Death Incarnate (5e Class)

Death 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 the presence of an elf, walking between people, swaying in such a way that none notice her existence. Unnoticed by anyone, she strikes the back of a bailiff's head, killing him instantly, and walks behind a lamp, not emerging from the other side.

Druids gather in forest, deciding to hit the nearby city with death and disease. Humans from that kingdom fought in this 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 holy ground. One of druids drops his hood, showing his deathly visage, silencing the heartbeats of everyone present.

Two days after the massacre on the yellow plains, an orc chieftain leads his army to an old stone bridge, the only one leading to the island of Rul, populated by halflings. When approaching the bridge's entrance, he and all of his men hear a song in an old, forgotten language. Walking towards them is a tattooed man, his body dressed only in metal chains, wrapping around him. With an axe in his hand, and a metal skull for his face, he faces off with an army of orcs invading his home, who are now chilled to the bone - a sensation they haven't felt before, even when clashing with opposing armies.

The demon clad in iron, a skull for his face, makes three more steps. A dwarf, iron in his blood, strikes three more tones with his violin. The rest of them dance and play accordingly, never leaving the circle, never speeding, nor slowing down. Beyond steel skies, under sigil ceiling they dance. They bring back one of their fallen, whose body was killed and soul destroyed on this world, deemed by him unworthy to still exist. He destroyed it, and paid the 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 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 millennia, 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 in-between. 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 peaceful 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.

Indifferent one from the other, all Death 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 ambiguous 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 the metal they so 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 can qualify, because only mind can catch what is beyond the scope 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 perceive, 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 Incarnate

Second. The same as you. Source:[[1]]

When creating Death incarnate you must ask yourself a few questions, and pay attention to those: can your character do things that are right, no matter the cost? Can they step down with dignity when their time comes, and simply leave? Are they able to hold their hand from interfering into every little thing just because they can? If you can say yes to those questions, then congratulations, your character will be an excellent death incarnate. Now ask yourself this: why does your character even live? For them death is just .. a word. They do not have the natural will to live, yet they still persist. Find their reason - their dead to bring back, goal to accomplish, to be an epitome of something, and live to the fullest. Their reason is what defines their existence, their pride and fulfillment. To take their reason away from them, or from any other of their kin, is an unspeakable form of offense, the only one to ever be capable of truly shaking the core of one’s being.

Quick Build

You can make a Death incarnate quickly by following these suggestions. First, constitution should be your highest ability score, followed by strength or dexterity, depending on chosen weapon and armor. Second, choose the hermit background. Third, choose Athletics and Arcana for your skills.

Class Features

As a Death incarnate you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10 per Death incarnate level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + Constitution modifier per Death incarnate level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light, medium and heavy armor
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: One type of artisan’s tools and one instrument
Saving Throws: Constitution, Strength
Skills: Choose two from animal handling, Athletics, Acrobatics, Nature, Religion, Arcana, Perception, Intimidation

Equipment

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

• (a) one simple or martial weapon, and two javelins or (b) two simple or martial weapons or (c) one simple or martial ranged weapon and 20 arrows or bolts
• (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.

Table: The Death incarnate

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1st	+2	Visage of The End,One of the Numbers
2nd	+2	Death feature
3rd	+2	Omen of Undeath
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement
5th	+3	Extra attack
6th	+3	Death feature
7th	+3	Steps between the strings,Omen of Undeath improvement
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	Death feature
10th	+4	Magic Conduit
11th	+4	Broken body
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	Full Armament, Omen of Undeath improvement
14th	+5	Death feature
15th	+5	Death feature
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	Call of the Other Side
18th	+6	Death 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. You can manifest a visage covering your face or entire head, in most circumstances it is a skull-shaped face cover with dark eye sockets, but others(like mettalic ash covering your face etc.) are possible.

You can cover your face with your visage in any circumstances, for example materializing it from thin air, no action required. Any creature will hear an errie ringing when looking at your mask. Your visage cannot be forcibly removed from you as long as you live, and death incarnates usually use this class' features with the mask on their face.

When you have your visage on your face, you have advantage on death saving throws. Additionally, if you succeed on all three death saving throws, you regain one hit point.

If a feature from this class calls for a saving throw, it's DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your constitution modifier.

