Recently I've been returning to some of my homebrews that I haven't worked on in some time, in hopes to breathe new life into this subclass. With this subclass, in short, it's a companion base artificer that focuses on alterations that can buff the companion in different ways. I'm still working on making/revising more of the alterations, both the level 3 and level 15 alterations, but if you have any suggestions let me know. Though in general, I'm mostly curious what you guys think about what I have so far and what fixes/changes that you'd like to see.
As a Necrologist, you an artificer who specializes in a field that focuses on life, death, and even undeath. This has lead many down this path to conduct experiments involving the use of living subjects, the creation of undead, and even in some instances, the creation of construction made from flesh. Due to these macabre and taboo experiments, many view Necrologist in a similar manner as necromancers and mad scientist.
Tool Proficiency
3rd-level Necrologist feature
You gain proficiency with Leatherworker's Tools. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.
Necrologist Spells
3rd-level Necrologist feature
You learn the Spare the Dying cantrip, if you don't already know it. You also always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Necrologist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
Your experiments have resulted in the creation of a monstrous being. It is friendly to you and your companions, and it obeys your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the Flesh Abomination stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places. You determine the creature's appearance and the method of it's creation; your choice has no effects on its game statistics.
In combat, the abomination acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the abomination to take the Attack action. If you are incapacitated, the abomination can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.
If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use your Leatherworker's Tools as an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The flesh abomination returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored.
At the end of a long rest, you can create a new flesh abomination if you have both a humanoid corpse and Leatherworker's Tools with you. If you already have a flesh abomination from this feature, the first one immediately perishes. The abomination also perishes if you die.
FLESH ABOMINATION
Medium Construct
Armor Class 9 (natural armor)
Hit Points 7 + seven times your artificer level (the abomination has a number of Hit Dice [d8s] equal to your artificer level)
Languages Understands the languages you speak but can't speak
Challenge — Proficiency Bonus (PB) equals your bonus
Aversion of Fire. If the abomination takes fire damage, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its next turn.
Immutable Form. The abomination is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form from creatures other than you.
Lightning Absorption. Whenever the abomination is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt.
Actions
Slam.Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target you can see. Hit: 1d8 + PB Bludgeoning damage.
Reaction
Retaliation. When the abomination takes damage it can use it's reaction to make one slam attack.
Altered Flesh
3rd-level Necrologist feature
You can enhance aspects of your abomination with various alterations. Choose one of the following alterations from the list below to apply to your flesh abomination. During a long rest, you can choose to change any number of alterations by using your Leatherworker's tools and spending 1 hour for each alteration that you wish to change. At higher levels, you can apply additional alterations at once; increasing to 2 at 5th level, 3 at 9th level, and 4 at 15th level.
Hardened Flesh. The abomination's AC increases to 10 + your proficiency bonus.
Reinforced Flesh. (Prerequisite: 5th level) The abomination gains resistance against Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren't Adamantine.
Enhanced Endurance. (Prerequisite: 5th level) When the abomination takes damage, the it can use its reaction to half the damage.
Mental Reconditioning. The abomination is no longer effected by the Aversion of Fire feature, and has advantage on saving against being charmed or frightened.
Acidic Spit. The abomination gains a new action. It can make a ranged attack against a creature that it can see within 60 feet using your spell attack modifier. On a hit, the creature takes 1d6 + PB acid damage.
Rampage. When the abomination reduces a creature's hit points to 0, it can use its reaction to move up to half its movement.
Berserker. (Prerequisite: 9th level) When the abomination takes the Slam action it can make two attacks instead of one with that action.
Empowered Slam. Increase the damage of the slam action to 2d6 + PB bludgeoning damage.
Endure. When the abomination is subjected to an effect that allows it to make a Constitution saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage if it succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage if the abomination fails.
Versatile Being. You can add your proficiency bonus to any ability check or saving throw that the abomination makes. If the abomination already adds your proficiency bonus to a skill, you add twice your proficiency bonus instead of what's on its stat block.
Siphon Vitality. (Prerequisite: 9th level) When a creature takes damage with 30 feet of the abomination, it can use it's reaction to give the creature resistance to the attack, but then also takes damage equal to the remaining points of damage.
Malleable Flesh. You gain further control of what your abomination looks like. Using your Leatherworker's Tools, you can spend 10 minutes to decide what it looks like, including its height, weight, facial features, sound of its voice, hair length, coloration, and distinguishing characteristics, if any. The abomination can appear as a member of another race, though none of its game statistics change. It must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs that it has.
