5th Level Vestiges (5e Other)

Balam, The Bitter Angel

Legend: Binder scholars claim that Balam is all that remains of the soul of a powerful solar. Exactly how she came to exist in her current state remains a mystery, but sources of planar lore state that several good gods tasked her with eliminating the practice of sacrificing sentient beings in the worship of deities. Since such sacrifices are part and parcel of evil rituals, the task amounted to wiping out the worship of evil gods altogether—a task well beyond what even the good deities could manage. Needless to say, Balam failed in her assignment, and some believe that her foes actually sacrificed her in praise of a dark god.

Special Requirement: Balam requires a sacrifice of her summoner. In the process of calling her, you must deal 1 point of slashing damage to yourself or another sentient creature and place a drop of blood from the wound within Balam’s completed seal.

Manifestation: Balam is a horror to behold. Her body is that of a great purple serpent, and her head consists of the top halves of three horned humanoid heads arranged evenly around a shared gaping maw. This mouth is a tooth-studded chute that extends deep into her body, and her six horns point forward around it. Balam speaks in a grinding moan, exhaling hot, stinking breath with each word. The fangs in her chute-mouth move in waves with the shuddering of her throat, and the eyes of her three heads glow blue when she becomes excited or angry.

Sign: Your voice gains a peculiar quality, becoming both hollow and guttural.

Influence: Balam’s influence causes you to distrust clerics, paladins, and other devotees of deities. Whenever you enter a temple or some other holy or unholy site, Balam requires that you spit on the floor and utter an invective about the place.

Granted Features: Balam grants you the power to predict future events. She also teaches cunning and finesse, and gives you the ability to freeze foes with a glance.

Prescience: You get a glimpse of the future a moment before it happens. This knowledge manifests as a +1 bonus on initiative checks, Dexterity saving throws, and your Armor Class.

Weapon Finesse: You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with weapons that have the Finesse property.

Icy Glare: At the start of your turn, each hostile creature within 30 feet of you that can see you must make a Wisdom saving throw, taking 1d6 cold damage on a failed save. A creature is also subjected to this effect if they enter its area. Opponents can avert or close their eyes to protect themselves.

You can also use your action to focus your gaze on a target creature, forcing them to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 3d6 cold damage, plus 1d6 cold damage for every 5 binder levels you possess beyond 10th.

Balam’s Cunning: You can reroll one attack, saving throw, or ability check you have just made (no action required). You must accept the result of the reroll, even if it is worse than the original.

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.

Dantalion, The Star Emperor

Legend: Binders know little of how Dantalion came to be. The most common legend of his origin presents him not as one spirit, but as a conglomeration of the souls of a royal line whose members were cursed not to join their deities in the afterlife. This ancient imperial line is not now connected to any living leaders. Supposedly, however, descendants of this family still live, ignorant of both their heritage and their curse. Some binders profess to be scions of Dantalion—the true heirs of the royal line—but these claims are likely just the fancies of romantic minds.

Manifestation: Dantalion appears in a flash of red light as a 10-foot-tall humanoid, resplendent in crimson and gold robes. His head is a massive conglomeration of dozens of human faces—male and female, young and old. A gold crown as big around as a barrel rests on the brow of his enormous cranium. Dantalion carries a great tome under one arm and speaks with the voices of his many faces, always in cryptic passages that he reads from his book. Sometimes just one face reads from his tome, but the speaking face changes often and usually in mid-sentence. Those who glance at the book’s pages see a dark sky filled with stars that change with each flip of a page.

Sign: One of Dantalion’s faces appears on your torso, as though it were a vestigial conjoined twin. It seems lifeless most of the time, but when you activate an ability granted by Dantalion, it opens its eyes and mouth, revealing a starry void within.

Influence: Dantalion’s influence causes you to be aloof and use stately gestures. Dantalion can’t help but be curious about the leaders of the day, so anytime you are within 100 feet of someone who clearly is (or professes to be) a leader of others, Dantalion requires that you try to read that person’s thoughts. Once you have made the attempt, regardless of success or failure, you need not try to read that person’s thoughts again.

