Death Lord

Death Lords arise from the blood-soaked fields of war, where mortal warriors refuse to accept the finality of defeat. These are not scholars or sorcerers, but hardened fighters—veterans, warlords, and champions—who seize dominion over death through sheer will and profane battlefield rituals. By bathing their weapons in the lifeblood of enemies, performing dark pacts amid piles of corpses, or consuming the lingering essence of the slain, they bind the power of the grave to their steel and soul.

A Death Lord does not serve death—they command it. They stride across battlefields as undying tyrants, raising fallen foes into obedient legions while their blades drink the vitality of the living. Some seek vengeance against those who once bested them. Others hunger for eternal conquest, forging empires of bone and shadow. In time, all transcend the limits of mortal flesh, becoming eternal sovereigns whose very presence compels the dead to kneel and whose soul-devouring appetite erodes what remains of their humanity.

Lord of the Grave

3rd-level Death Lord feature

You have forged your first true bond with death, awakening an instinctive command over its servants and infusing your martial strikes with necrotic hunger.

You gain the following abilities:

• Undead Dominion — You always sense the presence of all undead within 120 feet of you, knowing their number and general direction. As an action, you can target one undead creature you can see whose CR is equal to or lower than your fighter level. It must make a Charisma saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + Constitution modifier). On a failure, it falls under your permanent control and obeys your verbal commands. If the target has Intelligence 8 or higher, it has advantage on the saving throw. If it has Intelligence 12 or higher and fails, it can repeat the saving throw at the end of every hour until it succeeds and breaks free.
• Death’s Resilience — You have advantage on death saving throws. If you succeed on three death saving throws, you immediately regain hit points equal to twice your fighter level and regain consciousness. Undead have disadvantage on attack rolls against you. You gain immunity to being poisoned, resistance to necrotic damage, and your hit point maximum cannot be reduced.
• Necrotic Blade — When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage (increasing to 2d6 at 7th level, 3d6 at 10th level, 4d6 at 15th level, and 5d6 at 18th level). A creature damaged by this necrotic damage cannot regain hit points until it finishes a long rest. You regain hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt. If this necrotic damage kills a humanoid, it immediately rises as a zombie permanently under your control. Creatures created in this way use the standard statistics for their undead type. They obey your verbal commands to the best of their ability without requiring any action from you and act on their own initiative. They follow even complex orders to the limits of their intelligence and capabilities (a mindless zombie, for example, can only understand simple commands such as “attack that foe” or “guard this door,” while a wraith can interpret more nuanced instructions). These servants remain loyal to you until they are destroyed or you choose to release them from service.
• Necromantic Mastery — Using Constitution as your spellcasting ability and requiring no material components, you can cast chill touch  as an action or bonus action; you can cast speak with dead, false life, inflict wounds, and bestow curse  at will (bestow curse requires no concentration). You can cast animate dead  up to 3 times per long rest as an action. When you cast inflict wounds  on an undead creature, you can choose for it regain hit points equal to the necrotic damage it would have taken.
• Soul Consumption — As a reaction when a creature that is neither undead nor a construct dies within 30 feet of you, you can devour its soul. You gain temporary hit points equal to 10 + your fighter level. The creature’s soul is utterly destroyed and cannot be brought back to life by any means short of a wish spell. However, you cannot create any undead (zombie , specter , wraith, etc.) from that creature’s body. The first time you consume a soul this way, your alignment permanently shifts to evil (the closest evil alignment to your current one).
• Grave Scholar — You gain proficiency with the Arcana skill. You have advantage on Arcana checks made to recall information about necromancy magic, undead creatures, or rituals involving death and the grave.

Aura of the Grave

7th-level Death Lord feature

Your mastery expands, radiating a suffocating field of necrotic energy that empowers your undead servants and cowers lesser spirits.