Environment Adaption. The abomination can mold itself to adapt to various environments. Such as gaining gills to breath underwater, grows claws to help it climb, and adapting to extreme environments allowing the abomination to ignore their effects.
Corpse Animator
5th-level Necrologist feature
You gain the ability to animate the corpses of the recently deceased. As an action, you can use your Leatherworker's Tools on a humanoid that is medium or smaller, that has been dead for no longer than 1 year and that you can touch in order to reanimate. The creature uses the zombie stat block in the Monster Manual. It remains animate for 1 hour, after which time it collapses and dies. In combat, the zombie’s turn comes immediately after yours. It obeys your mental commands, and the only action it can take is the Attack action, making one melee attack.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest. In addition, the abomination's attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Preserve Life
9th-level Necrologist feature
You can the ability to save others from the brink of death. When a creature within 30 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points but not out right kill, you can use your reaction to have the target instead drop to 1 hit point. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Prefect Specimen
15th-level Necrologist feature
Through continuous work on the abomination it gains additional power. Choose one of the following greater alterations to be applied to the abomination. During a long rest, you can choose to change the greater alteration by using your Leatherworker's tools and spending 2 hour working on the abomination.
Self Repairing Flesh. While the abomination is below half it's max hit points and is not unconscious, at the start of each of its turns the abomination regains 10 hit points.
Concussive Impact. When the abomination hit's a creature with the slam attack, once on each of your turns you can choose to empower the attack. If you choose to do so, attack deals bonus force damage equal to 1d10 + your half artificer level, then the creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or become Stunned until the end of its next turn.
Arcane Resilience. The abomination has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Both the corpse animator and preserve life features seem to me to be slightly worse versions of the animate dead and death ward spells respectively, but several levels earlier. Of course, this could probably balance out, but giving a fifth level character the no. of zombies a seventh level necromancer would get for their fourth and two of their third level slots, even for one hour, might be a little powerful and could definitely cause some tension when all of the zombies are annihilated by a dragon, but you get yours back in a few minutes if you have any uses left, and they don't.
Also, while it is a fifteenth level feature, getting permanent triple heroism (15HP vs 5 temp HP) might be a little bit powerful, especially considering its moderate 15AC and relatively high 112HP.
The other thing you have to take into consideration with those features is that they are not using spell slots. Now for Corpse Animator, I did base it off of the Spores druid feature, but decided to have the hit points improved at the cost of a smaller duration, which hindsight I should probably have the zombies at half health instead. As for that 15th level feature, that one is stronger than I originally intended, but mostly because I'm still playing with the numbers. Currently I do plan on reducing it but unsure if I'm going to it as 5+your Int or just a flat 10.
Maybe, the preserve life feature could work like the fathomless warlock with the tentacle spell. You may cast the death ward once per day without expending a spell slot, casting it again requires a spell slot. Overal, I really love this subclass so far!
Maybe, the preserve life feature could work like the fathomless warlock with the tentacle spell. You may cast the death ward once per day without expending a spell slot, casting it again requires a spell slot. Overal, I really love this subclass so far!
I did think about going that route although I opted to make it closer to the Half-orcs Relentless Endurance feature. My reasoning for that in short is simplicity.
Recently I've been returning to some of my homebrews that I haven't worked on in some time, in hopes to breathe new life into this subclass. With this subclass, in short, it's a companion base artificer that focuses on alterations that can buff the companion in different ways. I'm still working on making/revising more of the alterations, both the level 3 and level 15 alterations, but if you have any suggestions let me know. Though in general, I'm mostly curious what you guys think about what I have so far and what fixes/changes that you'd like to see.
As a Necrologist, you an artificer who specializes in a field that focuses on life, death, and even undeath. This has lead many down this path to conduct experiments involving the use of living subjects, the creation of undead, and even in some instances, the creation of construction made from flesh. Due to these macabre and taboo experiments, many view Necrologist in a similar manner as necromancers and mad scientist.
Tool Proficiency
3rd-level Necrologist feature
You gain proficiency with Leatherworker's Tools. If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.
Necrologist Spells
3rd-level Necrologist feature
You learn the Spare the Dying cantrip, if you don't already know it. You also always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Necrologist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
Necrologist Spells
3rd
Bane, Spare the Dying, Witch Bolt
5th
Blindness/Deafness, Hold Person
9th
Animate Dead, Lightning Bolt
13th
Aura of Life, Death Ward
17th
Danse Macabre, Raise Dead
Flesh Abomination
3rd-level Necrologist feature
Your experiments have resulted in the creation of a monstrous being. It is friendly to you and your companions, and it obeys your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the Flesh Abomination stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places. You determine the creature's appearance and the method of it's creation; your choice has no effects on its game statistics.
