use this feature, you can use it again after you finish a long rest. • This ability also creates a passage back to the location to which you teleported through the nearest vegetation or any other sort of natural terrain (such as the husk of a tree, or even coming up from the ground). This passage counts as protected against intruders by the private sanctum and the magic circle spells. The passage remains available to you and your coven members for 2 hours. Sacred grounds of a coven is a serious haven for its witches. These grounds are hard to invade as witches within them can fight with a serious might. The coven is how witches are able to protect themselves against the prejudiciary acts and threats of others. This feature is an example of how powerful covens can be. Chant of the Coven At 20th level, you learn how to initiate a Chant of the Coven. As an action, you start to sing this chant, however, your fellow coven members should also join you in order for the chant to work. When you do so, your minds become one as a coven for 1 minute, and you gain the benefits detailed below. Your minds becoming one lets you communicate telepathically with one another as if you have cast the telepathic bond spell. This multi-mental perspective also increases your AC by 1 for each other coven member present, to a maximum of 3. Additionally, as your movement, you can magically take the place of a coven member within 30 feet of you. Also, you can make a coven member within 60 feet of you the origin point of a spell you cast. If your fellow coven members don’t know the Chant of the Coven (because they are of a lower level), they can only benefit from the telepathic bond, and from the increase to their AC, when you use this feature. The chant requires concentration: You and a coven member who are chanting with you can still cast a spell that requires concentration, but you cannot maintain the concentration of this spell on your next turn unless you stop chanting. Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. Infernal Affiliation Witches with the infernal affiliation are those who owe their witchcraft to fiendish masters. A powerful devil or demon grants them their magic. Yet, their relationship is not like a warlock’s relationship with its patron. Rather, the master teaches the witch the methods of infernal spellcasting as their witchcraft. This also means that an infernal witch is not as dependent on the infernal master as a warlock is to its patron. Once the infernal way of spellcasting is learned, it stays with the witch. Witches who are on this path are often evil, as they consort with fiends for their magic. Such witches are usually hungry for power, or quite desperate to find a way to overcome the challenges they may face. Still, there are some infernal witches that are neutral-aligned and in exceedingly rare cases, that are good-aligned. As a witch affiliated with infernal witchcraft, you have the potential to learn the secrets of necromancy, and to call upon the fire and frost from the depths of lower planes. You can cast very destructive spells that are normally the work of warlocks or sorcerers. Such overwhelming power may consume you, because when you feel such strength in your fingertips, it is hard to resist the urges of infernal domination. Expanded Spell List The affiliation with an infernal master lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you add spells to your Book of Shadows. The following spells are added to the list of witch spells for you. You can choose them to be part of your starting spells (cantrips and 1st level), or add them to your Book of Shadows in the course of your adventures. INFERNAL AFFILIATION SPELLS Spell Level Spells Cantrip blood curse*, fire bolt 1st burning hands, hellish rebuke 2nd evil mark*, flaming sphere 3rd alter alignment*, fireball 4th black tentacles, wall of fire 5th devoured in flames*, flame strike (deals necrotic damage instead of radiant damage) 6th create undead, disintegrate 7th delayed blast fireball, soul binding* 8th incendiary cloud, rain of death* 9th curse of withering gaze*, meteor swarm Bonus Language When you choose this affiliation at 1st level, you learn the Abyssal or Infernal language. Sin Eater As you affiliate yourself with an infernal master, the magic you cast is actually a sin. You can eat your sin, sacrificing a portion of your magic for your vitality. Starting at 1st level, as an action, you can expend a spell slot to gain 1d4 + 4 temporary hit points for each spell level of the expended spell slot. For example, you can expend a 2nd-level spell slot to gain 2d4 + 8 temporary hit points. You have to expend a spell slot to use this feature. Other features that let you not expend a spell slot or change your available spell slots does not alter the effects of this feature. Infernal Sacrifice Starting at 3rd level, you can sacrifice your vitality to gain potency in magic and regain an expended spell slot. As an action, you can make a cut on your body and let your blood spill for your infernal master. When you do so, your hit point maximum is reduced by 1d4 + 1 for each level of the spell slot. This reduction lasts until you finish a long rest. For example, you can cut yourself and reduce your hit point maximum by 3d4 + 3 to gain a 3rd level spell slot.


30 Infernal Potency Starting at 9th level, the magical power your master has granted you become very potent in your being. You choose one spell of 3rd level or lower. You can cast this spell without expending a spell slot. When you do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest. If you want to cast it by using a higher level spell slot, you expend the spell slot normally. Also starting at 9th level, you can change your chosen spell every time you gain a level thereafter. Infernal Possession At 20th level, you gain the ability to let your master’s avatar possess your body. By using your entire turn, you undergo a transformation. Your eyes turn black to reflect the infernal darkness. When you speak, your voice becomes forked, and both you and your master’s voice can be heard. At the end of your turn when the transformation is complete, you gain the following features: • You have immunity to fire and cold damage, but you gain vulnerability to radiant damage. • You have advantage on your Wisdom and Charisma saving throws. • You have advantage on your Charisma (Deception) and Charisma (Intimidation) checks. • An energy of dread radiates from you in an aura with a 30- foot radius. Any creature in the aura when you transform, or that comes into a space of your aura afterwards, must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you. • Your spell attack bonus and spell save DC increase by 2. • You can use your altar’s benefits without setting it up. You remain possessed for 1 minute or until your master is banished by an ability or spell. A successful DC 13 Intelligence (Religion) check uncovers that you are possessed, and a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check uncovers the type of your infernal master. You make saving throws with advantage against any ability or spell that seeks to banish your master. Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. Nature Affiliation Witches with the nature affiliation are those who take their magic from the wilds and practice their witchcraft with the essence of nature, and all that it inspires. They may not be as wild as some druids are, but they like to spend at least some portion of their time in nature. They believe that nature is the source of magic and that they are in some way responsible for the gifts the wilds provide. Although they are not practitioners of the divine like clerics or paladins, these witches of the wilds tend to be followers of the gods and goddesses of nature. It is common among nature witches to adhere to the idea of the duality of nature, and thus they tend to follow both a god and a goddess of nature. As a witch affiliated with nature, you can choose from a multitude of backstories: You can be an adventurer, free as the birds who decorate the sky. You can be a warden who protects those who cannot protect themselves from the deeds of disrespectful creatures who harm nature. You can even be on a path of revenge or necessary destruction, believing that the elimination of some “civilized” societies (that see their settlements above nature) is the only way to preserve nature. No matter why you choose this path, your feelings tend to lead you to seek some sort of balance. You are aware that you must always give something in order to get something from nature. A fact that you are also constantly reminded of through the workings of your witchcraft. Expanded Spell List The affiliation with nature lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you add spells to your Book of Shadows. The following spells are added to the list of witch spells for you. You can choose them to be part of your starting spells (cantrips and 1st level), or add them to your Book of Shadows in the course of your adventures. NATURE AFFILIATION SPELLS Spell Level Spells Cantrip druidcraft, shillelagh 1st entangle, speak with animals 2nd barkskin, lesser restoration 3rd call lightning, speak with plants 4th conjure woodland beings, dominate beast 5th awaken, greater restoration 6th conjure fey, heal 7th etherealness, regenerate 8th animal shapes, dominate monster 9th shapechange, storm of vengeance Bonus Language When you choose this affiliation at 1st level, you learn the Sylvan language. Shared Senses Starting at 1st level, as an action, you can transfer your psyche into your familiar’s mind and perceive the surroundings from its eyes and ears. While you do so, you can control the animal mentally. When you share your senses with your familiar, your body counts as paralyzed, blinded and deafened until you bring your senses back. You can bring your senses back as a bonus action. Shared Life Starting at 3rd level, you and your familiar’s vitality link together. The benefits of your Familiar’s Guidance feature become permanent. Your familiar shares your hit points, damage resistances, and immunities. When your familiar takes damage, you take that damage instead. Consequently, your familiar falls unconscious when you fall unconscious, and dies when you die. Additionally, while you are making death saves, you can choose to sacrifice your familiar and automatically become stable.


