Sorcerous Origin - Soul Eater
While many Sorcerous origins find themselves in bloodlines, a generational inheritance, this is not the case for Soul Eaters. These are individuals cursed by having their own souls hollowed out, filled with a void that hungers to be filled by the souls of others. Often these curses are the result of malevolent forces - demons, liches and others who wish to cause terror among a populace, but sometimes the curse might be a twist of fate, a whim of reality.
Those who embrace their curse are destined to wreak havoc on the world. Those who fight against its powers might go mad or retreat into a life of seclusion. And those who walk the tightrope of making use of it without giving into the curse more than often inevitably fall one too many times from the path.
A Soul Eater sorcerer drains life from those around them, using it to empower themselves or even to raise unholy creatures as servants. Their hollowed soul may have a physical manifestation, for which you can choose or roll on the table below. Regardless of which manifestation you choose (if any), normal food and drink no longer tastes of anything to you. While you still require it for nutrition, it is entirely tasteless.
Manifestation
| d6 | Manifestation |
|---|---|
| 1 | You take on a gaunt appearance as if half-starved. Your cheeks are sunken, your arms bony, your belly concave. |
| 2 | You never smell of anything. Instead, you carry the absence of scent, which in many ways is more offputting. |
| 3 | Your eyes turn entirely black. While this doesn't affect sight, it's a clear indicator that something isn't right with you. |
| 4 | Your skin is perpetually cold to the touch, as if you were dead. |
| 5 | You give off a faint aura of death that those especially attuned to magic can detect, either naturally or with the spell Detect Magic. |
| 6 | When you walk bare foot through small plants such as grass or flowers, they die. |
Soul Drain
Once the Soul Eater manifests inside your soul at 1st level, your very touch drains life from those around you. Once per turn when you hit with an unarmed strike or touch a creature other than yourself as part of casting a spell, you deal 1d4 necrotic damage to the target. This damage increases as you gain levels in this class, to 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 9th level, 1d10 at 13th level, 1d12 at 17th level, and 2d12 at 20th level.
If a spell involves an attack roll (such as Scorching Ray) you also learn how to deliver that as part of a melee spell attack - as a touch - allowing you to make use of your Soul Drain, so long as the other requirements for the spell are met.
In addition, your touch becomes painful when you make physical contact with another.
Soul Eater Spells
Starting at 1st level, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Soul Eater Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.
Soul Eater Spells
| Sorcerer Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | False Life, Ray of Sickness |
| 3rd | Blindness/Deafness, Ray of Enfeeblement |
| 5th | Summon Undead, Vampiric Touch |
| 7th | Death Ward, Shadow of Moil |
| 9th | Antilife Shell, Contagion |
Soul Siphon
At 6th level the power of your soul eater grows. When you use your Soul Drain on a creature, you create a draining tether to their soul which lasts for 1 minute. You can only have one tether active at a time - using Soul Drain on a new creature ends the previous tether and creates a new one. If a creature dies while under the effect of your tether, you siphon off part of their power. You gain a +2 to bonus to the highest ability score of the deceased creature. This bonus can cause your scores to exceed 20, but does not stack with itself for the same ability score. These bonuses last until the end of your next long rest.
Soul Slave
Your soul tether grows stronger. When a creature you are tethered to dies you can choose to consume the creature's soul and animate the remnants as a Wight under your command. The Wight follows your verbal instructions which require no action, and acts on its own initiative. If you do not instruct it, it does its best to defend you against attacks.
You can only control one Wight with this feature at a time. If you choose to raise an additional Wight, the previously raised Wight breaks free and acts of its own volition. While under your command, the Wight is unable to raise zombies with its Life Drain ability.
At 18th level, you can control two Wights at once.
Soul Form
At 18th level the tether you create with Energy Drain grows stronger still. Once per long rest when a creature you are tethered to dies, you can choose to absorb not just their soul but their pure essence, allowing you to Shapechange (as the spell) into that creature for 1 hour. When used in this way, the Shapechange does not require Concentration.