Death's Incarnate (5e Class)
Death's Incarnate
Dances, laughs and cheers go all around town square. People smile and drink, everyone is having a good time. No one seems to acknowledge presence of elf, walking between people, swaying in such a way none notice her existence. Unnoticed by anyone she strikes back of a bailif's head, killing him instantly, and walk behind a lamp, not emerging from the other side.
Druids gather in forest, deciding to hit nearby city with death and disease. Humans from that kingdom fought in forest, destroying huge landmasses in their battle, so elders of the woods figured it is high time to teach them to stay away from the forest. One of druids drops his hood, showing his deathly visage, silecing heartbeats of everyone present.
Two days after the massacre under yellow plains, orc chieftan leads his army to old stone bridge, only one leading to island of Rul, populated by halflings. When approaching the bridge's entrance, he and all his men hear a song in old, forgotten language. Walking towards them is tatooed man, his body dressed only in metal chains, wrapping around him. With axe in his hand, and metal skull for his face, he faces off an army of orcs invading his home, now chilled to the bone - sensation they haven't felt, even when clashing with opposing armies.
Demon clad in iron, skull for his face, makes three more steps. Dwarf, iron in his blood, strikes three more tones with his violin. Rest of them dance and play accordingly, never leaving the circle, never speeding, nor slowing down. Beyond steel skies, under sigil celling they dance. They bring back one of them, whose body was killed and soul destroyed on this world, deemed by him unworthly to still exist. So he destroyed it, and paid according price. And now the likes of him, one could even say, friends, pull him back, from beyond time or space, existence or nonexistence - from The End.
Incarnation of The End
Death's incarnate is someone different from any existing being - some weaker than average humans, other dwarfing gods in power. Many as young as few decades or millenia, others as old as eons, witnessing birth of Old Ones, and even older, beyond imaginable scale. Some evil, devilish, one could be even considered the absolute worst, others valiant beyond imaginations of most good and just paladins, with many inbetween. But they all are the same. Good and evil is only a term. What but pure evil can you call someone who obliterated entire race of mostly peacefull beings. What but ultimate goodness can be inscribed to the one who stood between young girl, a child, and great force desiring nothing short of death for the kid. Yet, both of those stories are one and the same, with same names, same results, just, different storytellers.
Indiffrent one from the other, all Death's incarnates can do acts of unspeakable evil. None is explicitly evil, on the contrary, all are mostly kind souls, just different from the rest of universe. They are exactly that - different. Because anyone can be death incarnate, if he or she becomes one. Only mindset can qualify for this ambigious state that is this incarnation of death. Good at heart, inclined to follow rules, gathering knowledge, living away from spotlight, devoid of good sense of humor or care for self preservation, as cold as metal they so much adore. Walking the way of those who already died, both for themselves and everyone else. For in the end all are equal: mortals, gods, and the ones who come for them.
Only mind qualify, because only mind can catch, what is beyond the scoope of normality. Their very peculiar mindset tangles itself in strings - the very fundamental part of all of creation. Constructs of strings are possible for them to percieve, interact with, or even create them and bring their unmaking. Not magical in nature - nor in need of existence of magic, witnesses to what all of us truly are - those are the Incarnates of Death.
Creating a Death's Incarnate
When creating Death incarnate you must ask yourself a few questions, and pay attention to those: can you do things that are right, no matter the cost? Can you step down with dignity when your time will come, and simply leave? Are you able to hold your hand from interfering into every little thing just because you can? If you can say yes to those questions, then congratulations, you will be an excellent death incarnate. Now ask yourself this: why do you even live? For you death is just .. a word. You do not have the natural will to live, yet you still persist. Find your reason - dead to bring back, goal to accomplish, be a epitome of something, and live to the fullest. Your reason is what defines your existence, your pride and fulfillment. To take your reason away from you, or from any other of your kin, is an unspeakable form of offense, only one to ever truly shake the core of your being.