31 Channel Magic Starting at 9th level, you can decide to make your familiar the origin point of a spell you cast, and thus calculate any properties of the spell as well as the range or area according to the space it occupies. Your familiar can also touch a creature if a spell demands it, and it uses your spell attack bonus to do so. To use this feature, your familiar must be within 120 feet of you. Altar of the Wilds At 20th level, you realize that nature can provide you everything your altar provides with a simple wish made in your mind. You initiate this by focusing on an area of 60-feetradius sphere within 60 feet of you, using your entire turn. Starting at the end of your turn, your magic becomes one with nature, and you gain the benefits granted by your Altar Magic feature for 1 minute as long as you stay within the area. Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. Barbar ian Paths Barbarian paths presented here focus on the rage of the barbarian as a tool of destruction. For these paths, rage almost always causes carnage and reckless bloodshed. Gore Gladiator focuses on causing gore for the sake of gladiatorial combat, reveling in it to become stronger. Path of the Deviator finds rage in the madness of aberrations from realms far away. Path of Fiendish rage connects the rage to fiends and gains unholy traits with it. The arena... It is one of the most merciless places in the world. It is where people die every day, for the sheer enjoyment of the audience. All day long, some gladiators rise and some fall in this great skirmish, and at the end of the day, the winner proudly hails the audience with the joy of survival. Some gladiators just want to live long enough to escape that place, some want to get rich. Yet, some others simply enjoy the bloodlust of the arena. For these last few, being completely soaked in blood is the best way to express the rage that festers within. Making people cheer their name, making them cry out as they cut down their enemies, splitting them into two one by one, and being rewarded in return, are merely extra perks. These gladiators are called Gore Gladiators. Whether they live in the arena or not, they are aptly named as they leave pools of blood and butchered enemies in their path. Gore Showdown Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you learn the basics of gore fighting and the ways of turning your gore into a performance. Hence, you can add your proficiency bonus to your Charisma (Performance) checks while performing in an arena. Additionally, while raging, you have new abilities by which you can create a bloody masterpiece. Whether you are raging or not, certain circumstances during combat his section includes dozens of archetypes that are suitable for the themes of what Corpus Malicious presents. They are dark and often wicked specializations written for the classes represented in 5th Edition. It is important to note that, although some of these archetypes are not suitable for characters with neutral or good alignments, many of them can fit a non-evil character. Still, what every archetype in this section has in common is that they are morally gray at the least. T New Archetypes Gore Gladiator “Welcome to The Arena! The seats are full, the spectators are hungry for violence and the sky glows crimson red, for the gods of the arena demand BLOOD! Welcome, visitors! Welcome, to the place in which blood shall flow like a furious river…” - From an unknown arena


32 grant you Gore Points that you can spend to make various gore showdown moves while raging. Gore Points should be spent within the same encounter (each time Initiative is rolled) in which they are gained. When the encounter ends, the barbarian drops to 0 hit points or falls unconscious, the points are lost, and you start a new encounter with 0 points. The maximum number of gore points you can have is equal to your barbarian level + your proficiency bonus. You can use multiple showdown moves on an attack. The lists of circumstances in which you gain gore points, along with how you can spend them, is provided in the tables below; More the Blood, for Better Fight Starting at 6th level, while raging, things get extra bloody. The first time you hit with a weapon attack on each turn, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d6 damage of the weapon’s damage type. Trained Gladiator Starting at 10th level, you become a trained gladiator, specialized in your bloody style. The gore points you need to spend for each Gore Showdown Move decreases by 1. The Show Must Go On Starting at 14th level, gore is an inseparable part of your life. While raging, you gain 3 gore points. Rage means chaos. Barbarians delve into the depths of their chaotic anger and strike with the power of this chaos. They want to survive the fight, and to see their enemies crushed under their rage. Some barbarians take this rage too far and become an incarnation of chaos themselves. They do not control their rage, and they become a tool of the chaos inside them. They lose themselves so completely that even their body parts can change in the chaos of the moment. Gifts of the Far Yours is a path that seeks attunement with a realm of otherworldly nature during rage. This short-termed attunement grants you some gifts. Starting at 3rd level, while raging, you gain the following benefits; ability to speak and understand Deep Speech, and Darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. Manifestations of Chaos Starting at 3rd level, an aberration of a realm far away notices you while you’re raging. It grants you some powers by manifesting in you just to have a taste of the sweet chaos burning inside you. After the first manifestation, it leaves a trace on your appearance, indicating its presence which is ready to be manifested again. This mark can be a tentacle tattoo, hair that is always wet, a smell, or some other cosmetic effect that you can determine. Different aberrations grant different powers. These powers are listed as the following: Aboleth. The manifestation of an aboleth brings with it a special kind of disease. You are immune to the disease; however, others are not. Once per rage, you can infect your target with this disease when you hit a creature with a weapon attack. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or the damage you deal lowers its hit point maximum by the amount inflicted. This damage can only be healed while the target is underwater. Chuul. The manifestation of a chuul toughens-up your body and sharpens your senses against magic. While you’re raging, you are immune to poison damage and are immune to being poisoned. You gain the effects of detect magic spell while you’re Path of the Deviator “...aght yothgeccil zxog hosqvu ulgw’awar gagsiezy ccccc…” - Unintelligible words of Rimin The Crazed Gore Point Circumstances Gore Points Gained The first time you hit on each one of your turns When you take damage from a critical hit When you take damage When a member of your party is killed When you knock an enemy unconscious When you kill a target instantly by dealing massive damage When you score a critical hit When a member of your party falls unconscious When you kill an unconscious target 1 3 1 3 1 2 2 2 4 Gore Showdown Moves Gore Points Spent You deal 1d6 extra damage with a weapon attack You gain advantage on your next attack roll When you make an attack, you can use your bonus action to make another attack You can keep your rage active for 1 extra minute You can choose to score a critical hit on your next attack roll 3 3 5 5 5


33 raging. Cloaker. While raging, you have advantage on your Strength (Athletics) checks while grappling, and if you grapple a creature, a dark cord is created between the two of you. When you take damage while grappling, you can transfer half of the damage you take (rounded down) to the creature you are grappling through the cord using your reaction. Chaotic Attunement Starting at 6th level, you gain a permanent benefit based on the aberration you choose. You can choose the same aberration you selected at 3rd level or another one. Aboleth. You gain a swimming speed of 30 feet, and you can breathe underwater. Also, you become a permanent carrier of the disease. You start to carry the disease (explained in the aboleth section of Manifestation of Chaos feature) even while you are not raging. Once you use this disease (or the second time you use it if you chose Aboleth in 3rd level as well), you must finish a long rest to produce it on your body and use it again. Chuul. You gain a swimming speed of 30 feet, and you can breathe underwater. You also start to sense magic when a magical item is brought within 60 feet of you, or if a spell is cast within 60 feet of you. However, you cannot sense its direction, power, rarity, or level. Cloaker. When you are near an object that is at least one size larger than you, you have advantage on your Dexterity (Stealth) checks and you can move stealthily while traveling at a normal pace. Whispers of Chaos Starting at 10th level, while raging, the manifested aberrations start to talk to you. Although what they say is gibberish, you can ask a question to the aberration as a bonus action. You can ask only one question in one turn. The aberration gives you the answer to the question only if the question concerns something (or someone) that is within 300 feet of you. For example, you can ask ‘’What is one vulnerability of the creature I am battling?’’ or ‘’What is one of the deepest desires of the person I am talking to right now?’’ You can ask only 3 questions each time you rage. Physical Manifestations Starting at 10th level, while raging, the manifestation causes a physical change in your body that can easily be seen. You can choose the same aberration you selected previously or another one. Aboleth. While raging, you grow a tentacle that you can use to attack once without using an action. The tentacle has a range of 5 feet and it deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit. Chuul. While raging, you grow a dark purple arm with a pincer instead of a hand at the end. You can attack with this pincer as a bonus action. It has a range of 5 feet and it deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage on a hit. Cloaker. While raging, you grow a black slimy tail. You can attack with this tail as a bonus action. It has a range of 5 feet and it deals 1d8 slashing damage on a hit. Aspect of Chaos Starting at 14th level, you gain one last benefit from the aberrations manifested within you. You can choose the same aberration you selected previously or another one. Aboleth. While raging, you can spit mucus on one creature within 5 feet of you as an action. The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or is left without air for 1 hour, making it suffocate. The affected creature can breathe normally while underwater and the mucus can be cleared with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check, ending the effects.


