Deathbound Lord

The Deathbound Lord subclass focuses on summoning a single, immensely powerful undead General to act as the Deathbound Lord’s champion. This General grows in power as the necromancer levels up, becoming a terrifying presence on the battlefield. The Deathbound Lord's magic allows them to raise and command armies of undead, with their General at the center of their dominion over death. As the Deathbound Lord progresses, both the necromancer and their General become stronger, controlling legions of undead and overwhelming their enemies.

Deathbound General

 

At 3rd level, you bind your will to a powerful undead entity known as your Deathbound General. Choose an undead creature with a Challenge Rating of 1 lower than your Deathbound Lord Level as your General. You summon this creature with a 1-hour ritual that can be performed during a long rest. If it is destroyed, you can resummon it using the same ritual.

• Commanding the General: Your General acts immediately after your turn in combat. You issue commands telepathically (no action required), and it obeys your orders. If you don’t command it, it takes the Dodge action.

• General’s Stats: Your General gets extra hit points equal to your Wizard level. It adds your Intelligence modifier for saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls.

• Aura of Death: As long as your General is within 60 feet of you, all undead creatures you control (including your General) gain a bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier. They also gain resistance to necrotic damage.

Necrotic Surge

You can infuse your General or other undead creatures with necrotic energy. As a bonus action, you can sacrifice a number of your hit dice (up to half your Wizard level, rounded down) to grant your General or other undead under your control temporary hit points equal to the total rolled + your Intelligence modifier. Additionally, once per short rest, you can cast Animate Dead  without expending a spell slot at Level 5.

General of the Undead

At 6th level, your Deathbound General becomes a more formidable commander of your undead army:

• CR Increase: Your General’s Challenge Rating increases to 5. You may choose any undead creature with a CR of 5 or lower to replace your General.

• Aura of Command: Your General can now command lesser undead minions under your control. Undead within 60 feet of your General can use their reactions to move up to their speed or make one melee attack when your General makes an attack. This ability can be used once per round.

• Necrotic Empowerment: Your General’s melee attacks now deal an additional 2d6 necrotic damage, and any undead under your control within 60 feet of the General deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage on their attacks

Soulbound Protector

At 10th level, your bond with your Deathbound General strengthens, making it more difficult for either of you to fall in battle:

• CR Increase: Your General’s Challenge Rating increases to 9. You may choose any undead creature with a CR of 9 or lower to replace your General.

• Soulbound Shield: When you or your General takes damage, you can use your reaction to transfer half of the damage to the other, splitting the damage between you and your General. This can be done as many times as your Intelligence modifier per long rest.

• Aura of Resilience: The range of your General’s Aura of Death increases to 100 feet. All undead within this aura, including your General, gain advantage on saving throws against spells and effects that turn undead. Additionally, you and your General gain resistance to radiant damage while within the aura.

 

Deathbound Master

At 14th level, your General reaches the height of its power, becoming a terrifying and dominant force on the battlefield:

• CR Increase: Your General’s Challenge Rating increases to 13. You may choose any undead creature with a CR of 13 or lower (e.g., death knight, vampire lord) to replace your General.

• Aura of Undeath: Your General’s Aura of Death now extends to 150 feet. In addition to the previous effects, all undead in the aura (including your General) regain hit points equal to your Intelligence modifier at the start of each of their turns. Additionally, enemies within the aura have disadvantage on saving throws against your necromancy spells.

• Necrotic Overload: As an action, you can channel your necrotic energy to supercharge your General for 1 minute. During this time, your General gains an additional 4d6 necrotic damage on all attacks and advantage on attack rolls, and all undead under its command gain a +2 bonus to AC. You can use this feature once per long rest