Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Oscar Yoren fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Rejuvenation. Oscar Yoren has a pristine delerium geode buried somewhere within the Deep Haze, which acts as his phylactery. If he is destroyed, he gains a new body in 1d10 days, regaining all his hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the phylactery.
Turn Resistance. Oscar Yoren has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Spell Mastery. Oscar can cast chosen 1st level and 2nd level spells at their lowest level without expending a spell slot when he has them prepared. If he wants to cast either spell at a higher level, he must expend a spell slot as normal
shield, mirror image
Spellcasting. Oscar Yoren is a 20th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 21, +13 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following wizard spells prepared:
- Cantrips (at will): chill touch, mage hand, poison spray, prestidigitation, ray of frost
- 1st level (4 slots): delerium orb*, mage armor, magic missile, shield
- 2nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, invisibility, mirror image, warp bolt*
- 3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, counterspell, dispel magic, ride the rifts*
- 4th level (3 slots): delerium blast*, dimension door
- 5th level (3 slots): conjure the deep haze*, scrying
- 6th level (2 slots): globe of invulnerability, ray of contamination*
- 7th level (2 slots): finger of death, octarine spray*
- 8th level (1 slot): contaminated power*, dominate monster
- 9th level (1 slot): power word kill
*Many of Oscar Yoren's prepared spells are new ones detailed in the Dungeons of Drakkenheim campaign book. Being fully contaminated already, these spells do not cause him further contamination, and he does not require material components for spells he casts within the Haze.
Delerium Orb
1st level contaminated evocation
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: You draw chaotic magical power from the delerium fragment held in your hand, and blast a creature you can see within range with paradoxical power. Choose one ability score, then choose cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, psychic, or radiant damage. The target must succeed on a saving throw using the chosen ability score; it takes 6d6 damage of the chosen type on a failed saving throw, or half as much on a successful one.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 2d6 for each slot level above 1st.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 1st level spells can research delerium orb. To complete the research, the caster must spend 5 days of downtime and 250 gp.
Warp Bolt
2nd level contaminated evocation
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Effect: An arcing bolt of octarine lightning strikes a creature within range. If the target has one or more contamination levels, it is hit automatically. Otherwise, make a ranged spell attack against that creature. On a hit, the target takes 6d6 necrotic damage and gains one level of contamination. You can create a new bolt of lightning as your action on any turn until the spell ends.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can target 1 additional creature for each spell level above 2nd.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 2nd level spells and knows delerium orb can research warp bolt. To complete the research, the caster must spend 10 days of downtime and 500 gp.
Ride the Rifts
3rd level contaminated conjuration
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self, 60-foot line
Components: V, S, M (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: A stroke of eldritch lightning forming a line 60 feet long and 5 feet wide blasts out from you in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 10d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. You then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within the line’s area.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 2d6 for each slot level above 3rd.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 2nd level spells and knows warp bolt can research ride the rifts. To complete the research, the caster must spend 15 days of downtime and 750 gp.
Delerium Blast
4th level contaminated evocation
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 150 feet, 20-foot sphere
Components: V, S, M (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: You ignite arcane energies stored inside a delerium fragment held in your hand, and hurl it towards a space you can see within range. It explodes in a 20-foot-radius sphere of erratic psychic energy that overwhelms the minds and senses of those within. Each creature in the sphere must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 10d6 psychic damage and becomes incapacitated until the end of their next turn. On a successful save, a target takes half as much damage and suffers none of the spell’s other effects.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 2d6 for each slot level above 4th.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 4th level spells and knows the ride the rifts spell can research delerium blast. To complete the research, the caster must spend 20 days of downtime and 1000 gp.
