Vessel of Souls (Warlock Patron) VoS
While Fey, Fiends and Otherworldly minds can reach out and grant the Warlock great powers, the spirits of the dead also can grant those who they possess powers.
The Vessel of Souls allows (or is open to) dead spirits possessing their bodies, granting them abilities. By opening their body to these spirits for their knowledge and power.
This is optional Warlock Patron that pulls a few powers from The Fiend and The Great Old One along with adding some more Spirit/Shaman feel to it.
Expanded Spell List (VoS)
The Vessel of Souls adds the following to expand your list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. You can choose to learn one of the following at the appropriate levels.
Bonus choice of spells
| Level | Spell Name |
|---|---|
| 1st | Healing Word, Dissonant Whispers |
| 2nd | Enhance Ability, Spiritual Weapon |
| 3rd | Bestow Curse, Speak With Dead |
| 4th | Confusion, Divination |
| 5th | Legend Lore, Raise Dead |
Vessel of Souls Patron Features
Spirit Mind
Starting at 1st level, you can see dead spirits. These spirits sense that you are open to possession and enter you granting abilities. This takes a toll on the minor spirits which often have to move on after such a possession, but the more powerful spirits may linger about. Thus after each long rest you could be possessed by new or different spirits.
A Vessel of Souls can hold 1 spirit per warlock level, thus a 10th level Vessel of Souls can have up to 10 spirits trying to possess him or her. These spirits may also influence the warlocks attitude/alignment. During each long rest new spirits will inhabit a Vessel of Souls up to the maximum it can contain.
Also at 1st level, your spirits grant you the knowledge and ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can communicate telepathically with any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
Simlar to "Awakened Mind" of The Great Old One Patron (Awarded at 1st level).
- (Note: Seeing spirits is not the same as seeing ghosts - open to GM)
Spirit Life Force
When a creature dies its life force leaves the VoS body, while a Vessel of Souls can temporarily leach some of this life force.
Starting at 6th level, when you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your warlock level (minimum of 1).
Similar to "Dark One's Blessing" of The Fiend Patron (Normally awarded at 1st level).
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VoS Patron Features (con't)
Spirit Shield
The spirits possessing the warlock have a life force of their own which the Vessel of Souls can tap into for protection.
Starting at 10th leveI, you can choose one damage type when you finish a short or long rest. You gain resistance to that damage type until you choose a different one with this feature.
Damage from magical weapons or silver weapons ignores this resistance.
Similar to "Fiendish Reslience" of The Fiend Patron (Awarded at 10th level).
Echoed Words
When a Vessel of Souls reaches 14th level, they can choose to use an action (once per short rest) to drain the life force of any(or all) the spirits currently possessing them, restoring a number of hit points.
A total maximum of hit points equal to 5x the number of spirits possessing the warlock (1 per warlock level) to any willing creatures within 60 feet of the Warlock.
The healing amount can be distributed to any number of targets and split as the Vessel of Souls wishes. This can be usedwhile the Vessel of Souls still has spirits to power this ability and once per short rest.
Any spirit which is drained in this way has it's vitality (the force which keeps it bound to the material plane) consumed and the spirit leaves the Vessel of Souls body and the prime material plane. Only after a long rest are any missing souls replenished when a new spirit(s) enters their body. Any partially drained spirits seem to restore lost vitality.
Note: If the Vessel of Souls drains ALL spirits from their body in this manner, then all other VoS features will cease to function until after their next long rest.
Similar to "Lay on Hands " of Paladin (Normally awarded at 1st level).
Appendix
GMing Tips
A Vessel of Souls is a great tool that a GM can take advantage of. Who knows what knowledge a spirit has, thus a GM can easily introduce a spirit to help the party along during an adventure. Or even start a new adventure/arc with new knowledge.
For example: a dead Dwarf King was poisoned by his brother, whom was never suspected. The King's spirit could inhabit the VoS body, giving them knowledge of this and how to prove it?
A simple Spirit generator script allows one to create simple spirits.
I would suggest using spirits of different power levels (Minor, Moderate, Dominate), where the higher power the more powerful influence the spirit has on the character.
GM's should fee free to create Dominate spirits which will be more likely to influence characters.
Sample Spirit
Stansfield
Human Mercer - Minor Spirit
Sex: Male
Trait: I lie about almost everything, even when there's no good reason to.
Idea: No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic)
Death: Was exploring a cave when crushed by a rockslide
The above spirit may cause the Vessel of Souls to have a minor fear of caves, or act a bit more chaotic than normally. Where as if the above spirit was a Dominate spirit, it may give the character a disadvantage while in a cave. Possiblities are endless
Random Spirit Generation
Race Table (2d6)
| 2d6 | Race |
|---|---|
| 2 | Halfling |
| 3 | Dwarf |
| 4 | Elven |
| 5 | Half-Orc |
| 6 | Half-Elf |
| 7-11 | Human |
| 12 | Gnome |
Class Table (2d8)
| 2d8 | Class |
|---|---|
| 2 | Druid |
| 3 | Cleric |
| 4 | Bard |
| 5 | Barbarian |
| 6 | Adept(NPC Class) |
| 7 | Aristocrat(NPC Class) |
| 8 | Commoner(NPC Class) |
| 9 | Expert(NPC Class) |
| 10 | Warrior(NPC Class) |
| 11 | Fighter |
| 12 | Rogue |
| 13 | Ranger |
| 14 | Sorcerer |
| 15 | Paladin |
| 16 | Wizard |
Power Level Table (2d4)
| 2d4 | Power Level |
|---|---|
| 2-5 | Minor |
| 6-7 | Moderate |
| 8 | Dominate |
Crediting
Created by Vlos, marked up on Homebrewery (A Great site) Balance Input by: JNAProductions.
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