34 If the creature does not need to breathe, it is unaffected by the mucus. The DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier. Chuul. While raging, if you grapple a creature with your own hands, you can attack them once using the weapon you grow at 10th level without using your bonus action. Also, the weapon can sense magic and lusts to consume it. When you hit a spellcaster with your aberration’s weapon, you deal 1d8 psychic damage in addition to the weapon’s damage. Also, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells cast by the target you hit until the end of your next turn. Cloaker. While raging, as a bonus action, you can call 5 Medium cloakers to cover your arms, creating otherworldly wings. You gain a flying speed equal to your current walking speed for the next 5 consecutive rounds. You have to attack or attempt to grapple a creature every round or the effect ends. On your first attack or grapple attempt in a round, a cloaker is transferred to the target creature. Creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or become unable to breathe because of the cloaker covering their face. A target creature that does not need to breathe is not affected. If a target creature succeeds on a DC 16 Strength saving throw, the cloaker is detached. The Path of Fiendish Rage is one of spilling blood and reveling in this act. Your burning rage causes destruction and suffering, and is only satisfied when it does so. You may or may not be evil, but when you rage, you are overwhelmed with fury and you lose yourself in it, causing you to wreak havoc without exception. You may be aware of the origins of your path, which might be related to certain gifts given to you or your tribe by fiendish entities. You may also not be aware of it, which would mean that you have no idea that an infernal master has marked you for its plans. Fiendish Rage Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, your rage becomes much more sinister and destructive. At the sight of a successful attack that occurred within 60 feet of you and that is made either to you or your allies or by you or your allies, you must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or you enter a rage. While raging, your attacks can become exceedingly gruesome. On a hit with a weapon attack, you can choose to roll one additional weapon damage die. For example, if you are using a great axe, you deal 2d12 slashing damage; or if you are using a greatsword, you deal 4d6 slashing damage. You can use this feature after you make your attack roll but before the GM tells you the result. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. Additionally, if you score a critical hit against a creature within 30 feet of you, this sight of agony agitates you and you can use your reaction to make an additional attack. You have advantage on this additional attack. Fiendish Traits At 6th level, your unholy rage starts to show in your appearance and you develop some traits. Choose one of the following benefits: Spikes of Gore. While raging, spikes come out of your body, ready to pierce your foes. When a creature tries to hit you with an unarmed strike, it takes piercing damage equal to your proficiency bonus + its Strength or Dexterity modifier (whichever is applied to its attack). If a creature grapples you, it takes piercing damage equal to 2 + your proficiency bonus at the start of each one of your turns for the duration that you remain grappled. If you grapple a creature, it takes the same damage at the start of each one of its turns for the duration that it remains grappled. Additionally, if you are grappling a creature, you can choose to make a melee weapon attack against that creature with the spikes on your body that deals piercing damage equal to 4d4 + your Strength modifier. You have advantage on this attack roll. Path of Fiendish Rage “I will gut you and then eat you and then sacrifice your blood to my tribe’s horned guardians!” - Doci, Gnome Barbarian of the Fiendish Rage


35 Fiendish Charge. While moving towards a creature to attack it, your speed increases by 10 feet. You must declare that you are going to make the attack and must make your attack when you reach your target. You cannot use this feature if you cannot reach your target with your increased speed. Foul Blood. Whenever you take damage from a critical hit or at least 15 piercing or slashing damage from a creature within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to spray your blood on that creature. It must then make a Dexterity saving throw (DC equals to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier). The target takes 2d12 acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Foul Presence Starting at 10th level, you emanate a foul aura around you. While raging, creatures that start their turn within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or have disadvantage on their attack rolls against you. Additionally, whenever a creature within 15 feet of you is hit by a weapon or spell attack, you can affect the creature with your foul presence. As a reaction, you can decrease its hit point maximum in an amount equal to the damage instead of dealing the attack’s original damage. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum once). You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. Rampage Starting at 14th level, your rage demands constant destruction. While raging, you can choose to go on a rampage. While on a rampage, you add to your bloodshed and gain charges of bloodshed. When you successfully hit with a weapon attack, you gain 1 charge of bloodshed. You can keep gaining charges on each successful hit as long as you rage to a maximum of charges equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 1). You can choose to unleash these charges of bloodshed at any time while you are still raging, dealing 1d6 extra damage of the weapon’s damage type on a successful weapon attack you make. You can state that you will use this feature after you make your attack roll but before the GM tells you the result. When you do so, the number of charges resets to zero. An attack that unleashes these charges does not cause you to gain a charge of bloodshed. On the other hand, you find it quite challenging to keep from spilling blood, which is not always a good thing. At the start of each one of your turns in this state, you must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or attack the nearest creature whether it is friend or foe. You use your movement to get close to that creature if you must do so in order to attack it. Bard Colleges Bardhood is a journey that can lead to many interesting places and ways of art. Some bards find evil to be a way of displaying their art better. College of Banshee/Siren focuses on voice as a weapon that can make ears bleed. College of Revelry enjoys everything to the extreme and makes others succumb themselves to this ecstasy as well. College of Woe sees pain and desperation as the sole truth of life, and aims to spread them. Tales of vengeful banshees and frightful sirens are common among all folk, even if they go by different names in different cultures. College of Banshee or College of Siren is a bardic college built upon one fundamental element, the power of the voice. Bards of the College of Banshee or College of Siren can use their voice to shatter certain materials or to manipulate minds with their music. They are feared by common folk because of legends telling stories of how they can shatter the very fabric of one’s mind using their voices, destroying their memories. College of Banshee/Siren “The most beautiful music in the realm should make ears bleed.” - Gloom Le Doux


36 Shout Them Apart When you join the College of Siren at 3rd level, you learn to use your voice, or the sound of your instrument, to make a ranged spell attack against a target within 30 feet of you. You are considered proficient with this attack and it deals 1d6 thunder damage on a hit. The thunder damage increases as you gain levels in this class, increasing to 1d8 at 5th level, 2d6 at 10th level, and 2d8 at 15th level. Also, nonmagical structures and creatures of glass, stone, wood, or crystal take double the damage from this attack. Phantasmal Voice At 3rd level, you can project your voice to a point within 30 feet of you. For example, you can whisper to a creature’s ears within 30 feet. Banshees’ Scream / Sirens’ Call At 6th level, you learn the wicked ways of sounds. You discover how to scare, to calm, and to charm creatures. As an action, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration. When you do so, you can create one of the following effects: • You can scream in pain or play a chaotic, irritating song with your instrument. A number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum one) within 30 feet of you, and that can hear you, must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened of you. An affected creature must use its movement to get away from you. If there is not enough space for the creature to get away from you due to its speed, it takes 4d10 psychic damage. The frightened condition ends if the creature succeeds at getting 60 feet away from you or takes psychic damage from the sound. • You can sing or play a soothing, calming song or tune with your instrument. A number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum one) within 30 feet of you, and that can hear you, must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become charmed by you. The charmed target must use their movement to try to get closer to you. As an action, you can continue to use these abilities each turn for 1 minute (as if concentrating on a spell). Each turn, the creatures within reach must make another Wisdom saving throw. Voice of Helplessness At 14th level, you start to use your voice or tunes to shatter the minds of your enemies. You can cast the feeblemind spell without expending a spell slot except that the creature can repeat its saving throw at the end of every 8 hours. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest to use it again. College of Revelry teaches its bards how to enjoy life to the extreme. Bards of this college generally do not care about anything but their own amusement. They know how to enjoy life. However, that does not mean they do not know when their lives are at stake. They also know how to protect themselves, albeit, in their own style. Bards of revelry are generally against the rules. They like comfort and care deeply about their freedom. However, the bards of this college can find delight in many different things. They can be found in forests, in the throes of a never-ending festival with fey, and they can just as easily be seen in a demon-worshipping cult, massacring and bathing in the blood of innocents, just for the fun of it. Lost in Revelry When you choose this college at 3rd level, you acquire a taste for getting lost in revelry. As an action, you can expend a Bardic Inspiration to enter a state of ecstasy for 1 minute. While in this state, you only care about your joy and pleasure, and as a result, you have disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks. However, since you do not feel any pain and may even feel pleasure from being wounded, while not wearing any armor, you gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Ecstatic State Starting at 3rd level, by expending a use of Bardic Inspiration, you can fill your weapon or spell attacks that target one creature with the ecstatic emotions of revelry. On a hit, the target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or it cannot take a bonus action or reaction until the end of its next turn. Short Term Pleasures Starting at 6th level, you can make others experience short term pleasures of revelry with your performance. As an action, by expending a use College of Revelry “This is going to be the greatest party of all time!” - Vick, “King of the Bloody Feast”


