The Skull of Orcus (5e Subclass)
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Skull of Orcus[edit]
Warlock Subclass
Promise your soul to Orcus, eat of his flesh and drink of his blood, for through him you will gain life everlasting. Mercy is a luxury that none are worthy of; suffering and torment are the fuel that will empower Orcus' ascent. The followers of Orcus will overwhelm the world in a tide of undeath and even the gods will perish. When the last star dies, Orcus alone will remain, in this perfect and silent universe, free of the braying abominations that are all other living things.
This subclass is slightly inspired by 3e Book of Vile Darkness - Thrall of Orcus.
Expanded Spells List[edit]
The Skull of Orcus adds the following to expanded your list of spells when you learn a warlock spell.
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | ray of sickness, inflict wounds |
| 2nd | blindness/deafness, nystul's magic aura |
| 3rd | animate dead, spirit guardians |
| 4th | greater invisibility, blight |
| 5th | cloudkill, contagion |
By Orcus' Example[edit]
At 1st level, while wielding a Mace of any kind, it functions as your spellcasting focus and any attacks made with the weapon deal additional necrotic damage equal to your charisma Modifier and count as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances to non-magical attacks.
Additionally, whenever you cast the Eldritch Blast cantrip, you can choose to count the damage as necrotic rather than force damage.
Undead Retaliation[edit]
At 6th level, through many rituals you have been brought closer to your lord, Orcus. Threading the line between life and death, you gain the ability to resist blows that kill most. When you take damage you can use your reaction to subtract 1d4 + your Charisma modifier from the incoming damage. If the damage is reduced to zero, you can choose to force the attacker to take half of the original damage or gain that same amount as Temporary Hit Points.
You can use this feature an amount of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus before needing a short or long rest. The die increases to a d6 at 10th level.
Tough as Bones[edit]
Starting at 10th level, Skull of Orcus through more dark sinister rituals becomes closer to becoming one of the undead. They become immune to disease, gain advantage on poison save, and resistant to poison damage.
Death Touch[edit]
Starting at 14th level, force a living creature hit with a touch attack to attempt a Constitution saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save the creatures dies rotting away.
You must finish a short or long rest before you can use this feature again.
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