```metadata title: The Occultist description: >- A different take on a caster class in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, with emphasis on cantrips and rituals. tags: [] systems: - 5e renderer: V3 theme: 5ePHB ``` ```css .coverHeader { position:absolute; transform:scale(2, 2) !important; font-weight:bold; font-size:32px; color:white; width:700px; text-shadow:1px 1px 2px #000000, -1px 1px 2px #000000, 1px -1px 2px #000000, -1px -1px 2px #000000; top:75px; text-align:center; } .coverDiamond { background-image:url("https://www.gmbinder.com/assets/img/DiamondDD.png"); background-size:400px; background-repeat:no-repeat; position:absolute; left:210px; top:115px; width:400px; height:12px; } .coverSplotch{ background-image:url('https://www.gmbinder.com/assets/img/UNR8ilF.png'); background-size:350px; position:absolute; left:0; bottom:180px; width:345px; height:56px } .coverFooter { position:absolute; font-size:25px; line-height:1.1; color:white; bottom:100px; right:55px; width:700px; text-shadow:1px 1px 2px #000000, -1px 1px 2px #000000, 1px -1px 2px #000000, -1px -1px 2px #000000; filter:opacity(100%); text-align:center; } ``` {{coverHeader The Occultist}} {{coverDiamond}} {{coverSplotch}} {{coverFooter Embrace the weird ways with this homebrewed class for D&D 5th Edition!}} ![](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/040/176/299/large/tomek-pietrzyk-cultist-tomek-pietrzyk-red.jpg?1628086247){position:absolute;bottom:-570px;left:0px;width:820px} \page # The Occultist A wizened orc dances around an intricate ritual circle, chanting in a strange tongue. The circle bursts with dark power as the corpses piled within begin to stir once more. A human paces through the scene of a recent crime and holds out her hand, revealing a tattoo in her palm. The tattoo opens, and an eldritch eye within scans the area. The eye closes, and the human marches out of the room, having identified her quarry. A dwarf tosses a scrimshaw into a group of goblins and pitch darkness erupts from it, enveloping them. The air fills with sounds of screaming, tearing, and squelching, then silence. The darkness recedes, and the goblins are nowhere to be seen. Occultists are attuned to all that escapes mortal understanding. Occult magic can be neither taught nor given, as its very essence defies logic. Rather, an occultist hones their power through a ritualism they develop for themselves, reinforcing their magic with superstition. ### Esoteric Ritualists ___ Occultists are practitioners of unconvential magic. Eschewing formal studies and covenants with higher powers, an occultist follows their own instincts and superstitions, producing magical effects in a manner that can be neither explained nor replicated. Rituals are at the core of an occultist's magic: through trial and error, occultists develop a ritual for any magical effect they know, using trinkets of their own design to assist in their casting. Would any other wield these trinkets and perform these rituals in the same way, no magic would arise, but in the hands of the occultist who made them, the results are as formidable as they are unnerving. The effects produced by occult magic are diverse, and often tamper with the essence of creatures, nature, and reality itself. Occultists can empower themselves and others with a variety of boons, beguile others with illusions and enchantments, and rain down curses and calamities, which are often mistaken as the mere result of severe misfortune or natural disasters. ### Changed Forever ___ Occult magic is fundamentally unnatural, and dangerous to the body, mind, and soul. Occultists are forever changed by their pursuits, receiving a mark that reveals to any canny observer their misalignment with the natural order of things. \column ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: While occultism transcends all origins and backgrounds, occultists frequently find themselves drawn towards the weird and the disturbing even before they begin to delve into occult magic. Often, an occultist may be plagued by strange dreams, bizarre experiences they could never quite explain, or a gnawing feeling that something about the world they live in is deeply wrong. An occultist's power is often strange, even frightening to others, and many societies shun or hunt down known practitioners of the occult. Tales of evil witches and other bringers of ill omen are common, though some occultists use their rituals and spells for good. ### Creating an Occultist ___ Key to any occultist is their pull towards the occult: what drew you towards such an uncanny art? Did an event push you to learn forbidden magic, or did you always have an affinity for it? How did you discover occult magic, and what was your first experience with it like? Consider as well how the pursuit of the occult has changed you: what visible marks has it left upon your appearance? How does your occult power affect the way you think? What personal rituals and superstitions have you developed through your occult endeavors, and what led you to adopt them? {{note ##### Quick Build You can make an occultist quickly by following these suggestions. First, Wisdom should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the Haunted One background. }} {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 1 | INTRODUCTION}} \page # The Occultist {{classTable,frame,wide ##### The Occultist Table | Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Spells Known | Power Points | Maximum Spell Level |:-:|:-:|:-|:-:|:-:|:-:| | 1st | +2 | Spellcasting, Superstition | 6 | 2 | 1st | | 2nd | +2 | Occult Practice | 7 | 4 | 1st | | 3rd | +2 | Delayed Casting | 8 | 6 | 1st | | 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 9 | 8 | 1st | | 5th | +3 | Extra Cantrip (1st Level) | 10 | 10 | 2nd | | 6th | +3 | Occult Practice feature | 11 | 12 | 2nd | | 7th | +3 | Ritualist | 12 | 14 | 2nd | | 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 13 | 16 | 2nd | | 9th | +4 | Extra Cantrip (5th Level) | 14 | 18 | 3rd | | 10th | +4 | Occult Practice feature | 15 | 20 | 3rd | | 11th | +4 | Dual Concentration | 16 | 22 | 3rd | | 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 17 | 24 | 3rd | | 13th | +5 | Extra Cantrip (11th Level) | 18 | 26 | 4th | | 14th | +5 | Occult Practice feature | 19 | 28 | 4th | | 15th | +5 | Distant Casting | 20 | 30 | 4th | | 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 21 | 32 | 4th | | 17th | +6 | Extra Cantrip (17th Level) | 22 | 34 | 5th | | 18th | +6 | Occult Practice feature | 23 | 36 | 5th | | 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 24 | 38 | 5th | | 20th | +6 | Warp Reality | 25 | 40 | 5th }} ## Class Features As an occultist, you gain the following class features. #### Hit Points ___ - **Hit Dice:** 1d8 per occultist level - **Hit Points at 1st Level:** 8 + your Constitution modifier - **Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per occultist level after 1st. #### Starting Proficiencies ___ - **Armor:** All armor, shields - **Weapons:** Simple weapons - **Tools:** Choose one type of artisan's tools - **Saving Throws:** Wisdom, Charisma - **Skills:** Choose two from Arcana, Insight, Nature, Perception, Religion, and Survival #### Starting Equipment You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: - Two simple weapons - (a) a sling and 20 sling bullets or (b) two daggers - (a) a scholar's pack or (b) an explorer's pack - Hide armor and two occultist trinkets \column ### Spellcasting *1st-level occultist feature* ___ You have adopted an unorthodox, ritualistic way of casting spells. To observers, you don’t appear to be casting spells in a conventional way, and the magic appears to emanate from strange trinkets in your possession. #### Occultist Trinkets You use special Tiny items known as trinkets to aid the casting of your spells. You choose the appearance of your trinkets. Each trinket you have corresponds to an occultist spell you know of 1st level or higher, and you must use the associated trinket as a spellcasting focus when casting the spell (meaning the spell has an "M" component when you cast it). You must also use any of your occultist trinkets as a spellcasting focus for your occultist cantrips. Your occultist spells do not require any other material components to cast. When casting an occultist spell of 1st level or higher, you can draw the corresponding occultist trinket as part of the spell's casting. You can craft a new trinket over the course of 1 hour using artisan's tools you are proficient with, which can be done during a short or long rest. If this new trinket replaces an existing one, this process destroys the trinket it replaces. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 2 | CORE CLASS}} \page #### Power Points Your magical reserves are represented by a number of power points. You have a number of power points equal to twice your occultist level, and regain all expended power points when you finish a long rest. To cast an occultist spell of 1st level of higher, you must spend a number of power points equal to the spell's level. You can choose to spend any amount of additional power points when casting the spell, with each additional power point counting as if the spell was cast using a spell slot of one additional level. Spells cast in this manner cannot exceed a maximum level, as shown in the Maximum Spell Level column of the Occultist table. For example, if you wish to cast the 1st-level spell *Fog Cloud*, you must spend at least one power point. Choosing to spend an additional power point, for a total of two, will cast the spell as if using a 2nd-level spell slot. #### Spells Known You know six spells of your choice from the occultist spell list, which can be cantrips or 1st-level spells. You learn an additional occultist spell each time you gain a level in this class. This spell's level cannot exceed a maximum level, as shown in the Maximum Spell Level column of the Occultist table. When you finish a short or long rest, you can choose an occultist spell you know and replace it with another occultist spell available to you. If the new spell is of 1st level or higher, you must craft a new occultist trinket for it during the rest, which replaces the trinket corresponding to the spell your replace. #### Spellcasting Ability Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your occultist spells, as your mastery over them derives from an intuitive understanding of the magic you wield. You use your Wisdom whenever an occultist spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an occultist spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one. ___ - **Spell save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier - **Spell attack modifier** = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier #### Ritual Casting You can cast any occultist spell you know as a ritual, even if it does not have the ritual tag. Additionally, when you cast an occultist spell of 1st level or higher you know as a ritual, you can cast the spell at a higher level, up to the maximum level indicated in the Maximum Spell Level column of the Occultist table. \column ### Superstition *1st-level occultist feature* ___ You protect yourself with forces beyond your ken. You can craft an occultist trinket that causes a suit of armor you are wearing to vanish. While you wear the trinket, you gain the armor's benefits as if you were wearing it, without its Strength requirement or disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, but do not benefit from wearing any other armor. Crafting one such trinket destroys any previous trinket you have crafted with this feature, causing its corresponding armor to reappear harmlessly in the destroyed trinket's space. ### Sign of the Occult *2nd-level occultist feature* ___ You devote yourself to the pursuit of an occult source of magic. Your choice grants you features at 2nd level, and again at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level. Your choice marks you irrevocably, inflicting a visible sign of the occult upon your body. You choose the appearance and location of the sign on your body. A creature who sees your sign can use its action to make an Intelligence (Arcana) check against your spell save DC: on a success, the creature knows you are an occultist, as well as the nature of your sign. ### Delayed Casting *3rd-level occultist feature* ___ You have learned to hold your magic within your occultist trinkets. When you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 action, you can store the spell in the trinket used as part of its casting. During this time, the spell does not take effect, but is instead held as you concentrate on it. You can concentrate on this effect indefinitely, and can continue concentrating on it even if you are no longer holding the trinket. Using your action, you can cause the spell to take effect, releasing it from the occultist trinket within which it is stored. You do not need to be holding the trinket to release a spell in this manner. If the spell has a range of touch, its range becomes 5 feet. If the spell has a target, you can specify a target or give a general description for one, and the spell targets a random target in range that matches your description. If no applicable targets are in range, the spell fails. If the spell requires concentration, you must concentrate on it as normal. ### Ability Score Improvement *4th-level occultist feature* ___ When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, 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. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 2 | CORE CLASS}} \page ### Extra Cantrip *5th-level occultist feature* ___ You become able to cast simple spells simultaneously with others. You can use your bonus action to cast an occultist cantrip you know. When you do so, you cast this cantrip as if you were 1st level, increasing when you reach 9th (5th), 13th (11th), and 17th (17th) level in this class. Casting a cantrip in this manner does not prevent you from casting a spell of 1st level or higher using your action on the same turn. ### Ritualist *7th-level occultist feature* ___ You have become so proficient with the casting of rituals that you can perform them much quicker. When you cast a spell as a ritual, doing so only adds 1 minute to the spell's casting time, rather than 10 minutes. ### Dual Concentration *11th-level occultist feature* ___ Your weird ways have fragmented your mind. You can concentrate on two effects at once, instead of one. Whenever you are concentrating on two effects and would lose your concentration, such as by failing a saving throw to maintain your concentration on a spell, you lose your concentration on both effects. Whenever you are concentrating on two effects and would concentrate on a third, you can choose one of the effects you are concentrating on. You lose your concentration for the chosen effect, and continue to concentrate on the other effects as normal. ### Distant Casting *15th-level occultist feature* ___ You have stored a portion of your essence into your occultist trinkets, allowing you to cast spells through them as if they were extensions of yourself. While one of your occultist trinkets is on the same plane of existence as you, you do not need to wield the trinket to cast spells with it, and when you cast a spell with the trinket, you can cast it from the trinket instead of yourself, as if using your Delayed Casting feature. ### Warp Reality *20th-level occultist feature* ___ Your mastery of rituals allows you to alter the very foundations of the multiverse. As a 1-minute ritual and using any of your occultist trinkets as a spellcasting focus, you can cast any spell of 9th level or lower. You don’t need to meet any requirements in that spell, including costly components. The spell simply takes effect. Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 2 | CORE CLASS}} \page ## Occultist Spells {{spellList,wide ##### Cantrip - Acid Splash - Chill Touch - Control FlamesXGtE - Create BonfireXGtE - Druidcraft - Encode ThoughtsGGtR - Fire Bolt - Friends - FrostbiteXGtE - Guidance - GustXGtE - InfestationXGtE - Lightning LureTCoE - Mage Hand - Message - Mind SliverTCoE - Minor Illusion - Mold EarthXGtE - Poison Spray - Prestidigitation - Primal SavageryXGtE - Produce Flame - Ray of Frost - Resistance - Sapping StingEGtW - Shape WaterXGtE - Shocking Grasp - Sword BurstTCoE - Thaumaturgy - Thorn Whip - ThunderclapXGtE - Toll the DeadXGtE - True Strike - Vicious Mockery ##### 1st Level - Alarm - Animal Friendship - Armor of Agathys - Arms of Hadar - Bane - Burning Hands - CatapultXGtE - Cause FearXGtE - Chaos BoltXGtE - Charm Person - Color Spray - Comprehend Languages - Detect Evil and Good - Detect Magic - Detect Poison and Disease - Disguise Self - Dissonant Whispers - Distort ValueAcInc - Earth TremorXGtE/EEPC - Entangle - Faerie Fire - False Life - Find Familiar - Fog Cloud - Grease - Hex - Identify - Illusory Script - Inflict Wounds - Longstrider - Magnify GravityEGtW - Protection from Evil and Good - Ray of Sickness - Silent Image - Sleep - Speak with Animals - Tasha's Hideous Laughter - Tasha's Caustic BrewTCoE - Tenser's Floating Disk - Thunderwave - Unseen Servant - Witch Bolt ##### 2nd Level - Aganazzar's ScorcherXGtE - Alter Self - Animal Messenger - Arcane Lock - Augury - Barkskin - Beast Sense - Blindness/Deafness - Borrowed KnowledgeSCoC - Cloud of Daggers - Crown of Madness - Darkness - Darkvision - Detect Thoughts - EarthbindXGtE - Enhance Ability - Enthrall - Find Traps - Flame Blade - Flaming Sphere - Flock of Familiars - Gift of GabAcInc - Gust of Wind - Heat Metal - Hold Person - Immovable ObjectEGtW - Invisibility - Jim's Glowing CoinAcInc - Knock - Levitate - Locate Animals or Plants - Locate Object - Magic Mouth - Magic Weapon - Maximillian's Earthen GraspXGtE - Mind SpikeXGtE - Nystul's Magic Aura - Pass Without Trace - Phantasmal Force - Protection from Poison - PyrotechnicsXGtE - Ray of Enfeeblement - Rope Trick - See Invisibility - Shadow BladeXGtE - Shatter - Silence - SkywriteXGtE - Snilloc's Snowball StormXGtE - Spider Climb - Spike Growth - Suggestion - Summon BeastTCoE - Tasha's' Mind WhipTCoE - Warding Bond - Warding WindXGtE - Web - WristpocketEGtW - Zone of Truth ##### 3rd Level - Bestow Curse - Call Lightning - Catnap - Clairvoyance - Conjure Animals - Elemental Weapon - Enemies AboundXGtE - Erupting EarthXGtE/EEPC - Fast FriendsAcInc - FearXGtE - Feign Death - Fireball - Flame ArrowsXGtE - Fly - Galder's TowerLLoK - Gaseous Form - Haste - Hunger of Hadar - Hypnotic Pattern - Incite GreedAcInc - Intellect FortressTCoE - Leomund's Tiny Hut - Magic Circle - Major Image - Meld into Stone - Motivational SpeechAcInc - Nondetection - Phantom Steed - Plant Growth - Protection from Energy - Sending - Sleet Storm - Slow - Speak with Dead - Speak with Plants - Spirit Guardians - Spirit ShroudTCoE - Summon FeyTCoE - Summon Lesser DemonsTCoE - Summon ShadowspawnTCoE - Summon UndeadTCoE - Stinking Cloud - Tidal WaveXGtE - Tiny ServantXGtE - Tongues - Wall of SandXGtE - Wall of WaterXGtE - Water Breathing - Water Walk - Wind Wall }} {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 3 | SPELLS}} \page {{spellList ##### 4th Level - Arcane Eye - Aura of Purity - Blight - Charm MonsterXGtE - Compulsion - Confusion - Conjure Minor Elementals - Conjure Woodland Beings - Control Water - Dimension Door - Divination - Dominate Beast - Evard's Black Tentacles - Fabricate - Fire Shield - Freedom of Movement - Galder's Speedy CourierLLoK - Giant Insect - Greater Invisibility - Hallucinatory Terrain - Leomund's Secret Chest - Locate Creature - Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum - Otiluke's Resilient Sphere - Phantasmal Killer - Polymorph - Raulothim's Psychic LanceFToD - Shadow of MoilXGtE - Sickening RadianceXGtE - Stone Shape - Stoneskin - Storm SphereXGtE - Summon AberrationTCoE - Summon ConstructTCoE - Summon ElementalTCoE - Summon Greater DemonTCoE - Vitriolic SphereXGtE - Wall of Fire - Watery SphereXGtE ##### 5th Level - Antilife Shell - Bigby's Hand - Cloudkill - Commune - Commune with Nature - Cone of Cold - Conjure Elemental - Contact Other Plane - Contagion - Control WindsXGtE - Creation - Danse MacabreXGtE - Dominate Person - Dream - EnervationXGtE - Geas - Hold Monster - ImmolationXGtE - Infernal CallingXGtE - Insect PlagueXGtE - Legend Lore - MaelstromXGtE - Mislead - Modify Memory - Negative Energy FloodXGtE - Passwall - Planar Binding - Rary's Telepathic Bond - Scrying - Seeming - Skill EmpowermentXGtE - Synaptic StaticXGtE - Telekinesis - Teleportation Circle - Transmute RockXGtE - Tree Stride - Wall of Force - Wall of Stone }} {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 3 | SPELLS}} \page # Signs of the Occult ## Coven The Sign of the Coven marks you as one who seeks strength in numbers. Perhaps you have joined a cult, or are attempting to start one yourself. Perhaps you seek to protect another, work towards a common goal, or simply escape a crushing loneliness. Whatever your motivation, your occult magic ties your essence to that of other creatures, and wherever you may be, you are never truly alone. Signs of the Coven often reflect plurality and amalgamation: you may possess duplicates of your physical features, such as extra digits or vestigial limbs, or you may even inherit some of the characteristics of the creatures you bond with, such as their eye shape and color, horns, fangs, claws, or other cosmetic traits you would not typically possess. It is also not uncommon for occultists and their bonded creatures to exhibit each other's personality traits, as their identities inexorably merge. ### Covenant *2nd-level Coven feature* ___ You have formed a covenant with another. Choose a willing creature to bond with over a 1-hour ritual, which can be done during a short or long rest. When the ritual is complete, you and the creature are bonded until either of you die or you bond with another creature. When you cast an occultist spell, you can choose to cast it from a creature bonded in this way if it is willing. Should you be willing, your bonded creature can also cast the spell itself, using your spellcasting ability and power points, and using its own body as if it were the spell's corresponding occultist trinket. You and your bonded creature must be able to see one another to use this feature. ### Shared Suffering *6th-level Coven feature* ___ You can use your bond to have another bear injuries in your stead. If you or your bonded creature take damage, and you are both willing, the affected target can use its reaction to halve the damage taken, to a minimum of 1. When this feature is used, the other creature immediately takes the same damage. You and your bonded creature must be able to see one another to use this feature. ### Flock Together *10th-level Coven feature* ___ You and your bonded creature are never far from each other. While you and your bonded creature can see one another, either of you can spend 5 feet of movement to teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the other target. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ### Pooled Minds *14th-level Coven feature* ___ You and your bonded creature's minds become inextricably linked. While you are both willing, you and the creature can instantaneously share words, images, sounds, and other sensory messages with one another, and can perceive through each other's senses. When one of you communicates in this manner, the target recognizes the other as the creature it is communicating with. Additionally, you and your bonded creature no longer need to be able to see one another, nor even be on the same plane of existence, to use this sign's features. ### Many as One *18th-level Coven feature* ___ You can form an unlimited number of covenants. Bonding with another creature beyond the first no longer ends your previous bonds, and you can bond with any number of willing creatures at a time as part of the same ritual. You can also use your action to instantly end your bond with any number of creatures. For each creature you bond with beyond the first, your hit point maximum is reduced by 10. This effect cannot be removed by any means other than by ending your bond with a creature. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ## Craft You thirst for power over the essence of magic itself. The Sign of the Craft marks occultists who tamper directly with the weave of magic by combining their trinkets with eldritch runes: whether to help others, for personal gain, or simply for the thrill of discovery, occultists of the Craft can produce magic unlike anything seen elsewhere. Signs of the Craft will often take the shape of runes etched across an occultist's body. In some cases, growths will form on their skin in the shape of their trinkets, ready to be plucked. Occultists of this sign often have a fascination with taking things apart to see their inner workings, from objects to still-living creatures. ### The Craft *2nd-level Craft feature* ___ You have taken to altering your magic by adding runes to your trinkets. When you craft an occultist trinket, you can imbue it with one of the following runes, which alters its corresponding spell each time you use the trinket to cast it: - **Rune of Bypass.** If the spell imposes a saving throw, the saving throw's ability becomes the following (choose when you imbue this rune): Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. - **Rune of Duality.** If the spell has a range of self, you can touch a willing creature when you cast it for the creature to also be affected by the spell. If the spell has a range of touch, it also affects you when you target another creature. - **Rune of Harm.** If the spell deals damage, one of its damage types becomes one of the following (choose when you imbue this rune): acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, piercing, poison, psychic, radiant, slashing, or thunder. - **Rune of Malice.** If the spell inflicts a condition with a duration, the condition becomes one of the following (choose when you imbue this rune): blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, or poisoned. - **Rune of Shaping.