37 of Bardic Inspiration, you can fill the air around you with emotions of revelry in a 30-foot radius. By controlling these emotions, you can choose to do one of the following: Taste of Life. You can choose up to 5 creatures within the radius and grant them temporary hit points with a total equal to 5 x your bard level for 1 minute. Bloodlust. You can choose one creature and fill it with excitement. For 1 minute, the creature can make an attack as a bonus action after it takes an attack action. Once you use this feature twice, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again. Slave of Ecstasy Starting at 14th level, you can reflect the emotions of revelry in a stronger way. Your Ecstatic State feature stuns the creature until the end of its next turn on a failed saving throw. Indulge in Revelry Starting at 14th level, you can fill an area with a ½-mile-radius centered on you with a surge of revelry through a performance that takes 24 hours to complete and requires a successful DC 21 Charisma (Performance) check. When a creature enters the effect’s area, or is already in the area, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or it slowly joins you in your indulgence of revelry for 1 week. Creatures within the area can repeat their saving throws at the end of each day. After each failed saving throw, the DC against which the creatures must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw increases by 2 and people delve even deeper into the joys of revelry. A village filled with creatures who are lost in deep hunger can end up cannibals, or an army brimming with bloodlust can destroy itself. The first effects concern all work coming to a halt in the area, as creatures in the area lose the desire and the motivation to work. Then, these creatures’ shared emotions completely take over, and result in a 1-week-long festival of debauchery, of which you can determine the details. You can give direction to the dominant emotions of the festival, as well as people’s resulting behaviors. These emotions can cause the affected creatures to behave in a manner that is lustful, bloodthirsty, hungry, alcoholic, etc. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until one month has passed. College of Woe is home to bards who sing songs of agony, grief, pain, and sorrow. They are not like ordinary bards who tell tales of glorious battles, and stories with happy endings. Bards who experience painful events and who survive immense tragedies generally choose this path. People generally look at them with both fear and mercy. Their performances are laced with melancholic emotions. The weight of their emotions captures the minds of their audience, and fills them with the same feeling, breaking their spirit and killing their desire to live. As they grow in power, these emotions become deeper. College of Woe GM ADVICE Indulge in Revelry is a powerful feature and can be game-changing. However, such actions generally capture the attention of good-aligned clerics, paladins and law enforcement. “The truest tale and the dearest music are the ones that come from suffering.” - Mazlum Sorrowtongue


38 Song of Grief When you join the College of Woe at 3rd level, you gain the ability to sing mournfully in a way that enchants your enemies with grief and sorrow, killing their desire to act. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration to sing a song of grief. When you do so, sorrows of painful memories fill the air. You choose a number of creatures who can hear you within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). The targets’ speed decreases by 5 feet, and they must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, their dedication and desire to live are replaced with grief and sorrow, and they cannot use a reaction until the end of their next turn. As you grow in power, you see more of the agony that this life has to offer, and the well of sorrow inside you grows. As a result, the decrease in the target creatures’ speed becomes 10 feet at 5th level, 15 feet at 10th level, and 20 feet at 14th level. Agonizing Performance Starting at 3rd level, you can make your performances charged with woe. If you perform for at least 1 minute and succeed on a DC 13 Charisma (Performance) check, you can attempt to fill your audience with pain, whether with your words, your dance, or with any other type of performance. At the end of the performance, you choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the target is filled with emotional agony. While affected by this feature, the target cannot help itself and starts to cry or is lost deep in its thoughts. It cannot concentrate on spells and its speed decreases by 10 feet. These effects end if a target takes any damage, if you attack it, if it witnesses you attacking or damaging any of its allies, or after 1 hour. On a successful save, the target does not understand that you tried to affect it. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Real Pain At 6th level, visuals start to accompany your mournful melodies. As a bonus action, you can affect a creature within 60 feet of you. It must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or it relives the most painful moments of its life, feeling excruciating pain once again, and takes 1d4 psychic damage. This effect stays active for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken (as if you were concentrating on a spell). During this time, you can deal the same damage to the targets you have hit as a bonus action on each of your turns. Any creature who fails its saving throw for Song of Grief or Agonizing Performance cannot resist the effects of this feature. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest. As you advance in your levels and witness the pains of life more, you can reflect it better. The damage dealt by this feature increases to 1d6 at 10th level and to 1d8 at 14th level. Avatar of Woe At 14th level, you start to carry the weight of the world, all you have witnessed, all the pain you experienced or caused, on your shoulders, changing your outlook on everything completely. You now look utterly devastated, grim and dark. In addition, as a bonus action, you can call upon all of this woe to come to your aid for 1 minute, or until you are incapacitated. For the duration, an Avatar of Woe (p.237) fights alongside you and introduces others to feelings of pain and agony. Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest. Cleric Domains The domains given here include the ways of the most wicked and evil deities that can be present in various realms. Clerics of the Corrupted Domain can corrupt others and then take advantage of this corruption. Devour Domain is the domain of gods and goddesses who would stop at nothing before devouring everything. Clerics of Rampage Domain live for nothing but to shed blood and annihilate their enemies for their deities. Corruption has many forms. It can manifest in the most unexpected places. It can reach you in your happiest moment or while you are in utter desperation. Either way, deities of corruption may approach you with a smile that disguises their noxious offers. Clerics of the corrupted domain work as the emissaries of such offers and are masters in invoking the potential corruption within them. Any dark power that can corrupt can claim influence over this domain. CORRUPTED DOMAIN SPELLS Corrupted Domain “You may ask me why I left the mountains where my clan roams for a quest to travel the world. Well, I think I just love to spread corruption, wherever I go.” - Mokkam The Corruptor Cleric Level Spells detect evil and good, false life evil mark*, ray of enfeeblement rotball*, stinking cloud burst of corruption*, blight cloudkill, conjure corruptive mass* 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th


39 Corrupted Initiate When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain the ability to carry and spread corruption. You can gain Corruption Points of a number equal to your cleric level + your Wisdom modifier (minimum one), which you can use to create different effects. When you use all the points, you must finish a long rest to regain them. Corruption is an ever-growing malicious force of the universe that gains power as it spreads. Whether the source of corruption is a scheme or chaos, the main purpose of corruption is simply to corrupt more and more. The profane powers of corruption have many potential secrets that you can uncover as you gain more power. You can share your corruption; spread it and you can heal, harm, or dominate. Sharing Corruption Points. You can share your corruption with others. As an action, you choose a target within 30 feet of you and transfer some of your corruption points to it. If the target is not willing, it can make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. The maximum number of corruption points you can transfer to a target in this way equals your proficiency bonus. Once transferred, the transferred corruption points stay with the target for 8 hours or until they are taken back as a bonus action or spent for an ability. Profane Healing. Scars can be healed and bleeding can be stopped through the power of corruption, for the sake of further corruption. As an action, you can use the corruption points of your allies within 30 feet of you to heal them. They regain 1d6 hit points for each of their corruption points. The used corruption points are lost. You can use a total number of corruption points equal to your proficiency bonus. Also, when you heal yourself or an ally who has corruption points using a healing spell, you and your other allies within 30 feet of you who also have corruption points regain 1d6 hit points for each of their corruption points. This action does not require you to spend corruption points. In one attempt, you can affect a maximum number of corruption points equal to your proficiency bonus. Harming Corruption. Corruption can disturb the physical body or push the boundaries of the soul. As an action, you can use the corruption of enemies within 30 feet of you to harm them. You can choose to damage their bodies by dealing necrotic damage or to harm their souls by warping their minds with frightening images that deal psychic damage. A target must make a successful Constitution (against necrotic damage) or Wisdom (against psychic damage) saving throw against your spell save DC or take 1d6 damage for each corruption point they have. In one attempt, you can use a total number of corruption points equal to your proficiency bonus. Corrupting Existence Starting at 1st level, you can share one domain spell that you can use with an ally within 60 feet of you. The ally can use the spell within the next 8 hours, for once, and gains 1 corruption point as the result. The spell uses your spell save DC and spell attack bonus. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest to use it again. New Condition: Corrupted When a creature becomes corrupted, it is crushed under an overwhelming array of feelings for 3 rounds. The behaviors of the creature change, and it starts to act in a random way. You roll a d10 to determine the random action of the target creature, as shown in the table below: 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 The creature runs in a random direction as fast as they can for 1 round. It can roll a d8 to determine the direction. The creature stops, and starts to think about life, alignments, and the universe itself. It is stunned for 1 round. The creature stops and speaks in gibberish for 1 round. The creature attacks the nearest creature, whether it is its friend or its enemy. The creature attacks an enemy. CORRUPTED CHARACTERS If a creature’s corruption points exceed its Wisdom modifier, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become a tool of the corruption that it can no longer contain. As a result, the creature becomes Corrupted.


