Hand of Dread

In your darkest hour, you pleaded for the strength to take what you wanted from the world and a dread power took notice. At first, you may have relished the cathartic rush that came with channeling your dread power to claim what you felt you deserved. This pact, however, came with strings attached. In times of distress you hear the entity whispering in the back of your mind, encouraging you to indulge your most base impulses.

Level 3: Black Magic

You learn the eldritch blast and prestidigitation cantrips. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells, since you channel the magic of dread powers through your body when you cast them. In addition, you learn to speak, read, and write one of the following languages of your choice: Abyssal, Infernal, or Sylvan. At the DM’s discretion, you may choose another language more appropriate to your dread power.

Level 3: Dread Hand

You can use a bonus action on your turn to manifest the evidence of your foul pledge. When you do, one of your limbs (often an arm) transmogrifies into a monstrous appearance reminiscent of your dread power for 1 minute, granting you the following benefits:

• When you roll a 1 on a damage die for an unarmed strike, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1.

• The first time you miss with an unarmed strike each turn, you can make an additional unarmed strike as part of the same action.

• Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 2 moxie points to make three unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

You must finish a short or long rest before you can use this feature again.

Dread Powers

A dread power can be any powerful malevolent entity capable of bestowing a portion of its power onto a mortal. Archdemons, fey royalty, ancient liches, and unfathomable intelligences from beyond space and time are all possibilities.

Level 6: Deal With The Devil

You gain two eldritch invocations of your choice from among those available to the warlock class. For every two levels you have in this class, you count as having one warlock level for the purpose of meeting an eldritch invocation’s prerequisites. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for any spells you gain as a result of one of these eldritch invocations, and any eldritch invocation gained this way that references your Charisma modifier uses your Strength modifier instead.

When you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you meet the prerequisites for.

Level 11: Grotesque Growth

When you use your Dread Hand feature, you can choose to grow into a towering misshapen form for one minute. When you do, your size increases by one category — from Medium to Large, for example. If there isn’t enough room for you to grow to that size, you grow to the maximum possible size the space will allow. While enlarged in this way, you have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, your reach becomes 10 feet, and your melee weapon attacks deal 1d4 extra damage. When the minute is over, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

Level 17: Fountain of Viscera

You can use an action and expend 6 moxie points to attempt to execute a creature of your choice within reach by magically burrowing your hand into its body and extracting its innards. The creature must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). On a failure, the creature takes 100 piercing damage. On a success, the creature takes 50 piercing damage instead.

If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points or less, it immediately dies as you rip a hole through it, creating a stomach-turning fountain of viscera. When this happens, each creature within 30 feet of you who can see you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be frightened of you for 1 minute. A creature who fails the saving throw can make the Wisdom saving throw again at the end of each of its turns, ending the frightened condition early on a success.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.