"The Circle of Twilight seeks to exterminate undead creatures and preserve the natural cycle of life and death that rules over the cosmos. Their magic allows them to manipulate the boundary between life and death, sending their foes to their final rest while keeping their allies from that fate. These druids seek out lands that have been tainted by undeath. Such places are grim and foreboding. Once vibrant forests become gloomy, haunted places devoid of animals and filled with plants dying a slow, lingering death. The Circle of Twilight goes to such places to banish undeath and restore life." (This flavor text was taken directly from the original UA where this subclass is from.)
Culling Scythe
Starting at 3rd level, you learn to unravel the life energy of other creatures. You always have the toll the dead and spare the dying cantrips prepared, you can cast one of them as a bonus action each turn, and Spare the Dying's range is increased to 30 feet.
Additionally, if you target an undead with toll the dead, they take 1d4 additional damage. This bonus damage increases when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4).
Toll the Harvest
At 3rd level, you gain the ability to channel the elements of nature to enhance your reaping capabilities, allowing you to further punish the violators of the natural order. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape to begin the Harvest, rather than transforming into a beast. While the Harvest is ongoing, your body eclipses into shadow, and a magical darkness radiates outwards from you, forming a 5-foot-diameter, 10-foot-tall cylinder centered on you that follows your movements. This darkness inhibits a creature's ability to see you, granting a bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier, and preventing you from being targeted by spells that require you being seen. The Harvest lasts for 10 minutes. It ends early if you dismiss it (no action required), are incapacitated, die, or use this feature again.
Whenever you begin the Harvest, choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or necrotic. For the duration, your piercing and slashing damage dealt counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities, you are able to add your Wisdom modifier to attack rolls made with a melee weapon that deals piercing or slashing damage, and you deal an additional 1d4 damage of the chosen type whenever you deal damage with a weapon or spell. This bonus damage increases when you reach 6th level (1d6), 10th level (1d8), and 14th level (1d10). Whenever you kill an enemy with an attack that deals the chosen damage type, you gain 1d4 temporary hit points, or 2d4 temporary hit points if the killed enemy is undead, which disappear when the Harvest ends.
Keeper of the Grave
At 6th level, your ability to preserve the sanctity of death allows you to guard and commune with the dead. Using this feature, you can cast speak with dead or gentle repose without material components or a spell slot. Additionally, whenever you cast speak with dead, you understand what the target of this casting says. It can understand your questions, even if you don’t share a language or it is not intelligent enough to speak.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain one expended use whenever you finish a short rest, and you regain all expended uses whenever you finish along rest.
Guardian of Souls
At 6th level, the time you have spent around the dead and dying causes you to emanate an aura of silence, safeguarding your allies from succumbing to their mortality. While you aren't incapacitated, any ally within 15 feet of you has advantage on death saving throws.
Watcher at the Threshold
At 10th level, you gain resistance to necrotic and radiant damage. While the Harvest is active, you also gain resistance to piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage from nonmagical sources, as well as the damage type you chose at the beginning of the harvest. In addition, Guardian of Souls' aura increases to 30 feet.
Paths of the Dead
At 14th level, your mastery of death allows you to tread the paths used by ghosts and other spirits. Using this feature, you can cast etherealness without a spell slot. While you are on the Ethereal Plane due to the effects of the etherealness spell, you can target creatures on the plane you left with the toll the dead and spare the dying cantrips. Once the spell ends, you can’t cast it with this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Edits:
9/22/2025 - Made some recommended changes, as well as some of my own ideas.
Changed the wording regarding the cantrips provided by Culling Scythe to clarify that a player cannot cast both cantrips as one bonus action. Now reads "you can cast one of them as a bonus action each turn."
Changed the wording regarding the darkness radiated by Toll the Harvest. Now reads "This darkness inhibits a creature's ability to see you, granting a bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier, and preventing you from being targeted by spells that require you being seen."
Changed the wording regarding the darkness radiated by Toll the Harvest to clarify that the darkness fills the player's space. The darkness now has a 5-foot diameter.
Clarified that the darkness radiated by Toll the Harvest follows the player's movements.
Limited the benefits granted to weapons by Toll the Harvest to only apply to melee weapons that deal piercing or slashing damage, added damage scaling for the elemental bonus damage, and added a benefit allowing piercing and slashing damage to count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities. Now reads "For the duration, your piercing and slashing damage dealt counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities, you are able to add your Wisdom modifier to attack rolls made with a melee weapon that deals piercing or slashing damage, and you deal an additional 1d4 damage of the chosen type whenever you deal damage with a weapon or spell. This bonus damage increases when you reach 6th level (1d6), 10th level (1d8), and 14th level (1d10)."