40 Channel Divinity: Profane Light Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to frighten good-aligned creatures, crushing their will with your corrupted light. As an action, you present your unholy symbol and speak a prayer condemning the good. Each good creature that can see or hear you within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to your spell save DC). On a failed saving throw, a target creature is frightened for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. Spells of Corruption Starting at 6th level, you can enhance your divine spells with the corruption growing inside you to bring agony upon your foes. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher to damage any creature, you can spend corruption points and the damage of the spell increases by the spell level + the corruption points spent. When you use this feature, you can use a maximum number of corruption points equal to your proficiency bonus. Corrupted Priest Starting at 8th level, the intensity of corruption you can carry increases. As a result, the die of the Corrupted Initiate feature changes. You now roll d8s instead of d6s when you use this feature. Corrupted Mutations At 17th level, you reach the pinnacle of corruption. As an action, you can spend corruption points to create several effects. You can choose to create these effects on yourself by spending 10 corruption points, or you can grant them to another creature within 30 feet by transferring 5 of your corruption points to it. You can choose one of the following effects: • You can choose to turn the blood of a number of creatures into acid for 1 hour. The maximum number of creatures you can affect in this way equals your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1). When the affected creature is attacked with a melee weapon attack, the attacker must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 acid damage. • You choose a creature within range (or yourself). The chosen creature gains 50 temporary hit points for 8 hours, or until it takes 50 damage. • You can infuse your weapons, or those of your allies within range, with the powers of corruption, turning them into corrupted weapons for 1 hour. The corrupted weapon can deal an extra 2d6 damage of one of the following types of your choice: acid, necrotic, or poison. • You can call upon the magical powers of corruption to come to your own aid or share them with an ally within range. When you or your ally casts a spell that deals damage, it deals an extra 3d6 damage of one of the following types of your choice: acid, necrotic, or poison. • You can alter your or one of your allies’ bodies to make it tougher. The skin of the affected creature changes and emanates a slightly foul light. Choose one of the following effects: The affected creature either gains resistance to two of the following damage types of your choice: acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, piercing, radiant, slashing, or thunder; or does not suffer extra damage from critical hits. These effects last for the durations given above, or until you use them or take back the transferred corruption points as a bonus action. You lived in endless hunger. Now, you are burning with the desire to spread your eternal hunger wherever you go. As you look at the devastation that your unparalleled appetite causes, your hunger only grows, for there remain new things to eat. You are never satisfied. Every new thing you see is nothing but a different flavor to taste. You must always eat more and more to mitigate your hunger. DEVOUR DOMAIN SPELLS Bonus Proficiency When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with heavy armor. Eater Also starting at 1st level, you can eat everything you come across. Because you cannot suppress this eternal hunger inside you, and can eat anything because of it, your body is more resilient. You have advantage on saving throws against disease and being poisoned. Channel Divinity: Stop and Eat Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to Stop And Eat. You trigger a need to devour within an enemy target as a bonus action. The creature must succeed on a WisDevour Domain “Your sheep, your homes, yourselves, all shall be consumed. I have come to devour all that is held dear, in the name of never-ending hunger.” - Carvanul, Devour Domain Cleric Cleric Level Spells blood spear*, protection from evil and good command, enhance ability bestow curse, bone crusher* banishment , horrendous touch* hallow , raining blood* 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th


41 dom saving throw or become prone, ceasing to do whatever it was doing for the duration of the effect. The affected creature cannot take an action or a bonus action other than eating, and starts to eat anything edible. If it cannot find anything to eat in close proximity, it starts to eat itself, taking 1d4 necrotic damage each turn. This damage ignores immunity and resistance. It loses the sense of where it is or who it is with, and if it gets hit, it doesn’t feel it. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one). The affected creature can repeat the Wisdom saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a successful save, the creature is no longer affected. Starter Starting at 6th level, you can choose to eat a dagger-sized object as a bonus action, and you gain a benefit depending on the eaten object. This is the manifestation of the eternal hunger within you. You can only gain one of the following benefits at a time and the effects last for 1 minute. The benefits you will gain based on the objects you eat are specified as the following: Adamantine. You do not take the extra damage dealt by critical hits. Bone. You gain resistance to necrotic damage. Crystal, Glass, Ice. Your speed does not change in difficult terrain. Additionally, you cannot have disadvantage on saving throws against effects that deal cold damage, and you gain resistance to cold damage. Iron, Steel. Your weight doubles and your speed is halved but you can’t be knocked prone. Mithral. Your weight, along with that of the items you carry, is halved. Additionally, you have advantage on Dexterity saving throws. Stone. You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing damage dealt by nonmagical attacks, and you gain resistance to fire damage. Wood. You gain resistance to slashing and piercing damage dealt by nonmagical attacks. If you have a creative idea in addition to the objects listed above, you can talk to your Game Master to determine whether you can eat something else, as well as the benefit you gain from it. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one). You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. Extradimensional Swallow Starting at 8th level, as a bonus action, you can turn your mouth into a portal opening into a pocket dimension created within your stomach. Your lower jaw falls on the ground, leaving your mouth wide open and creating a portal-like structure. This portal remains open for 1 minute or until you swallow something as an action. The total weight of the creatures or the objects you swallow can’t exceed 175 lbs. This weight increases to 195 lbs. at 11th level, 215 lbs. at 14th level, and 235 lbs. at 17th level. If you want to swallow an unwilling creature, you must make a melee spell attack. On a hit, you swallow it. The pocket dimension inside you is dark, and it smells of acid. There is enough air to breathe to last 10 minutes for a single Medium-sized creature. Even if you take damage, the swallowed creatures or objects cannot be harmed since they are in another dimension. You can choose to consume an object or a creature that you swallowed. While consuming it, you deal 1d8 acid damage at the start of each of your turns. This damage increases to 2d8 at 11th level, 3d8 at 14th level, and 4d8 at 17th level. A swallowed creature can try to escape from the pocket dimension. To do so, it can make a Wisdom saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If it succeeds, you vomit the creature out, and it appears in an unoccupied space next to you.


