Your patron is the very oldest of their lineage of bestial monsters, perhaps even the first of their kind, whose contagious curse transforms its victims into more of their kind. This ancient predator and prime elder to generations has inducted you into their dark bloodline, granting you the wicked powers you wield at the cost of the curse they have now spread to you. Perhaps they expect you to help them fulfill their ambitions, or maybe they only wish for you to bring others into the family.

Your patron might be a werewolf leading a pack of lycanthropes, a prime vampire creating lesser minions for their ancient schemes, your grandmother hag who takes the form of frogs and toads, an exiled shaman who begat a cursed race of spider-people, the eldest of a witchs' coven that shapeshift as cats or ravens, or some other dark progenitor altogether...

Expanded Spell List

The Progenitor Patron 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.

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL
1st	animal friendship, conjure critters (new)
2nd	beast sense, locate animals or plants
3rd	bestow curse, conjure animals
4th	dominate beast, locate creature
5th	commune with nature, stampede of savagery (new)

D&D Beyond Note: New homebrew spells must first be added to your collection.

Beast of the Curse

At 1st level, your patron's gifts grant you a connection to a lineage of beasts associated with your patron. Choose either bats, bears, boars, cats, frogs, lizards, octopuses, owls, rats, ravens, snakes, spiders, or wolves to be your and your patron's cursed beasts.

You can comprehend and verbally communicate with your chosen beasts and any closely related beasts (such as dogs if you chose wolves). The effects are the same as for the speak with animals spells.

When you conjure beasts using a warlock spell, the beasts must be chosen from your Bestial Reflections list for your cursed beast or larger beasts of the same kind. For example, a warlock who chose ravens might conjure a crow, even though it isn't on their list, if the DM allows it. Your DM has the final say on whether a beast is of the same kind or not.

Cursed Beast: Bats

You have chosen bats for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with bats and closely related beasts, and you can summon bats, giant bats, and swarms of bats using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Bears

You have chosen bears for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with bears and closely related beasts, and you can summon badgers (bear cubs), black bears, and brown bears using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Boars

You have chosen boars for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with boars and closely related beasts, and you can summon boars and giant boars using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Cats

You have chosen cats for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with cats and closely related beasts, and you can summon cats, panthers, and tigers using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Frogs

You have chosen frogs for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with frogs and closely related beasts, and you can summon frogs, giant frogs, and giant toads using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Lizards

You have chosen lizards for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with lizards and closely related beasts, and you can summon crocodiles, lizards, and giant lizards using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Octopuses

You have chosen octopuses for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with octopuses and closely related beasts, and you can summon octopuses and giant octopuses using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Owls

You have chosen owls for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with owls and closely related beasts, and you can summon owls and giant owls using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Rats

You have chosen rats for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with rats and closely related beasts, and you can summon rats, giant rats, and swarms of rats using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Ravens

You have chosen ravens for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with ravens and closely related beasts, and you can summon ravens and swarms of ravens using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Snakes

You have chosen snakes for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with snakes and closely related beasts, and you can summon constrictor snakes, poisonous snakes, and swarms of poisonous snakes using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Spiders

You have chosen spiders for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with spiders and closely related beasts, and you can summon spiders, giant wolf spiders, and swarms of spiders using warlock spells.

Cursed Beast: Wolves

You have chosen wolves for your cursed beast. You can comprehend and verbally communicate with wolves and closely related beasts, and you can summon jackals, wolves, and dire wolves using warlock spells.

Cursed Shapechanger

Starting at 1st level, you can use an action to transform into a humanoid-beast-hybrid called your cursed form or back to your true form. The hybrid form is a fusion of your natural body and your cursed beast. Though your stature changes slightly, your size and statistics are the same in each form, and any equipment you are carrying or wearing remains the same, albeit fitting differently.

While in your cursed form, you count as a beast in addition to your normal types. You can be affected by a game effect if it works on any of your creature types. Also, your bite and your claws are natural weapons that you are proficient with, which use either your Strength, Dexterity, or Charisma (whichever is highest) and deal piercing damage equal to 1d8 + that ability modifier.

In addition, when you gain this feature, you choose one of the following traits (Agile, Burly, Canny, Looming, or Sneaky), which you benefit from while in your cursed form. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can change your decision for this feature.

Your cursed form and your true form are not easily recognizable as the same person, which can help to conceal your identity. You automatically revert back to your true form if you are reduced to 0 hit points.

