### Warlock: The Vermin
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*They are everywhere. They hide within every city, village, town, nook, and cranny. They skitter about in the shadows were none can see them until it is too late. On their own they are weak, but when they swarm together they are unstoppable. They have caused countless events, such as the major pestilences and famines, that have shaken the world of men to its core. They are the rodents, the bats, the birds, the snakes, and the insects. Through some experiment or magical ritual gone wrong, you have essentially formed a pact with these creatures. Now the hordes of vermin are at your beck and call, and your foes shall find themselves overwhelmed by the rushing tide of your little soldiers.*
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#### Expanded Spell List
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The Vermin lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
##### Vermin Expanded Spells
| Spell Level| Spells |
|:----:|:-------------|
| 1st | Beast Bond, Wild Cunning (with your vermin taking the place of the nature spirits) |
| 2nd | Animal Messenger, Pass Without Trace |
| 3rd | Conjure Barrage, Nondetection |
| 4th | Dominate Beast, Giant Insect |
| 5th | Contagion, Insect Plague |
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#### Pest Control
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Starting at 1st level, you are able to exert control over your vermin and can mobilize a swarm of them to aid you in combat. As an action, you can call forth a vermin horde that manifests in an unoccupied space that you can see within 30 feet of you. The statistics for this vermin horde are detailed at the end of this document. The horde obeys your commands as best as it can. In combat, the horde shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. The horde can move and use its reaction on its own. You can use your bonus action to telepathically command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, or Help action. If you don’t issue a command, the horde takes the Dodge action. The vermin horde disappears after a number of hours equal to half your total class level or when it is reduced to 0 hit points.
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You can also use your bonus action to divide the vermin horde into two separate hordes. These two hordes continue to use the vermin horde stat block, but with the following changes made to it:
- They are one size category smaller.
- The damage die for their attacks are reduced from a d6 to a d4.
- Their current hit point total is halved.
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The two hordes take their turns at the same time, and you can issue separate commands to them with your bonus action. You can rejoin the two hordes back into one by using another bonus action. Any damage that either horde has taken is transferred over when they recombine. Once you use your bonus action to divide your Vermin Horde, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
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#### Vigilant Varmint
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Also at 1st level, your vermin horde watches out for you and will come to your defense when you are under attack. When a hostile creature targets you with a melee or ranged attack while you are within 5 feet of your vermin horde, you can use your reaction to have your horde shield you and become the new target of the creature's attack. The creature's attack automatically hits against your horde and it takes the full damage of the attack. If your horde is reduced to 0 hit points as a result of defending you, any remaining damage from the attack is dealt to you. You can use your reaction in this way three times per long rest.
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#### Rushing Horde
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At 6th level, your vermin are able to use their combined strength in order to stampede over any obstacle or person in their way. Whenever your horde moves more than 5 feet through a space occupied by another creature, that creature must make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is overwhelmed by your vermin and is knocked prone.
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#### Vermin Onslaught
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At 10th level, you are able to command your vermin horde to commence a brutal assualt upon a particular creature. When your vermin horde is within 5 feet or occupying the same space as another creature that is the same size category as it or smaller, you can use your bonus action to order your vermin to swarm that creature. The creature must then make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is restrained as your vermin horde begins to crawl all over and cling to them. While restrained in this way, the creature suffers from the following effects:
- When the vermin horde uses any of its movement speeds, the restrained creature is forcibly moved with it.
- Any damage dealt to the vermin horde is also dealt to the restrained creature.
- At the beginning of each of its turns, the restrained creature takes piercing damage equal to your Charisma modifier, as your horde bites into its flesh.
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The creature can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, breaking free from the horde on a successful save. Once you use your bonus action to command your horde in this way, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.
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#### Swarm of the Century
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Starting at 14th level, you vermin horde grows to become an unstoppable and destructive force. Your vermin horde's size increases to Large, all of its movement speeds are increased by 30 feet, and its attacks now deal double damage to buildings and structures.
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In addition, when you use your bonus action to divide your horde, you can now choose to split it into three separate hordes instead of two. All of the rules regarding having two hordes also apply to having three hordes, with one minor change. When you split your horde into three, each horde only has one-third of their current hit point total.
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> ## Vermin Horde
>*Medium swarm of tiny beasts, unaligned*
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> - **Armor Class** 9 + your Proficiency modifier
> - **Hit Points** 6 x your Warlock level + your Constitution modifier
> - **Speed** 30ft., climb or fly (your choice) 30 ft.
> ___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|9 (-1)|18 (+4)|16 (+3)|2 (-4)|10 (+0)|3 (-4)|
> ___
> - **Damage Resistances** Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
> - **Condition Immunities** Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned
> - **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
> - **Languages** understands languages you speak
> ___
> ***Keen Senses.*** The horde has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks.
>
> ***Shared Perception.*** You can choose to see through the horde’s eyes and hear what it hears, and continue to do so until you choose to return to your normal senses.
>
> ***Swarm.*** The horde can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the horde can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny creature. The horde can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
> ### Actions
> ***Bites (horde has more than half HP).*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 0ft., one target in the horde's space. *Hit* 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.
>
> ***Bites (horde has half HP or less).*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 0ft., one target in the horde's space. *Hit* 8 (1d6 + 4) slashing damage.
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**Image Sources:**
- Felix Miall (Heart: The City Beneath)
- Sovereign Press (Dragonlance: Holy Order of the Stars)