42 If you swallow more than you can take, the pocket dimension is overloaded. In case of an overload, everything inside is removed involuntarily as you vomit everything out. If a creature dies in the pocket dimension, either because of acid damage or from lack of air, it can only be resurrected with a wish spell. If you die, the swallowed creatures and objects pour out from your mouth. Endless Hunger Starting at 17th level, when you swallow and then consume a creature by using the Extradimensional Swallow feature, you can choose to take on the appearance and physical features of the consumed creature. You can replace your appearance, Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores with the ones of the consumed creature. You can choose to replace one, two, or all three of them. If you consume a creature whose score(s) is changed by an item, a spell, or an effect, you replace your original score(s) with the changed score of the creature. The replacement must take place within 1 day of the consumption and requires a long rest to complete. The replaced scores last for a number of days equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one). Rampage domain focuses on bloodshed, carnage, slaughter, and endless rage. Many dark deities who love massacres committed in their name suggest the Rampage domain. As the bringer of slaughter, you can channel divine energy to make your enemies rue the day they crossed your path. You can use the furious powers granted to you by your dark deity to slaughter a small village, just as you can use them to bring havoc upon an enormous battlefield. RAMPAGE DOMAIN SPELLS Bonus Proficiency When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain proficiency with heavy armor. Incite Rampage Also starting at 1st level, you can awaken the need for rampage in your allies. As an action, you can choose a number of allies within 30 feet of you, including yourself. Chosen allies can make a weapon attack as a bonus action when they use their action to make an attack, until the end of their next turn. Rampage Domain “TAKE THEIR SKULLS! DRINK THEIR BLOOD! TEAR THEIR FLESH INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!” - The words that started a 40-Day massacre Cleric Level Spells heroism, villainous rage* enlarge/reduce, unholy rage* claw of slaughter*, haste mark of rampage*, murder darkness* foul frenzy*, raining blood* 1st 3rd 5th 7th 9th


43 The maximum number of allies you can affect in this way is equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one). Once you reach this maximum number, you must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again. Channel Divinity: Pure Ferocity Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to frighten your weak enemies with the ferocity that burns inside you. As an action, you present your holy symbol and evoke a frightening feral energy with a monstrous battle cry. You choose five creatures within 30 feet of you. These creatures must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute or until they take damage. Uncontrolled Massacre True rampage is all about losing yourself in battle and getting drenched in blood without regard for whose blood is spilled. Especially chaotic entities simply want to see bodies torn apart and blood-drenched soil. When you become completely absorbed in your rampage, you become a beacon for chaotic energies. You emanate a profane aura causing others to join in your rampage. When you knock at least two enemies unconscious in battle, you can choose to use the Uncontrolled Massacre feature as your Channel Divinity. As an action, you can affect a number of creatures equal to your proficiency within 60 feet of you. The affected creatures must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or attack the nearest creature until the end of their next turn. Quick Finish Starting at 6th level, you can guide the attack of an ally with divine power so that it finishes off the enemy it is facing more quickly and moves onto others. When an ally within 30 feet of you is making an attack roll, you can use your reaction to boost the attack with divine bloodlust causing your ally to deal maximum damage. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum once). You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. Unstoppable Massacre Starting at 8th level, your thirst to kill knows no bounds as your enemies fall before you. When you drop a target to 0 hit points with a melee attack, your speed increases by half your original speed or you can make another melee attack as a reaction. Marked for Slaughter Starting at 17th level, enemies you mark for slaughter wilt under the rampage caused by you and your allies. As a bonus action, you can curse a creature until the start of your next turn. The cursed creature’s body starts to bleed. The next time one of your allies hits the cursed creature with an attack, the target takes an extra 2d8 necrotic damage, and the curse ends. You can curse a creature in this way once on each turn. Druid Circles Not all druids see life and nature the same way, and not all of them represent the peaceful parts of nature. Druids of the Circle of Bones do not see death as a taboo and nemesis of life. Instead, they master the ways of death to understand the circle of life fully. Druids of the Circle of Consuming Flames are the wrath of nature, leaving anything that opposes nature in flames without mercy. Druids of the Circle of Pestilence represent the gruesome parts of nature, with pestilence and diseases. Most druids see the undead as unearthly and think of them as abominations to the balance of nature. To them, the balance of nature is something that is common to all life, and the fact that all creatures who are born are destined to die when their time comes is only natural. They do not seek what lies beyond death, as they are concerned with the essence of the living. As a druid from the Circle of Bones, such beliefs make you laugh. How could nature, in all its mysticism and its glory, fail to involve the risen dead? How could what lies beyond life be ignored on a journey to seek mystical enlightenment, when the faith of druids is not made up of religious dogmas, but rather the freedom of discovery? To you, other druids are perhaps just as blind in their beliefs as many clergies are. You are not bound by such limitations, nor limited by prohibitions on your magic. Others see necromancy as taboo, but you know taboos are nothing but sentimental makebelieve that are made up by creatures, and nature has no place for them. Thus, you are able to work with souls and the undead, and cast spells of the beyond. You may have seen beyond the threshold of death and the dreadful immensity that you faced enlightened you. You feel life force draining when you cast spells that drain life energy, and are subtly tempted towards evil. Yet, these are sacrifices you must make to reach your full potential: To be a free child of nature as nature intended. For nature is limitless, and it does not discriminate between life and death. Circle of bones “You do not trust the dead, fear the beyond, and call yourself the druid of these woods? When will you ever understand that your overprotective concerns demonstrate a lack of faith in nature and that this is heresy in and of itself? I seek the real truth that lies beneath our magic, and I know that death is not there to conquer life but to make it whole.” - Navshi, druid of the Circle of Bones


44 Bonus Cantrips When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn two additional cantrips from the school of necromancy. Magic of Bones Your connection to the Circle of Bones provides you the ability to cast spells of the dead and the beyond. At 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level, you gain access to spells associated with the dead and with spirits. Once you gain access to the spells of the Circle of Bones, you always have them prepared, and they don’t count against the number of spells you prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that is not on the druid spell list, the spell counts as a druid spell for you. Additionally, any spell from the school of necromancy counts as a druid spell for you. You can prepare and cast a spell from the school of necromancy as a druid spell. Druid Level Circle Spells 3rd gentle repose, ray of enfeeblement 5th revivify, speak with dead 7th boneball*, shroud of undeath* 9th raise dead, rotting curse* Magic of Souls Because you are not limited to life, you learn how druid magic is influenced by the vitality of the soul. Starting at 6th level, you can choose to cast a spell by expending your own life force instead of expending a spell slot. To do so, you drain from your soul and decrease your hit point maximum by a number of d6s equal to the level of the spell. For example, when you cast a 4th level spell, your hit point maximum is decreased by 4d6. This reduction lasts until you finish a long rest. The Threshold and Beyond Starting at 10th level, as a bonus action, you can gaze into the ethereal world. You can see 60 feet into the ethereal plane whenever you wish. Additionally, you can force an ethereal creature to manifest itself in the plane you are in. As an action, you grasp the essence of a creature within 60 feet of you that has the etherealness feature and incorporeal traits. The creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC or it cannot use its Etherealness feature for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one). Once you force an ethereal creature to manifest, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. You also learn the Ritual of the Threshold. This is a secret ritual performed by your circle in search of the knowledge of the beyond, by standing on the threshold between life and death. RITUAL OF THE THRESHOLD In this ritual, you bring yourself to the brink of death in order to seek knowledge from the beyond. While in this state, you see visions and hear the voices of spirits. You start by reducing your hit points to 0, and start to make your death saving throws. When you start, it counts as though you have succeeded 1 of your death saving throws. While you are in this state, you can benefit from the effects of one of these spells: augury, divination, contact other plane, or legend lore without expending a spell slot. In order to use the spell within the ritual, you must be able to cast spells of that level. If you have three failed death saving throws, you stay unconscious for 1d4 hours and wake up with