When you transform into your cursed form, or as an action in your cursed form, you can choose to release a terrifying howl, cackle, screech, or some other sound. Each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC or else be frightened of you for 1 minute. While frightened, a creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a successful save, it is no longer frightened of you.

Once you release this terrifying sound, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Cursed Form: Agile

While in your cursed form, you have proficiency in the Acrobatics skill, and you can determine your jumping distance using your Dexterity score or Strength score, whichever is higher.

Cursed Form: Burly

While in your cursed form, you have proficiency in the Athletics skill, and you determine your carrying capacity as if you were one size larger.

Cursed Form: Canny

While in your cursed form, you have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Cursed Form: Looming

While in your cursed form, you have proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Also, you can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Cursed Form: Sneaky

While in your cursed form, you have proficiency in the Stealth skill.

Dark Consumption

At 6th level, you begin to fully embrace the eating habits of your patron and their kind, consuming not just to survive, but to satisfy and even delight. Choose blood, bones, or brains for your patron's diet.

While you are in your cursed form, if you spend at least 1 minute loudly devouring the blood, bones, or brains (based on your choice) from a creature that died within the last 24 hours, you can spend any number of hit dice to regain hit points as if you had finished a short rest. Then, you can choose to gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus + twice your warlock level that last until you return to your true form.

Alternatively, if you are in your true form, you can spend 1 minute meditating and focusing on resisting the hunger. You gain the same number of temporary hit points, but they last until you enter your cursed form.

Once you gain temporary hit points using this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Dark Consumption: Blood

You can consume the blood from dead creatures to regain hit points.

Dark Consumption: Bones

You can consume the bones from dead creatures to regain hit points.

Dark Consumption: Brains

You can consume the brains from dead creatures to regain hit points.

Reflection of the Beast

At 10th level, you can use an action to transform into a bestial reflection of your patron's lineage. Choose one of the reflection creatures for your cursed beast for your transformation statistics. The transformation follows all the same rules as the druid's Wild Shape class feature, with exceptions stated in this feature.

While you are transformed, the following rules from Wild Shape apply:

• Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores as well as your hit points and AC. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the creature’s bonus instead of yours. If the creature has any legendary or lair actions, you can’t use them.
• You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so, including any special senses that you possess.
• You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.

You can still cast speak and cast spells, but you cannot provide somatic or material components, and you can't provide verbal components if you are a swarm. You can use an action to end the bestial transformation at any time.

If the reflection creature you chose has a flying speed, your transformation ends after 1 hour, and you can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

The Monster Unleashed

At 14th level, your patron's cursed bloodline is fully accepted into your body, bringing you new strength and agility when you reveal the full reality of your terrible countenance. Choose another option from the list of traits in your Cursed Shapechanger feature. You gain the benefits of both traits while in your cursed form.

Also, you can use a bonus action to reveal your most monstrous form. You immediately enter your Cursed Shapechanger form if you weren't already in it. For the next 10 minutes, you can transform between your cursed form and your true form as a bonus action, and while you are in your cursed form, you gain the following benefits:

• You have advantage on Strength and Dexterity checks.
• You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks.
• You can attack with natural weapons twice, instead of once, when you take the Attack action on your turn.
• Creatures have disadvantage on saving throws made to resist being frightened of you.

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

New Eldritch Invocations

At 2nd level, a warlock gains the Eldritch Invocations feature. Here are new options for that feature that are available to this subclass.

Hag's Heritage

Prerequisite: Progenitor Patron
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, magic can't put you to sleep, and you are a fey instead of your normal creature type. Also, you gain proficiency in your choice of either skill]Deception[/skill], Perception, or Stealth, and you can speak, read, and write your choice of either Abyssal, Giant, Primordial, or Sylvan.

In addition, you can use an action to cover yourself and anything you are wearing or carrying with a magical illusion that makes you look like an ugly creature of your general size and humanoid shape. The effect ends if you take a bonus action to end it or if you die.

The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, you could appear to have no hair, but someone touching your head might feel your hair, if you have any hair. Otherwise, a creature must take an action to visually inspect the illusion and succeed on a Intelligence (Investigation) check against your warlock spell save DC to tell you are disguised.

However, you also have the following flaws:

Foul Hunger. You must eat five times as much food as normal for your size, but humanoid flesh counts as five times as much food for you.

