Plaguebearer (5e Class)
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This page is incomplete and/or lacking flavor. Reason: no features at 10th level
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Plaguebearer[edit]
A mysterious doctor walks into town one day, wearing typical plague doctor clothes. The locals, desperate for medical help, accept his supposed aid. However, instead of herbs, he carried a deadly plague in his mask, as well as inside his medicine, ruining all of the crops in the town and causing an incurable famine. A crazed maniac enters an encampment, and in minutes, the place is overrun with a horrible plague that kills within seconds, spreading death like wildfire. A shady vendor enters a town, selling snake oil. Seeing how wonderfully it cures ailments, the town buys it en masse, but soon, everyone is attacking one another out of suspicion, and waging war within the town. All of these represent the incredible power a Plaguebearer can bring. While they lean towards being Chaotic and Neutral, they come in all forms, some using their plague to wipe out fiends and evil persons, others simply spreading it wherever they can to create chaos and suffering.
Creating a Plaguebearer[edit]
Class Features
As a Plaguebearer you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per Plaguebearer level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + Constitution modifier per Plaguebearer level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: Light Armor
Weapons: Simple Weapons
Tools: Poisoner's Kit
Saving Throws: Constitution, Intelligence
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Arcana, Perception and History.
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- A Quarterstaff
- Leather Armor
- A small, magical vial containing your plague
- (a) Explorer's Pack or (b) Dungeoneer's Pack
- If you are using starting wealth, you have a small pouch containing 10 gp in funds.
| Level | Proficiency Bonus |
Features | Plague Damage Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Plague | 1d4 |
| 2nd | +2 | Plague Evolution | 1d4 |
| 3rd | +2 | Contamination | 1d4 |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d4 |
| 5th | +3 | Enhanced Plague | 1d6 |
| 6th | +3 | Plague Evolution Feature | 1d6 |
| 7th | +3 | Boils | 1d6 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d6 |
| 9th | +4 | Pillars of Infection | 1d8 |
| 10th | +4 | - | 1d8 |
| 11th | +4 | Enhanced Contamination | 1d8 |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d8 |
| 13th | +5 | Plague Evolution Feature | 1d10 |
| 14th | +5 | Dormant Plague | 1d10 |
| 15th | +5 | Hardened Plague | 1d10 |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d10 |
| 17th | +6 | Plagued Lungs | 1d12 |
| 18th | +6 | Miasma | 1d12 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d12 |
| 20th | +6 | Plague Evolution Feature | 1d12 |
Plague[edit]
Starting at 1st level, inside of your magical vial is a horrid plague, which takes the form of a dark green gas. Whether made by a freak magical accident, collected after another Plaguebearer had their way with a town, or crafted after years of extensive research, it isn’t easy to use your plague. The vial itself cannot be destroyed by any means (other than the Wish spell) and returns to your pocket/bag after completing a short or long rest if you lost it. To open the vial and release your plague, you can use a bonus action and target a creature within 30 feet of you, they make a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your Proficiency bonus. If they fail, the plague shows symptoms, giving the Poisoned condition and dealing acid damage equal to the Plague Damage Die section of the Plaguebringer table at the beginning of each of their turns. You can force this damage on all infected creatures as an action on your turn. You can open the vial and release your plague a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). You can gain another use of your plague as an action by cutting yourself with a dagger (attack action), or other bladed object, and dripping your blood into the vial, feeding your plague. You regain expended uses at the end of a short or long rest, and your number of uses cannot exceed your maximum. Your plague cannot infect any creature you do not wish it to, and doesn’t affect any creature you consider an ally, but can still infect them. Both the plague and the condition/damage it causes ignores immunities, but are still affected by resistances. A creature remains infected for 1 minute, and can regain it when that minute has passed. Infection cannot stack.
Plague Evolution[edit]
Starting at 2nd level, you chose an evolution path. Choose between Famine, Death and War, all detailed at the end of the class description. The color of your plague changes as well, going from dark green to light brown, dark gray or bright red respectively. Your choice grants you features at 2nd level, and again at 6th, 13th and 20th level.
Contamination[edit]
Starting at 3rd level, your plague has gone airborne as opposed to not spreading at all. Creatures that come within or start their turn within 5 feet of a creature that is infected with your plague must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your Proficiency bonus. If they fail, they are also infected with your plague and gain all of it’s negative effects. This feature does not apply to creatures who are killed while having the plague.
Ability Score Improvement[edit]
Starting at 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.
Enhanced Plague[edit]
Starting at 5th level, your plague has become even deadlier by evolution. You now add your Intelligence modifier to your plague’s damage (minimum of 1).
Pillars of Infection[edit]
Starting at 6th level, you and your fellow party members are contaminated with your plague. You and your party members are immune to all of its effects, but are considered infected for the sake of Contamination. You also gain immunity to Poison damage and the Poisoned/Diseased condition.
Enhanced Contamination[edit]
Starting at 7th level, your plague has become lighter and more easily able to survive in the air. Contamination now has a reach of 10 feet instead of 5.
Boils[edit]
Starting at 7th level, Whenever an infected creature is hit with an attack, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC 8 + Intelligence + Proficiency. If they fail, the boils on their body burst like balloons, forcing each creature you wish to infect within 20 feet of them to make a Constitution saving throw equal to 8 + your Intelligence Modifier + your Proficiency bonus. If they fail, they are infected with your plague.
Dormant Plague[edit]
Starting at 14th level, when you open your vial to infect a creature, you can make your plague have no effect on them. If you do, they do not make the constitution saving throw. They are not affected by any ill effects of your plague, but they can spread it via Contamination.
