There are those who work with souls and essences the way a blacksmith works with iron. A Soul Forger creates weapons out of the material and immaterial aspects of the dead, and uses the deaths of their foes as fuel for artifice. 

Soul Forgers are paragons of death on the battlefield and are capable of standing alone or alongside allies in combat. The macabre nature of their powers often worries or offends those with reverence of the sanctity of souls, but a Soul Forger understands the best way to honor a soul is to fold it into something greater.

Through their macabre craft, Soul Forgers gain great insight into and compassion for other beings. How they reconcile this compassion with the materialization of beings into implements of destruction can range from universal love to wanton cruelty. Regardless of temperament, Soul Forgers are sought by servants of the death gods, less squeamish arcane casters, or simply rich patrons or lords who want an intimidating being on staff.

After all, who would cross someone who would kill you and happily turn you into a sword?

Forger's Talent

3rd-level Soul Forger 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. You may make weapons out of the remains of creatures, such as bones, teeth, carapace, etc. Such weapons have the statistics of Steel, unless their material statistics are stronger than Steel. 

You also gain proficiency with Insight, and you add your Intelligence to Insight checks as you learn to read the auras of others. 

Soul Forger Spells

3rd-level Soul Forger feature

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

Soul Forger Spells

Artificer Level	Spell
3rd	bane, shield
5th	silence, spiritual weapon
9th	bestow curse, speak with dead
13th	death ward, locate creature
17th	antilife shell, reincarnate

Soul Weapon

3rd-level Soul Forger feature

Your combat training and your experiments with magic have paid off in two ways:

• You gain proficiency with martial weapons.
• You gain the ability to bond a number of weapons equal to your proficiency bonus as Soul Weapons. You may summon these weapons as part of an Attack action or as a Bonus Action. Soul Weapons are treated as magical.
• When you attack with a Soul Weapon, you can use your Intelligence modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity modifier, for the attack and damage rolls.

Essence Worker

3rd-level Soul Forger feature

When a creature dies within 90 feet of you, you may claim a sliver of its departing life as a Reaction, gaining an Essence Charge.

You may hold Essence Charges equal to your Proficiency Bonus plus your Intelligence Modifier.

As an Action, you may also spend Essence Charges to restore the expended charges of any Magical Item you touch. 

You regain any lost Essence Charges on a Long Rest, as you siphon essence from the world itself. 

Soul Strike

3rd-level Soul Forger feature

When you hit with a weapon attack with a Bonded Weapon, you may make spend Essence Charges to deal 1d8 Radiant or Necrotic damage per Essence Charge spent.

Extra Attack

5th-level Soul Forger feature

You can attack twice, rather than once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Soul Shroud

9th-level Soul Forger feature

You've learned to manifest your own soul to protect yourself. You gain the ability to cast arcanist's magic aura At-Will, though this may only affect one object at a time.

You are always under the effects of nondetection unless you wish otherwise. You are aware of any spells or magical effects that attempt to discern your location. 

When you or an ally within 30 feet of you takes damage, you use your Reaction to grant Resistance against that instance of damage. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus. These uses recharge on a Short or Long Rest. 

Aspect of the Harvest

15th-level Soul Forger feature

Your features grow in power:

• You gain +2 AC as your Soul Shroud takes physical form. You may extend its nondetection effect to up to 8 creatures within 120 feet of you. 
• When you use Soul Strike, you regain Hit Points equal to the damage you rolled on the Soul Strike dice. 
• You gain Blindsight within 30 feet as you can view the essence of the world itself.