One of the Numbers

Even though impossible to describe why, every Death incarnate has a number. That number is always a prime number, and does not mean anything to normal men, not order of age, power or knowledge. Pick your number, but Second is already taken. While wearing your visage you can communicate mentaly with other incarnates you know regardless of distance if they are one the same plane of existence as you. This allows you to call into the void to ask for knowledge, and others like you can answer. When making an ability check, you can add a bonus to that roll equal to your proficiency bonus. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Death

At 2nd level, you chose a Death type. Choose between Death of Individual, Death of Many, Death of Foes, Death of Ignorance and All-Death, 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, and learned to benefit from that. As an action you can show your visage to every creature you choose within 15 feet of you. If creature can see you it must succed on wisdom saving throw a or become frightened of you for 1 minute. The frightened creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Additionally, you gain d4 temporary hit points for every creature that fails this saving throw, up to the number of dice equal to your proficiency modifier.You can use this feature twice, 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 are in lightly, heavily obscured or unobserved area, you can use 5 feet of your movement to dissapear and appear in another lightly, heavily obscured or unobserved area within 60 feet. After that, until your turn ends you have advantage on all attack rolls. You must know or have seen the place you teleport to. When you use this feature two times you cannot do so until you finish a long rest, regaining all expended uses.

Omen of Undeath improvement

Your power grows. Starting from 7th level when you use your Omen of Undeath feature its range increases to 30 feet.

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 a casting of a spell, you can force a caster to make charisma saving throw. If the caster fails, you force that spell to target you instead. You use the caster's spellcasting ability and spell save DC for determining the effects. If this spell has an area of effect, center of this area is your person. If the spell targets select number of creatures instead of an area, you are the only target. 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 can use this feature twice between long rests starting at 15th level.

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 item you carry, provided that they do not encumber you, vanish and reappear on you and like your visage they cannot be forcibly taken away from you as long as you live. You cannot hide items that are or create extradimensional spaces in that way.

Omen of Undeath improvement

You flow through reality, you are one of many, all that is alive fears you. Starting at 13th level when you use your Omen of Undeath feature, creatures that fail your saving throw take psychic damage equal to your level in this class, or half as much if they succeed. Additionally, you gain d4 temporary hit points for every creature that is affected by this feature, regardless of if it makes its saving throw or not, but the number of dice still cannot exceed your proficiency bonus.

Call of the Other Side

You personify the neverending cycle beyond comprehension. All, alive or dead instinctively fear your power. Starting from 17th level, when you use your Omen of Undeath feature you instead use d6 for determining temporary hit points you get. Additionaly, if you roll initiative and have no uses of Omen of Undeath feature, you regain one use. Finally, you stop aging, you become immune to spells or effects that would forcibly change your age, and you do not need to eat, drink or breathe to live.

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 material components of it. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Once used, you cannot cast it again until 7 days have passed.

Death

Death of Individual

You are the death of individuals. You come for young people running away from you, you come to old people, awaiting you at the doorstep. You face those who deny natural cycle its right, and drag them where they belong. Six feet under.

Source of Empathy

Starting from 2nd level, you can touch a creature as an action and learn:

• spells it is under, if any,
• Curses afflicting it, if any,
• diseases it has, if any,
• if it will die from natural causes or from the above ones in month's time.

I Came For You

Starting from 2nd level, you can use your bonus action to mark a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. That creature cannot regain hit points as long as it is marked. The mark lasts for one hour or until you mark another creature or become incapacitated.

Let It Go

Beginning at 6th level, once on your turn when you hit a creature that is marked by you, you can impose one of the following effects on that target:

• It must succeed on a intelligence saving throw or have its AC reduced by two until the end of its next turn.
• It must succeed on a wisdom saving throw or have a -2 to next saving throw it makes until the end of its next turn.
• It has its speed reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.

Come With Me

You come swiftly, and wait patiently. Starting at 9th level, if a marked creature subject you to a spell or effect that have duration longer than one turn, you can choose to end it at the end of your next turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Do Not Run

You must know how to remind others that it is futile to run. Starting at 14th level You can use your Steps between the strings feature to teleport behind the creature you have marked, regardless of if you will be seen or obscured before or after the usage, and range for this teleportation increases to 300 feet.

