Spirit Commander, Variant (5e Class)

Spirit Commander

Command armies of ghosts from the rear or from the frontlines of battle.

Leaders and Rulers

Many legendary heroes form bonds with one another that last a lifetime. Some last far longer than that. A Spirit Commander is an individual whose comrades never abandoned them, even after death. They range from inspiring captains or generals, beloved by their men, to kings whose subjects swore an oath that binds them even after death, to powerful beings who have forcibly bound the souls of the dead to their service. At other times, the subordinates may not yet be dead, but merely reside on a different plane, ready for action at a moment's notice. Perhaps the subordinates are sent from a deity to assist the Spirit Commander in their tasks.

Regardless of how their subordinates came to be, a Spirit Commander is a skilled leader, able to employ the skills of both their subordinates and allies to their maximum potential.

Creating a Spirit Commander

A Spirit Commander Calls upon her Spirit Mentor for Protection

Quick Build

You can make a Spirit Commander quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the Mystic background. Third, choose a Quarterstaff, 2 Daggers, Shortbow and a Quiver of 20 arrows

Class Features

As a Spirit Commander you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d6 per Spirit Commander level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + Constitution modifier per Spirit Commander level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: Choose one from Calligrapher's supplies, Cartographer's tools, or Painter's supplies
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth, and Survival

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) one simple melee weapon or (b) 2 daggers
• (a) one simple weapon and a Gaming Set or (b) one martial weapon you must be proficient with from your race or background
• (a) a shortbow and a quiver of 20 arrows or (b) a light crossbow and a quiver of 20 crossbow bolts
• leather armor and a dagger

Table: The Spirit Commander

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	—Spell Slots per Spell Level—
			1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	+2	Commanding Trait, Subordinate: Advisor	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	Combat Commands	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	Class Archetypes, Spellcasting	2	—	—	—
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	3	—	—	—
5th	+3	Subordinate: Combatant	3	—	—	—
6th	+3	Commanding Trait	3	—	—	—
7th	+3	Combat Commands	4	2	—	—
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	4	2	—	—
9th	+4	Tactical Assessment	4	2	—	—
10th	+4	Subordinate: Mentor	4	3	—	—
11th	+4	Advanced Commands	4	3	—	—
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	4	3	—	—
13th	+5	Combat Commands	4	3	2	—
14th	+5	High Command	4	3	2	—
15th	+5	Commanding Trait	4	3	2	—
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	4	3	3	—
17th	+6	Advanced Commands	4	3	3	—
18th	+6	Subordinate: Specialist	4	3	3	—
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	4	3	3	1
20th	+6	Spirit Ascendant	4	3	3	1

Subordinates

Starting level 1, you have bonded with a spirit Advisor that helps you and guides you in your tasks.

At level 5, you gain the ability to summon spirit warriors to your aid in battle.

At level 10, you gain a Spirit Mentor to guide and protect you in any situation.

At level 18, you can call upon the help of a powerful Specialist Spirit.

Summoning or dismissing one of your bonded spirits is an Action and only one spirit of each type may be summoned at a time.

Subordinates are summoned for 1h before they need to return to being inside your body/soul where they instantly regain the energy to be re-summoned.

Subordinates cannot be more than 120ft away from you.

Subordinates are detailed at the end of the class.

Commanding Trait

At level 1, you choose two Commanding Traits from the following list. These reflect how you and your subordinates operate. You gain two additional traits at 6th level, and two more at 15th level. At any time you may gain a Commanding Trait, you may also exchange one trait for another.

Assassin

Your Advisor loses the Mostly Harmless trait, and adds your proficiency modifier to their Dexterity (Stealth) rolls. If your Advisor hits an enemy with who is unaware of them with an attack, the attack deals an additional 1d6 damage of the same type as the attack for each level of your proficiency modifier. For example, if you had a proficiency modifier of +3, the attack would deal an additional 3d6 damage. This bonus may only be used once, and its use is replenished at the end of a short or long rest.

Berserkers

Your Advisor loses the Mostly Harmless trait. Additionally, all your Advisor and Warrior Subordinates have advantage on all attack rolls made with weapons. A Subordinate that uses the Attack action grants advantage on all attack rolls against them until the start of their next turn.

Arcane Scholar

Your advisor loses the Mostly Harmless trait. Additionally, your advisor can now cast any 2 Cantrips of your choice and knows one 1st level spells and has 1 spell slot that they regain after you finish a short or long rest. This increases to 3 Cantrips and 2 1st level spells for 2 spell slots at level 10.

