4th Level Vestiges (5e Other)

Agares, Truth Betrayed

Legend: In life, Agares ruled over vast armies on the Elemental Plane of Earth. He was the most powerful general the plane had yet seen and second in authority only to his genie emperor, a dao of great influence. Even though Agares was unalterably loyal, he nevertheless gave his emperor reason to fear betrayal. Agares became obsessed with a djinni commander who had thwarted his conquests on several occasions. His desire to meet this favored foe on the field of battle blinded him to other tactical options and deafened him to rumors that his esteem for his enemy had deepened into love. When at last Agares entrapped the djinni’s forces, he girded himself for personal combat and set out to answer a challenge to duel his adversary. The summons was a trap laid by Agares’s lieutenants, however; his allies slew him within sight of his greatest enemy.

Special Requirement: You must draw Agares’s seal upon either the earth or an expanse of unworked stone.

Manifestation: The ground trembles briefly as the head of a great brown crocodile bursts from beneath Agares’s seal. The crocodile’s maw opens upward, unleashing a hooded black hawk that spreads its wings, forcing the jaws farther apart with the mere brush of its feathers. Two large, catlike eyes gleam on the hawk’s breast. When Agares speaks, the hawk’s beak moves, but the sound comes from the crocodile’s rumbling throat.

Sign: You gain a wracking cough that spews dust and small stones from your mouth. This coughing prevents you from casting any spells that have verbal components. While bound to Agares, you can resist the urge to cough for a number of rounds equal your Constitution score. Thereafter, you cough for a round and then can try to resist the urge again.

Influence: Agares’s loyalty in life and his anger at the betrayal perpetrated by his lieutenants has become a hatred of falsehood. When influenced by Agares, you speak forthrightly and with confidence. You cannot use the Deception skill, and when asked a direct question, you must answer truthfully and directly.

Granted Features: Agares gives you the power to exalt yourself and your allies, to make the earth tremble beneath your feet, to render foes weak, and to speak the truth to all peoples.

Earth and Air Mastery: You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls if both you and your foe are touching the ground. Any airborne foe receives a –1 penalty to attack and damage rolls against you.

Petrify Immunity: You have immunity to the petrified condition.

True Speech: You can speak, understand, read, and write all languages spoken by creatures within 30 feet of you. To use an unfamiliar language, you must hear it spoken and see the speaker. Once you have used it, you can continue to do so for as long as your pact with Agares lasts. When speaking or writing in a language with which you are not familiar, you cannot lie.

Elemental Companion: You can use your action to summon an earth elemental to accompany you and fight for you for one hour. You must concentrate on this feature to maintain the form of your elemental (as if concentrating on a spell). The elemental disappears if your concentration is broken, when it drops to 0 hit points, or when your pact with Agares ends. Once you have summoned your earth elemental, you cannot summon it again until you finish a short or long rest.

The elemental is friendly to you and your companions for the duration. Roll initiative for the elemental, which has its own turns. It obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to the elemental, it defends itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions. Use the game statistics of the earth elemental in the SRD, except it has a number of hit points equal to your binder level x 5.

Earthshaking Step: As an action, you can stomp on the ground, causing every creature of your choice within 10 feet of you that is touching the ground to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature falls prone. The range of this feature increases by 10 feet for every five binder levels you possess beyond 5th (up to 40 feet at 20th level).

You can use this feature only once per combat. You can also use this feature outside of combat, although you are unable to do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Andras the Gray Knight

Legend: Andras was once an elf paladin famed for his prowess in battle and his implacable dedication to doing what was right and good for all. A series of misjudgments and misfortunes broke Andras’s faith in both himself and his deity, however, and he became a blackguard. During his subsequent service to the dark gods, his infamy rapidly outgrew his fame, and his name was whispered in fear. After nearly three hundred years of almost constant battle on behalf of both good and evil, Andras grew tired of both causes. In the midst of a duel in the key battle of a great war, he simply dropped his weapon and left, never to be seen alive again. Sages speculate that after his betrayal of both causes, he was no longer welcome in any god’s realm, and thus his soul was condemned to become a vestige.