** If the spell affects an area, the area becomes one of the following shapes of the same length (choose when you imbue this rune): a cone, a cube, a 5-foot wide line, or a sphere. - **Rune of Shielding.** Targets of the spell you choose gain 1d4 temporary hit points for each level of the spell. ### Sacrificial Empowerment *6th-level Craft feature* ___ You can consume your trinkets to unlock a burst of magical power. When you cast an occultist spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose to destroy the trinket as part of the spell's casting. If you do so, you cast the spell as if you used a spell slot of one additional level. This level can exceed the maximum level of your occultist spells. ### Quick Crafting *10th-level Craft feature* ___ You have created and destroyed so many trinkets that you have become able to craft them much quicker. You only need 1 minute to craft an occultist trinket, instead of 1 hour. Additionally, you can cast an occultist spell you know as a ritual even if you do not possess its corresponding trinket. If you do so, you craft the spell's trinket during its casting process. ### Runes Within Runes *14th-level Craft feature* ___ Your mastery of runes has become intricate enough for you to imbue your trinkets with several at once. When you craft an occultist trinket, you can imbue it with two runes instead of one. ### Power of Unmaking *18th-level Craft feature* ___ You can extract even greater consumptive power from your trinkets. When you use your Sacrificial Empowerment feature to destroy a trinket, you can also choose to incur one of the following effects: - **Discombobulation.** A target makes its first saving throw against the spell with disadvantage. - **Discorporation.** You or a creature who was holding or carrying the trinket (your choice) wink out of existence until the start of your next turn, teleporting to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the trinket's last location. If no such space exists, the target is shunted to the nearest unoccupied space and takes force damage equal to twice the number of feet it is moved. - **Disintegration.** The first time a target takes damage from the spell, it takes 1d6 additional force damage for each level of the spell, taking half as much damage if it made a saving throw against the spell and succeeded. A target with 0 hit points after taking damage from this effect is reduced to a pile of fine gray dust. - **Dispersion.** The spell's range and spatial dimensions are doubled. - **Disruption.** The spell ignores all damage resistances, and treats damage immunities as resistances instead. - **Distraction.** A target hit by the spell's attack or who fails its saving throw has no memory of you casting the spell or being affected by it. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ## Fair Folk An aura of oddity permeates you. The Sign of the Fair Folk marks your intrinsic connection to the Feywild, a realm of wild magic whose denizens, the fey, are as varied as they are unpredictable. Whether you encountered a fey, or sought to escape to this realm, you have developed an affinity for the Feywild that has fundamentally changed how you travel through the world around you, unlocking secret passages wherever you go that defy logic and common understanding. Occultists of the Fair Folk often manifest physical traits associated with fey, such as miniature glittering wings, uncanny beauty, or even a pleasant scent of spice. The Sign of the Fair Folk exerts both a physical and spiritual pull on such occultists, who may reason in strange logic, express a strange sense of whimsy, or never appear fully present, as they constantly experience two realms at once. ### Fey Hop *2nd-level Wilds feature* ___ You can vanish and reappear short distances in response to danger. Whenever you are targeted by an attack or subjected to a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction to teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. If this places you out of the range of the attack or the area of the effect that imposed the saving throw, you are unaffected by the effect. A willing creature that is in physical contact with you is also teleported to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of your destination. \column ### Wild Step *6th-level Wilds feature* ___ You can teleport in the blink of an eye. You can use your movement to teleport a distance equal to the movement spent to an unoccupied space you can see. A willing creature that is in physical contact with you is also teleported to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of your destination. ### Spirited Away *10th-level Wilds feature* ___ You can trap unwary creatures inside of your trinkets. As an action, you can force a creature you can see within 5 feet of you to make a Charisma saving throw. A creature can willingly fail this save, and the creature has disadvantage on the saving throw if you speak its name as part of the action. On a failed save, the creature winks out of existence for 1 minute. Choose one of your occultist trinkets. At the end of the duration, or when you cast the trinket's associated spell, the creature reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the trinket. If the spell has a range of 5 feet or more, you can instead choose to have the creature reappear in an unoccupied space within the spell's range of the trinket. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest. ### Ley Line Travel *14th-level Wilds feature* ___ You can navigate secret paths across unimaginable distances. As a 1-hour ritual, which you can perform during a short or long rest, you can teleport to a location you have seen before on the same plane of existence as you. A willing creature that is in physical contact with you is also teleported to your destination. If you are on the Prime Material Plane or the Feywild, you can teleport to the corresponding location on the other plane. Alternatively, you can teleport to one of your occultist trinkets of your choice, even if it is on another plane of existence, shortening the ritual time to 1 minute. ### Away With the Faeries *18th-level Wilds feature* ___ You can slip in and out of the Feywild at a moment's notice. While you are on the Prime Material Plane or in the Feywild, you can see, hear, and smell the other plane and its contents out to a distance of 60 feet. Additionally, by spending 5 feet of movement, you can teleport from your current location in the Prime Material Plane or Feywild to its corresponding location in the other plane, if the space is unoccupied. A willing creature that is in physical contact with you is also teleported to its own corresponding location in the other plane, if the space is unoccupied. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ## Flesh The flesh is fluid: it can be changed, reshaped, remade. That is, at least, what those marked by the Sign of Flesh believe. Living bodies and their multitudinous workings are your obsession, extracting their vital energies and altering them to your designs are your endeavor. To the uninitiated, this occult practice is often seen as one of desecration, and its results are sometimes hideous to behold. Flesh and blood are the meat of this sign's power, and the Sign of Flesh readily manifests itself as a warping of the occultist's body. Such alterations can be as mild as an unnatural coloration to the skin, or as drastic as a complete reshaping of body parts, which may take on the form of another creature's, or morph into something else entirely. Reflecting this sign's potential, its mark is ever-mutable, changing from one day to the next, even shifting and writhing under an observer's very eyes. Occultists of the Flesh will often add to this mark with self-inflicted scars and wounds as they continually experiment on their own body. Occultists of this sign tend to be fascinated by the mechanics of life, though are also often detached from the moral and emotional consequences of death. Some even believe all life to be connected in one single living mass, and struggle to tell individual creatures apart. ### Hemomancy *2nd-level Flesh feature* ___ You can extract power by consuming your own body. When you cast an occultist spell of 1st level or higher, you can roll a number of d8s up to your maximum spell level. Your hit point maximum is reduced by the total, and for each d8 rolled, you cast the spell as if you had spent one additional power point. This hit point maximum reduction ends when you finish a long rest, and you regain all lost hit points as normal. ### Meat Shield *6th-level Flesh feature* ___ You learn to repurpose the flesh you rend. When you reduce your hit point maximum with your Hemomancy feature, you gain temporary hit points equal to the reduction. ### Warp Body *10th-level Flesh feature* ___ You can remold the bodies of creatures as if they were clay. As an action, you can touch a willing creature, which can be yourself, to warp its body. Alternatively, you can make a melee spell attack against an unwilling creature, warping its body on a hit. When you warp a creature's body, choose one of the following effects: ::::::: - **Change Appearance.