The Pestilence

Your patron is a force of sickness given will—a forgotten plague god, an ancient spirit of rot, a disease that learned to think, or some nameless thing that festers beyond the boundaries of the mortal world. Whatever its origin, its influence does not strike like a blade or burn like flame. It spreads.

Warlocks bound to the Pestilence carry supernatural diseases capable of twisting flesh, sapping strength, and reducing even the mightiest creatures to coughing, decaying shells. Your magic leaves lingering plagues upon your enemies, weakening them while slowly eating away at their bodies. These afflictions are not meant to remain contained. Through your patron's power, sickness can leap from one victim to another, turning a crowded battlefield into fertile ground for an epidemic.

A Pestilence Warlock fights by infecting enemies and allowing those diseases to spread throughout their ranks. Your plagues deal persistent damage and inflict debilitating effects, while making their victims increasingly susceptible to necrotic magic. As infected creatures fall, their afflictions can pass to nearby enemies, allowing a single infection to grow into a devastating outbreak.

You are not merely a wielder of disease.

You are its carrier.

Patient Zero

Patient Zero

At 3rd level, your patron grants you the power to cultivate and unleash a supernatural plague.

As a Bonus Action, you can choose one creature you can see within 60 feet and attempt to make it Patient Zero. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your Warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, you expend two Pact Magic spell slots, and the creature contracts your plague. On a successful save, no spell slots are expended.

A creature infected by your plague is considered Plagued.

At the start of each Plagued creature's turn, it takes 1d4 Necrotic damage, in addition you have Advantage against Plagued enemies.

Your plague persists until you finish a Long Rest or until no creatures remain Plagued.

Patient Zero doesn't need to remain alive. Once the infection spreads, every Plagued creature is a valid host.

If you successfully hit a creature with a Syringe while using Patient Zero, it becomes Plagued without making the initial Constitution save.

Spread Infection

Once on each of your turns, when you damage a Plagued creature with an attack or Warlock spell, you can choose another creature within 15 feet of it. The chosen creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your Warlock spell save DC or become Plagued.

When a Plagued creature dies, you can use your Reaction to instead attempt to spread the plague to one creature within 30 feet of it. The chosen creature makes the same saving throw, becoming Plagued on a failure.

Spreading your plague does not expend a spell slot.

 

Plague Mutations

Plague Mutations

Your supernatural plague evolves alongside your connection to your patron, developing increasingly dangerous symptoms and unnatural characteristics.

At 3rd level, choose one Plague Mutation from the options presented below. You gain one additional Plague Mutation when you reach 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level in this class.

You can select any mutation for which you meet the level requirement, and you cannot select the same mutation more than once unless it states otherwise.

At 3rd level, you can choose from Standard Mutations.

At 5th level, Advanced Mutations become available.

At 9th level, Apex Mutations become available.

Whenever a creature becomes Plagued through your Patient Zero feature, it suffers the effects of all Plague Mutations you have selected.

Advanced Mutation — Contagion

Your plague has adapted specifically for transmission between hosts.

Whenever a creature makes a Constitution saving throw against your plague as a result of Spread Infection, it makes that saving throw with Disadvantage.

This mutation does not affect the saving throw made when you initially create Patient Zero.

Advanced Mutation — Malignant Strain

Your plague has evolved into a far more destructive strain. Whenever a Plagued creature takes damage from your Patient Zero feature at the start of its turn, the damage increases from 1d4 to 2d4 Necrotic damage.

This mutation replaces the normal damage of your plague; it does not add an additional damage roll.

Apex Mutation — Crippling Fever

At the start of a Plagued creature’s turn, it must make a Constitution saving throw against your Warlock spell save DC.

On a failed save, the creature’s Speed is halved, and it takes 1d10 necrotic damage if it moves.

This is calculated after Wasting Fever.

Apex Mutation — Fevered Delirium

At the start of each Plagued creature’s turn, it must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Warlock spell save DC.

On a failed save, until the start of its next turn, the creature can take either an Action or a Bonus Action, but not both, and it can’t take Reactions.

Necrotic Lesions

The first time each turn a Plagued creature takes Necrotic damage from you, it takes additional Necrotic damage equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

Shaking Sickness

The first attack roll a Plagued creature makes on each of its turns is reduced by 1d4

Virulent Strain

Your plague's normal spreading range increases from 15 feet to 30 feet, and its death-spread range increases from 30 feet to 60 feet

Wasting Fever

A Plagued creature's Speed is reduced by 10 feet

Mortem

At 6th level, you learn to command the disease within your victims, forcing it to erupt through their bodies all at once.

As an Action, choose every Plagued creature you have infected. Each chosen creature takes 3d8 + your Charisma modifier Necrotic damage.

This damage requires no attack roll or saving throw, and taking this damage does not end the creature’s plague or remove any of your Plague Mutations.

Once you use Mortem, you can’t use it again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Living Vector

Living Vector

At 10th level, your body has adapted to the supernatural sickness you carry. Disease no longer threatens you; it thrives within you.

You gain Resistance to Necrotic damage and Immunity to disease.

In addition, when your plague would end because no creatures remain Plagued, the plague instead retreats into your body. While carrying your plague in this way, you are considered Plagued only for the purpose of maintaining your Patient Zero feature, and you suffer none of the plague's damage, harmful effects, or Plague Mutations.

While you are carrying the plague and no other creature is Plagued, you can use a Bonus Action to choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of yourself. The target must make a Constitution saving throw against your Warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, it becomes Plagued.

Transmitting the plague in this way does not expend Pact Magic spell slots.

Your plague still ends normally when you finish a Long Rest.

Ruinous Affliction

Adaptive Virulence

At 14th level, your plague reaches a perfected state, adapting its victims to become catastrophically susceptible to a particular form of harm.

When you gain this feature, choose one Adaptive Virulence option from those presented below. Your choice is permanent.

While a creature is Plagued, its defenses against your chosen damage type are reduced by one degree:

• Immunity becomes Resistance.
• Resistance becomes normal damage.
• A creature with neither Resistance nor Immunity gains Vulnerability to that damage type.

This effect applies to damage dealt by any source, including your allies.

Acid Virulence

While a creature is Plagued, its defenses against Acid damage are reduced by one degree: Immunity becomes Resistance, Resistance becomes normal damage, and a creature with neither gains Vulnerability to Acid damage.

Cold Virulence

While a creature is Plagued, its defenses against Cold damage are reduced by one degree: Immunity becomes Resistance, Resistance becomes normal damage, and a creature with neither gains Vulnerability to Cold damage.

Fire Virulence

While a creature is Plagued, its defenses against Fire damage are reduced by one degree: Immunity becomes Resistance, Resistance becomes normal damage, and a creature with neither gains Vulnerability to Fire damage.

Poison Virulence

While a creature is Plagued, its defenses against Poison damage are reduced by one degree: Immunity becomes Resistance, Resistance becomes normal damage, and a creature with neither gains Vulnerability to Poison damage.