Shard Knight (5e Subclass)

Shard Knight

Fighter Archetype

Shard knights control a very ancient and forgotten mystical art, the art of crystalmancy. This mystical technique allow its controller to transform souls into magical crystals called soul shards, a powerful arcane fuel with almost infinite energy, that can be used in a variety of ways. These knights use take the martial approach, using the soul energy to empower their weapons, enhance natural abilities and overall exploring the different ways the crystallized souls can be used in combat.

Some see the crystalmancy as a brand of the necromancy, controlling the vital force of deceased creatures, bending souls to their will, but is actually a mix between two disciplines, necromancy and transmutation. The crystallized souls aren't really undead in nature, since they are not nonliving souls tied to the material plane, but rather souls tied to the shard magician. Once a shard is broken, the soul continues its travel through the planar wheel as usual for deceased creatures.

To gather the raw materials necessary to their practice, shard knights will often hunt otherworldly beings and harvest their souls to craft crystals. Some are members of orders or groups devoted to the killing of a particular type of antagonizing entity, like fiends, aberrations and undead, using their own souls against them.

Spiritual Chamber

At 3rd level, you have built a amulet that can contain souls for you to use when crafting shards. When a creature within 30 feet is reduced to 0 hit points, you can capture its essence and create an appropriated shard. You can have a number of shards equal to half your level in this class. You can use a shard to generate magic effects, depending on their type. Each creature type is related to a type of energy. The types of energy are: acid, cold, fire, lighting, necrotic, psychic, radiant and thunder, poison. The shard energy type will be from the same type that creature is immune to. If the creature has more than one immunity, you can choose any of them.

If the creature has no immunity, the shard created will be from the same type of damage type the creature is resistant too. If the creature has more than one resistance, you can choose any of them. If the creature has no resistance or it is a plant, you can purify and release the essence, letting the residual taint of the soul or spirit on the spiritual chamber, generating poison essence.

You can have a maximum number of shards attached to your armor, weapons or shield up to your proficiency bonus. The maximum number of shards you can have at the same time equals half your Fighter level (rounded down, minimum 1).

If you have multiple shards on the same object, you must choose one to be active. Doing so requires you to perform an Use an Object action.

Whenever a shard feature call for a DC, you calculate it as follows: Shard Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.

Charged Strikes. You can spend 10 minutes to attach a shard to a weapon to perform a charged attack. As an Action, you deal its normal damage, plus an additional damage from the shard's type equal to your Charisma modifier against one target within 5 feet. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 damage to the target, and the damage from the shard's type to the other creatures creature increases to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level and 17th level.

Powered Armor. You can spend 10 minutes to attach the shard to a armor or shield. Doing so will protect you against the same type of damage from the shard. You can use your reaction and reduce the damage every time you take damage from the same type of your attached shard. You reduce by an amount equal to 1d8 + your level in this class. You can have only one shard attached to an armor at the same time.

Awakened Shard

At 3rd level, you can use the true power of the shards. You can choose to awaken the true potential of a soul on a shard. Choose one type of creature's soul, from the following: aberration, celestial, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, plant or undead. You have one awakened shard at the same time at 3rd level, gaining an additional one at 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th levels.

Every time you gain a level in this class, you can choose to replace one awakened shard you have for another one. The damage types within parenthesis indicate the type of shard required to create that type of awakened shard. The awakened shards are shown on the "Awakened Shards List" at the end of this subclass description.

Soul Explosion

Beginning at 7th level, when you make one charged attack as an action, you can use your reaction to release a powerful explosion, dealing additional damage equal to 2d6 damage against any creature of your choice within 5 feet.

In addition, now you can attach or remove a shard from your weapon as a bonus action on your turn.

Summon Shard Spirit

Starting at 10th level, you can use the awakened shard to materialize a spiritual construct of the same type of the shard. As an action, choose one of your awakened shards. When you do this, you can summon a creature with a CR 1 or lower, from the same type of the chosen shard. The creature appear in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you and fight for you for 1 minute. While the creature is summoned, you lose access to all benefits of the related Awakened Shard.

The summoned creature is friendly to you and your companions. Roll initiative for the summoned creature, which have its own turn. The creature obey any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to it, the creature will defend itself from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions.

Once you activate the shard in that manner, you can't do it again until you finish a short or a long rest.

Shard Break

At 15th level, you learn how to use the power contained inside the shards to empower yourself. As an action, you can break a shard, releasing its power on yourself or on a creature within 30 feet of you. You can either break a single shard, or a pair of shards in a specific combination, as listed below. When you break a shard, you generate one of the following effects:

Non Awakened. Breaking a non awakened shard will increase the damage of the next attack made by a creature infused with its power by 2d6. The damage type is the same of the broken shard.