All Others Fallen

Sending others to the other side is a blessing for you. Starting at 15th level, when creature you have marked is reduced to 0 hit points, you can choose to regain hit points equal to your level in this class. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

And So Will You

None can look Death in the eyes and not look away. Beginning at 18th level, you can use your bonus action to transform, sprouting deathly wings that give you flying speed equal to your walking speed. For one minute you can use your action to make three attacks, and while transformed the creature you have marked have disadvantage on saving throws if it can see you. You cannot use this ability again until you finish a long rest.

Death of Many

You are the death of every finite quantity, be it death of crops, settlements, vermin. You bear witness to tsunami claiming for the sea what was denied it for so long, you see fires that burn away entire nations. You could step in to stop it. But it is so cozy on this mountain of ash, isn't here?

Scare the Masses

You have a knack for scaring people, the more the better. Starting at 2nd level, you have advantage on Intimidation skill checks, if you try to intimidate more than one creature.

Windmill

Starting at 2nd level, you can reshape protective layer of your armor to strike foes beyond your reach. Reach of all your meele attacks increases by 5 feet.

Scare them Away

When life flows away, one capable may drink from it. Beginning at 6th level when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack, you can deal psychic damage equal to your proficiency bonus to all other creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you.

All of Them

Your strength seeps from you, you just need to unleash it. Starting at 9th level, you can use your action to make a melee attack against every creature of your choice within 30 feet of you. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Unbreakable Body

Why wear armor, when you are like a slab of iron? Starting at 14th level, damage reduction from your Broken body feature now increases by your constitution modifier each time you are hit with an attack. This bonus resets at the start of each of your turns.

Afflict the Masses

The dreadful, aspect of your being gets massively stronger. Starting at 15th level, when you use your Omen of Undeath feature its range increases to 90 feet, and you can use it three times between long rests.

Doombringer

At 18th level your power surges through your body, waiting to be unleashed. Using your bonus action you can transform, sprouting deathly wings that give you flying speed equal to your walking speed. For 1 minute you are proficient in all saving throws, and each creature which starts its turn within 10 feet of you or hits you with a melee attack takes 3d10 fire damage. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.

Death of Foes

You are a Death to those selected few who stand in your way. Others, if you so choose, you can save from this destiny.

Modesty

Life dwelling in yourself is like no other, cold, alien. Starting from 2nd level you gain proficiency with Medicine skill. If you are already proficient then your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses this skill.

I Will Protect You

Starting from 2nd level, when you can see a friendly creature within 30 feet of you about to take damage, you can use your reaction to magically take the damage instead of the friendly creature. Your damage resistances and features apply as normal for this damage, reducing it if they are applicable.

Tied by the Strings

You veave the reality to protect those that must live. Beginning at 6th level, When you take the dodge action on your turn, you can choose a number of creatures equal to half your proficiency bonus(rounded down) within 30 feet of you. Those creatures gain the benefit of dodge until the beggining of each of their turns.

Share Your Life

When there is need, you can siphon vitality from others to boolster the ones you care about. Starting at 9th level when you hit a creature with an attack, you can heal another creature within 30 feet of you for the damage dealt. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Ghastly Encouragement

Not only fear freezes one in place, it can also boolster one to fight. Beginning at 14th level when you use your Omen of Undeath feature, each friendly creature caught in the effect also gains temporary hit points.

You Dare

Beginning at 15th level you can use your Magic Conduit feature to make the caster the target of the spell if the caster fails the saving throw.

I Decide

Your power can manifest through you in most rule-defiling way. When you reach 18th level you can use your bonus action to transform, sprouting deathly wings that give you flying speed equal to your walking speed. This transformation lasts for one minute or until you drop to 0 hit points, and when a creature friendly to you drops to 0 hit points or is killed while within 30 feet of you, they live at 1 hit point instead. If a friendly creature with 0 hit points enter 30 foot range around you, they immediately regain one hit point and can use their reaction to stand up. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.

Death of Ignorance

You are a Death of stupidity. You end all that is unknown, you slice through the lack of understandement, you bring forth the knowledge and lore.

Eternal Student

At 2nd level you can choose two skills or tools in which you do not have proficiency. You gain proficiency in those skills or tools. Additionally, if you are crafting items, you expend only half of needed resources and need only half of the normal time.