You gain the following abilities:

• Death Aura — You emanate a 30-foot-radius Death Aura. Allied undead inside the aura regain hit points equal to your fighter level at the start of each of your turns and have advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. Any undead that attempts to attack you or target you with a harmful effect must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Constitution modifier) or waste its action doing nothing.
• Improved Resilience — You require only 2 successful death saving throws to stabilize. If you succeed on two death saving throws, you immediately regain hit points equal to twice your fighter level and regain consciousness. You are immune to effects that would instantly reduce you to 0 hit points or kill you outright, immune to being charmed or frightened, and immune to poison damage.
• Enhanced Animation — You can now cast animate dead (at 4th level) up to 3 times per long rest.
• Soul Empowerment — When you devour a soul (as described at 3rd level), you may choose one of the following benefits instead of temporary hit points: regain one expended use of animate dead, or increase your Necrotic Blade damage by one additional die (maximum 3d6 at this level) for the next minute.

Specter’s Dominion

10th-level Death Lord feature

You now shape the essence of death itself, choosing the form your victims will take in eternal servitude.

You gain the following abilities:

• Greater Resilience — You require only 1 successful death saving throw to stabilize. If you succeed on one death saving throw, you immediately regain hit points equal to twice your fighter level and regain consciousness.
• Enhanced Animation — You can now cast animate dead (at 5th level) up to 3 times per long rest.
• Undead Rebirth — When you kill a humanoid with your Necrotic Blade damage, you may choose to raise it as either a zombie or a specter. The chosen undead is permanently under your control.
• Soul Empowerment — When you devour a soul (as described at 3rd level), you may choose one of the following benefits: regain hit points equal to 20 + twice your fighter level, or gain advantage on all saving throws for the next hour.

Undead Apotheosis

15th-level Death Lord feature

You undergo a profound transformation, shedding the weaknesses of mortality and ascending as a true sovereign of death.

You gain the following abilities:

• Undeath Transformation — Your alignment becomes permanently evil (the closest evil alignment to your current one). Your creature type becomes undead (unless you are a construct). You no longer age, cannot be aged, and cannot die from old age. You no longer need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You gain darkvision out to 120 feet. You are immune to exhaustion, disease, being paralyzed, stunned, magically put to sleep, or knocked unconscious. While at 0 hit points you remain conscious but continue making death saving throws. Any necrotic damage you would take instead heals you for the same amount. You gain resistance to cold damage, lightning damage, and bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. You are immune to any effect that would turn or control undead. Undead with Intelligence 7 or lower will not willingly attack you.
• Master of Death — You can cast animate dead (at 7th level) up to 6 times per long rest. You finish a long rest in only 4 hours and may remain awake and aware during it. You can cast create undead up to 6 times per long rest as an action. You can cast finger of death up to 3 times per long rest. Once per long rest, when an effect would kill you or reduce you to 0 hit points, you may choose not to die (you drop to 1 hit point instead).
• Soul Empowerment — When you devour a soul (as described at 3rd level), you may choose one of the following benefits: immediately regain all expended uses of animate dead and create undead or gain a flying speed of 60 feet for 1 hour.

Eternal Death Lord

18th-level Death Lord feature

You achieve the pinnacle of your dark ascension. The battlefield becomes your kingdom, the dead your eternal subjects, and oblivion itself obeys your command.

You gain the following abilities:

• Apex of Death — You can use your “choose not to die” feature twice per long rest. You can cast create undead (at 9th level) up to 3 times per long rest. You can cast finger of death up to 2 extra times per long rest. You can now cast animate dead (at 9th level) up to 3 times per long rest as an action. When you kill a humanoid with your Necrotic Blade damage, you may choose to raise it as a zombie, specter, wraith, or wight (using the rules for Undead Servants under Necrotic Blade). The chosen undead is permanently under your control, and any specters under a wraith’s control are also under your control.
• Soul Empowerment — When you devour a soul (as described at 3rd level), you may choose one of the following benefits: regain all expended uses of animate dead, create undead, and finger of death, or for the next hour you have immunity to all damage (once per long rest).