- Quick Build
You can make a Death's incarnate quickly by following these suggestions. First, constitution should be your highest ability score, followed by wisdom or strength , depending on subclass. Second, choose the hermit background. Third, choose Athletics and Arcana for your skills.
Class Features
As a Death's incarnate you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per Death's incarnate level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + Constitution modifier per Death's incarnate level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: Heavy armor(Death's incarnate will not wear armor not made mostly from metal)
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: One type of artisan’s tools and one instrument
Saving Throws: Constitution, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from animal handling, Athletics, Acrobatics, Nature, Religion, Arcana
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- one simple or martial weapon
- (a) Ring mail or (b) Chain mail
- (a) Scholar's Pack or (b) Priest's Pack
- If you are using starting wealth, you have 3d4*10gp in funds.
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Visage of The End,One of the Numbers |
| 2nd | +2 | Avatar feature |
| 3rd | +2 | Omen of Undeath |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 5th | +3 | Extra attack |
| 6th | +3 | Avatar feature |
| 7th | +3 | Steps between the strings,One of the Numbers improvement |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 9th | +4 | Avatar feature |
| 10th | +4 | Magic Conduit |
| 11th | +4 | Broken body |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 13th | +5 | Full Armament |
| 14th | +5 | Avatar feature |
| 15th | +5 | Avatar feature, One of the Numbers improvement |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th | +6 | Call of the Other Side |
| 18th | +6 | Avatar feature, Steps between the strings inprovement |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 20th | +6 | Power Beyond Reason |
Visage of The End
Your ungraspable nature needs a catalyst to manifest outside of your own mind, and takes form of the most possible decayed form your race can become before crumbling to nothingness. Mostly it is a skull shaped face cover, but others(like ash for demons, so face covered in metallic powder etc.) are possible. It is always a face cover, sometimes extending to wrap the whole head.
You can cover your face with your visage in any circumstances, materializing it from thin air, no action required. If someone knows you or your face you will be recognized instantly. Your visage cannot be removed from you if you do not want that, and you cannot benefit from any of this class' features other than One of the Numbers if mask is not on your face.
One of the Numbers
Even though impossible to describe why, every Death's incarnate has a number. That number is always a prime number, and does not mean nothing, not order of age, power or knowledge. Yet every death incarnate present on any given plane of existence knows about all the others that are there. Pick your number, but Second is already taken. You know number, name and one-sentence description of any Death's incarnate present on plane of existence you are on, as well as you magically learn about any who come to that plane of existence, and any other know about you.
Additionally, you can call into the void to ask for knowledge, and others like you can answer. As an action, you can add your proficiency modifier to any skill check, using wisdom of others. You can use this feature number of times equal to your proficiency modifier. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Avatar
At 2nd level, you chose an Avatar type. Choose between avatars of Creation, Destruction, Life, Knowledge and Neverending Cycle, all detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you features at 2nd and again at 6th,9th,14th,15th and 18th level.
Omen of Undeath
Beginning at 3rd level, you start showing signs of your unintelligible nature. You do not age beyond point you deem right, and are immune to spells and effects that modify age. You also does not need food or water to survive.
Additionally, twisting nature of time in a moment of pain you can drag your future vitality to you. When taking damage you can use your reaction to spend one Hit Die to heal yourself. Roll the die, add your Constitution modifier, and regain a number of hit points equal to the total (minimum of 1). You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Ability Score Improvement
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.
Extra attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Steps between the strings
You learned to walk between the most elementary parts of reality. Starting from 7th level, if you walk out of clear vision of all observing creatures(for example walking behind a pillar, jumping through smoke etc.) you can emerge in another unobserved place within 120 feet. You must know the place you walk to. When you use this feature two times you cannot do so until you finish a long rest, regaining all expended uses.
From 18th level you can use this ability to walk to other planes of existence.