Coordination

You may summon and un-summon an additional Subordinate at a time, instead of one.

Death Before Dishonor

Your Subordinates are immune to fear and charm effects. Additionally, if a hostile creature is within 10 ft. of you, they gain advantage on all saving throws.

Delegation

Your Advisor gains the ability to issue any Commands you know. Commands issued by your Advisor can only affect your other Subordinates.

From the Front

You gain proficiency in martial weapons and medium and heavy armor. When you choose this Commanding Trait, your hit point maximum increases by an amount equal to your Spirit Commander Level. Whenever you gain a level in Spirit Commander, your hit point maximum increases by an additional 1 hit point.

Night Raid

You and your Subordinates can see in both magical and nonmagical darkness, up to a range of 120 ft.

Quantity Over Quality

Requires Elites

Your Elites have their maximum hit points halved, and suffer a -3 to attack and damage rolls. You summon 6 Elites instead of 3, and can have a maximum of 6 summoned at a time.

Reserves

Requires Elites

You have additional reserves of troops. Reduce the AC value of your Elites by 3. You have 4 reserve Elites. Whenever an Elite is reduced to 0 HP, you may use your reaction to summon one of these reserves. As an action, you may replenish your Elites, summoning as many as you like, up to having your maximum.

Spook

Your Subordinates add your proficiency bonus to any stealth and sleight of hand rolls they make. Additionally, summoning or un-summoning your Subordinates is now silent.

Expanded Summon

You may now summon your Subordinates up to 320ft away from you to any location you have direct line of sight to.

Extended Reach

Your subordinates have no maximum distance they can be from you, you remove the 120ft limitation.

Spirit Phasing

Your subordinates can become immaterial as a bonus action. In this state they cannot attack or deal any damage or be dealt any non-magical damage, they can also pass through solid matter such as wall & ceilings. It takes them an action to become solid again.

Combat Commands

When you reach level 2, your tactical mind allows you to determine how to effectively employ the skills of your allies and Subordinates. Choose 2 Commands from the following list. You gain additional Commands at 7th and 13th level.

Expend Resources

As a reaction to either you or an ally taking damage, you may sacrifice one of your Subordinates within 30ft of the ally to negate that damage.

Fire For Effect

As an action, choose an ally who can hear you. Before the beginning of your next turn, if that ally uses a ranged spell, ability, attack, etc. that would cause one or more enemy creatures to make a Dexterity saving throw, those creatures have disadvantage on that saving throw. Additionally, any effects that would reduce the damage taken from the effect are nullified for the purpose of that effect.

Focus Fire

As an action, choose a creature you can see within 120 ft. Until the beginning of your next turn, attack rolls by you and your Subordiantes against the designated target have advantage.

Reposition

As an action, choose an ally who can hear you. That ally may use their reaction to move up to their move score.

Retreat

As an action, choose an ally who can hear you. That ally may use their reaction to move up to half their move score without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Class Archetype

At level 3, you may choose an Archetype in this class.

Spellcasting

By 3rd level, you have learned to draw on certain magics to cast spells taught to you by the spirits you encounter and speak with through meditation and dreams.

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Spirit Commander table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells. To cast one of your Spirit Commander spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

You prepare the list of Spirit Commander spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the Spirit Commander spell list. When you do so, choose a number of Spirit Commander spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + half your Spirit Commander level rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

For example, if you are a 8th-level Spirit Commander, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a Wisdom of 14, your list of prepared spells can include six spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell cure wounds, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn't remove it from your list of prepared spells.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of Spirit Commander spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

You have access to all the spells of appropriate level from the Wizard Spell list.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your Spirit Commander spells, since your power derives from the connection you have with the realm of spirits. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Spirit Commander spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

    Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

    Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Spellcasting Focus

You can use an Arcane Focus as a spellcasting focus for your Spirit Commander spells.

Ability Score Increase

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.

Tactical Assessment

At level 9, during your first turn during combat, you may use a bonus action to cause all allies who can hear you to move up to half their movement speed. Allies within 30ft of you when initiative is rolled have a +2 bonus to their initiative at the start of combat and for its duration.

Advanced Commands

At level 11, your Combat Commands that take an action to perform now take a bonus actions instead.

You also choose one Advanced Command from this list at levels 11 and 17.