Quick to Act

Not only wisdom, but also instinct guides you. Starting at 2nd level you can add your proficiency modifier to your initiative rolls.

I Know

Your knowledge sometimes acts on its own, just like independent being trying to help you. Starting at 6th level you can attune and use any item, ignoring its class or alignment restrictions. Additionally, you can break your attunement to the item as a bonus action, removing any detrimental effects or curses that it imposed on you.

Look Inside

Their eyes are the window to their very souls. Starting at 9th level you can use your bonus action to look into a creature's soul. As a part of this bonus action you can silently speak its deepest sin. If the creature can hear you, it must succed on a charisma saving throw or become paralyzed until the end of its next turn. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Omniknowledge

Your being overflows with eldrith wisdom, and sometimes it shows. Starting at 14th level You can use your One of the Numbers feature to add a bonus to any roll you make that uses your proficiency bonus, and you can use it a number of times equal to twice your proficiency bonus between rests.

Denied

You know every little secret covering the veil of creation. Starting at 15th level when you hit a creature with an attack roll, you can forgo dealing damage and instead force it to make charisma saving throw. On a failed save, you can do one of the following:

• Break the creature's concentration on a spell
• Dispel one spell effect affecting the creature
• break attunement to one random item the creature is attuned to

Fateweaver

You bend reality to your will, you exploit it to further your goals. At 18th level, at the start of your turn you can choose to transform, sprouting deathly wings that give you flying speed equal to your walking speed. For the next minute you have truesight out to a range of 120 feet, and make attack rolls, skill checks and saving throws with advantage. When you use this feature you cannot do so until you finish a long rest.

All-Death

Where others envelope an aspect of death, you are an extension of concept itself. You bring death in its purest form, while being resistant to it all the more, and capable of calling it to your side.

Neverending

Many tried to bring you to the end, many failed. Beginning at 2nd level you become immune to any spell or effect that would instantly kill you in any way, reduce your ability scores or hit points maximum.

Bane of Impermanent Beings

Aura of entropic energies follow you wherever you go, heralding doom for any real life. Beginning at 2nd level, when a creature other than undead hits you with an attack, it suffers disadvantage on any other attack it makes against you until the beginning of its next turn. .

The Dead Rise

But a word from your mouth is enough to rip reality open and allow necrotic energies to seep through. Starting at 6th level, you can use your action to cast Summon Undead without any components and without expending a spell slot. When you do so, the spell is cast at a level equal to your proficiency bonus, and its duration changes to concentration, up to 24 hours. When you use this feature you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Permanence of Being

Your body moves on its own, guided by the invisible strings of fate. Starting at 9th level, when you make a saving throw, you can use your Constitution modifier in place of any other ability score modifier.

Flood of Domination

Beginning at 14th level, when you use your Omen of Undeath feature, each hostile undead creature that fails its saving throw become Charmed by you for one minute, instead of becoming frightened. While charmed in this way, undead fall under your control and obey your verbal commands (no action required by you). Additionally, each friendly undead caught in the effect of this feature gain temporary hit points equal to your level in this class. Creatures charmed by this feature repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on success.

Extinction Event

Beginning at 15th level, as a bonus action you can choose a point within 30 feet of yourself. A 30 feet radius area centered on that point turns colorless, cracking with necrotic energy for the next minute. While within that area, you are resistant to necrotic damage, and using your Steps between the strings feature inside neither expends its uses nor requires you to be obscured or unobserved to use it. Additionally, all undead under your control within this area have the ability to use your Steps between the strings feature. When you use this feature you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Reaper

When you reach 18th level you can use your bonus action to transform, sprouting bone wings that give you flying speed equal to your walking speed. For the next minute your weapon attacks deal an additional 2d8 necrotic damage. Additionally, when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points while in this form, the creature is desintegrated, its soul destroyed, and you gain one of the following benefits of your choice:

• You regain a spent use of your The Dead Rise feature
• You regain a spent use of your Extinction Event feature
• You regain a spent use of your Omen of Undeath feature
• You regain four of your spent hit dice.

When you use this feature you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Death incarnate class, you must meet these prerequisites: Strength 13 and Constitution 13

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Death incarnate class, you gain the following proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools and one instrument, heavy armor

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