** The creature's appearance changes to one of your choice. This new appearance retains the same size and basic shape as the creature's original appearance, and its game statistics do not change. The creature retains this appearance until it finishes a long rest. - **Mangle.** The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or have its hit point maximum reduced until it finishes a long rest. This reduction equals your total hit point maximum reduction. - **Paralyze.** The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become paralyzed until the end of your next turn. - **Reveal.** You learn the creature's game statistics, as well as any poisons or diseases affecting it, if any. A creature targeted by this action cannot be targeted by it again until you finish a long rest. ### Weird Reconstruction *14th-level Flesh feature* ___ You can sacrifice your flesh to remake that of your allies. When a creature you can see takes damage, you can use your reaction to lose any number of your temporary hit points. The creature gains temporary hit points equal to the amount you lost. ### Perfect Replication *18th-level Flesh feature* ___ You can carve a clone of yourself out of your own flesh. As an action, you can conjure a soulless flesh duplicate under your telepathic control, which appears in an unoccupied spot within 5 feet of you. The duplicate has the same game statistics as you, and possesses duplicates of your occultist trinkets, except its hit point maximum and current hit points on creation equal your total hit point maximum reduction. Additionally, you choose the duplicate's appearance and age, though it retains the same size and basic shape as you do. The duplicate shares your initiative count, acting on your turn. The duplicate lasts for 1 minute or until it dies. While the duplicate is alive, you can use your Warp Body feature on it to take over. If you do so, the duplicate becomes your new body, your soul transfers to it, and it lasts for your normal lifespan at its age. Your old body also immediately dies when you take over your duplicate. Once you use this feature, you and your duplicate cannot use it again until you finish a long rest. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ## Inner Eye The Sign of the Inner Eye marks those who blend the art of occultism with the innate gift of psionics in the pursuit of greater awareness. Occultists of this sign augment their senses and readily extract information from others, living or dead. Some see knowledge as power, others value it for its own sake; all occultists of the Inner Eye readily inflict a heavy toll upon themselves and others to obtain it. Signs of the Inner Eye will ironically manifest quite often as eyes of some kind, whether they be eye-shaped tattoos or other markings, or one or more completely new eyes peering out from the body. An occultist's eyes may change in appearance, or may atrophy and even disappear entirely as they rely on their psionic senses instead. Information is an obsession with many occultists of this sign, who are often endlessly inquisitive and yearn to discover secrets others would much prefer to keep hidden. ### Psionic Power *2nd-level Inner Eye feature* ___ You harbor a wellspring of psionic energy within yourself. This energy is represented by your Psionic Energy die, which is a d6. This die fuels various psionic powers you have, which are detailed below. When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy die increases: at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12). While you have at least 1 power point remaining, you can use the following powers: - ***Psi-Augmented Accuracy.*** You can make certain your magical strikes find their mark. Whenever you make a spell attack, you can roll your Psionic Energy die and add the number rolled to the roll. You spend 1 power point if the roll succeeds. - ***Psychic Resilience.*** You can preempt attacks against your mind. Whenever you make an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw, you can roll your Psionic Energy die and add the number rolled to the save. You spend 1 power point if the roll succeeds. - ***Second Sight.*** You can hone your awareness. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Investigation), Wisdom (Insight), or Wisdom (Perception) check, you can roll your Psionic Energy die and add the number rolled to the check. You spend 1 power point if the roll succeeds. ### Probe Mind *6th-level Inner Eye feature* ___ You can forcibly access the memories of other creatures. As an action, you can spend 1 power point and touch a creature that has died within the last minute, learning a piece of knowedge it held in its mind while alive. This piece of knowledge is the one most important to you from all the information the creature knew in its last moments. Alternatively, you can attempt to do the same to a living creature. If you do so, make a melee spell attack against it, gaining knowledge from the creature on a hit. Once you have used this feature, you cannot use it on the same target until you finish a long rest. Using this feature on the same creature may divulge the same piece of knowledge, if nothing else the creature knows is important to you. ### Clairsentience *10th-level Inner Eye feature* ___ Your psionically-enhanced senses have extended and evolved in even greater ways. You have unlocked the following powers: - ***Presence of Mind.*** Whenever you roll for initiative, you can spend 1 power point to roll your Psionic Energy die and add the number rolled to the roll. You can use this power even if you are surprised, allowing you to act normally on your first turn. - ***Psychometry.*** As an action, you can spend 1 power point to touch an object or the corpse of a creature that has died within the last 10 days. If you touched an object, you perceive how it was used, changed, or left over the last 10 days. If you touched a corpse, you perceive the last 10 minutes the creature lived before its death, as well as what happened to it between then and the present moment. In both cases, you perceive both the target and its surroundings in a 10-foot radius, including sounds, smells, and detailed images. - ***Sight Beyond Sight.*** As a bonus action, you can spend 1 power point to gain truesight out to a range of 60 feet until the start of your next turn. ### Prying Gaze *14th-level Inner Eye feature* ___ Your trinkets have become extensions of your senses. While you and one of your occultist trinkets are on the same plane of existence, you see and hear through it as if you were in its space. ### Eyes on the Inside *18th-level Inner Eye feature* ___ Your mind's sensory apparatus has superseded that of your body. You no longer spend power points when using this sign's features, and can use its Psionic Power features even if you have no power points remaining. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ::::::::::::::::::::::: ## Madness Insanity has warped your mind. Whether you've discovered a truth about the world too great or too horrible to bear, were exposed to the Far Realm and its denizens, or always harbored a disturbed psyche, you are afflicted with madness, an ailment only worsened by your pursuit of the occult. Such an affliction marks you with the Sign of Madness, and threatens to infect the minds of those unfortunate enough to find themselves in your way. For some occultists, the Sign of Madness is simply the visible symptom of their disease, as their emaciated appearance and sunken, unfocused eyes betray their troubled mind. For others, their warped thoughts twist their body in turn, transforming their appearance into something altogether too alien or disturbing to truly comprehend. Madness in one or more forms is an essential trait among occultists of this sign, and the Indefinite Madness table on page 260 of the *Dungeon Master's Guide* lists some examples of character traits one such occultist may possess. ### Maddening Visions *2nd-level Madness feature* ___ Your magic ravages the mind. When you deal damage with an occultist spell, you can replace one of the spell's damage types with psychic. Additionally, when you score a critical hit against a creature with an occultist spell, or when a creature rolls a 1 on a saving throw imposed by one of your occultist spells, and the spell deals psychic damage, roll on