Manifestation: Andras rides up out of nothingness on the back of a great black wolf. The vestige’s head is that of an owl covered in gray feathers, and his gray-skinned body resembles that of a lanky but muscular male elf. Wearing only a loincloth, Andras slouches in his saddle, holding the reins of his mount in one hand and a greatsword, which he lazily rests on his shoulder, in the other. At first glance, Andras looks as though he might be asleep, but a closer inspection reveals a pair of huge golden eyes that glower from his bowed head. Andras speaks in deep tones laden with menace.

Sign: You sprout two useless, gray-feathered wings from your back. The wings are small enough to be hidden beneath a shirt or cloak, but doing so makes you appear hunchbacked.

Influence: Andras’s influence causes you to become listless and emotionally remote. Because Andras wearies of combat quickly, you must drop or stow any items in hand and withdraw from melee after only 3 turns in combat. You may not take any offensive action on your 4th turn in combat, and you must use your full movement to withdraw from enemies. This process repeats for every 3 turns spent in combat.

Granted Features: Andras lends you some of the skills he had in life, making you a strong combatant with or without a mount.

Sure Blows: You score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20. If you would already score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20, then you score a critical hit on a roll of 18, 19, or 20 on the d20 instead.

Saddle Sure: You can't be knocked off your mount, even if you fall unconscious or are otherwise incapacitated.

Weapon Proficiency: You gain proficiency with greatswords, lances, longswords, and rapiers.

Summon Steed: As an action, you can summon a warhorse, complete with a saddle and lance. This feature functions like the find steed spell, except where noted here. The steed disappears if it is killed, you use your action to dismiss it, or your pact with Andras ends. Once you have summoned your steed, you must finish a short or long rest before summoning it again.

Smite: When you take the attack action on your turn, you can enhance one of your attacks with a smite. You gain a bonus to the attack roll equal to your Charisma modifier, and on hit, the attack deals additional radiant damage equal to your binder level.

You can use this feature only once per combat. If you get smite from another source, your uses of smite stack.

Sow Discord: As an action, you sow discord among your enemies, forcing a creature of your choice within 15 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target must attack the closest ally it can see. On its next turn, the target must take the attack action using whatever weapon it has in hand and make one attack against its ally. If the target's ally is not within reach, the target must use its movement to reach its ally (if possible), and then attack. Immediately after the attack, this effect ends, and the target realizes you compelled them. If no ally is within sight of the foe, this feature has no effect.

The range of this feature increases by 15 feet for every five binder levels you possess beyond 5th (up to 60 feet at 20th level). You can use this feature only once per combat.

Astaroth, Unjustly Fallen

Legend: Scholars know little of Astaroth before his fall, save that he favored constant interference and assistance when it came to mortals, rather than leaving them to develop on their own. Some tales claim that he was responsible for teaching humanoids such techniques as metalworking and even alchemy.

According to ancient writings, Astaroth himself maintains that this was why he fell, cast from Heaven for the "crime" of aiding the mortal races in their development of civilization. Most theologians, however, remain convinced that the angel was exiled for greater crimes. Legends range from an attempt to usurp the position of some heavenly god, to an effort to raise an entire mortal race to celestial status, to an attempt to turn all mortals away from worship of the gods so that he might be free to influence them as he saw fit. Astaroth admitted to no such defiance, however, and swore to the day of his disappearance that his fall was unjust.

For centuries Astaroth roamed many worlds, mortal and spiritual alike. To the celestials, he was an outcast — another prideful fallen angel who could not even admit to his errors, let alone atone for them. Yet because he refused to embrace damnation, he found no allies among the fiends either. Eventually he settled among mortals. He watched over them as a guardian and mentor to start, but slowly his obsession with "protecting" the mortals grew uncontrollable. Astaroth became a dictator, restricting even the day-to-day behavior of his subjects to keep them "safe." The fallen angel was finally slain by an uprising within the populace, but none of the Outer Planes would grant his soul any respite. Eventually, with no afterlife to call his own, stripped even of his physical existence, Astaroth simply went — elsewhere.