45 Transcend At 14th level, the limitations of death become insignificant to you. You learn how to cast the etherealness spell. You can prepare this spell just as you do your other druid spells. If you die, you can cast revivify or similar spells on yourself to rise from the dead. You don’t have to have the spell prepared, but you expend a spell slot of the level of the spell cast. If the spell has a casting time that is longer than 1 action, you spend the amount of time necessary to focus on the spell in soul form. The material components of the spell are taken from your belongings if your corpse is within 120 feet of your soul. Additionally, if you are down to 0 hit points and fall unconscious, you can get up in soul form as a risen soul. To rise in this way, you must expend a spell slot. You gain temporary hit points equal to a number of d8s equal to the level of the spell slot. For example, if you expend a 3rd-level spell slot, you have 3d8 temporary hit points in soul form. While in this form, you retain all your character abilities and traits, although you cannot make weapon attacks. You can cast spells and can consume any material components from your corpse. You revert back to your normal form if your temporary hit points drop to 0 or after 1 hour. When you revert back to your normal form, you fall unconscious. You have the following properties as a risen soul: Fire is one of the four elements that make up the universe and it can be seen in all aspects of life. We use gentle, flickering candlelight to read at night, and start a slowly waning campfire to keep warm outside; flames are in all aspects of all things, from the heavens above to the hells down below, and it constantly watches over us, just like the sun. Fire is the truest, purest and most powerful form in nature. Thus, it is only natural that nature be bathed in flames once more, so the corruption spread to this day by mortal races and forces that defy nature can be cleansed. This corruption cannot be reversed, so everything must be destroyed and a universe must be built anew through the ever-burning flames. Shroud of Flames Starting at 2nd level, you are surrounded by an invisible shroud of flame that is harmless until you unleash its wrath on a creature nearby. When a creature you can see moves to a space within 10 feet of you on a turn, or it starts its turn there, it can feel the heat around you increase. You can use your reaction to deal 1d4 fire damage to that creature unless it succeeds on a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC. The fire damage increases to 1d6 at 6th level, 2d4 at 10th level, and 2d6 at 14th level. Circle of Consuming flames no recollection of your experience (and thus lose any benefits of this ritual). The ritual also fails if you are healed or a creature casts a spell such as spare the dying on you. For the contact other plane and legend lore spells, you first spend an amount of minutes equal to their casting time, focusing on your intention, before you get into the dying state. For effects that require concentration, you can maintain your concentration after you become stable. When you make your death saving throws for this ritual and have three successes, you return to life with 1 hit point. If you fall unconscious in combat and start making death saving throws, you can still make use of this ritual. However, if you start to perform the ritual this way, you do not start with 1 success on your death saving throws, you cannot benefit from the effects of the spells above that have a casting time greater than 1 action, and you do not return to life with 1 hit point if you become stable. ’Mortals and gods alike shall taste the power of flames, for there is nothing flames cannot consume!’’ - Flint the Firestarter RISEN SOUL Armor Class 11 Hit Points as stated under “Transcend” Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover) Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained Incorporeal Movement. You can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 5 (1d10) force damage if you end your turn inside an object Turn Vulnerability. You can be affected by turn undead. ACTIONS Etherealness. You enter the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. You are visible on the Material Plane while you are in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet you can’t affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.


46 Fire Beast At 2nd level, you gain the ability to mold fire into your beast shape from Wild Shape. You become a burning version of the beast you transformed into when using this feature. You can use this feature every time you use your Wild Shape feature, and once after you transformed into your Wild Shape as a reaction. While you are using this feature is, you gain the following benefits: • You gain resistance to fire damage and vulnerability to cold damage. • Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 fire damage. These benefits last for 10 minutes or until you transform back to your normal shape. Circle Spells Your connection to the realms of fire through your rage fills you with the ability to cast certain fire-themed spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level, you gain access to circle spells connected to the primal fire. Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell nonetheless counts as a druid spell for you. Druid Level Circle Spells 3rd continual flame, scorching ray 5th entropic fire*, fireball 7th fire shield, memory of fire* 9th devoured in flames*, vines of fire* Fiery Companion At 6th level, you gain the ability to speak the true language of fire, Ignan. Additionally, you gain the ability to call a denizen of the fire plane by consuming some part of nature through flames. As an action, you annihilate a tree, a rat, a butterfly, a piece of soil, or some other living thing (whose CR is 0), with raging flames by shouting the word ‘’BURN!’’ in Ignan and summoning a creature of fire whose challenge rating is 1/2 or lower. It remains with you for 1 hour, and then returns to its home. In a combat encounter, this creature’s turn is immediately after yours in the initiative order. It obeys the commands you give with your mind for its action, it can only use the Attack action, and it can only attack once per turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum once). You regain any expended uses after you finish a long rest. The maximum challenge rating of the creature you summon with this feature increases to 1 at 10th level, and to 2 at 14th level. Herald of Flames At 10th level, your connection with the fire plane, and the flames it inspires, becomes so powerful that you gain the ability to channel energy from fire, and you gain the ability to wield the true, primal form of fire. You gain the following benefits: • Resistance and immunity to fire damage are both less effective against the fire damage you deal with your attacks and spells. Fire resistance can only reduce the fire damage you deal by 1/4 (rounded down) and fire immunity only reduces this damage by half. • When you kill a creature using a spell that deals fire damage using a spell slot of 6th level or lower, you regain the spell slot you expended to cast this spell. • In areas close to the fire plane (volcanoes, etc.), or in areas that are within 10 feet of bonfires larger than you, the time it takes for you to take a short rest halves, and to take a long rest decreases by 2 hours.


47 Wreathed in Flames At 14th level, you can open yourself up to the powerful, destructive flames of the fire plane as a bonus action. The flames find life within your body, transforming you into a destructive flame for 1 minute, or until you are decapitated or until you transform back to your normal shape as a bonus action. During this transformation, you cannot cast spells and you gain the following statistics: Druids of the Circle of Pestilence heed the call of pestilence. They believe that the balance in nature cannot be preserved through the sole means of helping life flourish. While some need to create life, others must destroy it. Decay, diseases, rot, swarms of all types of foul creatures, and vermin are all harbingers of pestilence, and thus, companions of these druids. These druids seek out overcrowded areas to lower the population there through mass disease, or they may work with darker forces to acquire control over the universe. Pestilent Blood Starting at 2nd level, you embody the act of decaying. You start to carry diseases within your body. These diseases may cause small changes in your appearance. Your skin color may become paler than it was or you may get edemas in several places. You gain advantage on saving throws against diseases and poisons. Additionally, the diseases you carry mix with and your bodily fluids to create a special chemical with which you can infuse a weapon you are wielding. As a bonus action, you can cut yourself with a weapon or spit bloody phlegm on it by dealing 1 damage to yourself. This damage cannot be reduced by any means. On your next weapon attack that uses this weapon within 1 minute, the target creature must make a successful Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or become poisoned for 1 minute. If the target creature succeeds on the saving throw, it becomes immune to the chemical until it takes a long rest. The diseases you carry become more potent as you grow in power. Starting at 6th level, the weapon you infuse stays coated in the liquid for 1 minute and deals acid, necrotic, or poison damage for the duration. You choose the type of damage at 6th level and cannot change it later. It deals an extra 1d6 damage at 6th, 1d8 at 10th, and 2d6 at 14th levels. Swarm Shape Starting at 2nd level, you can transform into a swarm of beasts, even if it is a monstrosity, by using your Wild Shape feature. You can talk to your GM to determine the kinds of vermin you can transform into. Swarmer Starting at 6th level, as you heed its call by entering this circle, the pestilence in nature answers your call. You can cast the call blood scarab swarm* spell twice without expending a spell slot. The swarms summoned by this feature also carry your Pestilent Blood and they deal the chosen type of damage of this feature on their attacks. As your connection with pestilence grows, vermin start to crawl all over your body and your face at all times. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest to use it again. Vomit Swarm Starting at 10th level, disease-carrying swarms of vermin fill your body. As an action, you can vomit out 1d4 swarms of rats, bats, poisonous spiders, scorpions, centipedes or flying insects along with your bodily fluids. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a successful Dexterity saving throw or take 6d6 damage of the type of damage chosen in your Pestilent Blood feature. Circle of Pestilence “Maybe we should be more tolerant against civilization or even try to learn how to live with them… Just kidding, I JUST WANT TO LET PLAGUE AND VERMIN RUN AMOK IN ALL CITIES!” - Svetli, Queen of the Swamp DESTRUCTIVE FLAME Medium elemental Armor Class 18 (molten plate) Hit Points 117 (18d8 + 36) Speed 40 ft. STR 12 (+1) DEX 18 (+4) CON 15 (+2) and you retain your Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores. Saving Throws and Skills. You retain your skill and saving throw proficiencies but your proficiency bonus is +3 Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities fire, poison Damage Vulnerabilities cold Condition Immunities paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone Senses You retain your normal senses Languages You can understand and speak the languages you normally know. Challenge 7 Source of Fire. You shed bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light in a 20-foot radius. Also, you do not need to spend your reaction to use the Shroud of Flames feature as it is always active.