Changed the hit points gained through Toll the Harvest to temporary hit points, and clarified that they disappear when the Harvest ends. Now reads "Whenever you kill an enemy with an attack that deals the chosen damage type, you gain 1d4 temporary hit points, or 2d4 temporary hit points if the killed enemy is undead, which disappear when the Harvest ends."
Added a new 6th level subclass feature: Guardian of Souls. Feature description reads "At 6th level, the time you have spent around the dead and dying causes you to emanate an aura of silence, safeguarding your allies from succumbing to their mortality. While you aren't incapacitated, any ally within 15 feet of you has advantage on death saving throws."
Added a benefit to the 10th level subclass feature Watcher at the Threshold. Reads "While the Harvest is active, you also gain resistance to piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage from nonmagical sources, as well as the damage type you chose at the beginning of the harvest."
Changed the wording of the aura emanated by Watcher at the Threshold to improve upon Guardian of Souls' range. Now reads "In addition, Guardian of Souls' aura increases to 30 feet."
It's okay overall. Good flavor. The main issue with it is that it seems very specialized towards dispatching undead creatures. This sounds like a melee or just-behind-melee focuse subclass, which is a cool idea, but it probably needs more AC to survive that regularly. I mean, most undead you would be using Toll the Dead on would not be attacking you with spells but from melee range.
I would also move the "any ally within 30 feet of you gets advantage on death saving Throws" to 6th level and move the damage boost you listed as 6th lvl ability to be 10th level instead. This makes it more comparable in terms of progression to the Grave Cleric, which this homebrew resembles.
Okay, thank you for the feedback! If I may ask, what do you mean by the damage boost at 6th level? As far as I can tell, the only 6th level feature is the Speak with Dead & Gentle Repose feature.
Also, regarding the AC issue, do you think that a bonus to AC equal to one's Wisdom modifier during the Harvest would be a good tweak?
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"The Circle of Twilight seeks to exterminate undead creatures and preserve the natural cycle of life and death that rules over the cosmos. Their magic allows them to manipulate the boundary between life and death, sending their foes to their final rest while keeping their allies from that fate. These druids seek out lands that have been tainted by undeath. Such places are grim and foreboding. Once vibrant forests become gloomy, haunted places devoid of animals and filled with plants dying a slow, lingering death. The Circle of Twilight goes to such places to banish undeath and restore life." (This flavor text was taken directly from the original UA where this subclass is from.)
Culling Scythe
Starting at 3rd level, you learn to unravel the life energy of other creatures. You always have the toll the dead and spare the dying cantrips prepared, you can cast one of them as a bonus action each turn, and Spare the Dying's range is increased to 30 feet.
Additionally, if you target an undead with toll the dead, they take 1d4 additional damage. This bonus damage increases when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4).
Toll the Harvest
At 3rd level, you gain the ability to channel the elements of nature to enhance your reaping capabilities, allowing you to further punish the violators of the natural order. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape to begin the Harvest, rather than transforming into a beast. While the Harvest is ongoing, your body eclipses into shadow, and a magical darkness radiates outwards from you, forming a 5-foot-diameter, 10-foot-tall cylinder centered on you that follows your movements. This darkness inhibits a creature's ability to see you, granting a bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier, and preventing you from being targeted by spells that require you being seen. The Harvest lasts for 10 minutes. It ends early if you dismiss it (no action required), are incapacitated, die, or use this feature again.
Whenever you begin the Harvest, choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or necrotic. For the duration, your piercing and slashing damage dealt counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities, you are able to add your Wisdom modifier to attack rolls made with a melee weapon that deals piercing or slashing damage, and you deal an additional 1d4 damage of the chosen type whenever you deal damage with a weapon or spell. This bonus damage increases when you reach 6th level (1d6), 10th level (1d8), and 14th level (1d10). Whenever you kill an enemy with an attack that deals the chosen damage type, you gain 1d4 temporary hit points, or 2d4 temporary hit points if the killed enemy is undead, which disappear when the Harvest ends.