Hideous Countenance. Your true appearance is ugly, and those who see your true form or your cursed form may become disgusted or worse. Whenever a creature sees either your true form or your cursed form for the first time, it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or else it becomes hostile toward you. A creature prone to violence might attack you. Another creature might seek to flee from you or make you leave the area in nonviolent ways (at the DM’s discretion), depending on the nature of your interaction with it.

Power of the Moon

Prerequisite: Progenitor Patron
While you're in your Cursed Shapechanger form and you're in moonlight at night, you gain a +1 bonus to AC and attack rolls and have advantage on saving throws. In addition, you count as a shapechanger at all times.

However, you also have the following flaw:

Silver Hypersensitivity. You have vulnerability to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by silvered weapons. While touching silver, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Vampiric Aspect

Prerequisite: Progenitor Patron
You have resistance to necrotic damage and you are an undead in addition to your normal creature type, but when a game effect targets you, you choose whether it treats you as undead or as your normal creature type. You can also choose one extra trait from your Cursed Shapechanger feature. You gain the benefit of that trait while in your cursed form. Finally, your Beast of the Curse feature treats bats, rats, and wolves as your chosen beasts, instead of your original choice.

However, you also have the following flaws:

Forbiddance. You can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.

Harmed by Running Water. You take acid damage equal to 5 + your level when you end your turn in running water.

No Reflection. You do not appear in reflections.

Stake to the Heart. If a piercing weapon made of wood is driven into your heart while you are incapacitated, you are paralyzed until the stake is removed.

Sunlight Hypersensitivity. You take radiant damage equal to 5 + your level when you start your turn in sunlight. While in sunlight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Enticing Gaze

Prerequisite: Vampiric Aspect invocation
As an action, you can attempt to enthrall one creature that you can see within 60 feet. If the target can see you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by you for 1 minute. While it is charmed in this way, it regards you as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. If you or your companions do anything harmful to the target, the effect ends immediately. You can't use this invocation while you are in sunlight.

Once you use this invocation, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Harbinger of the Pack

Prerequisite: Progenitor Patron, Pact of the Chain feature
In addition to Touch spells, you can cast spells that conjure, summon, or create another creature (such as conjure animals) through the familiar summoned by your Pact of the Chain feature as if the familiar was you.

Lunar Transformation

Prerequisite: Power of the Moon invocation
When you see the full moon in the sky, you can use your reaction to use your Cursed Shapechanger feature, without releasing a terrifying sound. When you do so, you can choose to gain temporary hit points equal to your warlock level that last until you change form again.

Once you gain these temporary hit points, you can't gain them again until you finish a long rest.

Recorded Lineage

Prerequisite: Progenitor or Ancestor Patron, Pact of the Tome feature
Your Book of Shadows holds the stories of your patron's children who came before you. Before you make an ability check, you can spend 1 minute studying your book to see if it contains relevant stories. Roll 1d6. On a 6, you find ancient inspiration in the tome, and gain advantage on the check. You cannot use this invocation more than once for the same check.

Once you gain this advantage, you must finish a long rest before you can gain it again.

Talisman of Adoption

Prerequisite: Progenitor Patron, Pact of the Talisman feature
While wearing your talisman, a creature gains all the benefits of your Beast of the Curse and Cursed Shapechanger features, including the ability to transform. It must use your cursed beast and cannot choose its own. If the talisman is removed while the wearer is transformed using the talisman's power, the creature returns to its original form. The wearer is not able to release a terrifying sound when it transforms.

Accursed Blade

Prerequisite: 5th level, Progenitor Patron, Pact of the Blade feature
You gain a +1 bonus to the damage rolls for weapon attacks made using your pact weapon while you are in your Cursed Shapechanger form.

Also, when you critically hit a creature or reduce one to 0 hit points with a weapon attack using your pact weapon or natural weapons while you're in your Cursed Shapechanger form, you can use your reaction and expend a warlock spell slot to cast bestow curse on the target, requiring no components. Your weapon attack counts as the touch required by the spell, and you do not need to know the spell to cast it in this way.

Befoul Food and Drink

Prerequisite: 5th level, Defiler Patron or Hag's Heritage invocation
You learn the new poison food and drink spell as a warlock spell, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can learn as a warlock.

You can choose to cast the spell without expending a spell slot or requiring material components. Once you do so, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Cursed Regeneration

Prerequisite: 5th level, Progenitor Patron
You regain hit points equal to half your proficiency bonus once every hour, so long as this invocation is still functioning the entire time. At the start of each of your turns, you can choose to expend up that many hit dice to regain hit points as if you had finished a short rest.

