Eldritch Saint

The Eldritch Saint is a faithful arcane striker that merges magic and melee combat to a whole new level.  Strengthened by their faith and emboldened by their wizardry, the Eldritch Saint can navigate the battlefield and provide offensive, defensive and tactical control against her enemies in order to strengthen her allies.

Unlike Clerics and Paladins however, an Eldritch Saint does not need to devote herself to any god to obtain their divine favour.  Rather, she strengthens her will and conviction against her foes using practiced magical and martial arts to achieve her goals.  Nothing stops an Eldritch Saint to fight for the beliefs that a particular god may hold, she simply does not need to curry their favour in order to be effective.

The Eldritch Saint combines these two forms of arts using her Spell Strike ability, allowing her to cast a spell and strike a foe in melee at the same time, giving her a boost in damage and potentially hampering a foe's effectiveness.  She can also use her strong personality to overcome the defenses of her enemies, sowing doubt in their eyes, continuously pressing the advantage until she alone stands triumphant.

It is said that few can truly master the blending of two arts into one destructive force.  Whether that is for good or evil, or for law or chaos, every individual Eldritch Saint must choose for themselves.  Eldritch Saints have been known to wander the lands, seeking out injustices committed on the helpless, or becoming tyrants themselves subjugating the hapless populace supposedly in their care.  When it comes to an Eldritch Saint, one thing is quite clear, their path forward is always determined by the path they have walked.

Spell Strike

If wielding a one-handed or versatile weapon, and the off-hand is not equipped with any item, the Eldritch Saint can expend a spell slot and cast any spell of any level requiring a spell attack, and deliver both the spell's effects and the weapon damage at once. The Eldritch Saint can opt to use their spellcasting ability modifier for the attack, if it is of a higher bonus than their weapon attack ability modifier.  Spells requiring a saving throw cannot be used with Spell Strike.

At level 10, an Eldritch Saint excels at merging spells with weapon attacks.  The Eldritch Saint adds their spellcasting ability modifier to attack rolls in addition to their normal weapon attack ability modifier.  However, this new focus in their combat skills results in a lack of mental discipline with regards to spells with a Difficulty Check.  The DC of all spells cast are at a minus 2 penalty.

Spell Strike

If wielding a one-handed weapon, and the off-hand is not equipped with any item, the Eldritch Saint can cast any spell of any level with a range of touch, and deliver both the spell's effects and the weapon damage at once. The Eldritch Saint can opt to use their spellcasting ability modifier for the attack, if it is of a higher bonus than their weapon attack ability modifier.  Additionally, any Cantrip requiring an attack roll to hit can be used in this manner, regardless of whether it is a touch or ranged attack.  Cantrips requiring a saving throw cannot be used with Spell Strike.

At level 10, an Eldritch Saint excels at merging spells with weapon attacks.  The Eldritch Saint adds their spellcasting ability modifier to attack rolls in addition to their normal weapon attack ability modifier.  However, this new focus in their combat skills results in a lack of mental discipline with regards to spells with a Difficulty Check.  The DC of all spells cast is at minus 2 penalty.

Expanded Repertoire

The Eldritch Saint can learn additional spells in addition to her normal spell progression in the Sorcerer base class.

Canny Defense

The Eldritch Saint can add her Charisma modifier, as well as her Dexterity modifier, to her AC.  She cannot wear any armor that provides a natural armor class, such as Leather or Chainmail, for example.  She can, however, continue to benefit from Canny Defense while using magical means to boost her armor class, such as Mage Armor or magical clothing.

Additionally, the Eldritch Saint gains Expertise in Arcana.

Prescient Strike

The Eldritch Saint can use their Bonus Action to spend 1 Sorcery point and choose one of the three following options:

1. Gain Advantage on the next melee weapon attack.
2. Deal maximum damage on the next melee weapon attack. This also applies to Critical Hits.
3. Gain a single, additional melee weapon attack.

All options can be used in conjunction with Spell Strike, and Prescient Strike can only be used once per round.

At level 10, the Eldritch Saint can opt to use 3 Sorcery points and gain the benefits listed above in a single round.  Additionally, both attacks in that round (the main and the extra attack) benefit from the other 2 options.

Elemental Scourge

The Eldritch Saint has become so attuned to arcane energies that they can specialize in one core element of their choice. The Eldritch Saint can choose 1 of the following elements to increase their prowess in combat:

1. Acid
2. Cold
3. Fire
4. Lightning

After choosing one of the 4 listed elements, the Eldritch Saint bypasses all elemental resistances and immunities that any creature may have to that element. If a creature targeted by the Eldritch Saint has neither resistance nor immunity to the chosen element, then the Eldritch Saint adds +3 damage per damage dice of that element, regardless if the spell requires an attack roll or a  saving throw.  This bonus damage also applies to Spell Strike.

Lastly, any arcane spell of the chosen element ignores the Spell Strike penalty to DC accrued at level 10.  All other spells continue to retain the -2 penalty to the Save DC.

A spell that has been Transmuted through Metamagic to the chosen element would also apply, however, the Sorcery Point cost is doubled.  Transmuting a spell from the chosen element to another element within the rules of Transmute Spell retains its standard Sorcery Point cost and penalty to the Save DC.

For example:  If Shocking Grasp at level 11 normally deals 3d8 damage, then the Eldritch Saint would deal 3d8+9 damage to any creature that does not have Lightning Resistance or Immunity.  Additionally, Lightning Bolt would deal 8d6+24 to targets that have neither resistance nor immunity to lightning damage. Lastly, if the Eldritch Saint were to transmute a fireball into a lightning ball, then it would cost 2 Sorcery Points in order to deal the bonus damage or bypass the resistance/immunity to lightning damage.

Entropy

At the height of their power, as a Full Round action (ergo, using your Move, Bonus and Standard actions), the Eldritch Saint can appear to be at multiple places on the battlefield at the same time. The number of images of the Eldritch Saint is equal to the level of the spell slot expended to power Entropy.

The attacks can be made versus any number of targets, up to a maximum of the spell slot level expended. However, when attacking a target, the Eldritch Saint must be able to manifest an image in an unoccupied square adjacent to a target. The Eldritch Saint cannot have multiple images in the same square, and any designated square must be free of any obstruction, such as creatures, walls or objects occupying that square.

Once all attacks are resolved, the Eldritch Saint can teleport to one of the designated images at the end of their turn.

The range of this ability is 20 feet X the spell slot level used. Each target must be within this range from the caster's starting square.

For example, if the Eldritch Saint expends a 5th level spell slot, 5 images of the Eldritch Saint appear adjacent to 5 targets within 100 feet of the Eldritch Saint's original position, and each image, excluding the caster, makes a single attack against their designated target. If a target were to be more than 100 feet away in any direction from the caster's starting square, that enemy is exempt from this ability.

Additionally, due to the unforeseen speed of this ability, all attacks are made with Advantage, and the Eldritch Saint can use Spell Strike in conjunction with this ability on every attack, but is limited to using only a Cantrip with a melee or ranged spell attack that they know. Cantrips with a Spell Save DC cannot be used in conjunction with Entropy.

The Eldritch Saint can use Entropy a number of times per day equal to their Charisma modifier. This is refreshed after a Long Rest.