Keeper of the Grave
At 6th level, your ability to preserve the sanctity of death allows you to guard and commune with the dead. Using this feature, you can cast speak with dead or gentle repose without material components or a spell slot. Additionally, whenever you cast speak with dead, you understand what the target of this casting says. It can understand your questions, even if you don’t share a language or it is not intelligent enough to speak.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain one expended use whenever you finish a short rest, and you regain all expended uses whenever you finish along rest.
Guardian of Souls
At 6th level, the time you have spent around the dead and dying causes you to emanate an aura of silence, safeguarding your allies from succumbing to their mortality. While you aren't incapacitated, any ally within 15 feet of you has advantage on death saving throws.
Watcher at the Threshold
At 10th level, you gain resistance to necrotic and radiant damage. While the Harvest is active, you also gain resistance to piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage from nonmagical sources, as well as the damage type you chose at the beginning of the harvest. In addition, Guardian of Souls' aura increases to 30 feet.
Paths of the Dead
At 14th level, your mastery of death allows you to tread the paths used by ghosts and other spirits. Using this feature, you can cast etherealness without a spell slot. While you are on the Ethereal Plane due to the effects of the etherealness spell, you can target creatures on the plane you left with the toll the dead and spare the dying cantrips. Once the spell ends, you can’t cast it with this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Edits:
9/22/2025 - Made some recommended changes, as well as some of my own ideas.
Changed the wording regarding the cantrips provided by Culling Scythe to clarify that a player cannot cast both cantrips as one bonus action. Now reads "you can cast one of them as a bonus action each turn."
Changed the wording regarding the darkness radiated by Toll the Harvest. Now reads "This darkness inhibits a creature's ability to see you, granting a bonus to AC equal to your Wisdom modifier, and preventing you from being targeted by spells that require you being seen."
Changed the wording regarding the darkness radiated by Toll the Harvest to clarify that the darkness fills the player's space. The darkness now has a 5-foot diameter.
Clarified that the darkness radiated by Toll the Harvest follows the player's movements.
Limited the benefits granted to weapons by Toll the Harvest to only apply to melee weapons that deal piercing or slashing damage, added damage scaling for the elemental bonus damage, and added a benefit allowing piercing and slashing damage to count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities. Now reads "For the duration, your piercing and slashing damage dealt counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities, you are able to add your Wisdom modifier to attack rolls made with a melee weapon that deals piercing or slashing damage, and you deal an additional 1d4 damage of the chosen type whenever you deal damage with a weapon or spell. This bonus damage increases when you reach 6th level (1d6), 10th level (1d8), and 14th level (1d10)."
Changed the hit points gained through Toll the Harvest to temporary hit points, and clarified that they disappear when the Harvest ends. Now reads "Whenever you kill an enemy with an attack that deals the chosen damage type, you gain 1d4 temporary hit points, or 2d4 temporary hit points if the killed enemy is undead, which disappear when the Harvest ends."
Added a new 6th level subclass feature: Guardian of Souls. Feature description reads "At 6th level, the time you have spent around the dead and dying causes you to emanate an aura of silence, safeguarding your allies from succumbing to their mortality. While you aren't incapacitated, any ally within 15 feet of you has advantage on death saving throws."
Added a benefit to the 10th level subclass feature Watcher at the Threshold. Reads "While the Harvest is active, you also gain resistance to piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage from nonmagical sources, as well as the damage type you chose at the beginning of the harvest."
Changed the wording of the aura emanated by Watcher at the Threshold to improve upon Guardian of Souls' range. Now reads "In addition, Guardian of Souls' aura increases to 30 feet."
Feedback is welcome! Please, share your thoughts!
It's okay overall. Good flavor. The main issue with it is that it seems very specialized towards dispatching undead creatures. This sounds like a melee or just-behind-melee focuse subclass, which is a cool idea, but it probably needs more AC to survive that regularly. I mean, most undead you would be using Toll the Dead on would not be attacking you with spells but from melee range.
I would also move the "any ally within 30 feet of you gets advantage on death saving Throws" to 6th level and move the damage boost you listed as 6th lvl ability to be 10th level instead. This makes it more comparable in terms of progression to the Grave Cleric, which this homebrew resembles.
Okay, thank you for the feedback! If I may ask, what do you mean by the damage boost at 6th level? As far as I can tell, the only 6th level feature is the Speak with Dead & Gentle Repose feature.
Also, regarding the AC issue, do you think that a bonus to AC equal to one's Wisdom modifier during the Harvest would be a good tweak?