The Deathless

The Deathless Patron subclass is a revised version of the Undying Patron subclass. Focus is necromancy and exploiting the (near) death of allies and enemies. Feedback and Playtesting welcome, but I want to note, that I started working on this subclass before they releases the Undead Patron subclass.

Death holds no sway over your patron, who has unlocked the secrets of everlasting life, although such a prize – like all power – comes at a price. Once mortal, the Undying has seen mortal lifetimes pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. It has the secrets of the ages to share, secrets of life and death. Beings of this sort include Vecna, Lord of the Hand and the Eye; the dread Iuz; the lich-queen Vol; the Undying Court of Aerenal; Vlaakith, lich-queen of the githyanki; and the deathless wizard Fistandantalus.

In the Realms, Undying patrons include Larloch the Shadow King, legendary master of Warlock's Crypt, and Gilgeam, the God-King of Unther.

Expanded Spell List

The Deathless lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Deathless Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	false life, ray of sickness
2nd	blindness/deafness, silence
3rd	speak with dead, stinking cloud
4th	aura of life, death ward
5th	contagion, cloudkill

Death Harvest

At 1st, you can harvest some of the negative energy when a creature grazes annihilation.

As a reaction, when a creature other than you within 30 feet would be reduced to 0 hit points, choose one of the following:

• Regain 1d6 hit points.

• Deal 1d6 necrotic damage to a creature within 30 feet.

This includes situations, where the creature is reduced to 1 hit point instead like with the death ward spell.

You cannot use this feature, if it was a creature below challenge rating 1/8.

Death Armor

At 6th level, when you cast a necromancy spell of 1 level or higher, you can choose one creature within 30 feet of you, including you. The creature gains temporary hit points equal to twice the spells level. If the creature is at 0 hit points, it also regains 1 hit point.
Only one creature can benefit from this feature at the same time. If you use it again, remaining temporary hit points from this feature are lost.

Undying Nature

Beginning at 10th level, you can hold your breath indefinitely, and you don't require food, water, or sleep, although you still require rest to reduce exhaustion and still benefit from finishing short and long rests.

In addition, you age at a slower rate. For every 10 years that pass, your body ages only 1 year, and you are immune to being magically aged.

You also gain resistance to necrotic and poison damage and advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.

You also gain advantage on death saving throws.

If you put a severed body part of yours back in place when you regain hit points, the part reattaches.

Soul Projection

At 14 level, your soul remains restless and active while unconscious like sleeping or dying, and can leave its body to become an undead apparition.

As an action, you can fall unconscious, similar to a magic slumber, to trigger this process.

At the start of your turn, while you are unconscious or dead, you can decide to leave your body as a soul and become an undying ghost with hit points equal to half your hit point maximum. The ghost looks like an ethereal version of you, including the armor and weapons you were wearing at the moment you left your body. As a ghost you retain your mental stats, skills and saving throws, but you cannot use any class features, including spellcasting. While you are a ghost, your body is deaf and blind.

Your body and your ghost form cannot be further than 1000 feet apart from each other. If either is moved beyond this limit, the ghost is dragged back towards the body as if connected by an invisible rope.

If you are disconnected from your body for too long, your body will start to decay. For every full 10 minutes that pass, while you are a ghost, your body takes 1d10 necrotic damage. That damage cannot be reduced by resistance to necrotic damage.

Should your body die, your ghost does not disappear until destroyed, banished or called back into the body by a resurrection spell. As long as your body is alive, your ghost automatically returns to your body, if it is destroyed, but your body takes 2d10 force damage during this process.
You can also decide to return to your body as a bonus action on your turn, or as a reaction, if your body is target for an effect that would make it regain consciousness like healing or it is woken as an action by another creature while it has more than 0 hit points.
When your return to your body, you regain consciousness, if it still has more than 0 hit points. While your ghost stays outside of your body, it cannot regain consciousness, but can still be healed.

Once you have used this feature to turn into a ghost, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.