Granted Features: Pact magic grimoires attest to Dantalion’s profound wisdom and his extensive knowledge about all subjects. Because he knows all thoughts, he can grant you a portion of that power, as well as the ability to travel just by thinking. You also gain a portion of his commanding presence, which many binders ascribe to his royal origins.

Dantalion Knows: While bound to Dantalion, you have advantage on Intelligence (Arcana, History, Nature, Religion) checks made to recall lore.

Read Thoughts: You can use your action to read the thoughts of creatures you can see, as the detect thoughts 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.

Awe of Dantalion: As a bonus action, any creature that sees you is unable to attack you or target you with a hostile spell until the start of your next turn. If you attempt any hostile action, such as making an attack roll or casting an offensive spell against the affected creature or its allies, the effect ends.

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.

Thought Travel: As an action, you can instantly transport yourself and any objects you carry (up to a heavy load) to any location you can see that is within 5 feet per binder level you possess. The desired location cannot be within an object or beyond a barrier unless you have some means of seeing the exact space you desire to occupy. If you cannot occupy the designated space because it contains a solid body inside which you cannot exist (for example, if an invisible creature is in the square, or some magic in that location prevents dimensional travel, or the like), the attempt to travel fails and you are stunned for 1 turn. Otherwise, you always arrive at the exact location desired. You cannot use this feature while blinded.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Geryon, The Deposed Lord

Legend: Most scholars of the dark arts know of Geryon. As one of the legendary Lords of the Nine, he ruled Stygia, the frozen fifth layer of Hell. During a great upheaval known as the Reckoning, Geryon secretly supported the greatest of the arch devils, Asmodeus, against his rivals. When the armies of the opposing lords met to decide who would take Asmodeus’s power, Geryon blew his horn. At his signal, the armies turned against their leaders, the usurpers were thrown down, and Asmodeus reestablished his right to rule all Baator. Knowing he had taught the usurpers a lesson they would not soon forget, Asmodeus returned them to power. Rather than reward Geryon, however, he inexplicably gave his lone supporter’s power and position to another. Geryon’s fate after losing his position is unclear, but some binder scholars maintain that Asmodeus held one more betrayal in store for him. The story goes that Geryon, bewildered and stunned, lost all hope for the future. He began to question the purpose of his actions and, in a moment of weakness, even the point of his own existence. It was then that Asmodeus struck. The ruler of the Nine Hells had always hungered for the souls of those who had lost their faith, and Geryon’s powerful soul made a fine meal.

Special Requirement: Geryon answers the calls of only those summoners who show an understanding of the relationship between souls and the planes. Thus, you must be proficient in either Religion or Arcana to summon him.

Manifestation: Geryon arrives in a flash of sickly green light. A strange conglomeration of forms, his body resembles three ogre mages standing with their backs to each other and melded into one being. He has three legs, each with two feet, and three arms, each with two hands. Three brutish faces gaze out from equidistant points on a single head, which sits upon a neck jutting upward from three shoulders. One face has a furrowed brow and looks angry, another appears agitated, with wildly rolling eyes, and the third seems thoughtful, often staring into the distance as though thinking of something else.

Geryon speaks from only one of his three faces at any given time, and each of the three has a different personality and voice—a deep voice for the angry face, a babbling, hysterical voice for the agitated one, and a quiet voice for the thoughtful one. All three, however, are Geryon. Whenever his mood changes, Geryon turns his body so that he can speak to his summoner with the face that best represents his feelings at the time.

Sign: Two extra pairs of devilish eyes with green lids and yellow, catlike irises open on your head. Located at the level of your own eyes and equidistant from them, these bloodshot orbs grant you the ability to see all around yourself. Your own eyes take on the same appearance as the new ones.

Influence: While influenced by Geryon, you become overly trusting of and loyal to those you see as allies, even in the face of outright treachery. Because he values trust, if you make an Insight check or use any ability to read thoughts or detect lies, you rebel against Geryon’s influence and incur the normal penalties.