However, you must also choose one of the following flaws to gain when you learn this invocation:

Sunlight Weakness. This invocation doesn't function if you are in sunlight or running water. If you start your turn in sunlight, take radiant damage, or end your turn in running water, this invocation doesn't function until the end of your next turn.

Alchemical Weakness. This invocation doesn't function if any part of your body is touching fire or silver. If you take fire damage or damage from an attack using a silvered weapon, this invocation doesn't function until the end of your next turn.

Dark and Terrible

Prerequisite: 5th level, Progenitor Patron
While you are in your cursed form, you can make an attack with your natural weapon twice, instead of once, when you take the Attack action on your turn, and your natural weapon deals 1d10 damage instead of 1d8.

Blighted Blade

Prerequisite: 7th level, Defiler Patron or Hag's Heritage invocation
You can cast the new envenomed weapon spell using a warlock spell slot. Once you use this invocation, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Bloodline Guardian

Prerequisite: 7th level, Progenitor Patron
You can cast mordenkainen's faithful hound using a warlock spell slot. Once you use this invocation, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Contagious Curse

Prerequisite: 7th level, Power of the Moon invocation
When you hit a creature with an unarmed attack while in your Cursed Shapechanger form, you can subject the target to your lycanthropic curse. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or else it is infected with your cursed beast's version of lycanthropy (see page 155 and Monster Manual page 207 for the effects. If your cursed beast doesn't have lycanthrope statistics, the DM can choose to decide its lycanthropy effects or to disallow this invocation for you). This ability does not grant you any special control or influence over the target, though it may change their alignment.

Once you use this invocation, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Extended Family

Prerequisite: 7th level, Progenitor Patron
Choose another three beasts for your Beast of the Curse feature. You gain the benefits of that feature for all of your chosen beasts instead of only one.

You can take this invocation multiple times.

Vampiric Magic

Prerequisite: 7th level, Vampiric Aspect invocation
Choose two spells you know as a warlock. Those spells become Blood spells for you, and you can choose to change their names accordingly (such as changing hellish rebuke to "hellish bloodspray", or changing hex to "blood hex"). Whenever you gain a warlock level, you can choose to replace one of these two spells with a different warlock spell you know. The old spell returns to its original form, and the new spell becomes a blood spell following the same rules.

In addition, when you deal damage to a creature that has blood using the eldritch blast cantrip or a Blood spell, you can consume a portion of its spilt blood and regain hit points equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1 hit point). The next time you cast a blood spell before the end of your next turn, you also gain 2 temporary hit points.

You can use this invocation to heal a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Glamour Walk

Prerequisite: 9th level, Archfey Patron or Hag's Heritage invocation
You can cast the new glamour veil spell at-will, without expending spell slots or requiring material components.

Howl of Terror

Prerequisite: 9th level, Power of the Moon invocation
You gain one extra use of your Cursed Shapechanger feature's terrifying sound, which you regain each time you finish a long rest. If you are in moonlight when you release the sound, the range increases to 120 feet and creatures within 15 feet of you that can also see you make the saving throw with disadvantage.

Strength From Hunger

Prerequisite: 9th level, Vampiric Aspect invocation
When you hit with an attack using your claws, you can choose to grapple the target instead of dealing damage.

Also, when you hit a creature you have grappled with an attack using your bite, you can expend a warlock spell slot to add 1d6 bonus necrotic damage per slot level to the attack. If the target of the attack is a valid target for your Dark Consumption feature, you also regain hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt.

Plaguebearer

Prerequisite: 12th level, Progenitor Patron
When you hit a creature with a natural weapon granted by your Cursed Shapechanger form, you can use your reaction to expend a warlock spell slot to cast contagion upon the target, requiring no components.

Once you use this invocation, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Focused Regeneration

Prerequisite: 15th level, Cursed Regeneration invocation
Whenever you finish a short rest, you can expend two of your warlock spell slots to cast regenerate on yourself without needing components, but the spell only restores hit points while your Cursed Regeneration functions.

Once you use this invocation, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Perchance to Dream

Prerequisite: 15th level, Archfey Patron or Hag's Heritage invocation
You can expend the 8th-level use of your Mystic Arcanum to cast the new sandman's slumber spell.

Plague Bringer

Prerequisite: 18th level, Celestial or Undead Patron or Hag's Heritage invocation
You can expend the 9th-level use of your Mystic Arcanum to cast the new pestilence spell.