One of the Numbers improvement
You are starting to accommodate to the usage of strings. Starting from 7th level you can call into the void to contact other death incarnates, as in a manner of a friendly chatter. Your call can be left unanswered however, everyone has a free will. You can also use this ability to send specific dreams to others. You do not know what your target does in this dream, you only place them in a situation of your choosing.
Magic Conduit
Weave flows through your empty husk of a body like no other. Starting from 10th level, as an reaction, provided you can see casting of a spell, you can contest caster's of this spell spellcasting ability versus your ability (your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier). On a success, you force that spell casted to target you instead. If spell has an area of effect, center of this area is your person. If this spell requires concentration you are concentrating on that spell. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.
You gain another use of this ability at level 15th.
Broken body
Some things, once broken, are harder to be completely destroyed. Starting from 11th level, when you are below half your hit points maximum you reduce any incoming damage for amount equal to your constitution modifier(minimum of 1).
Full Armament
Beginning at 13th level, you can doff and don your armor as part of covering and uncovering your face with your visage. Your armor, alongside with your weapon and all your belongings, provided that they do not encumber you, vanish and reappear on you and like your visage it cannot be forcibly taken away from you.
One of the Numbers improvement
You flow in strings, you are one of many. Starting at 15th level you can call to the void to contact other incarnates. You can ask them for particular item or resource, or ask a question regarding some inforamtion. It is almost certain you will find someone willing to share with you what you are searching for, but anyone you ask will state his price, in gold, item, knowledge or favour. And sometimes someone can ask you for something, and you always need to state your price, and uphold your bargain, as anyone else needs to. You can expend one of your step between the strings feature to move your price away, and reclaim what you wanted.
Call of the Other Side
You personify the neverending cycle beyond comprehension. All undeath instinctively feel your power affecting them. Starting from 17th level, at the start of its turn, any undead creature of your choice in 30 feet radius from you take necrotic damage equal to your level in this class. This damage cannot be reduced or prevented in any way. Beings which died and were brought back to life can be affected by this feature.
Power Beyond Reason
At 20th level your strength echoes through creation, drawing attention of Second. He visits you and bestows to you knowledge about your very being, giving you just enough to spit in face of even the most powerful. Choose one spell of 9th level from any spell list. You can now cast this spell, ignoring cost of material components of it. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Once used, you cannot cast it again until 7 days have passed.
Avatar of Creation
For you, Death is time. Time to make and create. Time to use on honing skills and calling upon the names of materials. Time to create your own place to call home.
- Shapemaker
Starting from 2nd level, you gain proficiency in one type of artisan’s tools of your choice or one skill.
- Great crafter
Beginning at 6th level, when you roll to make object using tools you have proficiency in, you do so with advantage.
- Beloved Cold Steel
Metal, so adored by you, lets you change it at its core. Starting at 9th level, you can use various metals in exchange of others materials in whatever you are crafting. Metals used in this way gain new features to accomodate their role, like elasticity, transparency, and so on.
- Master crafter
Your obsession with making teaches you to bend reality in pursue of perfection. Starting at 14th level choose two from skills or tools you are proficient with. You gain expertise in skills or tools of your choice.
- Song of metal
Your steady mind calls to the cold steel, and steel answers back. Starting at 15th level, as a bonus action you can call metal of your armor to raise, binding it to actively defend you. You gain damage threshold equal to 5 + your constitution modifier. You can also sing to any metal to change it shape, although at rather slow rate.
- Call of Avatar
Mastery in your craft is unrivaled, paired with your ambigious nature you can shape reality. Beginning at level 18th, you can call into existence things that were not present. As a bonus action you can materialize matter of your choice in any space in your seeing radius. You can create weapons, armors, resources, and organic matter like plants and animals. You can create no more than metric ton of volume of things, one ton, or value of 100 gold coins. You can create only things you saw that are devoid of soul and have challenge rating of 0, and your used creating power resets on long rest.
Avatar of Destruction
For you Death is the final goal. Every single person is going to die at some point, any object is going to crumble and wither away. You will only bring this natural thing to people a bit sooner. Or push it away and save their lives, even if for a second longer. But it is so cozy on this mountain of ash, isn't here?