Conjure the Deep Haze
5th level contaminated conjuration
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet, 20-foot sphere
Components: V, S, M (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Effect: You create a 20-foot radius sphere of the Deep Haze on a point you choose within range. The fog spreads around corners. It lasts for the duration or until strong wind disperses the fog, ending the spell. Its area is heavily obscured. When a creature enters the spell’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, that creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw. On a failed saving throw, it suffers 8d6 necrotic damage and gains one level of contamination. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and does not gain any contamination levels. Creatures are affected even if they hold their breath or don’t need to breathe.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 4th level spells and knows the delerium blast spell can research conjure the deep haze. To complete the research, the caster must spend 25 days of downtime and 1250 gp.
Ray of Contamination
6th level contaminated necromancy
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: An octarine ray springs from your pointing finger to a creature that you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 16d6 necrotic damage and gains 1d4 levels of Contamination. On a successful save, a target takes half as much damage and does not gain any contamination levels.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 6th. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 6th level spells and knows the conjure the deep haze spell can research ray of contamination. To complete the research, the caster must spend 30 days of downtime and 1500 gp.
Octarine Spray
7th level contaminated evocation
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (60-foot cone)
Components: V, S (a delerium fragment worth 100 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: Octarine rays of light flash from your hand. Each ray is a different colour and has a different power and purpose, see the table below. Each creature in a 60-foot cone must succeed on a Constitution saving throw. For each target, roll a to determine which ray affects it.
- Psychic: The target takes 20d6 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
- Necrotic: The target takes 20d6 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
- Force: The target takes 20d6 force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
- Radiant: The target takes 20d6 radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
- Thunder: The target takes 20d6 thunder damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success.
- Rage: At the start of each of its turns, the affected target uses all its movement to move directly towards the closest creature it can see. Then, the affected target uses its action to make a melee attack against a randomly determined creature within its reach. If there is no creature within its reach, the affected target does nothing this turn. At the end of each of its turns, the affected target can make a Wisdom saving throw. If it succeeds, this effect ends for that target
- Contamination: At the start of each of its turns, the affected target gains one level of contamination. At the end of each of its turns, an affected target can make a Constitution saving throw. If it succeeds, this effect ends for that target, but any contamination levels gained remain.
- Special: The target is struck by an additional ray. Roll again twice. There’s no limit to how many additional rays can strike a single creature in this manner.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 7th level spells and knows the ray of contamination spell can research octarine spray. To complete the research, the caster must spend 35 days of downtime and 1750 gp.
Contaminated Power
8th level contaminated transmutation
Contaminated Spell: When you cast this spell, you gain one level of contamination.
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a delerium shard worth 500 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 1 Minute
Effect: You draw unrestrained arcane magic from the delerium shard you hold in your hand. Until the spell ends, you gain the following benefits:
- When you cast a spell that deals acid, fire, cold, lightning, or poison damage, you can change the damage type to force, necrotic, psychic, or radiant damage.
- Once per turn when you deal damage with a spell, you can deal an extra 1d12 necrotic damage for each contamination level you have gained to one target of that spell.
- When you cast a spell that forces a creature to make a saving throw to resist its effects, you can choose to gain one level of contamination. If you do, one target of the spell has disadvantage on its first saving throw made against that spell.
Special: This spell can’t be dispelled by dispel magic.
Researching the Spell: A character who can cast 8th level spells, knows every other contaminated spell, and has cast each of them at least once can research contaminated power. To complete the research, the caster must spend 40 days of downtime and 2000 gp.
Paralyzing Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (3d6) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Oscar may also deliver his Paralyzing Touch through his quasit familiar.
Oscar Yoren can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Oscar regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Cantrip. Oscar Yoren casts a cantrip.
Paralyzing Touch (Costs 2 Actions). Oscar Yoren uses his Paralyzing Touch.
Frightening Gaze (Costs 2 Actions). Oscar Yoren fixes his gaze on one creature he can see within 10 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or become frightened for 1 minute. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to Oscar's frightening gaze for the next 24 hours.
