Thanatology

Thanatology is the study of death, dying, and the processes that transfer the soul. Those that study these processes are called Thanatologists, and those rare few that chart the flow of death themselves are Thanatonauts.

Thanatologic Mark

At 2nd level, your soul is marked for the endless study of death. If a spell, such as raise dead, has the sole effect of restoring you to life (but not undeath), the caster doesn’t need material components to cast the spell on you.

Upon the Void

Beginning at 2nd level, you can sacrifice your own health to empower yourself. You may regain a spell slot by expending a number of hit points equal to 10 times the spell slot level. You may also choose to sacrifice all remaining hit points to regain your maximum amount of your highest level spell slot.

Chthonic Harvest

Starting at 6th level, you gain the ability to reap life energy from creatures you kill with your spells. Once per turn when you kill one or more creatures with a spell or cantrip, you regain hit points equal to twice the spell’s level, or 1 hit point per dice rolled for a cantrip, per creature killed. You don’t gain this benefit for killing constructs.

Thanatonaut Adept

Starting at 10th level, when you are reduced to 0 hit points outside of combat, the Contact Other Plane spell is cast on your unconscious mind without needing to make the saving throw. Once you use this ability, you must take a long rest before you can use it again.

Thanatonautic Disconnect

Starting at 14th level, when you reach 0 hit points, you can choose to have your spirit exit your body. It can move up to your movement per turn and cast spells. Your spirit is immune to all damage, but your body takes damage as normal. While Thanatonautically Disconnected, you have double your normal actions, bonus actions, and reactions, but still make Death Saving Throws as standard. You also have no limit on the number of spells you may cast on your turn and may cast as many as you have the actions to. Your spirit returns to the body upon stabilization or healed, or leaves to its afterlife upon the body's death.