Manifestation: Accompanied by the sound of flapping wings and cawing crows, Astaroth manifests as a hideously ugly angel. His limp wings are filthy gray, his features drawn and gaunt, and his eyes yellowed. He carries a viper in his right hand and wears a tarnished crown upon his brow. A horrific stench accompanies him, almost but not quite enough to sicken everyone nearby.

Sign: Your skin yellows, and you emit a foul, unwashed odor. While this odor is not strong enough to impede or distract an opponent, it does attract attention.

Influence: Astaroth's influence renders you incapable of taking responsibility for your own actions. You cannot admit any fault, acknowledge any mistake, or make reparations or apologies for any wrong, no matter the consequences or the evidence against you.

Granted Features: Astaroth guided mortals, and he still grants abilities based in knowledge and education. As a fallen angel, and then a vestige, his magics have grown ever grimmer and more distasteful; he also grants powers based on directly controlling and offending others.

Angelic Lore: Astaroth constantly whispers the secrets of reality in the back of your mind, allowing you to draw on his own nigh-infinite knowledge. You have advantage on Intelligence (History) checks. In addition, you can use your action to make a History check to see if you know some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. (DC 10 for common knowledge, DC 15 for uncommon knowledge, DC 20 for obscure knowledge, DC 25 for extremely obscure knowledge)

Once you have used this feature to determine what knowledge you possess about a particular creature, object, or location, you may never use this feature to make another check related to that particular subject again.

Honeyed Tongue: You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion), Charisma (Deception), and Charisma (Intimidate) checks.

Master Craftsman: While bound to Astaroth, it takes you a quarter of the normal time, and costs half the usual gold to craft an item.

Astaroth's Breath: You can use your action to exhale a 60-foot cone of foul-smelling gas. Creatures within the area must make a Constitution saving throw or be incapacitated for 1d4 rounds. Creatures immune to poison or disease are immune to this effect.

You can use this feature only once per combat. You can also use this feature outside of combat, although you are unable to do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Word of Astaroth: You can use your action to make a suggestion, as the suggestion spell, except you can choose up to two creatures to be subjected to its effect, instead of only one. You can use this feature only once per combat. You can also use this feature outside of combat, although you are unable to do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Buer, The Grandmother Huntress

Legend: Buer tells many different stories about how she came to be a vestige, so her true origins remain obscure. In various popular versions of the tales, she is a beautiful elf maiden who fell to evil satyrs, a virtuous human ranger killed by a chimera, or a green hag slain by a lammasu. It’s likely that Buer herself cannot remember who she was in life or what brought her to her current state, and the stories she tells are cobbled together from the shreds of her memory that remain. Regardless of what her true form once was, most binders believe that she possessed great skill as a hunter and healer in life.

Special Requirement: Buer requires that her seal be drawn outdoors.

Manifestation: Buer’s form is that of a five-branched star, or wheel, composed of satyr legs. She has two faces, one positioned on each side of her wheel-shaped body at the center point where the five legs meet. One face is that of a green hag, and the other is a raging, leonine visage with an unruly mane and beard. Buer constantly moves within her seal, rolling from foot to foot as she traverses its circumference. She always keeps her raging face outward, but she speaks from her green hag face in a friendly manner with a gentle voice. When her body rolls in such a way that her hag face cannot see her summoner, Buer grows frustrated and begins yelling curses at her body.

Sign: Your feet turn into satyr’s hooves, giving you a curious tip-toeing gait. These hooves prevent you from wearing normal boots or shoes, but magic footwear reshapes to fit you.

Influence: Under Buer’s influence, you are plagued by momentary memory lapses. For an instant, you might forget even a piece of information as familiar as the name of a friend or family member. Furthermore, since Buer abhors the needless death of living creatures other than animals and vermin, the first melee attack you make against such a foe must be for nonlethal damage. In addition, Buer requires that you not make any coup de grace attacks.

Granted Features: Buer grants you healing powers, the ability to ignore toxins and ailments, and skills that help you navigate the natural world.

Buer’s Knowledge: You gain advantage on Wisdom (Medicine), Wisdom (Nature), and Wisdom (Survival) checks.

