Devotee

The true father of undeath is not known, but a remnant of his remnant has been permanently etched into the threads of magic in almost all necromancy. It simply takes a keen eye to read them.

Ritual: Kill a sentient living creature.

Changes: 

• Command lesser undead - You can spend 1 rest dice to command any number of non-sentient undead around you within 40ft, commanding them perfectly.

• Override undeath - You can spend 3 rest dice to command an undead sentient creature within 20ft, compelling it to make a wisdom save vs your spell DC. On a failure, they are now loyal to you permanently, or until uncursed.

• Soul farming - When you slay a small or larger sentient creature, you gain a soul point. You can spend soul points interchangeable with rest dice, or 3 soul points for 1 spell point. Your maximum soul points is equal to your wisdom or charisma bonus, whichever is higher.

An unknown vast stillborn entity, sealed in a secret realm, who has been robbed of its soul. It lies in eternal coma, but it's form still dreams and reaches out to those who understand it.

Ritual: You must be missing a body part. You must get cursed and break the curse as part of the ritual.

Changes: 

• The shared pain - You gain regeneration 1 while below 1/3 health (rounded down) 

• Tainted blood - If you spend a HP on casting spells, the level of that spell is boosted by 1. 

• Sudden mutation - You can spend 1 rest dice as a bonus action to shift between any of the following benefits, losing 1d3 HP in the process:

  • +2 to an ability score.

  • +20 movement, burrow, fly, wall climb, jump distance, or swim speed.

  • fire resistance, cold resistance, or acid resistance.

It is speculated to be an elder god of entropy whose spirit was blinded in the deep past. The Devourer is poorly understood. It both loves its children and also feeds on them.

Ritual: You must consume the heart of a spellcaster.

Changes:

• Soul-cannibal - You can spend 1 rest dice when consuming a creatures heart, either gaining their background feature, a +1 bonus to max HP up to a total maximum of +10, a mode of perception available to them, or gaining a +3 bonus to the skill which was the creatures best skill, or replacing a spell known with a spell the target knew that is of an appropriate level that you can cast (using your casting modifier.) Only one such bonus may take effect at a time. A creature whose heart you consume in such a fashion has disadvantage on checks made to raise them from the dead or reconjure their spirit.

• Dark guts - You gain immunity to poison damage and resistance to acid damage. You are immune to adverse effects from consuming potions.

• The hunger - You gain lifesight, you can perceive living creatures and lifeforce as a slightly colored aura.

In the in-between spaces that lie at the foundations of the archetypal realm exists an entity that gladly accepts the flame over and over again. Among it's sparse followers claim it is not native to creation itself.

Ritual: Burn a sacred text or book, 10 black pages or a black scroll, or an arcane spellbook with at least 10 spell levels worth of spells. 

Changes:

• Hear intent - You can understand all sentient languages. You cannot speak or read them. 

• Surrender self - You can surrender yourself to the moths, losing all but one of your rest dice, and dematerializing into a swarm of spectral moths. You rematerialize somewhere nearby within 1d10 miles after 12 hours, and your max HP is permanently reduced by 2.

• Misaligned - You have a +2 bonus to saves vs teleportation or conjuration spells affecting you. When you critically succeed such an effect, you may redirect as though you were the caster of only that part of the spell/effect (Subject to GM.)

There is a "god" of justice that was not present for and is indifferent towards the lives of mortals, one who has been waging war against unseen things in the abyss since eons ago. The old elven seers divined his name to be "Nuald", only to be irrevocably cursed for their arrogance.

Ritual: You must sacrifice an eldritch, demonic, infernal, or fiendish creature, or you must consume a special potion that forces you to make 4 death saves in order to prove trustworthiness.

Changes:

• The mark of Nuald - Your face and eye becomes marked. You gain a -2 penalty to disguise checks. When an effect checks how long you’ve been dead to determine if it can restore you (“dead no longer than X”), treat X as tripled for you.

• Prove your worth - You may sacrifice a demonic, eldritch, infernal, fiendish, or aberration creature during a rest and beseach your patron, requesting a gift. You may or may not be rewarded with a spell known from any class of magic (Subject to GM.)

• The slayers call - Your spell DCs and attack rolls have a +1 bonus so long as the target is an eldritch, fiendish, infernal, or demonic creature.

To those that are aware, it is clear that something immense sleeps beneath the depths of this world, but cannot mature or hatch, or perhaps awake. Its followers are split between two: those that seek to awaken it, and those that feed off its energies.

Ritual: You must drown or bury yourself during the ritual, dying in the process. You will be revived and gain a permanent -1 penalty to death saves.