Elemental. The affected creature gain resistance to the acid, cold, fire, lighting or thunder damage (choose one) for 1 hour.

Celestial. The affected creature gain the effects of sanctuary for 10 minutes.

Undead. The affected creature You can break this shard over a corpse or a pile of bones as an action, causing it to reanimate as if it was target by the animate dead spell.

Draconic. The affected creature gain wings, and gain flight movement speed of 20 feet.

Aberrant. The affected creature exudes an aura of fear of 30 feet, and any creature within 10 feet of it is frightened for 1 minute.

Fey. The first creature who look at the affected creature within 10 minutes becomes charmed for 1 hour.

Fiend. The affected creature is engulfed in flames for 1 hour. The first successful attack within the duration against the affected creature deal 1d8 fire damage and 1d8 necrotic damage back to the attacker.

Non Awakened + Non Awakened (different types). For 10 minutes, the creature weapon attacks deal additional 2d4 additional damage. Each d4 is from one of the damage types represented by the shard.

Non Awakened + Non Awakened (same types). For 10 minutes, the affected creature weapon attacks deal additional 1d4 additional damage, from the type of the shards. In addition, you gain +1 on attack and damage rolls with a particular weapon.

Elemental + Any. For 10 minutes, the affected creature gain immunity to the damage type of the broken non awakened shard.

Celestial + Radiant. For 1 hour, the affected creature regain 4d6 hit points and gain the effects of protection from evil and good.

Undead + Necrotic. You can break this shard over a corpse or a pile of bones as an action, causing it to reanimate as if it was target by the animate dead spell.

Draconic + Any. The affected creature gain advantage on all Charisma and Strength checks for 1 hour. Gain resistance to the damage type of the broken shard and his attacks deal additional 1d4 damage from the damage type of the broken shard.

Aberrant + Psychic. The affected creature can cast arms of hadar at will for 10 minutes, as a 3rd level spell.

Fey + Radiant. The affected creature become invisible for 1 hour, or until you make an attack or cast a spell.

Fiend + Fire or Necrotic. The affected creature gaint the effects of polymorph for 1 hour or until reduced to 0 hit points, assuming the shape of a fiend with a CR of 1 or lower.

Spirit Summoning

When you reach 18th level, you learned how to unlock the true power of the soul contained within your shard. During a long rest, you attune yourself with one of your shards, and use the soul inside it as a vessel to contact a spirit from the same type of the shard. The spirit is any creature from the same type of the shard, with a CR of 5 or lower. You can use your action to break the shard, summoning a spirit of a creature contained within the shard.

The shard spirit acts independently on its own turn, but always obeys your commands. On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command your shard spirit if it is within 60 feet of you. You decide what action the shard spirit will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the shard spirit only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the shard spirit continues to follow it until its task is complete.

You can't summon another spirit while one still active, and when the spirit reaches 0 hit points, it is released and can finally rest. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Awakened Shards List

Celestial (radiant, fire, lighting or thunder shards)

When you activate this shard, you next attack with a weapon is charged by a radiant shard, dealing 3d8 additional radiant damage against a aberration, fiend or undead you hit with it.

Faeric (psychic, radiant, lighting, fire)

When you activate this shard, point to a place you can see within 30 feet. Then, you can use your Action to teleport to that location.

Elemental (acid, cold, fire, lighting, thunder)

When you activate this shard, once per turn after hitting a creature with an attack, it becomes engulfed by the element represented by the damage type of your weapon. On a hit, the creature is enveloped by elemental energy, taking additional damage equal to 1d10, from the type of damage of the energy, on the end of its next turn.

Fiendish (fire, necrotic, acid or poison shards)

When you activate this shard, reducing a creature to 0 hit points with a charged attack will grant you temporary hit points equal to half of the total damage dealt.

Undead (necrotic, poison, psychic or cold shards)

When you activate this shard, all creatures (except you) within 5 feet of you have disadvantage on Strength checks and saving throws, and can only move up to half their total movement speed.

Aberrant (psychic, necrotic, cold or acid shards)

When you activate this shard, your next attack until the end of this turn strikes terror in your target's heart. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw, or is frightened by you until the end of your next turn.

Draconic (fire, poison, lighting, acid or cold shards)

When you activate this shard, instead of making an attack, you can use your Action to spit your shard energy into a 15-foot cone. All creatures within the cone must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes the 1d6 damage for each point of proficiency bonus you have, on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

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