Subclass: Sorcerer -- The Possessed in New World - Dragonsmoke Archipelago | World Anvil

Subclass: Sorcerer -- The Possessed

Sorcerer Origin: The Possessed

A   s a child, many considered you strange. You had invisible friends and your parents thought you'd grow out of it. You heard their voices and claimed they made you do things. People thought you were poorly behaved, until your awakening. A seriously strange, occult, and alien event happened to you, and you knew. Your body had become a place of respite for spirits and other extraplanar creatures to visit and spend some time in. Through these visitations you slowly learned how to control your visitors, harnessing some of their power. Now, years later, not only can you use the power of the spirits possessing you, but you can pull creatures from the veil to inhabit your body against their will, trapping them until you choose to release them.  

Possessed Spells

You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Possessed Spells table. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of sorcerer spells you know. These spells can’t be replaced when you gain a level in this class.   Possessed Spells
Sorcerer Level Spells
1st Dissonant Whispers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
3rd Enthrall, Mind Spike
5th Sending, Summon Shadowspawn
7th Compulsion, Phantasmal Killer
9th Dominate Person, Synaptic Static

Fluid Personality

  When you choose this origin at 1st level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed. In addition, you are immune to any form of possession.  

Empty Vessel

  Starting at 1st level, following a short or long rest you can pull a being from another plane of existence into your body. The being is trapped in your body until you release it, you die, or you capture a new being at which point the previous one dissipates and returns back to where it was taken from. While trapped the being cannot be detected, cannot be targeted or affected by any abilities, and is Unconcious. Occasionally, your disposition may be more similar to the type of being trapped in your body than your own. The types of beings that can be captured and the benefits they grant are found on the Possession table.  

Possession Table

Possession Type Language Skill Proficiency Spirit Surge
Celestial Celestial History Radiant
Fiend Abyssal/Infernal Athletics Fire
Spirit * Religion Necrotic
Horror Deep Speech Arcana Psychic
  Celestial: The Celestial choice for this feature is not limited to true Celestials, but open to any good-aligned being. The power of good allows you to aid those in need. As a bonus action, you can spend one sorcery point for a creature of your choice, within 60 feet of yourself, to regain hit points equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This ability has no effect on undead or constructs.   Fiend: When it comes to possession and manipulation, fiends have the most experience of any other beings. When you trap a fiend, choose either Abyssal or Infernal as your bonus language based on the type of Fiend trapped. Whenever you cast a spell from the school of enchantment, you can spend one sorcery point to impose disadvantage on the saving throw of a single target, even if the spell targets more than one creature.   Spirit: Spirits come in many forms, choose one language that the spirit possessing you would know. As an action, you can consume the spirit within you, destroying it forever. You lose all passive bonuses from the spirit and regain a number of sorcery points equal to your proficiency bonus, never exceeding the maximum allowed as shown in the Sorcery Points column of the Sorcerer table.   Horror: Horrors are alien in nature and truly insane. You have the ability to temporarily transform into a being of inky shadows and jump to another location before returning to your normal self. As a bonus action, you can spend one sorcery point to teleport up to 30ft to unoccupied space you can see.   Once you have used the special ability of one type of possessed being, you cannot use the ability from the same type again until you finish a long rest.  

Possessed Memory

Starting at 6th level, you can recall some magic seen by the being within you. Each time you take a new being within you using the Empty Vessel feature, choose a 1st level or higher spell from the Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard spell list. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Sorcerer table. The chosen spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you but does not count towards your spells known. You learn the spell until the time that the being is released by any means. Once the being is released, the spell is instantly removed from your spells known list.   You learn one additional spell at 14th level.   Once you cast that spell, you can't cast it again until you finish a long rest.  

Spirit Surge

Beginning at 14th level, you are able to manipulate and trick one of the beings trapped in your body into believing that it has a chance to escape. As an action, the being releases horrific screams, and a burst of energy as it desperately fights for it's chance at freedom. Each creature you choose within 60 feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 10d8 damage and be knocked prone. The damage type is based on the Spirit Surge column found on the Possession table. A creature that succeeds it's saving throw takes half damage and isn't knocked prone. All creatures within 60 feet of you are deafened. Roll 1d6, and on a roll of a 1 the spirit escapes.   At 18th level, the damage increases to 12d8   Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.  

Spirit Leap

Beginning at 18th level, you have mastered the ability of possession. Although as a humanoid your ability to possess other creatures is limited, you are able to leave your body for a time. As an action, you can attempt to possess another creature. Your soul leaves your body and tries to enter another. You can attempt to possess any humanoid or beast within 100 feet of you that you can see. The target must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failure, your soul moves into the target’s body, and the target's soul becomes trapped, as with the Empty Vessel feature. The possession type is based on the creature type you have possessed. On a success, the target resists your efforts to possess it, and you can’t attempt to possess it again for 24 hours. Once per day the host creature can repeat it's saving throw. On a success, the host's soul locks into battle with yours. You make a Charisma check contested by the target’s Charisma check. If you win the contest, you maintain control. Any time the host makes a save to break free, including the first time, the host's body will exhibit signs of an internal struggle. These can range from the body floating in the air, to violent convulsions, or foaming at the mouth. While in another host's body of the Spirit type, and you use the Spirit ability from the Empty Vessel feature, you only regain half as many Sorcery points and the spirit is not consumed.   You can leave a simple task with your original body and the being possessing it. Your body will do all it can to complete this task, however, it is very clear to others that something is not quite right with you. Once the task is complete it will travel to a place of your choice, chosen when you leave your body, and enter a catatonic state.   Once you possess a creature’s body, you control it. Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the creature, though you retain your alignment and your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You retain the benefit of your own class features. If the target has any class levels, you can’t use any of its class features. While possessing a body, you can use your action to return from the host body to your own as long as they are on the same plane. If the host body dies while you’re in it, the creature dies, you return to your body, and you gain 5 levels of exhaustion. You can maintain control over another body for up to 3 days at a time.   Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest in your own body.   Possession Personality Quirks
Possession Type Possible Quirks
Celestial Positivity, Urges to lend aid
Fiend Greed, Caution towards danger
Spirit Lack of Empathy, Bouts of depression/sadness
Horror Nihilism, Ranting/Babbling

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