the Short Term Madness table (found on page 259 of the *Dungeon Master's Guide*) to determine an effect. The target suffers the determined effect until the end of its next turn. \column ### Aspect of Madness *6th-level Madness feature* ___ Your madness yearns to spread. As a bonus action, you can release the madness within, which lasts until you choose to end the effect (no action required). When you use this bonus action and every time you start your turn while under this effect, roll on the Short Term Madness table to determine an effect. You either suffer the chosen effect until the start of your next turn or deal 2d6 psychic damage to yourself (your choice), which ignores any damage resistances or immunities you may have. A creature you choose who starts its turn within 30 feet of you and can see you must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or suffer the effect you chose on your turn. If the effect is from the Short Term Madness table, it lasts until the end of the creature's turn. ### Mind Killer *10th-level Madness feature* ___ You can twist the minds of even creatures that would not normally experience mental anguish. You ignore resistance to psychic damage, and treat immunity to psychic damage on creatures as resistance. Additionally, when you would deal psychic damage as part of your Aspect of Madness feature, you can increase the damage to 4d6. ### Warped Psyche *14th-level Madness feature* ___ You no longer experience reality as others do. You are immune to the effects of short-term and long-term madness, and no longer take psychic damage from your Aspect of Madness feature if you inflict it upon yourself. Additionally, whenever you roll on the table for short-term, long-term, or indefinite madness, you can roll twice and choose either effect. ### Traumatic Insanity *18th-level Madness feature* ___ Your madness leaves a lasting mark upon its victims. A creature suffering from a Short Term Madness effect you have inflicted upon it suffers from the effect indefinitely. At the end of each of its turns, it can make an Intelligence saving throw, ending all such effects on itself on a success. Additionally, you can use your action to force a creature you can see within 30 feet of you to make an Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, roll on the Long Term Madness or Indefinite Madness tables (your choice) to determine an effect. The target suffers from the determined effect until ridden of its madness by external means. A creature targeted by this action cannot be targeted by it again until you finish a long rest. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ## Omen Freak accidents and strokes of luck follow in your wake, for you are marked by the Sign of Omen. Occultists of this sign obsess over fate, seeking to both divine it and bend it to their will. Those in the good graces of an occultist of Omen may find themselves living a charmed life, while those who attract their ire are plagued by unlikely calamities until their dying breath. Signs of Omen take on a variety of forms: some shape themselves into symbols and icons commonly associated with destiny, while others alter an occultist's physical relation to time, making them appear much older or younger than they truly are. Superstition is common among all occultists, but among those of this sign, it is frequently all-consuming: an occultist of Omen might have a seemingly endless list of rituals and restrictions, all of which they follow without the slightest deviation lest they lose their grasp over fate. ### Hand of Fate *2nd-level Omen feature* ___ You can subtly alter the fate of those around you. When you or a creature you can see makes an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can use your reaction to increase or decrease the roll by 1 (your choice), to a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 20. This directly affects the roll, not just the result, allowing you to not only turn failure into success and success into failure, but also a hit into a critical hit. You can use this reaction after you know whether the roll succeeds or fails, but before the effects of the roll are resolved. The amount by which you alter a roll in this way increases to 2 at 10th level, and 3 at 18th level. ### Threads of Destiny *6th-level Omen feature* ___ You open yourself to visions of the future. When you finish a short or long rest, you can receive an omen about a specific course of action that you plan to take within the next 8 hours. The DM chooses from the following possible omens: - Weal, for good results - Woe, for bad results - Weal and woe, for both good and bad results - Nothing, for results that aren’t especially good or bad The omen doesn’t take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of spells or the loss or gain of a companion. \column ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ### Twist of Fate *10th-level Omen feature* ___ You can steal others' luck and make it your own. When you use the reaction from your Hand of Fate feature to alter a roll and change it to either a 1 or a 20, you regain the use of your reaction. ### Oracular Revelations *14th-level Omen feature* ___ You divine omens from even the slightest of signs. When you use your Threads of Destiny feature, you can instead ask a single question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within the next 8 hours. The DM offers a truthful reply in the form of an omen. The omen doesn’t take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of spells or the loss or gain of a companion. ### Curse of Ill Omen *18th-level Omen feature* ___ You can inflict a cursed fate upon your foes. As an action, you can choose any number of creatures you can see. A chosen creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be cursed until it dies, or until you choose to end the effect (no action required). Whenever a target cursed in this way makes an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, it suffers a penalty to the roll as if you had used your Hand of Fate feature against it. Thus, you cannot alter a target's fate further by using that feature against it. A target of this feature's effect cannot be targeted by it again until you finish a long rest. A *Remove Curse* spell cast on a cursed target ends this feature's effect. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page :::::::::::::::::::::: ## Other Side You have peered beyond the veil between life and death, and something has followed you on the way back. Death, or more specifically undeath, is the domain of the Sign of the Other Side: many an occultist of this sign has found themselves going down this path after developing an obsession with death, and averting its inevitable course. Some pursued the occult to contact a deceased loved one, even try to bring them back, while others sought the knowledge and wisdom of the dead. Others still seek the secret to immortality, believing mastery of undeath to be a means of escaping their mortal coil. An occultist of the Other Side is not quite fully alive, and this partial death is how their sign typically manifests: their skin might be stretched too thin across their bones, their eyes dull and lifeless, their body unnaturally frail. As an occultist of this sign consorts with undead spirits, their physical form may partially discorporate, becoming transparent and ethereal. An occultist of the Other Side often finds themselves preferring the company of the dead, as they dissociate ever further from the living. ### Undead Horde *2nd-level Other Side feature* ___ You have become a channel for spirits beyond the realm of the living. As a bonus action, you can surround yourself with a horde of undead spirits, gaining the following benefits: - If you are Medium or smaller, your size increases to Large. Your own dimensions do not increase, but the spirits surrounding you occupy the space instead. - You gain temporary hit points equal to five times your occultist level. - Your creature type becomes Undead. - You can occupy the space of other creatures and vice versa. Your space counts as difficult terrain for creatures you choose. You can use a bonus action to disperse the horde, ending this feature's effects. When you call upon the horde again, you instead gain the same number of temporary hit points you had when you dispersed it. These temporary hit points reset when you finish a long rest. If you lose the temporary hit points you gain from this feature, you cannot call upon the horde again until you finish a long rest. ### Anguished Wails *6th-level Other Side feature* ___ Your summoned spirits cry out at your foes. While your undead horde is out, creatures you choose within your space have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than