A Phylacterist uses their knowledge of the arcane to imbue objects they create with the power to trap souls, bending them to the Phylacterist's will. Phylacterists use their power to bring overwhelming force of numbers against their enemies on the battlefield, using the souls of fallen enemies to fight for them.

Tool Proficiency

3rd-level Phylacterist feature

You gain proficiency with smith’s tools. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.

Phylacterist Spells

3rd-level Phylacterist  feature

You always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Phylacterist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.

Phylacterist  Spells

Artificer Level	Spell
3rd	charm person, command
5th	enthrall, hold person
9th	animate dead, revivify
13th	blight, death ward
17th	geas, hold monster

Protophylactery

3rd-level Phylacterist feature

Your research into the creation of unlife has revealed the secrets to capturing a creature's life essence. Using your skill as an artificer, you can create a container for a creature's soul: a protophylactery. The protophylactery can take any form you wish, but most tend to resemble small boxes or containers inscribed with magic runes and symbols.

The protophylactery has the following properties:

• The protophylactery can contain a soul from a creature with a challenge rating no greater than your artificer level.
• As an action, you can open the protophylactery and release the contained soul into an unoccupied space within 5 feet using a command word you choose.
• As an action, you can recall the soul to the protophylactery using a command word you choose.
• The protophylactery has 15 AC and 10 (3d6) HP.
• If the protophylactery is destroyed, the soul it contains is freed and proceeds to its final destination as if the soul's original body had just died. 
• A creature containing multiple souls, such as a swarm of bats, will cause an entire protophylactery to be filled.

At the end of a long rest, you can create a new protophylactery if you have your smith’s tools with you. If you already have a protophylactery from this feature, the first one immediately crumbles into dust and releases its soul, if one is contained. The protophylactery also crumbles into dust and releases its soul if you die.

Soul Captor

3rd-level Phylacterist feature

Your research and experiments have granted you the ability to create an item which halts the transition of a soul from its native plane to its final destination upon its body's death. You determine the soul captor's appearance and construction; it may be an amulet, a small attachment to your armor, or even a mechanical glove.

As a reaction, you may use a spell slot of level 1 or higher to divert the escaping soul from a dying creature you can see and store it in your protophylactery. A soul targeted by your soul captor must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be captured in your protophylactery. A creature without a soul, such as a construct, is unaffected by your soul captor.

A soul diverted to your protophylactery replaces any soul the protophylactery previously contained, and the previously contained soul goes to its final resting place.

Ghostly Command

3rd-level Phylacterist feature

You gain the ability to command the souls stored in your protophylactery. As an action, you can use a command word to release a soul from your protophylactery to assist you.

Upon release from your protophylactery, the released soul has the same statistics and abilities it had in life. In addition, it gains the following properties:

• The soul appears as a ghostly, partially transparent apparition of its previous self.
• The soul has the additional type undead.
• The soul has the Incorporeal Movement ability.

Incorporeal Movement. The soul can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

In combat, the soul shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the soul can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

On its turn, a soul released from the protophylactery may make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC to free itself from your control. On a success, the soul is released and moves on as if its original body had just died.

If a soul released from the protophylactery is reduced to zero HP, it is released and moves on as if its original body had just died.

Protophylactery Savant

5th-level Phylacterist feature

You gain the ability to create a number of protophylacteries equal to your proficiency bonus. The combined challenge ratings of the souls stored in all your protophylacteries cannot exceed your artificer level.

Soul Storage

9th-level Phylacterist feature

You learn to store multiple souls in a single protophylactery. You may store a number of souls less than or equal to your proficiency bonus in a single protophylactery as long as the combined challenge ratings of the creatures stored in all your protophylacteries are no higher than your artificer level.

Master Phylacterist

15th-level Phylacterist feature

Your research into the creation of phylacteries has reached its culmination and you are now able to create a phylactery which not only stores a creature's soul, but is also capable of restoring the soul's body as long as the phylactery is intact. Additionally, you gain the ability to transfer your own soul to the phylactery in lieu of another creature's. When you create a phylactery, any protophylacteries you may have created are destroyed.

Creating a phylactery binds the captured soul to the mortal world, preventing it from traveling to the Outer Planes after death. A phylactery is traditionally an amulet in the shape of a small box, but it can take the form of any item possessing an interior space into which arcane sigils of naming, binding, immortality, and magic are scribed in silver.

If you choose to store your own soul in the phylactery, your physical form remains in whatever state it was in before being stored, but your soul is bound to the phylactery. If your physical form is destroyed, your body reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the phylactery after 5 (1d10) days.

The phylactery has the following properties:

• The phylactery can contain a single soul from a creature with a challenge rating no greater than your artificer level.
• As an action, using a command word you choose, you can open the phylactery and release the contained soul in an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet.
• As an action, you can recall the soul to the phylactery using a command word you choose.
• The phylactery has 15 AC and 10 (3d6) HP.
• If the phylactery is destroyed, the soul it contains is freed and proceeds to its final destination as if the soul's original body had just died.
• If a creature already has a phylactery, such as a lich, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be captured in your phylactery.

Upon release from your phylactery, the released soul has the same statistics and abilities it had in life. In addition, it has the following properties:

• It has the additional type undead.
• Its physical body is restored in an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet.
• If its body is killed, damaged irreparably, or destroyed, the soul returns to the phylactery and the body is able to be summoned once again after 5 (1d10) days.
• It is bound to the phylactery until you decide to release it, and does not have the opportunity to make a saving throw to release itself from your command.
• It cannot use legendary actions or lair actions.