In combat, the abomination acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the abomination to take the Attack action. If you are incapacitated, the abomination can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.
If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use your Leatherworker's Tools as an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The flesh abomination returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored.
At the end of a long rest, you can create a new flesh abomination if you have both a humanoid corpse and Leatherworker's Tools with you. If you already have a flesh abomination from this feature, the first one immediately perishes. The abomination also perishes if you die.
FLESH ABOMINATION
Medium Construct
Armor Class 9 (natural armor)
Hit Points 7 + seven times your artificer level (the abomination has a number of Hit Dice [d8s] equal to your artificer level)
Speed 30 ft.
Saving Throws Str +4 plus PB, Con +4 plus PB
Skills Athletics +4 plus PB, Intimidation -3 plus PB
Damage Immunities Lightning, Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages Understands the languages you speak but can't speak
Challenge — Proficiency Bonus (PB) equals your bonus
Aversion of Fire. If the abomination takes fire damage, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its next turn.
Immutable Form. The abomination is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form from creatures other than you.
Lightning Absorption. Whenever the abomination is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt.
Actions
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target you can see. Hit: 1d8 + PB Bludgeoning damage.
Reaction
Retaliation. When the abomination takes damage it can use it's reaction to make one slam attack.
Altered Flesh
3rd-level Necrologist feature
You can enhance aspects of your abomination with various alterations. Choose one of the following alterations from the list below to apply to your flesh abomination. During a long rest, you can choose to change any number of alterations by using your Leatherworker's tools and spending 1 hour for each alteration that you wish to change. At higher levels, you can apply additional alterations at once; increasing to 2 at 5th level, 3 at 9th level, and 4 at 15th level.
Corpse Animator
5th-level Necrologist feature
You gain the ability to animate the corpses of the recently deceased. As an action, you can use your Leatherworker's Tools on a humanoid that is medium or smaller, that has been dead for no longer than 1 year and that you can touch in order to reanimate. The creature uses the zombie stat block in the Monster Manual. It remains animate for 1 hour, after which time it collapses and dies. In combat, the zombie’s turn comes immediately after yours. It obeys your mental commands, and the only action it can take is the Attack action, making one melee attack.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest. In addition, the abomination's attacks now count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Preserve Life
9th-level Necrologist feature
You can the ability to save others from the brink of death. When a creature within 30 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points but not out right kill, you can use your reaction to have the target instead drop to 1 hit point. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Prefect Specimen
15th-level Necrologist feature
Through continuous work on the abomination it gains additional power. Choose one of the following greater alterations to be applied to the abomination. During a long rest, you can choose to change the greater alteration by using your Leatherworker's tools and spending 2 hour working on the abomination.
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You have empowered slam(Makes damage 2d6) as an alteration and a greater alteration(Extra d10, stun).
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
ah I see, simple fix, thanks for catching that.
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Both the corpse animator and preserve life features seem to me to be slightly worse versions of the animate dead and death ward spells respectively, but several levels earlier. Of course, this could probably balance out, but giving a fifth level character the no. of zombies a seventh level necromancer would get for their fourth and two of their third level slots, even for one hour, might be a little powerful and could definitely cause some tension when all of the zombies are annihilated by a dragon, but you get yours back in a few minutes if you have any uses left, and they don't.
Also, while it is a fifteenth level feature, getting permanent triple heroism (15HP vs 5 temp HP) might be a little bit powerful, especially considering its moderate 15AC and relatively high 112HP.
The other thing you have to take into consideration with those features is that they are not using spell slots. Now for Corpse Animator, I did base it off of the Spores druid feature, but decided to have the hit points improved at the cost of a smaller duration, which hindsight I should probably have the zombies at half health instead. As for that 15th level feature, that one is stronger than I originally intended, but mostly because I'm still playing with the numbers. Currently I do plan on reducing it but unsure if I'm going to it as 5+your Int or just a flat 10.
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To see my more recent homebrew creations, please check out my content on Hombrewery.
Feel free to check out my hombrew: Magic Items, Spells, Monsters, Species, Feats, Subclassses, and Backgrounds. More detail in my Homebrew Compendium.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or ways to improve my homebrew, tell me, I'm always looking to improve!
Map commission Here.
I did think about going that route although I opted to make it closer to the Half-orcs Relentless Endurance feature. My reasoning for that in short is simplicity.
My Homebrew | Background | Feats | Magic Items | Races | Spells | Subclass | Homebrewery
To see my more recent homebrew creations, please check out my content on Hombrewery.