Changes:

• The deep power - Your spell point maximum is increased by 2.

• Deep trance - You can choose to spend a rest dice to gain a +3 bonus to intelligence checks, as well as checks made to interact with magical or alchemical items. This lasts for as long as you maintain concentration. For the duration, your eyes go blank and you are hobbled. During this state, you have disadvantage on saves vs spells and abilities from abyssal and aberrant creatures (Subject to GM.)

• Deep-source mutations - Choose one: waterbreathing, burrow speed of 10ft, 20ft swim speed, or tremmorsense 30ft.

• Unnatural influence - Your rest dice maximum is increased by 1. Your natural lifespan is increased by half.

It is in fact the most common path, that one who truly delves into the secrets of arcana will encounter a disembodied arcane sentience that speaks across the threads. It is not known if they are truly what they say they are, but proficient occultists agree that it is possible to attune oneself to such information and even commune with them, but they seldom mention how to leave them.

Ritual: You must deal at least 16 psychic damage to yourself.

Changes:

• Arcane handshake - Choose two cantrips you know, upgrade each once.

• Arcane communion - You can exchange your occult spells for arcane spells when using your dark ritual ability to swap occultist spells. You may use your occultist casting modifier when casting them.

• Helping hand - So long as you have consumed a mana potion within the last 2 days, you gain permanent aurasight at a range of 30ft and a +1 bonus to constitution.

• A piece of yourself - So long as you have not consumed a mana potion in the past 2 days, you gain a -2 penalty to constitution. 

There still exist infernal ancestors whose influence reaches far and wide even while imprisoned in their hellish realm. Most official contract scrolls have been destroyed by holy orders, but there are ways...

Ritual: You must be able to speak and read infernal. You must sacrifice a black page, a scroll with a conjuration spell of at least 3rd level, the head of an animal that symbolizes fertility or innocence, and 1d10 HP worth of blood from yourself.

Changes:

• You can no longer judge - You gain a -3 penalty to insight checks.

• An evil gift - Choose one:

  • Life-taking - slaying a sentient small or larger creature restores 1 rest dice.

  • Great influence - Your compulsion and charm spell DCs are increased by 3.

  • Raw power - Your attacks, damage dealing abilities, and spell deal an extra 1d6 damage.

• The fine print - When you die, you cannot be revived unless the creature making the revival ability psychically negotiates with your patron (subject to GM.)

The dragon cults great teachings do not concern themselves with the origin of the world, merely the origin of the draconic soul and how it pierced the world. The true form of what draconic creatures are is still said to be obscured. 

Ritual: You must consume part of a draconic creature. 

Changes:

• Ascended form - You are now considered draconic by spells and abilities, choose one:

  • Wings - Gain wings and a fly speed of 30ft.

  • Breath - Your breath attacks deal 1d6 extra damage of your chosen kind(non-physical,) and you can spend 2 rest dice to breathe the chosen damage in a ray, dealing 3d6(+1d6) damage of the chosen kind to creatures that fail a DC 20 dexterity save.

  • Scales - You gain a +1 bonus to AC and intimidation checks.

• Draconic casting - You may spend 1 rest dice when casting an evocation, abjuration, or transmutation spell, shouting its draconic verse as a verbal component and doing the following:

  • Increase its range by half if applicable.

  • Increase its duration by 1 unit size (rounds > minutes > hours > days)

  • Increase its DCs by 1, if applicable.

  • Increase its damage dealt by 1 dice, if applicable.

What is called the abyss is more comparable to the elephant graveyard of the archetypal realm that has collapsed in on itself. It is said that one can hear its whisper as they descend into it.

Ritual: You must sacrifice a human, half-orc, or elf. This must be done underground. Must be able to speak abyssal.

Changes:

• Abyssal change - You gain a -1 penalty to charisma. You gain a +1 bonus to a different ability score of choice. Choose one:

  • Void power - You can spend 3 rest dice or a spell point as a free action to attempt to counter a spell that is targeting you, or a spells whose effect intersects any point within 15ft of you. Make an arcana check vs spell DC to negate it.

  • Abyssal fortitude - You gain an extra death save slot. If you are slain, you must roll a 1d4 chance dice. On a 2 or lower, you are returned to 8 HP and lose 2 rest dice.

  • Translatable form - You can spend 4 rest dice or take 1d6 damage to fatigue to blink to any point you can see. Gain a -1 penalty to saves vs conjuration and teleportation spells.

• Dark power - You can spend 1 spell point, 2 rest dice, and take 1 damage to fatigue to immediately gain an extra turn after the current one. You can only do so once per round during your turn.

• Marked one - You have a -1 penalty to saves vs divination and abjuration spells.