Stand Fast

As an action, call out to all your subordinates to take defensive positions. All your subordinates within 120ft can move 20ft on their turn and have +2 to their AC. This command lasts for 10 minutes or until you spend an action to perform another Advanced Command.

Finish It Now !

As an action, call out to all your subordinates to take offensive positions. All your subordinates within 120ft have +2 to their attack and damage rolls. This command lasts for 10 minutes or until you spend an action to perform another Advanced Command.

High Command

At level 14, you are always fully aware of the status of all allies within 120 ft. You can always be clearly heard by allies you issue orders to. You no longer need to speak to give Commands or any orders to your Subordinates.

Spirit Ascendant

At level 20, you have Truesight 30ft and can become Ethereal at will as a bonus action. You regain physical form as a bonus action. (You have a max use of this equal to your Wis modifier, to use the ability again you must take a short or long rest)

Subordinates

You have a loyal band of followers, who appear when summoned.

You may summon or dismiss one of your Subordinates as an action. This creates a slight noise, audible to 30 ft.

You may only have one Subordinate of each type summoned at a time.

Summoned followers appear in an empty space within 10 feet of you.

If a Subordinate is reduced to 0 hit points, they disappear, and that Subordinate cannot be summoned again until have finished a short or long rest.

Whenever you finish a short or long rest, your Subordinates recover all of their lost hit points.

You decide upon the appearance of your Subordinates when you gain access to them. This cannot be changed later, regardless of how many times a Subordinate is summoned or dismissed. They may be a humanoid race, or the same race as you (DM's discretion). Regardless of appearance, Subordinates have the stats presented here; do not add any modifiers based on their race or appearance.

Spirit Subordinates have Spirit Equipment on them that reflects who they were and how they fought. This equipment is part of their nature and cannot be removed from them.

Subordinates may be only be equipped with equipment requiring attunement. Only 3 such items may be attuned to any given spirit at a time. If dismissed or reduced to 0 hit points, the items they are carrying disappear with them, and reappear when they are summoned again. Attuned objects replace the function of any Spirit Equipment if the given object serves the same function (example : armor).

Subordinates know every language you know.

Note that Spirits do not smell when considering detection by hounds or such.

Subordinate: Advisor

At level 1, your band of loyal followers starts with your Advisor. They take care of whatever business you need them to, from intelligence gathering, to taking care of your weapons and armor, or paperwork.

Advisor

Armor Class: 10 (Clothes of a style you may choose)

Hit Points: 6+(2×your Spirit Commander level)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR: 8 DEX: 10 CON: 8

INT: 16 WIS: 12 CHA: 14

Skills: Stealth +4. Additionally, select two other skills. You Advisor Subordinate gains an additional +4 to rolls when using those skills.

Mostly Harmless: The Advisor cannot use the attack action and has no weapon unless given one to attune to. No more than 3 magical items can be attuned to the Advisor Spirit.

Subordinate: Combatant

At level 5, you are able to bring forth Subordinates who are able to fight for you. Choose either the Champion, the Elites, or Extra Attack. Your choice cannot be changed later.

Extra Attack

When you take the Attack action on your turn, you may attack twice, instead of once.

Champion

Armor class: 16 (Scale Mail +2dex)

Hit points: 6+(4×your Spirit Commander level)

STR: 18 DEX 18 CON: 14

INT: 8 WIS: 10 CHA: 10

Equipment: The Champion is proficient in all weapons and armor. They use your proficiency modifier for their own. The champion wields spirit martial weapons of your choosing unless given an attuned weapon to replace them. No more than 3 magical items can be attuned to the Champion Spirit.

Retaliation Strike: The Champion may use their Reaction to make a melee attack on a creature attacking them.

Elites

Armor Class: 13 (Leather Armor +2dex)

Hit Points: 4+(3×your Spirit Commander level)

STR: 14 DEX: 14 CON: 12

INT: 8 WIS: 8 CHA: 8

Equipment: Elites are proficient in all armor and weapons. Each Elite wields spirit weapons of your choosing unless given an attuned weapon to replace them. No more than 3 magical items can be attuned to each Elite Spirit.

Teamwork: When you summon Elites, 3 of them are summoned. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, any who were reduced to 0 hit points are restored to their full hit points.

Subordinate: Mentor

At level 10, you may summon a Mentor Spirit who buffs you allies and other Subordinates. You choose one Spirit Mentor from the list below. You cannot change this later.