Morphing Plague[edit]
At 15th level, your talent for evolution has allowed you to take on a higher form with the aid of your plague. Using your entire Turn, you combine with your nearby plagueling to temporarily transform into a new being. In this new form, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to that of your plagueling's current Hit Points, taking all of the Traits it has obtained so far and gain the ability to use your plagueling's attacks.
While you have Temporary Hit Points from this feature, you can maintain this form as long as you want but, once you lose your Temporary Hit Points, your new form ends after a number of rounds equal to for 2 + Intelligence Modifier. You may choose to use your Turn in order to end the effects and revert to your normal form early. If you become unconscious while in this form, the effect immediately ends and you and your companion becomes unconscious.
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Hardened Plague[edit]
Starting at 16th level, your plague has hardened and is more easily able to infect and survive. The saving throw DC against being infected by its plague is now 12 + Intelligence + Proficiency.
Plagued Lungs[edit]
Starting at 17th level, your plague has become a part of your body. As a bonus action, you can exhale a massive amount of plague, which attempts to infect any creature in a 5 ft. x 20 ft. line (see Plague for infection rules). You can do this a number of times per long rest equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1).
Miasma[edit]
Starting at 18th level, your plague has started to rot it’s host before they even die. Whenever a creature infected with your plague takes an action or bonus action, they must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + your Intelligence modifier + your Proficiency bonus. If they fail, they take 3d6 Acid damage. This damage ignores immunities and is affected by Enhanced Plague.
Famine Plague[edit]
This evolution path focuses on exhausting your opponent and even ending the battle before it can begin.
- Hunger
Starting when you choose this evolution path at 2nd level, it starves its host, making them unable to digest food. Creatures who host your plague gain a point of exhaustion at the beginning of each of their turns, but this effect can give no more than 4 points of exhaustion. This effect ignores immunities.
- Food Rot
Starting at 6th level, your plague has evolved to get into food supplies. Whenever it infects a creature, any non-magical consumable it touches or consumes, such as crops or dried meat, is infected with the plague, thus making it unable to cure exhaustion. The plague can survive on food for up to 24 hours.
- Starvation
Starting at 13th level, the hosts of your plague are starved even more than they once were. Your plague can now give up to 6 Exhaustion levels, but the host only gains a 5th and 6th level after 3 hours of having the plague.
- True Famine
Starting at 20th level, your plague has perfected it’s Famine properties. Your plague can now infect any consumable, magical or not, and completely negate any magical properties it once had. It can also render soil unusable, even through magical means.
Death Plague[edit]
This evolution path focuses on killing your enemies as swiftly as possible, and spreading death as well as your plague.
- Necrosis
Starting when you choose this evolution path at 2nd level, your plague has decided to go overboard on killing. Your plage now does an additional die of damage equal to the Plague Damage Dice section of the Plagebearer table as Necrotic damage (I.E. at 2nd level, the host takes 1d4 Acid and an additional 1d4 Necrotic damage at the beginning of each of their turns). Enhanced Plague affects this damage.
- Desecrated Infection
Starting at 6th level, your plague has started to use the dead bodies of its hosts as a hub. Contamination now applies to corpses who perished while infected by the plague. The plague remains on them until the 24 hour timer is up (I.E. if the target died after 1 hour of being infected, the plague would linger for 23 hours). Burning the corpses or cleaning them through magical means can end this effect early.
- Deathly Epidemic
Starting at 13th level, your plague has begun to ravage entire encampments on its own. Whenever a creature infected with your plague dies, a creature within 10 feet of it is automatically infected. This effect cannot trigger twice for the same instance of plague (I.E. if a person dies with it, infects someone, then that someone dies, it can’t be forced on someone again).
- True Death
Starting at 20th level, your plague has perfected it’s Death properties. Necrosis now deals 2d12 Necrotic damage, and any host of your plague is unable to heal through any means.
War Plague[edit]
This evolution path focuses on causing mass chaos and confusion, turning brother against brother and causing an all-out war.
- Suspicion
Starting when you choose this evolution path at 2nd level, your plague attempts to corrupt the minds of those it infects. Whenever a creature is successfully infected, it must make a Wisdom saving throw with a DC of 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your Proficiency bonus. If it fails, it regards all creatures around it as hostile, in or out of combat. This lasts until the plague is removed from their body and is not affected by immunities.
- Mass Paranoia
Starting at 6th level, your plague has learned to hitchhike on its host's violence. While a creature is affected by Suspicion, whenever they strike another creature with an attack, that creature must make a saving throw against being infected by your plague (see Plague for specifics). If they fail, they are infected, and must make a saving throw against Suspicion. In addition, Suspicion has a saving throw DC of 12 + your Intelligence modifier + your Proficiency bonus.
- War's Champion
Starting at 13th level, your plague can take the reins of creatures. Whenever your plague successfully infects a creature and they are affected by Suspicion, you can choose to have complete control over that creature during their turn as long as they are infected. You can only control one creature at a time, and you can only take control of a creature a number of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1).
- True War
Starting at 20th level, your plague has perfected it’s War properties. You can now use War’s Champion a number of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier plus three (minimum of 1), and creatures have disadvantage on a saving throw made against Suspicion.
Multiclassing[edit]
Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Plaguebearer class, you must meet these prerequisites: 13 Intelligence
Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Plaguebearer class, you gain the following proficiencies: Poisoner's Kit
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