Alienist (5e Subclass)

Alienist

Wizard Subclass

The alienists deal with powers and entities from terrifyingly remote reaches of space and time. Best described with adjectives like "eldritch", "unfathomable", or "unspeakable", the entities from the most distant realms are channeled into the Material Plane, manifesting as bane to all mortal sentience and blessings to those who are willing to risk a fragment of sanity in return of immense power it grants.

In most societies, alienists are treated just like the entities they deal with - blasphemous, dangerous, insane, and most of all, different. Most alienists take such hostility and apathy as ignorance of mortal beings, not knowing how insignificant they are compared to the world they know. Some alienists suffer from their inner dilemma, and very few even seek to protect their beloved world and realms against the alien terror with the very same power they "stole" from the farthest corner of the world.

Aberrant Inclination

When you choose this tradition at 2nd level, whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with aberrations, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.

Additionally, you can speak Deep Speech. Although it is very uncommon to see Deep Speech in written forms, you can read and write Deep Speech written in any scripts you can read or write.

Pseudonatural Companion

Also starting at 2nd level, you can perform an eldritch ritual to bring forth entities from otherworldly planes and bind its essesce into a beast that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rate of 1/4 or lower. The ritual takes 8 hours, and you must expend 250 gp worth of rare herbs and incenses in order to perform the ritual. The beast in which you bind the otherworldly essence must be present during the ritual, and must stay alive for the entirety of the ritual.

At the end of the 8 hours, the beast undergoes a horrifying transformation and becomes your pseudonatural companion. Your pseudonatural familiar gains all the benefits of the Pseudonatural Quirks feature, as described below. You can have only one pseudonatural familiar at a time. If your pseudonatural is ever slain, you can perform another ritual by following the same ritual above.

Additionally, when you cast the find familiar spell, your familiar can be an aberration in addition to other creature types presented in the spell's decription.

Pseudonatural Quirks

Your pseudonatural companion is magically linked to you, and gains a variety of benefits from your link and the otherworldly essences imbued to it.

The pseudonatural companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one.

Your pseudonatural is an aberration instead of a beast. It understands Deep Speech, and it can telepathically speak to any creature it can see within 30 feet of it. It does not need to share a language with the creature for it to understand its telepathic speech, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

The pseudonatural companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own.

Your pseudonatural companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part of your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, your companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls.

For every two levels you gain after 2nd, your pseudonatural companion gains an additional Hit Die and increases its hit points accordingly.

When you reach 6th level, and again at 14th level, your companions ability scores improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion cannot increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise.

Your companion's alignment is any chaotic alignment of your choice. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, "My summoner granted this vessel of flesh and bone for me, and is willing to interact with me sincerely for a mortal being. I am more than willing to risk any threats for my summoner."

When you cast a spell with a range of touch, your companion can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your companion must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll.

Blessings from Insanity

Starting at 6th level, when you make a Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma checks or saving throw, you can choose to gain advantage on the die roll. Each time you use this feature before you finish a long rest, you gain a culminative -1 penalty to all Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma checks and saving throws. When you finish a long rest, the penalty resets to 0.

Unfathomable Mentality

At 10th level, you and your pseudonatural companion develop mental oddities. Your companion has immunity against psychic damage, and it is immune to being charmed or frightened.

Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

Timeless Body

When you reach 14th level, your association with alien entities greatly renders your physiological activities different from what it should be. You suffer none of the frailty of old age, you cannot be aged magically, and you no longer need food or water to survive. However, you can still die of old age.

Additionally, you can use your action to expend one spell slot to channel your magical power to your pseudonatural companion, if it is within 100 feet of you. Your pseudonatural companion gains 1d6 hit points per level of spell slots you expended. If you expend a spell slot of 6th level or higher, it also gains the benefit of the greater restoration spell, as if you had cast it on your companion.

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