Dark Arts Militant
“Collecting hearts from bodies can be a bloody and dirty business sometimes, but looking into the eyes of your unsuspecting enemies, and watching them tremble in fear, is worth all the effort.”
Like any good Fighter you strive for more knowledge. Knowledge on how to better slay those that oppose you. Usually in the form of oils and poisons.
Bonus Proficiencies
Starting at 3rd level, your curiosity for the dark arts and using them in practical ways grant you some abilities. You gain proficiency with alchemist’s supplies, and you learn to speak, read, and write Abyssal and Infernal.
Dark Artist
Starting at 3rd level, you learn how to craft oils and poisons by using the knowledge on the forbidden arts that you have uncovered so far. When you gain this feature, you learn the recipes of one dark oil and one dark poison (see Recipes of Dark Oils and Recipes of Dark Poisons).
Additionally, each time you gain a feature of this archetype, you uncover the recipes of one more poison and one more oil.
You prepare each oil or poison in 10 minutes by using the needed materials and tools. The materials cost 50 gp to prepare a dark oil or a dark poison. Once it is prepared, the quality of an oil or a poison stays intact for 24 hours, after which point, it loses all of its properties and turns into a useless liquid.
As an action, you can use a dark oil or a dark poison. You can also clear them from the applied surface as an action. When cleared, the effects created by the liquid end. However, if the liquid is ingested, it needs to be vomited out to end its effects.
The oils and poisons that you prepare are highly dangerous and profane chemicals. So, it is risky to use them frequently. Once you drink a dark oil or apply it on your body, you can only do so again without harm after you finish a long rest. You suffer one level of exhaustion each time you use the same oil again before finishing a long rest. Due to these recipes’ magical origins, the toxic chemistry of the oils still affects you even if you are immune to being poisoned and exhaustion.
When you apply a dark oil or a dark poison on an item and use it, the applied chemicals leave a residue on the item. If you try to apply the same oil or poison on the same item again before finishing a long rest, the residue builds, harming the item and lowering its quality. Each time the same chemical is used on the same item after the first, the damage it deals takes a -1 penalty, and the item is broken when the penalty reaches -4. The damage that causes the -1 penalty can be repaired in 1 hour by using smith’s tools.
If a dark oil or a dark poison requires saving throws, the DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier. When a dark oil or a dark poison is used, its effects last 1 minute.
ROLEPLAYING TIPS
Dark Arts Militants are knowledgeable warriors who constantly search for dark secrets. Although the archetype is oriented around dark powers, do not forget that they are a fighter after all. They seek knowledge, but they seek that which they can use in combat. Working on recipes, gathering components, and brewing chemicals are important parts of their life, but fighting techniques and martial tactics are also important. A poison is nothing without the blade they infuse it with…
Recipes of Dark Oils
Lesser rage
Color: Blood red
Usage: It must be consumed
Material: A vial of blood taken from the corpse of an enemy
Effects: You gain advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks and Strength saving throws.
Dark Alacrity
Color: Black-green
Usage: It must be consumed
Material: An arm tendon taken from a fiend
Effects: Once per turn, you can make an opportunity attack without spending your reaction.
Foul Flesh
Color: Red-white Usage: It must be applied on the body
Material: A morsel of flesh taken from a living evil creature
Effects: You gain a +1 bonus to AC
Rusting
Color: Rust brown
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: A mixture of rust and grease
Effects: When you hit a metal weapon or metal armor with the weapon on which this oil was applied, the rust spreads to the target weapon or armor. On each hit, the wielder of the weapon or armor must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the damage of the target weapon or the AC the armor offers takes a -1 penalty.
Abyssal Eyes
Color: Pitch black
Usage: It must be applied in the eyes, as drops.
Material: An eye taken from a fiend
Effects: You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. Once, while the oil takes effect, as a bonus action, you can also choose to affect a creature who can see you and who is within 30 feet of you. Your eyes turn into pools of pitch black. The target must make a successful Wisdom saving throw or its speed drops to 0 and it is incapacitated for 1 minute. The effect ends if the affected creature takes damage or if someone else uses its action to take the creature out of your line of sight.
