Black Mage
"We became aware one day, each under different circumstances. It was the same with me. I just woke up one day... and there was a human body lying next to me. His body was covered in blood. It scared me... I didn't know what it meant. I ran as fast as I could. When I looked around, I was far away from the front line. There were many others like me, and we decided to escape together." --Black Mage No. 288
Created, rather than born, Black Mages are autonomous magical constructs designed as particularly dangerous shock troopers for use during wartime. Those who have fought against them have two distinctive features burned into their minds; emotion-less yellow eyes staring out of a dark void, and an infamous steepled hat that never leaves their heads.
Manufactured with Magic
Raw magic not only suffuses, but composes the majority of their form. The rest of the body is composed of a dark mist taken directly from the Plane of Shadowfell, which gives them their shadowy appearance.
Once the two elements are drawn together, they are placed into an eldritch device that dispenses large, misshapen eggs. The eggs rapidly incubate their forms, when hatched, are then permanently bound into a humanoid shape with a mass-produced set of mundane dark blue robes and a tan hat.
Despite being made of such intangible material, Black Mages are as living and breathing as any other humanoid is apt to be. Their pitch black skin is tangible, soft as a pillow, cold to the touch, and exudes a small amount of ebony mist. When struck, their skin large amounts of shadowy mist rather than any sort of blood or fluid.
Created to Kill
Black Mages were built with only one purpose; to the slay enemies of their masters, to whom they are nothing more than mindless dolls. These dolls, however, are exceedingly effective at their job. The magical energy that composes their bodies allows them to cast a barrage of deadly arcane spells with virtually no training. Few things are as fearsome as an army of magi who have no fear and no self-preservation.
They use their innate magic to slay with unquestioning obedience as they are largely incapable of free thought or even basic speech. They do however know one word upon creation. A word which they use every opportunity they have; "KILL!"
Suddenly Self-Aware
A strange thing occurs among Black Mages that survive the front lines of war for long enough. They suddenly, with purpose or explanation, become sentient. Dazed and confused, they are cognizant of a wide array of emotions for the first time. This process is not at all gradual, as most liken it to suddenly waking up from a nightmare. With free will and no purpose, the self-aware mages band together and desert their battlefields to seek peace and quiet.
Most self-aware black mages go through a short-lived crisis with their newfound individuality. Odd yet intentional quirks, colorful new additions to their robes, and unrealistic goals are but a few the methods used to fabricate their identities.
Timid and Gentle
Perhaps because of their knowing participation in terrible acts of violence and destruction, most sentient Black Mages are strongly opposed to such behaviors. The quiet mages would rather eck out a peaceful existence as kindly neighbors to their former foes than commit any more acts of violence.
Unfortunately, between their furious former masters and those that have been victim to their unwilling atrocities, they are actively ostracized and even hunted. This forces them to flee settled lands and construct secret villages in remote locations protected by magic wards and illusion spells.
Yet despite all of this, they maintain a child-like naivety. This is especially true in their understanding of death, which they refer to as "stopping". Rather than coming to terms with the end of life, they prefer to think that beings who have "stopped" will just "start" again, sooner or later.
Death of a Spellsman
When a Black Mage is slain, its dark, misty skin dissolves, leaving only their clothing as evidence that it ever existed. When it ceases functioning naturally, it instead stands immobile with limbs stiffened in place and its piercing yellow eyes disappear altogether.
Black Mage Names
Upon creation, the only thing that distinguishes one Black Mage from another is an assigned number. The majority of free-willed Black Mages are content to continue being called by this number. A few of them, particularly adventurous ones, are known to select their own name based off either something that they enjoy or simply think sounds interesting.
Example Names: No. 24, Reader, No. 616, Animist, Firaga, Bobby Corwin, Wyzard, Synthesist, Cid, No. 1337, Canary, Spellcrafter, Orunitia, Caretaker, Flutist, No. 24601, Tantalus, Shopkeep, Crystal, Black Cat, Ultima, Pointy Hattington
Black Mage Traits
Your Black Mage has certain qualities in common with all others of their kind.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. Black Mages are physically mature upon hatching, but also intentionally designed to be short-lived. Non-sentient mages last only last about 1 year from the day they activate before inexplicably ceasing to function. Sentient mages can last up to 10 years before stopping. Once aware of their brief lifespan, most mages are desperate to extend. it This often drives them to hunt for a solution through a life of adventure or through a devilish dark bargain.
Alignment. A sentient mages' innocent nature and aversion to violence means a tendency toward good alignments. However, those that fear their death enough will do just about anything to keep it from happening.
Size. All Black Mages are around 5 feet and 6 inches tall (sans their hats), weigh about 100 pounds, and are slightly wider than the average human male. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Black Magic Cantrips. You can wield several forms of elemental magic. You know the fire bolt, shocking grasp, and ray of frost cantrips. Intelligence is your spell casting ability for these spells.