Granted Features: Geryon gives you his eyes and his baleful gaze, as well as the ability to fly.

All-Around Vision: Your extra eyes allow you to look in any direction, granting you advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks. When confronted by a creature with a gaze attack, however, you cannot avert your eyes, though you can still close them. You cannot use this feature if you do not show Geryon’s sign.

See in Darkness: You can see perfectly in mundane and magical darkness to a distance of 120 feet. You cannot use this feature if you do not show Geryon’s sign.

Acidic Gaze: The gaze of your devilish eyes can cause foes to erupt with acid. At the start of your turn, each hostile creature within 30 feet of you that can see you must make a Wisdom saving throw, taking 1d6 acid damage on a failed save. A creature is also subjected to this effect if they enter its area. Opponents can avert or close their eyes to protect themselves.

You can also use your action to focus your gaze on a target creature, forcing them to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 3d6 acid damage, plus 1d6 acid damage for every 5 binder levels you possess beyond 10th. You cannot use this feature if you do not show Geryon’s sign.

Swift Flight: You can use a bonus action to gain a flying speed of 60 feet for one minute. 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.

Otiax, The Key to the Gate

Legend: Otiax is a bit of a conundrum because it seems to have originated outside the known cosmology of the planes. A few sources of pact magic lore refer to some plane or place called the Far Realm, but most offer no explanation of Otiax’s past. Some even posit that Otiax is somehow the key to reaching the Far Realm, but that supposition has more to do with Otiax’s appearance than with any real evidence of its nature. Because Otiax never speaks, it can shed no light on the issue. Binding with it is more a matter of instinct and will than of deliberation.

Manifestation: When Otiax manifests, a locked golden gate appears within its seal. Blue fog curls out in wispy tendrils from between the bars, obscuring what lies beyond. After a moment of silence, some unseen force crashes against the barrier. Then the gate shakes and rattles loudly, as though some creature is desperate to open it. Ragged breathing becomes audible, and the fog swirls around some indistinct yet terrible form. At last the raging stops, and the azure vapor passes through the gate. The sound of the tumblers turning in the lock becomes audible, then the gate creaks open.

Sign: While bound to Otiax, you are surrounded by thin wisps of light blue fog even in the strongest wind.

Influence: Otiax’s motives remain a mystery, but its influence is clear. When confronted with unopened doors or gates, you become agitated and nervous. This emotional state lasts until the door or gate is opened, or until you can no longer see it. Furthermore, Otiax cannot abide a lock remaining secured. Thus, whenever you see a key, Otiax requires that you use it to open the corresponding lock.

Granted Features: Otiax opens doors for you, lets you batter opponents with wind, and cloaks you in a protective fog that can actually lash out at foes.

Air Blast: You can focus the air around you into a concentrated blast that batters opponents. You can use your air blast as a melee spell attack against a creature up to 10 feet away. This attack deals 2d6 points of bludgeoning damage, and you use your Charisma modifier for the attack and damage rolls.

If you can make more than one attack in a turn, such as through the Extra Attack class feature, you can replace any number of those attacks with an air blast. You can also make opportunity attacks with your air blast. You cannot use this feature if you do not show Otiax’s sign.

Combat Reflexes: Once per turn, you can make an opportunity attack when a creature moves out of your reach (no action required). You may still make an opportunity attack using your reaction if another creature moves out of your reach, but you cannot make two opportunity attacks against the same creature.

Open Portal: At will as a bonus action, you can open (but not close) a door, chest, box, window, bag, pouch, bottle, barrel, or other container, as long as it is within 10 feet per binder level you possess.

This feature cannot be used to open secured containers, or locked doors. If you attempt to open an object that has some mechanism that bars entry or prevents access, nothing happens.