Spellcaster

Armor Class: 12 (Studded Leather)

Hit Points: 4+(3×your Spirit Commander level)

STR: 8 DEX: 10 CON: 12

INT: 16 WIS: 16 CHA: 16

Equipment: The Spellcaster is proficient in light armor and simple weapons. They can also wield wands and such magical items. No more than 3 magical items can be attuned to the Spellcaster Spirit. The Spellcaster wields a spirit quarterstaff unless given an attuned weapon to replace it.

Cantrips : The Spellcaster can cast up to 3 cantrips of your choosing. You choose these cantrips at level 10 and can not change them later.

Spells : The Sepllcaster can knows three 1st level spells, two 2nd level spells, one 3rd level spell and has 5 available spell slots that they recover whenever you finish a short or long rest. Each spell can only be cast at its base level. There are no limitations on the choice of spells apart from spell level, they can be of any school, of any class spell list. You must choose these spells at level 10, they can not be changed later.

General

Armor Class: 16 (Chain Mail)

Hit Points: 8+(4×your Spirit Commander level)

STR: 16 DEX: 16 CON: 16

INT: 10 WIS: 8 CHA: 12

Equipment: The General is proficient in all armor and weapons. They use your proficiency modifier for their own. No more that 3 magical items can be attuned to the Spellcaster Spirit.

Presence of the General : while the general is summoned, all other Spirit Subordinates you have summoned have +2 to their AC, attack, damage, and checks of any kind.

Commander : The general can use any of your Commands or Advanced Commands.

Subordinate: Specialist

At level 18, you gain access to your most powerful Subordinates. You choose one Spirit Specialist from the list below. You cannot change this later.

The Shadow

Armor Class: 17 (Studded Leather +5dex)

Hit Points: 10+(4×your Spirit Commander level)

STR: 16 DEX: 20 CON: 16

INT: 12 WIS: 14 CHA: 14

Equipment: The Shadow is proficient in light armor and all weapons. They use your proficiency modifier for their own. No more that 3 magical items can be attuned to the Shadow Spirit. The shadow wields 2 spirit daggers, one in each hand unless given an attuned weapon to replace them.

Expertise : The shadow has +12 to Stealth checks and makes no sound when it moves.

Sneak Attack : Once per turn, when the Shadow has advantage on an attack roll, they deal bonus damage equal to 4d6. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. The Shadow doesn't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and the Shadow doesn't have disadvantage on the attack roll.

Spells : The Shadow knows 1 Bard Cantrip of your choice, can cast Invisibility on itself at will, and can cast Misty Step, Darkness and Silence up to 3 times per short or long rest each.

Double Attack: The Shadow can attack twice, instead of once, when they take the Attack action during your turn.

The Light

Armor Class: 18 (Full Plate)

Hit Points: 20+(5×your Spirit Commander level)

STR: 20 DEX: 16 CON: 20

INT: 10 WIS: 10 CHA: 16

Equipment: The Light is proficient in all armor and weapons. They use your proficiency modifier for their own. No more that 3 magical items can be attuned to the Light Spirit. The light wields a greatsword while on foot and a lance and shield while mounted, unless either of these was replaced by an attuned weapon.

Mighty Steed : The Light appears riding a Barded Spirit War Horse, wielding their spirit lance and shield while astride their mount.

Spells : The Light knows 1 Cleric Cantrip of your choice, can cast Lesser Restoration at will, and can cast Daylight up to 3 times per short or long rest.

Double Attack: The Light can attack twice, instead of once, when they take the Attack action during your turn.

Class Archetypes

The War Commander

Organized Combat

At level 3, you gain 1 additional Commanding Trait.

Tag Team Tag

At level 6, You have advantage to your attack rolls as long as you have a friendly Spirit (not necessarily one of your Subordinates) within 5ft of a enemy.

Spirit Trainer

At level 14, Your Subordinate Combatants (Elite or Champion) gain a bonus adding up to +4 based on the weapon they are attuned to their attack rolls.

The Spirit Friend

Doubly Advised

At level 3, You may have 2 Advisor spirits summoned at the same time. Any Commanding Trait about your Advisor you might have only affects one of the 2.

Friend of the Not Quite Departed

At level 6, You have +2 to your AC as long as you have a friendly Spirit (not necessarily one of your Subordinates) within 30ft of you.

Phase Alignment

At level 14, All your Subordinate Spirits gain resistance to non-magical damage.

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Spirit Commander class, you must meet these prerequisites: Charisma 13 or more

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Spirit Commander class, you gain the following proficiencies:

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