Disrupt Life (Costs 3 Actions). Each non-undead creature within 20 feet of Oscar Yoren must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw against this magic, taking 21 (6d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Oscar Yoren carries a Staff of Contaminated Power, which he constructed under the instruction of Orcus. The staff loosely resembles the Wand of Orcus, having a human skull at the top of a shaft made of vertebrae.
Staff of Contaminated Power.
Staff, legendary (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)
- Weapon. This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it.
- Charges. The staff has 20 charges for the following properties. The staff regains 1 charge each hour it rests in the Deep Haze. You can also touch a delerium crystal to the staff, which causes it to regain 2d8 + 4 charges, then the crystal crumbles to dust. If you expend the last charge, you immediately gain 1d6 levels of contamination.
- Spells. While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC and spellcasting ability:
• Delerium Orb (1 charge),
• Warp Bolt (2 charges),
• Ride the Rifts (3 charges),
• Delerium Blast (4 charges),
• Conjure the Deep Haze (5 charges)
• Ray of Contamination (6 charges).
You don’t gain any contamination levels when you cast these spells using charges from this staff.
Oscar also has a Manual of Flesh Golems, a Libram of Souls and Flesh, and a Planecaller's Codex which he stole from the Amethyst Academy.
Description
Campaign: Dungeons of Drakkenheim
This malfeasant wizard fled the Amethyst Academy ten years ago. Oscar Yoren has since taken up residence in Reed Manor on the north side of Drakkenheim, and survived on the outskirts of the city through his grim intellect, ruthless self-interest, and willingness to practice unsavoury forms of alchemy, demonology, and necromancy.
Oscar Yoren is a short, wide man in his mid-fifties. He wears slovenly leather breeches and a filthy black overcoat. He has shoulder-length greasy black hair and a thick beard of wiry unshaven hair creeping down his flabby neck. His skin is covered in sores and pasty blotches, with bulging blood vein under his neck. His sunken bloodshot eyes glare with a purple-green light. He has yellow teeth and fingernails.
- Personality Trait. I talk down to anyone who isn’t as intelligent as I am - which is everyone. I demand attention when I’m speaking, and make thinly-veiled threats when I don’t get my way.
- Ideal. The Amethyst Academy doesn’t understand my methods, but I cannot unlock the secrets of delerium if I am hindered by petty morality and useless ethics. If I had proper facilities and resources, unimaginable power would be mine.
- Bond. My apprentices are useful as long as they are loyal and don’t question me, but disposable the moment they aren’t. Only my own survival matters.
- Flaw. I hold vindictive grudges against everyone who ever wronged me. I’ll have my revenge someday, but I fear acting against those with more power or resources than me. I must hide for now, as I’m terrified the Academy will send assassins to kill me and steal my brilliant research.
Since becoming a lich, Oscar Yoren's appearance and personality have deteriorated significantly.
Oscar Yoren’s spellbook contains all the spells he has prepared, plus alarm, blight, cloudkill, contact other plane, dispel magic, false life, find familiar, glyph of warding, lightning bolt, magic circle, misty step, planar binding, polymorph, and web. If he has gained access to the libraries of the Inscrutable Tower, he may have copies of every spell available.
Liches are the remains of great wizards who embrace undeath as a means of preserving themselves. They further their own power at any cost, having no interest in the affairs of the living except where those affairs interfere with their own. Scheming and insane, they hunger for long-forgotten knowledge and the most terrible secrets. Because the shadow of death doesn’t hang over them, they can conceive plans that take years, decades, or centuries to come to fruition.
A lich is a gaunt and skeletal humanoid with withered flesh stretched tight across its bones. Its eyes succumbed to decay long ago, but points of light burn in its empty sockets. It is often garbed in the moldering remains of fine clothing and jewelry worn and dulled by the passage of time.
- Secrets of Undeath. No wizard takes up the path to lichdom on a whim, and the process of becoming a lich is a well-guarded secret. Wizards that seek lichdom must make bargains with fiends, evil gods, or other foul entities. Many turn to Orcus, Demon Prince of Undeath, whose power has created countless liches. However, those that control the power of lichdom always demand fealty and service for their knowledge.
