Freebooting Raker

You quickly learned that a life bound to one place, or one master, was never meant for you. The open sea called louder than any harbor bell, and you answered. You fell in with a crew of freebooters, scavengers, and wreck-divers who lived for gold, good drink, and the thrill of discovery. Together, you combed the oceans for treasure and scrap alike, selling what could be sold and keeping what brought pleasure or wonder. In your travels, you were taught by shipmates of every kind, human or otherwise, to let your curiosity be limitless. No matter the tongue they spoke or the shape they wore, every soul aboard agreed on one thing: the world and it's vastness of traversal belongs to those bold enough to take it.

Ability Scores: A Freebooting Raker’s life rewards adaptability, whether through physical skill, social savvy, or sheer grit. Your choice of ability scores should reflect how you navigate the dangers and opportunities of the open sea; be it through quick thinking, deft movement, or the endurance to weather whatever storms may come.

Feat: Ye of Lightning'a Life

Freebooting Rakers often develop unique talents during their years at sea. Whether through hard-earned experience, uncanny luck, or strange encounters in distant waters, you have gained a gift or ability that sets you apart from the common sailor.

Prerequisite: Ability to deal lightning damage

Tesalic Lightning
Whenever you deal lightning damage with a weapon attack, cantrip, or spell, it is automatically converted to Tesalic Lightning — a rare and volatile current that counts as both lightning and necrotic damage.

• Resistance Rule: If a target is resistant or immune to either lightning or necrotic damage, the Tesalic Lightning damage is halved or negated as appropriate.

• This applies to all lightning damage you deal; there is no way to turn the effect off.

Necrotic Surge (Always Active)
The Tesalic Current tears at your own vitality:

• Each time you deal Tesalic Lightning damage, you take 2 unpreventable damage.

• This self-damage ignores resistances and immunities.

• If you hit multiple creatures with a single attack or spell, you only take this self-damage once per attack/spell, not per target.

Corruption Over Time (Weakened at Level 1)
The energy of Tesalic Lightning lingers painfully after combat:

• At the end of your turn after using Tesalic Lightning, you must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 3 additional unpreventable damage.

• This repeats each round for 1 minute after the last time you dealt Tesalic Lightning damage in that combat.

• These effects end early if you drop to 0 hit points, are knocked unconscious, or finish a short or long rest.

Scaling Plan
This feat evolves as you grow in power:

• Level 5: Necrotic Surge self-damage increases to your proficiency bonus. Weapon infusions gain +1d6 Tesalic Lightning damage.

• Level 7: Creatures that take Tesalic Lightning damage must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + your spellcasting ability modifier) or be stunned until the end of their next turn.

• Level 8: Unlock Siphoning Shock — when you deal Tesalic Lightning damage, regain hit points equal to half the damage dealt (rounded down). This can be used a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. Full corruption rules now apply.

• Level 15: You may choose to ignore resistance to either lightning or necrotic damage when dealing Tesalic Lightning damage. Only one resistance type can be ignored at a time.

Lore

The art of channeling Tesalic Lightning, otherwise called “the lightning’a life,"  is a cursed gift, known only to maddened sailors and sea-folk who dwell in the grip of lunacy. Feared by those who’ve glimpsed it, this power is whispered of rarely in ports and harbors, its origin traced to a flower found only in the blackest reaches beneath the waves, far below where even the sun dares shine.
Beneath the waves, the Impeaye’fleur forms an oxygen-rich membrane around itself, a shimmering bubble of breath. Yet this air is not like the wind above; it carries a heavy, drugged weight, leaving those who inhale it half-dreaming; drifting between wakefulness and the dark depths that claim the unwary.
You have bound both body and soul to the Impeaye’fleur, a rare bioluminescent bloom whose pulsing core generates a current unlike any other, one that marries lightning’s swiftness with necrotic decay. This unnatural current draws upon your very life-force, feeding the flower and granting it an undying existence. Some say a single stem can grow for thousands of years, its age marked by the slow inches of its stalk.

Skill Proficiencies: Life as a Freebooting Raker sharpens both body and mind. Years spent among wreck-divers, scavengers, and daring sailors have honed your ability to navigate danger, whether through quick thinking, agile movement, or a silver tongue. Your skill proficiencies reflect the talents you’ve relied upon to survive on the open sea and claim fortune from the depths.

Tool Proficiencies: Freebooting Rakers often master a variety of tools picked up during their years at sea and in distant ports. Whether repairing a ship’s rigging, crafting containers for valuable salvage, or tinkering with oddities found in the hold of a wreck, your tool skills reflect a life built on resourcefulness and adaptability.

Languages: Years spent sailing from port to port, and sometimes far beyond charted waters, have exposed you to a wide variety of tongues. Freebooting Rakers often learn the languages of distant lands, coastal peoples, or those they trade, bargain, or brawl with on their journeys. The languages you know reflect the routes you’ve traveled and the allies or rivals you’ve made along the way.

Equipment: As a Freebooting Raker, you begin your adventures with gear suited to a life at sea and the trade of salvage. This might include basic seafaring tools, protective clothing for harsh weather, and containers or sacks for storing recovered valuables. The exact items you carry reflect your personal style; whether practical, well-maintained gear or mismatched odds and ends gathered from years of daring voyages.

Contacts

Years of sailing with rogues, wreck-divers, and traders of questionable goods have left you with connections in ports and coves across the seas. These contacts might be fellow freebooters, shady merchants, informants, or even officials willing to look the other way for a price. Whether you need to fence stolen cargo, find passage on a ship with no questions asked, or get word of a lucrative salvage, your network is ready. Though, it may expect favors in return.