48 Also, the swarms stay under your command, and follow your mental orders for 1 minute. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest to use it again. Hivemind Starting at 14th level, you can form a hivemind and become its leader. By performing a ritual that takes 10 minutes, you can call nearby insects and form a hivemind between them. If there are no insects around you, you can form the hivemind by using the swarms you have conjured or vomited out. At the end, you have the hivemind monster, that is detailed below, under your control. The creatures in the hivemind share an evil consciousness. Through the unity formed in the hivemind, every creature is aware of one another on a heightened level and attains a greater intelligence. All members of the hivemind can perceive things through every other members’ perception. Also, the Intelligence score of the members with an Intelligence lower than 8, increases to 8. Since you are the leader of the hivemind, as a bonus action, you can order the swarms of vermin that you have under your command to move, stop, attack, or use an action. You cannot give separate orders to each swarm, the hivemind acts together. Additionally, you can channel your spells through these swarms of vermin, and make the space occupied by these swarms become the origin point of the spell. When you do so, the vermin make strange noises and movements as they perform the verbal and somatic components of the spell. The members of the hivemind, including you as you are its leader, must be within 60 feet of each other or the bond between them breaks, and if a member ventures further than 60 feet, they leave the hivemind and the hivemind loses members. When a spellcaster makes a Concentration check for a spell, you can order the hivemind to create disturbing and distracting noises as a reaction, giving the spellcaster disadvantage on the roll. Also, when a target is hit by the hivemind, it must make a successful Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or start to carry vermin eggs. Upon its death, the target’s body explodes and creates a new swarm of insects. The eggs disappears after 1 hour or they can be removed by a lesser restoration spell. HIVEMIND Huge swarm of Medium vermin swarms, neutral evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 88 (16d10) Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 5 (-3) 16 (+3) 10 (+0) 8 (-1) 12 (+1) 3 (-4) Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Challenge 7 (2,900 XP) Swarm. The hivemind can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the hivemind can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny insect. The hivemind can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points. ACTIONS Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target. Hit: 30 + your Wisdom modifier (12d4 + your Wisdom modifier) piercing damage, or 15 + your Wisdom modifier (6d4 + your Wisdom modifier) piercing damage if the hivemind has half of its hit points or fewer. The target must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.


49 MARTIAL ARCHETYPES Martial archetypes represented in this section are for fighters who are dishonorable, sinister, or unholy. The Corpse Knight makes use of necrotic energies to infuse their weapons and armor, as well as to create an undead steed or squire to help them in battle. Dark Arts Militant uses various potions and decoctions for challenging their opponents and prey. Wicked Fighter focuses on unsavory maneuvers that exploit the weaknesses of opponents. The realms are full of necromancers, liches, vampires and other creatures and cults that have some relation to necromancy. These beings and organizations generally have something valuable which they want to protect: the phylactery of a lich, the sarcophagus of a vampire, or the laboratory in which a cult constructs flesh golems (and so on). Like a king or queen who guards their treasure, these creatures and organizations want to make sure their most precious things are safe and secure. So, they let their most trusted servants or followers guard such items or places. These guardians are called Corpse Knights. They are fighters who have necrotic powers and they are knights whose squires and steeds are made up of the undead. They craft their own armors and weapons out of the corpses of their enemies. Corpse Knights, generally, live by a code of conduct in which the most important rule is to keep guarding whatever they must, at all cost. Although they are mostly seen in places or occurrences that have some connection to necromancy, some of them wander the world as free adventurers. Although they have a code of conduct they follow, or a master that they serve, codes can nonetheless be broken and masters can be killed. This means that Corpse Knights are not necessarily dominated by their code, nor their masters, and that they only adhere to these limitations as long as it suits them. Corpse Knight “I served gladly until I realized that I was strong enough to break my chains. Now I roam free. Now I am my own master.” - Riztel “Dread Blade ” T’ein GM BOX: BECOMING A CORPSE KNIGHT A fighter can be initiated into the corpse knighthood in several ways: • A powerful necromancer or an undead can grant the fighter necrotic powers through a dark ritual. • The fighter can be exposed to necrotic energies in a location tied to the undead. • The fighter may have found a tome containing instructions on how to perform dark rituals and made itself a corpse knight, perhaps with the help of its friends. Introducing the archetype in such ways may bring a certain flavor to the story. These listed options are merely suggestions to inspire both the players and the GM; you can also find other ways to transform a character into a Corpse Knight and use the above as examples to inspire your own creation.


50 Corpse Arsenal A knight carries its pride in its weapons and armor. It also takes pride in its knowledge of armor and weapons. In case of emergency, you should be able to craft armor or weapons and be able to repair them when necessary. However, unconventionally, you craft this equipment out of bone and meat. Starting at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with smith’s tools, Corpse Armor, Corpse Weapons, and your Corpse Arsenal. These crafted items are called Corpse Weapons or Corpse Armor. There are certain types of armor and weapons that you can craft in this way according to your Corpse Knight level, as given in the table below: Level Armor Weapon 3rd Breastplate Any Weapon 7th Half Plate Weapon deals 1d4 bonus necrotic damage 10th Plate Weapon +1 15th Plate +1 Weapon deals 1d8 bonus necrotic damage 18th Plate +2 Weapon +2 When wearing Corpse Armor, you have advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks. Crafting an item in this way takes 8 hours and during this time, you cannot take a short or long rest as this type of crafting requires active work. You do not require a forge, nor heat, but you need the corpse of a Medium or larger creature to make an armor or a weapon. These items possess their special properties only when you are using them. When someone other than you tries to use them, they turn back to being mangled remains of bones and flesh. The crafted weapons are thus used with disadvantage when wielded by others, and the AC the armor offers takes a -2 penalty. However, at your GM’s discretion, you can use another Corpse Knight’s Corpse Arsenal as if the items in it were your own. Whether they belonged to an enemy or a fallen friend, using the arsenal of another knight could bring yet another flavor to the game. Corpse Steed Also starting at 3rd level, you can call a strong and loyal steed to serve you in your adventures. This mount is usually a Corpse Warhorse. However, it can be Corpse versions of other animals. As an action, you can magically summon your mount or send it back to its regular dwelling, somewhere in the lands of shadow and death. When you summon it, it appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you, or in the space that is closest to you if there is no unoccupied space within 5 feet. Each time the mount is called, it appears with full health and any gear it was carrying when it was last sent back to its dwelling. When the corpse steed (p.248) dies, it disappears and drops any equipment it was carrying. As an action, you can call it again. Corpse Squire Starting at 7th level, you can create a squire for yourself from the corpses of your enemies either by performing a 1-hour ritual, or you are granted one by your master. You can have only one squire at a time and it tries to fulfill the quests you give it, and risks its life, if need be. As an action, you can magically summon your Corpse Squire or send it back to its regular dwelling, somewhere in the lands of shadow and death, just like your steed. When summoned, it appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you, or in the space that is closest to you. Each time the squire is called, it appears with full health and any gear it was carrying when it was last sent back. When the corpse squire dies (p.247), it disappears and drops any equipment it was carrying. In this case, you need to create a new squire for yourself. You can create a corpse squire of CR 1 at 7th level, CR 2 at 11th level, CR 3 at 13th level, and CR 4 at 15th level. Corpse Body Regardless of whether you left the service of your former master, or you are still a loyal servant, the necrotic effects of your powers grow as you become more powerful. Starting at 10th level, you gain resistance to poison damage and have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned. Also, you do not need to drink, eat, or breathe. A New Shell At 15th level, your Corpse Armor fuses with your body and becomes permanent. It cannot be broken or removed if you are not willing. You gain resistance to slashing and piercing damage from nonmagical weapons. Bonus Proficiencies Starting at 3rd level, your curiosity for the dark arts and using them in practical ways grant you some abilities. You gain proficiency with alchemist’s supplies, and you learn to speak, read, and write Abyssal and Infernal. Dark Artist Starting at 3rd level, you learn how to craft oils and poisons by using the knowledge on the forbidden arts that you have Dark Arts Militant “Collecting hearts from bodies can be a bloody and dirty business sometimes, but looking into the eyes of your unsuspecting enemies, and watching them tremble in fear, is worth all the effort.” - From the interrogation of Sorax


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