Curse of Possession
Your body is inhabited by a spirit of the deceased, and for some time it had complete control, forcing you to be a silent passenger in your own flesh. Whether it is a vengeful ghost, a sorrowful shade, or a lovelorn specter, this apparition has unfinished business that prevents it from passing into the afterlife. Somehow, you’ve wrested control of your body back from the spirit, and have made an accord with it, working together to help it pass on while you accomplish your own goals. Whether this accord is true friendship between the living and the dead or a tenuous partnership between unwilling parties, you both know that you’re much more powerful working together than apart...
Possession Ailments
As a creature afflicted with possession by a spirit, you suffer the following ailments:
- Due to the spirit sharing your body, spells and effects that detect the presence of undead, such as the detect evil and good spell, detect you as if you are an undead.
- The spirit sharing your body makes you feel unnaturally cold, almost more than your mortal body can handle in normal environments. If you’re in a cold climate, or have suffered cold damage since the end of your last turn, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks using Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Level 1: Spirit Companion
You’ve befriended, or at least made a deal with, the spirit that possessed you, agreeing to share your body to mutual benefit. Choose an appearance and alignment for your spirit companion. Your spirit companion knows Common and one additional language of your choice. It has the following statistics and features:
- Its size is Small or Medium, your choice when you take this feature or gain a new spirit companion.
- You determine its statistics as though creating a new character.
- It has 1 hit point, and can’t gain more. If it would be dealt damage, instead prevent that damage and it instantly retreats to your body for protection. It also retreats this way if you order it to on your turn (no action required by you), if you become unconscious or die, or if it is ever on a different plane than you.
- It has darkvision to a range of 60 feet. It can also see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane.
- It is immune to cold, necrotic, and poison damage.
- It is immune to the charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, and restrained conditions. However, due to sharing your body, if you are subject to the charmed, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, or unconscious conditions, your spirit companion suffers the same effects.
- It is proficient with its withering touch, which is a melee weapon that deals 1d6 necrotic damage. It uses Charisma, instead of Strength, for the attack and damage rolls of its withering touch. While it’s within your body, it can make withering touch attacks against creatures within your reach. When your spirit companion hits a creature with its withering touch, it counts as you hitting the target with an attack for the purpose of your accursed spells.
- It is proficient in any saving throws in which you’re proficient.
- It is proficient in two skills of your choice.
- Its Armor Class is equal to 10 + your curse ability modifier.
- It has a flying speed of 10 feet, and no other speed. It can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 1 force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Your spirit companion obeys your commands as best it can. It has its own opinions, attitudes, and so on, but will defer to your judgment when it comes to taking actions. It takes its turn on your initiative, though it doesn’t take an action unless you command it to. On your turn, you can verbally command your spirit companion where to move (no action required by you). You can use your action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action.
Your spirit companion uses your proficiency bonus. Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your spirit companion’s abilities also improve. You can increase one of its ability scores by 2, or you can increase two of its ability scores by 1. As normal, you can’t increase one of its ability scores above 20 using this feature.
If you ever manage to complete the task or resolve the emotion tying your spirit companion to the Material Plane, allowing it to move into the afterlife, you can spend 1 hour conducting a ritual to call another spirit companion to share your body. Create a new spirit companion using the guidelines in this feature.
Level 1: Curse Spells
You gain curse spells at the accursed levels listed in the Possession Curse Spells table. See the Spellcasting class feature for how curse spells work.
Possession Curse Spells
| Accursed Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Catapult |
| 5th | Spiritual Weapon |
| 9th | Blink |
| 13th | Blight |
| 17th | Cone of Cold |
Level 3: Chill of the Afterlife
Once during each of your turns when either you or your spirit companion hits with a melee weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an additional 1d6 cold damage. The damage increases by 1d6 when you reach certain levels in this class: 11th level (2d6), and 17th level (3d6).
Level 3: Apparition Alacrity
You can use your bonus action to verbally command your spirit companion to take the Dash, Disengage, or Dodge action.
Level 5: Body & Spirit
When you take the Attack action, you can verbally command your spirit companion to make a withering touch attack as part of the same action.
Additionally, when you cast a spell, you can do so as if you were casting the spell from your spirit companion’s position.
Level 11: Wail of the Grave
Your spirit companion gains the ability to unleash a horrifying wail that has the potential to literally scare the life out of those who hear it. As an action, you can have your spirit companion unleash this wail. Each creature of your choice within 30 feet of your spirit companion that can hear it must make a Constitution saving throw. A target takes 4d8 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Then, if the creature has a number of hit points less than or equal to your accursed level, it drops to 0 hit points.
This wail has no effect on undead or constructs, or creatures immune to being frightened.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Level 15: Mutual Possession
Your spirit companion can inhabit and control the bodies of other humanoids while maintaining its connection to you. As an action, you can have your spirit attempt to possess a humanoid within 5 feet of it. That creature must make a Charisma saving throw or be possessed by your spirit companion for 1 minute. When your spirit companion possesses a creature this way, it disappears into the target’s body. While in the target’s body, your spirit companion can’t be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except ones that turn undead.
While possessing a creature, your spirit companion retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. It still counts as your spirit companion for the purpose of your class features and abilities, and takes its turns and uses its actions as normal. Otherwise, it uses the target’s statistics, but doesn’t gain access to the target’s knowledge, class features, or proficiencies.
The possession ends early if the body drops to 0 hit points, you choose to end it on your turn as a bonus action, or your spirit companion is forced out by an effect like the Dispel Evil and Good spell. When the possession ends, your spirit companion reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the body.
After it succeeds on the saving throw or after the possession ends, the target is immune to this feature until you complete a long rest.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Level 20: Spectral Champion
You become an ideal host for spirits, your body so infused with ectoplasmic energy that you empower any spirit that shares it. Your spirit companion’s flying speed increases to 30 feet. When you use your Mutual Possession, the target can be any creature that isn’t a construct or undead within 5 feet of your spirit companion, and the possession lasts indefinitely.
Additionally, once when you would drop to 0 hit points or be killed outright, you can use your reaction to have your spirit companion retreat into your body and return you to life with 1 hit point. You regain your use of this ability when you finish a short or long rest.
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