yourself. ### Wall of Death *10th-level Other Side feature* ___ Undead spirits cling to you, forming an innumerable mass when summoned. When you call upon your undead horde, you can increase your size to Huge, and can change your size between Large and Huge as a bonus action, if you weren't already Huge or larger. Additionally, while your undead horde is out, creatures you choose have total cover when gaining cover from you. ### Ghostly Passage *14th-level Other Side feature* ___ You partially detach yourself from your plane of existence as you summon your undead spirits. While your undead horde is out, you can see through solid objects to a range of 30 feet. Additionally, you can use your action to gain a flight speed equal to your walking speed until the end of your turn. While you have this flight speed, you can move through solid objects. If you end your turn while occupying the same spot as a solid object, you are shunted to the nearest space that you can occupy and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet you are moved. ### Undead Legion *18th-level Other Side feature* ___ You have amassed an army of undead, allowing you to arrest the natural passing of souls around you. When you call upon your undead horde, you can increase your size to Gargantuan, and can change your size to Gargantuan as a bonus action. Additionally, whenever a creature you choose within your space drops to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to have it drop to 1 hit point instead. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ## Plague The Sign of Plague embodies entropy in all living things. While decay is a part of all life, occultists of this sign seek to control this force, spreading and accelerating it beyond its natural course. Some direct their crafted plagues towards specific foes, while others allow them to wreak havoc indiscriminately, afflicting entire villages or towns. The mere touch of an occultist of Plague can inflict crippling ailments, and their influence can linger far beyond their passing. For any occultist of Plague, their supernatural diseases manifest on them first and foremost. Depending on the plague's focus, an occultist of this sign may display foul-smelling open sores, pustulent boils, violent tremors, or any combination of these symptoms and more. These ailments affect the mind as well as the body, and many occultists of the Plague gravitate towards the sick and the filthy, revelling in decay and relishing the inescapable end of all things. ### Nascent Plague *2nd-level Plague feature* ___ You can infect others with plague. As an action, you can touch a creature or object and infect it with your plague. An unwilling creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC to avoid being infected. Choose an ability. A creature infected by your plague has disadvantage on ability checks using the chosen ability. A creature you choose that touches an infected target is also infected by your plague, unless it chooses to make a Constitution saving throw and succeeds. An infected creature makes a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC whenever it finishes a long rest. On a success, the plague ends on it. An infected object remains infected for 7 days. A *Lesser Restoration* spell also ends your plague on a target. As an action, you can change the ability your plague affects, which alters it on all infected targets as well. As an action, you can end your plague on any targets you choose that are on the same plane of existence as you. ### Outbreak *6th-level Plague feature* ___ You can spread your plague with greater ease. As an action, creatures you choose that aren't infected by your plague within 30 feet of an infected target you can see must succeed on a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature is infected by your plague. Additionally, your disease grows more harmful. Creatures infected by your plague can't regain hit points. \column ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ### Malignancy *10th-level Plague feature* ___ Your plague grows even more virulent. Creatures infected by your plague also have disadvantage on saving throws using the chosen ability for your plague. ### Debilitate *14th-level Plague feature* ___ Victims of your plague are wracked with crippling pain. As a reaction when a creature infected by your plague that you can see makes an attack roll, you can have the creature make a saving throw against your spell save DC. The saving throw's ability is your plague's chosen ability. On a failed save, the creature is stunned until the start of its next turn. ### Septic Shock *18th-level Plague feature* ___ You can induce a state of life-threatening shock in your plague victims. As a bonus action, you can choose a creature you can see that is infected by your plague. The chosen creature becomes vulnerable to all damage, and makes a saving throw against your spell save DC at the end of each of its turns. The saving throw's ability is your plague's chosen ability. On a successful save, this feature's effects end on the creature. Once you have used this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page ::::::::::::::::::::::: ## Strife You have chosen violence. The Sign of Strife befalls occultists who have become obsessed with battle, whether to avenge the wrongs of the world, strike down those who stand in their way, or slake a powerful lust for killing. No matter the reason, such a sign often bears ill tidings, for wherever an occultist of Strife goes, bloodshed is soon to follow. Signs of Strife tend to give away an occultist's penchant for brutality: an occultist's teeth and nails may morph into fangs and claws, their blood vessels may dilate so much as to visibly cover their skin and eyes, and they may even weep, sweat, and spit blood. Their bones may grow weapon- and armor-like protrusions such as spikes, blades, and plates, and they may develop scars and other markings bearing the likeness of weapons. Occultists of this sign often exhibit an unnatural tendency towards violence, favoring combat over other alternatives, relishing the prospect of a fight, and even letting out bestial whoops and growls in battle. ### Implements of Strife *2nd-level Strife feature* ___ You have augmented your affinity for violence. You can use Wisdom in place of the original ability for the attack and damage rolls of your weapon attacks. Additionally, when you would learn or replace an occultist spell, you can choose from the Strife spell list below. These spells count as occultist spells for you. ### Bloodlust *6th-level Strife feature* ___ Carnage invigorates you. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you are empowered until the start of your next turn. While empowered, you can use your reaction when you make a saving throw or are targeted by an attack to make the saving throw with advantage, or impose disadvantage on the attack roll. ### Juggernaut *10th-level Strife feature* ___ You are practically unstoppable in the midst of battle. While empowered by your Bloodlust feature, your speed cannot be reduced unless it would become 0, and moving 1 foot in any way you can move always costs you 1 foot of movement regardless of circumstances. Additionally, you are immune to being charmed or frightened while empowered. ### Dark Aegis *14th-level Strife feature* ___ Uncanny forces preserve you as you fight. When you use your Bloodlust feature as a reaction when you make a saving throw, you automatically succeed on the save, and when you use it as a reaction against an attack, the attack automatically misses. ### Eternal Strife *18th-level Strife feature* ___ In the throes of combat, you can shrug off even death. While empowered by your Bloodlust feature, if you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. If you do so, you immediately cease to be empowered. ## Strife Spells Many of the following spells are derived from a compendium of homebrewed spells, [*A Medley of Martial Magic*](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/1IrE7tc7tSHHmWEbh84dZ9naz_Sz_Mj5gWkzHfQhbzUtV), and are denoted by an asterisk*. {{spellList ##### Cantrip - Blazing Strike* - Chilling Strike* - Corroding Strike* - Decaying Strike* - Invigorating Strike* - Keen Strike* - Maddening Strike* - Scattering Strike* - Shifting Strike* - Shocking Strike* - Sickening Strike* ##### 1st Level - Bind Spell* - Blasting Smite* - Curse of Abduction* - Curse of Emptiness* - Curse of Erosion* - Curse of Exposure* - Curse of Frailty* - Curse of Harrowing* - Curse of Kindling* - Curse of Revelation* - Curse of Rime* - Curse of Silence* - Curse of Static* - Cursed Smite* - Dissolving Smite* - Empower* - Fearsome Smite* - Freezing Smite* - Grasping Smite* - Incendiary Smite* - Poisonous Smite* - Surging Smite* - Tethering Smite* - Warding Smite* - Zephyr StrikeXGtE }} {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 4 | SIGNS}} \page # Magic Items Occultists of all signs may come into the possession of magic items. Much like occultists themselves, occultist magic items are unnaturally powerful, and their use comes at a price. It is not uncommon for an occultist magic item to bear a curse endangering the wielder's mind, their body, or their very soul. In the pursuit of the occult, power corrupts, and the more powerful the occultist item, the more terrible the curse. #### Exposed Brain *Item, uncommon (requires attunement by an occultist)* ___ This item takes the shape of a Tiny, miniature humanoid brain, and is soft and warm to the touch. While you are wearing this item, you can use your reaction whenever you would lose your concentration on an occultist spell to take 1d6 psychic damage and maintain concentration on the spell. : **Curse.