Unholy Might
Color: Purple
Usage: It must be consumed
Material: A piece of elder wood mixed with your own blood
Effects: One of the following scores of your choice increases by 2: Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Fiend’s foot
Color: Yellow
Usage: It must be consumed
Material: A morsel of flesh taken from a living evil creature
Effects: Your speed increases by 10 feet.
Recipes of Dark Poisons
Limb Withering Poison
Color: Pale blue
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: Legs or parts of legs taken from decaying bodies
Effects: A creature hit by the poisoned weapon must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, one of its limbs withers. Depending on your choice of limb, either its speed decreases by 10 feet, or it has disadvantage on attacks made with the withered arm.
Stroke Poison
Color: Transparent
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: A humanoid heart
Effects: A creature hit by the poisoned weapon must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or experience a partial stroke. Depending on your choice, either its speed drops to 0 for 1 round, or it drops an item it is holding.
Blinding Poison
Color: White
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: Batwings
Effects: A creature hit by the poisoned weapon must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a veil resembling the wings of a bat covers the target’s eyes. It is blinded for 5 rounds.
Illusionary Poison
Color: Transparent
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: Nutmeg mixed with a pinch of Drow blood and your blood Effects: A creature hit by the poisoned weapon must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target starts to see two of you and cannot differentiate which one is real. An affected creature has disadvantage on its attacks for 5 rounds.
Rotting Poison
Color: Pale green
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: Parts taken from rotten corpses of living creatures
Effects: A creature hit by the poisoned weapon must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes an additional 1d6 poison and 1d6 necrotic damage.
Heaven Slayer
Color: Bright yellow (ironically)
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: Silver dust and angel blood
Effects: A good-aligned creature hit by the poisoned weapon takes an additional 1d6 necrotic damage.
Hampering Poison
Color: Pale versions of the rainbow colors
Usage: It must be applied on a weapon
Material: Tears of a creature and a newly blossomed flower
Effects: A creature hit by the poisoned weapon must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it loses itself in the midst of the complicated emotions used as the poison’s materials suggest. The target has disadvantage on saving throws for 5 rounds.
Tools of a Dark Artist
Starting at 7th level, your magical secrets, your dark oils and poisons can make a weapon magical and you have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon for the duration of the poison or oil.
Dead Inside
Starting at 10th level, because of the constant exposure to dark oils, dark poisons and the chemical materials in their recipes, your body changes slowly over time. After some time, these chemicals do not affect you as much as they did before. Some say you become stronger and some others say you die slowly.
Additionally, your recipes become more effective and your talent as a dark artist grows.
As a result of all of the above, you can use dark oils and poisons twice instead of once without causing any harm, before finishing a long rest.
Poisoned Blood
Starting at 15th level, your tireless experiments with recipes and the countless failures these experiments brought change your body. This change grants you immunity to poison dam age and to being poisoned. You also discover a new oil recipe that is given below, which is added to your list of known recipes automatically:
Vanguard of Darkness
Color: Transparent mixed with black dots
Usage: It must be consumed
Material: Skin of powerful demons or devils
Effects: You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
Master of the Dark Arts
At 18th level, you become a master of the dark arts. You un cover the highly valuable recipe (of either a poison or of an oil depending on who you ask) that can be of great assistance to you on the battlefield. The information regarding this poison or oil is given below:
Dark transformation
Color: Grey (undead), blood-red (fiends)
Usage: It must be consumed
Material: Your life force; you deal 20 necrotic damage to yourself, and this damage ignores resistance or immunity.
Effects: You take on the statistics of an undead, demon or a devil. You choose its type while crafting the oil. When you drink it, you gain the following benefits:
Demon
- You gain resistance to cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or if you have more than half of your hit points left.
- You gain truesight out to a range of 30 feet.
- Bat-like wings sprout from your back and you gain a flying speed of 30 feet.
Devil
- You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or if you have more than half of your hit points left.
- You are immune to fire damage.
- You gain blindsight out to a range of 30 feet. and darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
Undead
- You gain resistance to cold, necrotic, and lightning damage.
- You are immune to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or if you have more than half of your hit points left.
- You are immune to the following conditions: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed.
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