The Nightmare Court

You have made your pact with the Nightmare Court, a group of beings who feed off of the nightmares and fears of dreaming beings on the Material planes. The stuff that dreams are made of can take many forms, and the Nightmare Court holds power over the terrors of the sleeping minds of sentient creatures. They have servants they send to watch over their warlocks to help them spread terror, they have formed some of that dream-material into weapons, which they mete out to those beholden to them to help them spread nightmares into the waking world, and they have books which can only be read by those who straddle between the waking world and the dreaming. 

 

Nightmare Court Features

Warlock Level	Feature
1st	Expanded Spell List, Nightmare’s Curse, Dream Warrior
6th	Waking Nightmare
10th	Sleep Paralysis
14th	Cursed to Nightmares

 

Expanded Spell List (from all Patrons)

The Nightmare Court lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

1st: bane, silent image

2nd: blur, blindness/deafness

3rd: hypnotic pattern, major image

4th: phantasmal killer, Evard’s black tentacles

5th: dream, modify memory

 

Nightmare’s Curse (from Hexblade)

Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to place a baleful curse on someone. As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The target is cursed for 1 minute. The curse ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. Until the curse ends, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target. The bonus equals your proficiency bonus.
• Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
• If the cursed target dies, you regain hit points equal to your warlock level + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 hit point).

You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

 

Dream Warrior (from Hexblade)

At 1st level, the influence of your patron allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon with which you are proficient and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.

 

Waking Nightmare (from Hexblade)

Starting at 6th level, when you would reduce a creature to 0 hit points, they instead have temporary hit points equal to half your warlock level. They obey your verbal commands, act on their own initiative turn, and gain a special bonus to their attack rolls equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +0).

The creature remains in your service until the end of your next long rest. While under this effect, they act on their own initiative, but obey your verbal commands. They are not necessarily friendly to you or your allies, but will not directly attack you or your allies. When this effect ends, the creature returns to its own power with 1 hit point if they are not killed. The memory of everything that they did under your power is as if it were a dream, and they continue to have nightmares about it and suffer one level of exhaustion until they have remove curse, greater restoration, or a similar spell cast on them to remove the effect.

Once you bind a creature with this feature, you can’t use the feature again until you finish a long rest.

 

Sleep Paralysis (from Archfey)

At 10th level, you are immune to being charmed, and when another creature attempts to charm you, you can use your reaction to attempt to turn the charm back on that creature. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or be paralyzed for 1 minute

 

Cursed to Nightmares (from Archfey)

Starting at 14th level, you can drag the creature you have cursed with your Nightmare Curse into a nightmare realm as an action.  It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, it is charmed or frightened by you (your choice) for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken (as if you are concentrating on a spell). The spell ends if you attack any other creature, if you cast a spell that targets a hostile creature other than the target, if a creature friendly to you damages the target or casts a harmful spell on it, or if you end your turn more than 30 feet away from the target.

Until this illusion ends, the creature thinks it is lost in a misty realm, the appearance of which you choose. The creature can see and hear only itself, you, and the illusion.

 

Expanded Spell List

1st: bane, silent image

2nd: blur, blindness/deafness

3rd: hypnotic pattern, major image

4th: phantasmal killer, Evard’s black tentacles

5th: dream, modify memory

Nightmare’s Curse

Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to place a baleful curse on someone. As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The target is cursed for 1 minute. The curse ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. Until the curse ends, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target. The bonus equals your proficiency bonus.
• Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
• If the cursed target dies, you regain hit points equal to your warlock level + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 hit point).

You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

Nightmare’s Curse

Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to place a baleful curse on someone. As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you. The target is cursed for 1 minute. The curse ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. Until the curse ends, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target. The bonus equals your proficiency bonus.
• Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
• If the cursed target dies, you regain hit points equal to your Warlock level + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 hit point).

You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

Dream Warrior

At 1st level, the influence of your patron allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon with which you are proficient and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.

Waking Nightmare

Starting at 6th level, when you would reduce a creature to 0 hit points, they instead have temporary hit points equal to half your warlock level. They obey your verbal commands, act on their own initiative turn, and gain a special bonus to their attack rolls equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +0).

The creature remains in your service until the end of your next long rest. While under this effect, they act on their own initiative, but obey your verbal commands. They are not necessarily friendly to you or your allies, but will not directly attack you or your allies. When this effect ends, the creature returns to its own power with 1 hit point if they are not killed. The memory of everything that they did under your power is as if it were a dream, and they continue to have nightmares about it and suffer one level of exhaustion until they have remove curse, greater restoration, or a similar spell cast on them to remove the effect.

Once you bind a creature with this feature, you can’t use the feature again until you finish a long rest.

Sleep Paralysis

At 10th level, you are immune to being charmed, and when another creature attempts to charm you, you can use your reaction to attempt to turn the charm back on that creature. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or be paralyzed for 1 minute

Cursed to Nightmares

Starting at 14th level, you can drag the creature you have cursed with your Nightmare Curse into a nightmare realm as an action.  It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, it is charmed or frightened by you (your choice) for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken (as if you are concentrating on a spell). The spell ends if you attack any other creature, if you cast a spell that targets a hostile creature other than the target, if a creature friendly to you damages the target or casts a harmful spell on it, or if you end your turn more than 30 feet away from the target.

Until this illusion ends, the creature thinks it is lost in a misty realm, the appearance of which you choose. The creature can see and hear only itself, you, and the illusion.