- Living Armour
Metal from armor extends your will. Starting at 2nd level you can reshape protective layer of your armor to strike foes beyond your reach. Range of your meele attacks increases by 5 feet, and ranged attacks increase by 20 feet.
- Devourer
When life flows away, one capable may drink it. Beginning at 6th level when you kill a creature you gain temporary hit points equal to two times your strength modifier. This ability does not work on undead or constructs. Enemies killed in that way turn to ash over the course of one minute.
- Unchained
Ropes, chains, magic, even rules of universe will not bind one such as yourself. Starting at 9th level you gain 10 feet of movement, as well as climbing speed. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against spells and effects that would decrease your movement speed in any way.
- Titan Slayer
You learned to bring down foes normal people don't even dream about fighting. From 14th level you deal additional damage equal to creature's hit die in your weapon damage on attacks on creatures that are huge or bigger. Additionally, enemies of gargantuan size or bigger have disadvantage on attacks on you.
- Plea of Help
You let out a roar that vibrates through space and time, compelling the ones like you to help. As an action you can choose to make a number of attacks equal to double your strength modifier against a single creature in your range. Those attacks originate from many points in space around your enemy, and look like other Death's incarnates phantom images, and they strike for you. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.
- Doombringer
At 18th level your power surges through your body, waiting to be unleashed. Using your action, you can transform, sprouting metallic parts from your body, which quickly start to melt. For 1 minute you are proficient in all saving throws and your attacks deal additional d10 fire damage. You also cannot be charmed or frightened and if you are under those conditions when you transform they are suspended for the duration. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.
Avatar of Life
For you, Death is an end to beautiful and long process of not dying. Death is a means of preserve this fragile state called life. If not in yourself then in others.
- Infusion
Life dwelling in yourself is like no other, cold and alien. Starting from 2nd level you are immune to disease.
- Cold and Twisted
Your blood flows like river, all can drown in it. Beginning at 6th level each time you take slashing and piercing damage your blood splatters at random creature in 5 feet radius around you. If creature is friendly it is healed by amount equal to double your wisdom modifier. If creature is hostile it takes cold damage equal to double your wisdom modifier.
- Dance between thousands falling stars
Your moves are like those of a falling feather. Starting at 9th level when you are suspected to dexterity saving throw to take half damage, you instead take no damage if you succed and can move up to half your speed.
- Cell Replication
You can bend bodies with your unreal will to fix them, or mutate it beyond recognition. Beginning at 14th level you can infuse others with your reality bending powers. You can choose to touch and heal a creature, healing for 6d8. If you try to heal the same creature second time before that creature takes long rest it needs to make Constitution saving throw of DC equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier or instead take 6d8 necrotic damage. You can use this feature number of times equal to your wisdom modifier. You regain all expended uses when you take a long rest.
- Wail of Recreation
Beginning at 15th level you can utter a song that change mortal shells of souls. Everyone listening to that song will be healed from all permanent injuries and diseases. In addition, all missing limbs will regrow. After that you cannot speak for 7 days, and everyone who heard whole song will be deafend until they take a long rest.
- Soul Resurrection
Your power can manifest through you in most rule-defiling way. When you reach 18th level you can cast special ritual to ressurect dead person. You need 1000 gold pieces for every point of challenge rating target has above your level and 1000 gold for each 10 years the target was dead before your birth. Ritual takes 1 hour for each 10000 gold pieces spent. Others like you can help in performing ritual, each one decreasing cost in CR and age additively. Ritual recreates body if there is none of it left, and mend any injuries. If the target's soul is destroyed or inprisoned ritual recreates the soul or frees it, then imbues it into the body, otherwise soul needs to be willing to come back. You need to personally know your target.
Avatar of Knowledge
For you Death is wisdom. In its infinite compexcity dwells all sorts of lore, just waiting to be unraveled.