** While you are attuned to this cursed brain, you have disadvantage on Intelligence saving throws. #### Gris-Gris *Item, uncommon (+1), rare (+2), very rare (+3) (requires attunement by an occultist)* ___ This etched trinket bears markings unintelligible to anyone but an occultist, and reshapes itself to match the mark of one who attunes to it. This item counts as an occultist trinket for you, and while you are holding it, you gain a bonus to spell attack rolls and to the saving throw DCs of your occultist spells. The bonus is determined by the trinket's rarity. This trinket does not correspond to any occultist spell in particular. Instead, you can use it to cast any occultist spell you know. : **Tempt Fate.** When you cast a spell while holding this trinket, you can use it to cast an occultist spell of a level you can cast that you do not know. Once this property is used, it can't be used again. : **Curse.** While you are attuned to this cursed trinket, you are plagued by streaks of bad luck as you call upon its power. Whenever you make an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw, do not have advantage on the roll, and have used this item's Tempt Fate property, the DM can impose disadvantage on your roll. If they do so, you then regain the use of this trinket's Tempt Fate property. \column #### Heirloom Rags *Item, legendary (requires attunement by an occultist)* ___ These rags once belonged to an occultist, whose sign and personality have imprinted on them. An occultist can discern both by observing the rags, and each such set of rags is associated with a Sign of the Occult, as described in the occultist's class features. While you are wearing these rags, you have the Sign of the Occult features of these rags' sign, in addition to your own. You benefit only from the features of that sign whose occultist level requirements you satisfy. : **Curse.** While you are attuned to these cursed rags, you cannot take them off by any means other than by ending your attunement to them. If you die while wearing these rags, your body turns to ash, and your soul becomes trapped in the rags, whose sign changes to yours. Nothing short of a *Wish* spell can free your soul from these rags, and once your soul is freed, the rags turn to ash. Wearing these rags for an extended period of time may cause their sign and imprinted occultist personality to infect yours, in a manner determined by both you and the DM. #### Muted Tongue *Item, uncommon (requires attunement by an occultist)* ___ When you attune to this tongue, it replaces your own tongue if you have one, which disappears. Your tongue reappears if your attunement to this item ends. The tongue allows you to cast occultist spells without requiring a verbal component. : **Curse.** While you are attuned to this cursed tongue, you cannot speak. #### Witch Bottle *Item, rare (requires attunement by an occultist)* ___ While you are holding this item, you gain a preternatural ability to retaliate against threats. Whenever a creature targets you with an attack, you can use your reaction to cast an occultist cantrip you know. The cantrip must deal damage, and the attacker must be within its range. If the cantrip has a target, it targets the attacker. : **Curse.** While you are attuned to this cursed bottle, your hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to your level. This hit point maximum reduction cannot be ended by any means other than by ending your attunement to this item. {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 5 | MAGIC ITEMS}} \page # Acknowledgments ## Art This brew uses art assets created by a variety of talented artists. Gratitude and due credit go towards the following artists for their work, with indications on where their assets have been used. {{note #### Art Credits - [Background](https://imgur.com/a/SKmRN) [page](https://imgur.com/a/TW79K) [stains](https://imgur.com/a/OZt2m) by [Aeron Drake](https://www.reddit.com/user/AeronDrake/), [QalarValar](https://www.reddit.com/user/qalarvalar/), and [flamableconcrete](https://www.reddit.com/user/flamableconcrete) - [*Cultist*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aYnPrq), by [Tomek Pietrzyk](https://www.artstation.com/tomekpietrzyk) (Cover) - [*The Occultist*](https://www.deviantart.com/skorpiusdeviant/art/The-Occultist-556951839), by [skorpiusdeviant](https://www.deviantart.com/skorpiusdeviant) (Page 2) - [*Rasputin*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nELJ36), by [Stijn Windig](https://stijnwindig.com/) (Page 5) - [*Machina Arcana - Spawn of Azathoth*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/B1248A), by [Jakub Bazyluk](https://www.artstation.com/mrjb) (Page 7) - [*The Cult*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qJlDz), by [Anthony Chong Jones](https://www.artstation.com/robotpencil) (Page 8) - [*Away with your Fairies*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Wm5dYQ), by [Sofiia Bondareva](https://www.artstation.com/fantazyme) (Page 10) - [*swirl*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Z5Ewv0), by [Eddie "Esiv" Schillo](https://www.artstation.com/floatingworld) (Page 13) - [*Trapped!*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zDOD0d), by [Raymond Sebastien](https://raymondsebastien.com/) (Page 14) - [*Necromancer*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/wokLw), by [Daniel Zrom](https://www.artstation.com/danielzrom) (Page 15) - [*Nurgle Cultist*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZOanX), by [David Auden Nash](https://davidnashart.com/) (Page 16) - [*Lord of the Rings: A Land of Shadow*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xwlaY), by [Lukasz Jaskolski](https://www.artstation.com/fadingray) (Page 17) - [*The Ancient World*](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6akKw6), by [Alexander Sköld](https://alexanderskold.com/) (Page 19) }} : ## Resources This brew was created using resources and guides written by dedicated individuals. Without their contributions, this brew would not have been possible, and would not have been nearly as much of a joy to write. {{note #### Resource Credits - [The Homebrewery](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/), by [Scott Tolksdorf](https://www.stolksdorf.dev/) - [Formatting](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/HJWLQsTwUZ) [Guides](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/B1Hju_QaTx) for The Homebrewery, by [Aeron Drake](https://www.reddit.com/user/AeronDrake/) - [*Full Page Watercolor Stains*](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SkKsdJmKf), by [flamableconcrete](https://www.reddit.com/user/flamableconcrete) - [*GM Binder Styling Reference*](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-L0WUSjJyFHG7PDyIFta), by [Rhaenon](https://www.gmbinder.com/profile/Rhaenon) - [*Watercoloring in Homebrewery*](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/HyWImuH06x), by [QalarValar](https://www.reddit.com/user/qalarvalar/) - And, of course, [*Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition*](https://dnd.wizards.com/), by [Wizards of the Coast](https://company.wizards.com/) }} \column ## Using This Brew This is a homebrew intended to be read and used freely by all. If you were to use any part of this in your games, I would be honored. I am always looking to improve my work, and would love to hear your feedback and suggestions. You can find me on Reddit as [/u/Teridax68](https://www.reddit.com/user/Teridax68), and on Discord as 2B#7614. I hope this was, at the very least, a fun read. Thank you for taking the time to read through this brew, and best of success and enjoyment with your own creations! {{pageNumber,auto}} {{footnote PART 6 | ACKNOWLEDGMENTS}}