Warlock Death Pact

Death comes to us all, but some warlocks seek to begin that relationship much earlier in their lives. Warlocks who take on Death are rare. They come to this power only after an encounter with Death itself, the entity responsible for shepherding souls to the afterlife. Sometimes in going about its duty, Death encounters a soul it takes a liking to. Death might see a kindred spirit, or perhaps a mortal does some service to Death to aid it in its duties. Whatever the case, those who enter a pact with Death gain a small fragment of its power.

Death takes on many aspects. In some worlds, it serves one of the gods or a segment of a pantheon. In others, it is an impersonal force that owes no loyalty to anything other than its duty.

A Brush with Death

Death rarely extends a pact at random. Instead, it sometimes extends a bargain to an interesting soul who crosses its path under odd circumstances. How did you meet Death?

D6 Roll or Choose

A Brush with Death

1: You were the lone survivor of a tragedy that killed many people. When Death arrived to shepherd the many fallen souls to their afterlife, you did what came naturally to you. You helped. Death gave you this pact as a token of appreciation.

2: You died, but owing to a glitch in the cosmic order Death was late in coming for you. Death reluctantly entered a pact with you on the condition that you don’t tell anyone, especially the gods, what happened. Since then, oracles, seers, and cultists, their divinations revealing something strange about you, have harried your steps, eager to learn your secret.

3: You were supposed to die at least a dozen times by now, but each time luck or quick thinking has saved you. Each time, you spotted Death in the corner of your eye. Sick of waiting for you to finally perish, Death instead made you a servant and went on its way. Are you destined for greatness, or is an even worse fate in store for you?

4: Sometimes Death takes a holiday, and sometimes Death ends up falling in love and having a kid. That kid’s parents have pushed them into taking up the family business. What if you just wanted to be a farmer? Did they ever consider that?

5: You were fascinated with death and dying from a young age, and eventually found work in a mortuary. One day while preparing a body for burial, the deceased stood up, pushed you away, and bolted out the door. That person was supposed to be dead, and somehow Death blames you for the mix up. You were given this power to set things right, if you can figure out what that means

6: Death has always been at your side, even when you were a youngster. It has guided you over the years and then gave you this power when you came of age. Death has spoken to you only once, to tell you that you are destined to one day slay a creature that it cannot touch.

Patron Features

Expanded Spell List

Death grants you an expanded list of spells. You always have the following spells prepared when you reach the listed warlock level.

Death Expanded Spells

Spell Level        Spells

1st         bane, false life

3rd         death glare*, gentle repose

5th         revivify, speak with dead

7th         death ward, claws of the grave*

9th         cloudkill, raise dead

Death’s Shadow

At 1st level, as a bonus action you may call a lesser aspect of Death to serve you. The spectral image of a robed skeleton clutching a scythe appears at a point you can see within 30 feet of you. The image does not block movement or sight. Once on your turn, you can teleport it to a point you can see within 30 feet of you.

Your attacks against creatures within 5 feet of the image are critical hits on a die roll of 19 or 20 and you gain a bonus to damage rolls against them equal to your proficiency bonus. If your attack misses a creature within 5 feet of the image, that creature takes necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum once). You regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Speech Beyond Death

At 1st level, you can speak with the spirits of the recently deceased. If you spend 1 minute concentrating on the corpse of a creature that has died within the past 10 minutes, you can telepathically converse with it as if it was alive for 1 minute. The creature reacts to you as it wishes, likely refusing to answer any questions if you or your friends killed it, and you must share a language with the creature in order to communicate with it.

Death’s Threshold

Starting at 6th level, your magic is especially deadly to creatures on the verge of death. Your attacks against creatures with fewer than half their maximum hit points remaining are made with advantage. When a creature with half its hit points remaining makes a saving throw against one of your spells, it takes necrotic damage equal to your Charisma modifier.

Death’s Scythe

Beginning at 10th level, your magic is especially good at severing a creature’s life force. If a spell you cast reduces a creature to fewer than 10 but more than 0 hit points, it instead reduces it to 0 hit points.

Walk With Death

Starting at 14th level, you gain the services of a wraith. The creature obeys your commands and acts on its initiative as normal. It acts in your best interests at all times. It gains a bonus to AC, attacks, and saving throws equal to your Charisma bonus. Its maximum hit points equal its own or half of yours, whichever is higher. If the wraith is slain, it returns to your service when you finish a long rest.

Death Glare

2nd-level necromancy

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 120 feet

Components: S

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

The flesh on your skull peels back, revealing your bare skull to your enemies and sending them into a fit of terror. When you cast this spell and at the start of your turn while you are conscious, pick a creature within range that can see you. That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 4d8 psychic damage and you may force it to move up to half its speed in a straight line away from you. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and does not move.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd.

Claws of the Grave

4th-level necromancy

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self (60-foot cone)

Components: V, S

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You call forth the spirits of the unburied dead, manifesting them as a wave of clawed, skeletal hands that wash over your enemies. The claws tear into them and continue to rip at your enemies. Creatures of your choice in a 60-foot cone must make Dexterity saving throws. On a failed save, a creature takes 5d8 necrotic damage and takes an additional 1d8 necrotic damage at the start of each of your turns while the spell lasts. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and no damage at the start of your turn.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the initial damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th while the damage at the start of our turn increases by +1 per slot level above 4th.