- Eternal Student
At 2nd level you can choose a two skills in which you do not have proficiency. You gain proficiency in those skills.
- Vital Knowledge
Your knowledge sometimes acts on its own, just like independent being trying to shield you from harm. Starting at 6th level you can add your wisdom modifier to the saving throws you are not proficient with.
- Personification
Your wisdom does not like when you ignore it like some inanimate thing. When making long rest roll dice to randomly determine one of your skills in which you are proficient. Until next long rest you have expertise in that skill.
- Laws of Defiliance
Your being overflows with eldrith wisdom, and sometimes it shows. Starting at 14th level when you are suspected to wisdom saving throw and fail roll d6. On 4 or higher you are unaffected by the spell.
- Answer to Questions
You understend one thing, that you do not know so much after all. Starting at 15th level you can reroll a failed skill check in which you are proficient, and you need to take the second result. If you have expertise in skill, you instead succed, no roll required. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your wisdom modifier (minimum of one). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
- Eyes of Death
Your eyes change their colour to one you desire, to accomodate unreal power they hold. At 18th level you gain truesight out to a range of 30 feet. Additionally, you can read and write all existing and non-existing languages, as long as they are possible to read.
Avatar of Neverending Cycle
For you Death is a process. Long, repetetive, not differing from one another, and above all else dull. It's what cycle is about, not when it starts over. But you are very able to force it to start over. Someone is needed to spin the samsara, as once alive, now long dead people said.
- Curse of the Cycle
You know, you seen it thousand times over. Starting at 2nd level, whenever you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright you enter a special state in which to all external observers you look dead( you do not breathe, your heart do not beat, you are cold, your blood stop flowing etc.), and any magic that can discern if you are dead tells you are dead. You can still be healed to stand up and struck down to be killed. You do not roll your death saving throws on start of each of your turns, instead next time your party takes long rest (or after 24 hours, whichever comes first) you wake up, your body reanimating itself with 1 hit point.
- Collective Memory
Your life gives you experience of countless individuals, but not so boorish one as their own. Knowledge about souls and workings of magical nature. At 6th level, you can cast identify without needing material components number of times equal to your wisdom modifier(minimum of 1). You regain all expended uses when you take a long rest.
Additionally you can use magical scrolls with spells of level equal to or lover than half your level in this class(rounded down).
- Another one Bites the Dust
All the memories you gather can be used as weapons, especially thousands of damned fools crying for salvation in their final moments, as any others in your way will. Beginning at 9th level, when you are grappling a creature, you can use bonus action to decide to show masses of shattered hopes of survival to your enemy. Then it makes intelligence saving throw with DC equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your constitution modifier. On failed save creature takes 8d8 psychic damage and is blinded and deafened by damned for one minute, or takes half as much damage and no additional efects if succedes. Affected creature can repeat saving throw at the end of its turn, ending effect on success. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you take a long rest.
- Mortal Shell
Your body is but a vessel. But an excellent one, that is. Starting from 14th level you cannot gain exhaustion, and are immune to effects and spells that can make you exhausted.
- Strength of Soul
Your soul seen enough machinations and terror to know them well, and to see no difference with or without them. Starting at 15th level you are immune to being charmed or frightened.
- Annihilation
You are many things, as you propably already realized. Now, you are one more. Undoing. Beginning from 18th level you can offer your strength to try to break the cycle. When you are touching a creature you can use your action to attempt total soul annihilation. Your target takes necrotic damage equal to five times your strength modifier plus any amount of hit points you yourself sacrifice. This damage cannot be reduced or avoided in any way. You can not sacrifice more than your hit points maximum, in which case you suffer the fate of being reduced to 0 hit points by this feature. If this attack reduce a creature to 0 hit points, its body falls lifeless to the ground, and soul(if existing) is destroyed. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.
Multiclassing
Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Death's incarnate class, you must meet these prerequisites: Strength 13 and Constitution 13
Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Death's incarnate class, you gain the following proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools and one instrument, heavy armor
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