Buer’s Purity: You have immunity to disease, poison damage, and the poisoned condition, and making a pact with Buer removes any existing disease and neutralizes any poison that afflicts you.

Delay Diseases and Poisons: Each ally within 30 feet of you gains temporary immunity to poison and disease. Allies within the area make saving throws against disease and poison effects normally, but they do not incur the effects of failure as long as they stay within 30 feet of you. An ally that leaves the area immediately suffers all the effects for any failed saves.

Fast Healing: If you have at least 1 hit point at the start of your turn, you regain 1 hit point, plus 1 hit point for every five binder levels you possess beyond 5th (up to 4 hit points at 20th level).

Track: You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to notice tracks.

Healing Touch: You have a pool of healing power that replenishes when you take a long rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of hit points equal to your binder level x 5. As a bonus action, you can touch a creature and expend a number of points from the pool (up to your binder level) to restore the same number of hit points to that creature.

Healing Gift: As an action, you can touch a creature (including yourself) within 5 feet of you, causing it to regain a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your Charisma modifier, plus 1d8 hit points for every five binder levels you possess beyond 5th (up to 4d8 hit points at 20th level).

You can use this feature only once per combat. You can also use this feature outside of combat, although you are unable to do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Eurynome, Mother of the Material

Legend: Stories say that before recorded time, the gods and titans battled on the Outer Planes. Tired of the struggle, the titan Eurynome fl ed to the roiling chaos that made up the Material Plane. She divided the world into sky and sea, and then she danced alone upon the waves. Incensed by her impertinence in meddling with a world as yet unformed, the gods struck Eurynome down. Angered by her abandonment of their fight, her fellow titans refused to come to her aid. Eurynome’s body became the first island, her blood became the first river, and her soul became a vestige.

Special Requirement: Eurynome hates Amon for some unknown reason and will not answer your call if you are already bound to him.

Manifestation: If Eurynome’s myth is true, she has fallen far since battling gods and shaping the deeps and the firmament. Eurynome manifests as a horrid conglomeration of humanoid, avian, and piscine forms. Her arms are octopus tentacles, her legs are those of a hawk, and her mouth is an owl’s beak. Wings shaped like great fish fins extend from her back, and she has no eyes—only lamprey like mouths where her visual orbs should be.

Sign: Your skin becomes clammy, and you leave moist prints on any object your body touches, even if clothing blocks direct contact. These marks evaporate after about 1 minute.

Influence: Eurynome’s influence makes you paranoid and ungrateful; you see secret motives and possible betrayals behind every action. Eurynome requires that you not attack a foe unless an ally has already done so. If no allies are present, she makes no such requirement.

Granted Features: Eurynome grants you the ability to befriend animals, walk on water, and wield a massive hammer. In addition, she turns your blood into poison and gives you resistance to weapon blows.

Eurynome’s Maul: As a bonus action, you can summon a magical warhammer that rolls 2d6 in place of its normal damage. You are proficient with this weapon, and you use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength, for the attack and damage rolls. This weapon has the thrown property, with a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet, and it returns to your hand immediately after it is used to make a ranged attack. The warhammer disappears if you use a bonus action to dismiss it, when your pact with Eurynome ends, or if you die.

Poison Blood: While you are bound to Eurynome, your blood becomes poisonous. Any creature that ingests it (by either making a bite attack against you or swallowing you whole) must immediately make a Constitution saving throw, taking 1d6 poison damage on a failed save. At the start of its next turn, the creature must make another Constitution saving throw, taking another 1d6 poison damage on a failed save. This feature deals an additional 1d6 poison damage for every five binder levels you possess beyond 10th (up to 3d6 poison damage at 20th).

Each bite attack (or each round that you remain in the creature’s gullet) poisons the creature anew, forcing a new round of saving throws. Your poison blood becomes inert 1 minute after leaving your body.

Damage Reduction: Bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage you take from non-magical weapons is reduced by 3.

Animal Friend: You can use your action to befriend any animal you meet, as the animal friendship spell. You can use this feature only once per combat. You can also use this feature outside of combat, although you are unable to do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Water Dancing: You can grant yourself and your allies the ability to move on liquid as if it were firm ground, as the water walk spell. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

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