Living Doll. Even though you were created from raw magic, you are still a living creature. You do not need to eat, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish. You are immune to any effect that would alter your physical age.
Focus. You have an inborn talent for focusing on spells you have cast. You may add your proficiency bonus to any Constitution save made to concentrate on a spell.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common.
Black Mages and Other Races
Most organized societies have an innate dislike of Black Mages. Even if they haven't seen them used in battle for a very long time, their presence makes skin crawl and they are often mistaken for fiends. Rogue members of their kind hunting for immortality don't help their reputation either.
The timid mages avoid contact with most races and are quick to flee interaction with them. They do take very quickly to other artificially created races like Warforged and Genomes. For some inexplicable reason, they get along famously with dwarves, many of whom refer to them affably as the "pyntie-hats"
Optional Feat
Though mass produced, Black Mages do have several different models. All of which look identical at first glance, but slight differences aren't the only thing that distinguishes them. The Type A, has all baseline powers described. The Type B has access to a couple of utility spells as well. The Type C has all of the above, plus the ability to trans-locate themselves and others.
Black Magic
Prerequisite: Black Mage
You are a Type C Black Mage who's innate spells were lost when you became sentient. Through intense focus, you have regained your the ability to cast these spells. You can cast one following spells once: ray of sickness (at 3rd level), counterspell, or dimension door. Intelligence is your spell casting ability for these spells. You regain the ability to cast these spells whenever you finish a long rest.
Variant: Players as a Black Waltz
If you'd like to allow Black Waltz as a playable variant of the Black Mage race, remove the Black Magic Cantrips feature and add the following:
Dark Flight. You have a pair of midnight black feathered wings sprouting out of your back to help you pursue and destroy your enemies. You gain 40 feet of flight speed. You cannot fly while wearing armor or carrying a heavy load.
Black Mages as Monsters
The Black Mage is a one part frontline combatant and two parts soul-less killing machine that follows its order to the letter. They move and attack in groups with other Black Mages of the same type and prefer to attack their foes from a distance with their powerful black magic spells. These enemies can also be found on occasion manning ships or siege equipment during larger scale battles.
The stat block below describes the common non-sentient Black Mage. For creating a sentient Black Mage NPC, use the stats for the Black Mage race.
Black Mage
Medium Humanoid, Lawful Neutral
- Armor Class 11
- Hit Points 13(3d6+3)
- Speed 25ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 14 (+2) 11 (+0) 13 (+1)
- Condition Immunities Fear, Charm
- Skills Arcana +4
- Senses passive Perception 10
- Languages understands Common but can only say "KILL!"
- Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Focus. The Black Mage may add +2 to any save made to concentrate on a spell.
Innate Spellcasting. The Black Mage's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 12). It can innately cast a number of spells, requiring no material components. It cumulatively gains additional spells depending on it's type as shown below:
Type A, at will: fire bolt, shocking grasp, ray of frost Type B, 1/day each: ray of sickness, crown of madness Type C, 1/day: dimension door
Actions
Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (ld4 + 1) piercing damage.
Black Waltz
Unlike their mass produced brothers, these Black Mages are handcrafted and specifically designed to carry out special missions. A Black Waltz is created as part of a set of three (hence the name), each of which has a unique appearance which includes a set of midnight black feathered wings.
They are wholly conscious, capable of complex speech, and completely loyal to their creator. Once assigned to task, a Black Waltz will not rest until it has completed it. Each Black Waltz has a distinct looks, personality, and tactics, but all are mercilessly efficient at what they do (usually abduction or assassination). Below is an example of a Black Waltz.
Black Waltz No. 3
Medium Humanoid, Lawful Evil
- Armor Class 13 (16 with Mage Armor)
- Hit Points 64(8d6 + 32)
- Speed 25 ft., fly 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 17 (+3) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 14 (+2) 15 (+2)
- Saving Throws Dex +6, Int +7, Cha +5
- Skills Arcana +7, Perception +5, Investigation +7
- Senses passive Perception 15
- Languages Common
- Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from non-magical weapons (from stoneskin)
- Challenge 5 (1800 XP)
Dark Devotion. The Black Waltz has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Focus. The Black Waltz may add +3 to any save made to concentrate on a spell.
Spellcasting. The Black Waltz is an 8th level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence. (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks) The Black Waltz has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, shocking grasp, ray of frost, mending
1st level (4 slots): *sleep, ray of sickness, chromatic orb, mage armor**
2nd level (3 slots): crown of madness, misty step, scorching ray
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, lightning bolt, slow
4th level (2 slots): *dimension door, stoneskin**
*The Black Waltz casts these spells on itself before combat.
Actions
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit (1d8 + 1)
