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Grim Epitaphs - Abimelech’s Subclass Guides XI: Grave Options

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Theme

This collection of character options is designed around the themes of death, undeath, and horror, granting a variety of new options for your PCs and NPC’s alike to interact with the concept. Some work directly with a subject, such as the Cleric’s Undeath Domain and the Druid’s Circle of Necrosol, which focus on controlling undead, and becoming undead, respectively. Both subclasses make for excellent necromancers with the Undead Domain being able to maintain and buff more minions than a typical domain, and the Necrosol Circle gaining access to the means of creating undead and the ability to transform into one themselves. Another common theme is attempting to become like a monster or undead, like the Wizard’s School of Lichdom seeking to emulate the immortality and power of a lich, and the Barbarian’s Path of the Revenant slowly transforming them into a being literally too mad to stay dead.

Necrotic damage is the most common by far, as it is the damage associated with death and decay, with second place going to the physical damage types, which appear with concepts like jagged bones and intense crushing force. Outside of damage, there is a wide variety to what each subclass can do, though features such as causing and resisting fear, impairing healing, and effects that trigger on or near death are common.

Each subclass has been thoughtfully designed to offer a balanced, fun, and unique experience that goes beyond what is available through official content, ensuring fresh possibilities and interesting combat encounters for even the most experienced players. Lots of good options and ideas for a Halloween special, darker campaign settings, NPC cults, and PCs with a dark backstory.

Contents

  • Thirteen subclasses. One new subclass for each official class!
    • Artificer: Patchwork Specialist
      • A mad scientist who has experimented on their own body, modifying it with magic, grafting, and alchemy to become a highly adaptable monster.
    • Barbarian: Path of the Revenant
      • A mighty warrior and hunter whose wrath and desire for vengeance can restore them to life after death.
    • Bard: College of Lamentations
      • A bard who seeks to remember the forgotten and channel their pain and sorrows to provide sanctuary for the living.
    • Cleric: Undeath Domain
      • A domain that views undead as tools, rather than abominations. They are skilled at necromancy and can imbue their minions with the talents of the living.
    • Druid: Circle of Necrosol
      • A Circle that views the world as one grand necropolis, and can channel its power to transform into corporeal undead and learn necromancy.
    • Fighter: Plunderer Archetype
      • A brutal scavenger that stalks the battlefield for blood and loot, thriving on stealing life and property from the living and dead in equal measure.
    • Monk: Way of the Ossified
      • A monk who has learned to control their bones as precisely as their flesh, using this mastery to creature bone protrusions for both attack and defense.
    • Paladin: Oath of the Executioner
      • A grim arbiter of finality who can execute weakened creatures on contact and choke their life away with a spectral noose.
    • Ranger: Gravekeeper Conclave
      • A collection of warriors who protect sacred gravesites from both the living and the dead. They have a spectral grim to aid them in their vigil, who acts as both a companion and extension of their will.
    • Rogue: Raven Archetype
      • A rogue deeply connected with ravens and other corvids, capable of vanishing within the flock and using the beasts as their eyes and ears.
    • Sorcerer: Hollow Origin
      • An individual with a gaping void instead of a proper soul, inspiring fear and dread in those nearby, while their own emotions are forever dampened.
    • Warlock: Pumpking Patron
      • A mythical plant-like entity who appears only to those who wait and believe, bestowing upon them the power of the pumpkin patch.
    • Wizard: School of Lichdom
      • A scholar who seeks to emulate the power of a lich, without succumbing to undeath themselves.   
  • Three Artificer Infusions. Phantom Limb, Band of the Dead, Warding Bone
  • Five Eldritch Invocations. Ghostly Movement, Soul-Scorching Blast, Spectersight, Spectral Chain, Step Through Shadow.
  • Four Feats. Back-Ally Doctor, Ghost of the Fallen, Necromantic Mastery, Unbreakable Soul
  • Five Fighting Styles. Bonebreaker, Brave, Graveborn Resilience, Last Hurrah, Reaper’s Reach

‏‏‎ ‎


Abimelech’s Subclass Guides Features

The following sections are true for each entry into the Abimelech’s Subclass Guides series.

Organization       

Each item in the tome is alphabetized with the other items of its type, with a fully hyperlinked table of contents for easy navigation.

In addition, each subclass has its own page for easy copy/pasting and snipping.

Connections        

Each book in this series has (or will have) some other supplements thematically related to it. These books will sometimes reference each other. For example, a book of character options in the Abimelech’s Subclass Guides series will reference a spellbook in The Tomes of Melchior series with the same theme for subclasses that have spells added to their spell lists such as a Cleric or Warlock. While I recommend owning each book in a theme, it is not essential, and whenever a book has such a reference there will be an optional section if you do not own the other supplement. If you are interested, all supplements related to each other will be placed into bundles, listed below.

Related Tomes of Melchior Spellbook: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/497667/Secrets-of-the-Silent-Crypt--The-Tomes-of-Melchior-XI-Grave-Spells

Spellbook and Character Options Bundle: Coming Soon…

Design Goals

The goal of these books is to add new subclasses, feats, fighting styles, and eldritch invocations for both the players and NPCs that are fun, unique, and balanced. The contents of this book are not mean to overshadow or replace the official content, just add a greater variety for fun combinations, characters, and interesting encounters. In addition, unless there are very specific limitations on your campaign setting, all the contents are designed to be setting-neutral, so they can be dropped in with no problems.

   Balance especially is very important to me. I strongly believe that unbalanced content will almost always reduce the overall fun at a table, especially in the long term. Due to this, I have done everything I can to ensure the spells within the tomes are balanced with the official spell’s level of power.

About Me

I am a just about forever-DM with well over 10k hours invested in the D&D 5e edition system. I’ve created and run multiple homebrewed campaigns in several homebrew settings, and thus have a lot of experience creating content for D&D 5e. A lot of these subclasses and other options started as just fun ideas I wanted to introduce to my players, but eventually, I decided that I’d like to spread them to other tables, with the hope that they would enjoy them as much as my players did.

 


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18
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ASG_XI_Grave
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File Last Updated:
October 11, 2024
This title was added to our catalog on October 11, 2024.