Unlock: As an action, you can unlock a single lock that you can touch, provided that its DC is less than or equal to your binder level plus your Charisma modifier. For example, a 10th-level binder with a Charisma score of 20 can use this feature to open any lock with a DC of 15 or lower. This feature grants you no protection from any traps that might be associated with the lock.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain any expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Concealing Mist: You can use a bonus action to whip the mist that constantly surrounds you into a concealing screen that grants you half cover for one minute. You cannot use this cover to hide, but otherwise gain the full benefits of half cover. Thus, you have a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. As normal, if you would benefit from different degrees of cover, only the most protective degree of cover applies. You cannot use this feature if you do not show Otiax’s sign.

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.

Tenebrous, The Shadow That Was

Legend: The great demon lord Orcus has long sought divinity. Some years ago, for a brief period, he actually attained it. Slain and resurrected by a surge of negative energy, the corpulent demon arose as the gaunt Tenebrous, a god of darkness and undeath. For a time he traveled the planes in this form, slaying other gods in his quest to gain more power. His ultimate goal was to reincarnate himself yet again because he wished to be a god as Orcus, not Tenebrous. Some say he was thwarted by a band of mortal heroes, but whatever the cause, his grand plan failed. Orcus did indeed rise again, but as the demon prince he once was, not as a god. True divinity can never fade completely. The tatters of godly power that Orcus shed remained intact. Less than a god but still divine, this bit of essence drifted in the void between planes until it once more coalesced into a bitter sentience. Thus, Tenebrous yet exists as a pale reflection of what he once was, a shadow of a shadow.

Special Requirement: You must draw Tenebrous’s seal at night or in an area of deep shadow with little or no daylight exposure.

Manifestation: Upon completion of the rite to summon Tenebrous, the summoner’s shadow shifts to fall across the seal. Even if the rite occurs in complete darkness, the shadow is visible as a darker spot in the blackness. Once the shadow crosses into the seal, an inky humanoid form—impossibly gaunt, holding its limbs at disjointed angles—rises from it. The voice of Tenebrous is a whisper in the wind, almost impossible to hear, yet laden with unmistakable meaning.

Sign: You seem to be standing in shadow even on the brightest day. Furthermore, your own shadow never extends more than a few feet from your body, even if the ambient light suggests that it should be much longer. This effect does not grant you concealment.

Influence: While influenced by Tenebrous, you are filled with a sense of detachment and an aching feeling of loss and abandonment. Tenebrous requires that you never be the first to act in combat. If your initiative check result is the highest, you must delay until someone else takes a turn.

Granted Features: Tenebrous grants you power over undead and shadows, and the ability to chill your foes to the bone.

See in Darkness: You can see perfectly in mundane and magical darkness to a distance of 120 feet.

Deeper Darkness: You can use your action to cloak an area in shadows, as the darkness spell, with the following exceptions. The effect is always centered on you, it casts shadowy illumination in a 20-foot radius, and you can shift the range of the emanation up or down (within the normal range) up to 10 feet as a bonus action. The normal range of the sphere increases by 5 feet for every five binder levels you possess beyond 10th (up to a 30-foot radius 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.

Touch of the Void: As a bonus action, you can charge your attacks with cold energy. Your melee and ranged attacks deal an extra 1d6 cold damage on hit, plus 1d6 cold damage for every five binder levels you possess beyond 10th (up to 3d6 cold damage at 20th level). This effect lasts until the start of your next turn.

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.

Turn Undead: As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the dodge action.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Vessel of Emptiness: As a bonus action, you can become a vessel of emptiness for a number of turns equal to your binder level. When you activate this feature, and as a bonus action on each of your turns while this feature is active, you can teleport to an unoccupied space within 10 feet for every three binder levels you possess (to a maximum of 60 feet at 18th level).

Additionally, when you are targeted by an attack while you are a vessel of emptiness, you can use your reaction to teleport. If you use your reaction to teleport, roll any die; on an odd result, the triggering attack proceeds as normal, and on an even result, the attack automatically misses. If you use a bonus action to teleport on your turn, you are unable to use your reaction to teleport until the start of your next turn.

You can use this feature once per day, increasing to two uses of this feature at 11th level, and three uses of this feature at 17th level. You regain all expended uses when you complete a long rest.

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