A lich is created by an arcane ritual that traps the wizard’s soul within a phylactery. Doing so binds the soul to the mortal world, preventing it from traveling to the Outer Planes after death. A phylactery is traditionally an amulet in the shape of a small box, but it can take the form of any item possessing an interior space into which arcane sigils of naming, binding, immortality, and dark magic are scribed in silver.
With its phylactery prepared, the future lich drinks a potion of transformation — a vile concoction of poison mixed with the blood of a sentient creature whose soul is sacrificed to the phylactery. The wizard falls dead, then rises as a lich as its soul is drawn into the phylactery, where it forever remains. - Soul Sacrifices. A lich must periodically feed souls to its phylactery to sustain the magic preserving its body and consciousness. It does this using the imprisonment spell. Instead of choosing one of the normal options of the spell, the lich uses the spell to magically trap the target’s body and soul inside its phylactery. The phylactery must be on the same plane as the lich for the spell to work. A lich’s phylactery can hold only one creature at a time, and a dispel magic cast as a 9th-level spell upon the phylactery releases any creature imprisoned within it. A creature imprisoned in the phylactery for 24 hours is consumed and destroyed utterly, whereupon nothing short of divine intervention can restore it to life.
A lich that fails or forgets to maintain its body with sacrificed souls begins to physically fall apart, and might eventually become a demilich. - Death and Restoration. When a lich’s body is broken by accident or assault, the will and mind of the lich drains from it, leaving only a lifeless corpse behind. Within days, a new body reforms next to the lich’s phylactery, coalescing out of glowing smoke that issues from the device. Because the destruction of its phylactery means the possibility of eternal death, a lich usually keeps its phylactery in a hidden, well-guarded location.
Destroying a lich’s phylactery is no easy task and often requires a special ritual, item, or weapon. Every phylactery is unique, and discovering the key to its destruction can be a quest in and of itself. - Lonely Existence. From time to time, a lich might be stirred from its single-minded pursuit of power to take an interest in the world around it, most often when some great event reminds it of the life it once led. It otherwise lives in isolation, engaging only with those creatures whose service helps secure its lair.
Few liches call themselves by their former names, instead adopting monikers such as the Black Hand or the Forgotten King. - Magic Collectors. Liches collect spells and magic items. In addition to its spell repertoire, a lich has ready access to potions, scrolls, libraries of spellbooks, one or more wands, and perhaps a staff or two. It has no qualms about putting these treasures to use whenever its lair comes under attack.
- Undead Nature. A lich doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Lair and Lair Actions
Everywhere within the Haze that shrouds Drakkenheim is effectively Oscar Yoren's lair.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Oscar Yoren can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects; Oscar can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Eldritch Recovery. Oscar rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If he has no spent spell slots of that level or lower.
- Death Link. Oscar targets one creature he can see within 30 feet. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers Oscar to the target. Whenever Oscar takes damage, the target must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, Oscar takes half the damage (rounded down), and the target takes the remaining damage. This tether lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round or until Oscar or the target is no longer in the Oscar’s lair.
- Doomed Souls. Oscar calls forth the spirits of creatures that he has killed within the Haze. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that Oscar can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.
Additionally, Oscar Yoren's adaptation to the Haze provides the following traits:
- Delerium Healing. As an action, a monster can touch a delerium shard to regain 10 (3d6) hit points. Once a monster has used a delerium shard in this way, the shard can’t be used in this manner again for twenty four hours.
- Fully Contaminated. This creature is immune to contamination, and has advantage on saving throws against contaminated spells.
- Haze Adaptation. This creature may benefit from a long rest finished within the Haze. It can see twice as far through the Haze mists and Deep Haze fog.
- Haze Dependence. This creature gains one level of exhaustion for every twenty four hours it spends outside the Haze. These exhaustion levels cannot be removed while the creature is outside the Haze.
My other homebrew entries: