First it was an accident, a hunter dying on a battlefield, in dire need of a transplant. The clerics used what they could find and unknowingly grafted accursed flesh onto the dying man, yet, not only did he survive, he rose again stronger than ever before.

It was that day the church knew that they found a power rivaling that of the very god they worshiped. They took these experiments further to harness that power. The desperate fight against evil demanded urgent results; no act was too sacred nor debauched. And so, the accursed gave birth to living nightmares, monsters of its own creation.

The experiments have since stopped: indeed, it was far too common to see those grafted with eldritch flesh lose their humanity and turn into the very monsters they were supposed to eradicate. Yet some remain, a few fortunate hunters who retain their sanity, or perhaps, who have yet to awaken their true powers.

Otherworldly Transformation

The powers within your eldritch flesh begin to awaken. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice from the skills available to Fighters at level 1.

Your flesh hardens and your reflexes grow, empowered by otherworldly ichor. As a reaction when you take damage, you can adapt your body to it, gaining resistance to the triggering damage type for 1 minute. You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Arsenal of Mutation

As a bonus action, you can mutate your body, transforming it into various weapons of destruction. They count as simple melee weapons for you, and you use your Constitution modifier to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with them. When you use these weapons, you drop any items you are holding with those limbs. Some of the Living Nightmare features require your target to make a saving throw; the DC is calculated as follows:

Living Nightmare save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier

You choose the weapon’s form each time you make an attack roll:

Stinger. One of your limbs grows into a razor-sharp blade. It deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit and has the Finesse and Light properties. When you take the Attack action to attack with it on your turn, you can use a bonus action to make a single additional attack with the Stinger.

Arm Club. Your arms turn into a black-tinted bone club. It has the Heavy, Reach and Versatile (2d8) properties and the Push mastery property. On a hit, it deals 2d6 bludgeoning damage.

Lashing Tendon. One of your limbs replaces its bones with tough coiled ligaments, allowing it to stretch a disturbing distance without breaking. It deals 1d10 slashing damage on a hit and has the Reach (15 feet) property and the Topple mastery property.

Alternatively, you can transform your limb into a shield:

Sinister Aegis. Whenever you are targeted by an attack that you can see, you can use your reaction to temporarily turn one of your arms into a fleshy shield, gaining a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.

In addition, your eldritch flesh is capable of devouring some magical items to gain their properties. As part of a short or long rest, you can devour the following types of magic items, destroying the item and absorbing their properties:

• A melee weapon with the Finesse and Light properties; its properties are added to your Stinger.
• A melee weapon with the Heavy property; its properties are added to your Arm Club.
• A melee weapon with the Reach property; its properties are added to your Lashing Tendon.
• A shield; its properties are added to your Sinister Aegis.

If you absorb another magic item of the same type, the previous properties added from that type are lost. If a magic item requires attunement, you can only manifest the additional properties of the item if you are attuned to it. You are not considered as holding the magic item or having it on your person if none of your limbs is transformed to that item. You can attune or unattune to any number of devoured items as part of a short or long rest.

Devourer of Death

You can use the voracious hunger that dwells within your accursed body to devour the corpses of your foes and mend your flesh. When you reduce an enemy creature to 0 hit points, you can immediately let your eldritch appendages devour it. You gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the creature’s CR (minimum of 0, rounded down) and add your Constitution modifier to your damage rolls while you have these temporary hit points. In addition, for the next 24 hours, you can use an action to assume the creature’s appearance and voice, though none of your game statistics change. You stay in the new form until you use an action to revert to your true form or until you die.

After 24 hours, or if you consume another creature, you lose the ability to take the appearance of the consumed being.

Ascension of Flesh

Your eldritch powers give you access to powers mortals can only dream of. Whenever you consume a creature with Devourer of Death, you also inherit all their memories from the last week before their death.

In addition, as a bonus action, you can grow a pair of eldritch wings, giving yourself a flying speed of 30 feet for 10 minutes, during which you can hover. You can use this bonus action a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Nightmare Manifest

Your body enters its next stage of evolution. The weapons you wield now have the power to annihilate all who stand in your way. Once on each of your turns when you make use of your Arsenal of Mutation, you can strain your body to generate a more violent eldritch power, replacing one of your attacks:

Stinger. You can replace one of your Stinger attacks. Instead, each creature in a 30-foot cone in front of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your Living Nightmare save DC or take damage equal to 3 hits from your Stinger.

Arm Club. You can replace one of your Arm Club attacks. Instead, you smash the ground below you, causing quakes and sending fragments flying. Each creature within 20 feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your Living Nightmare save DC or take damage equal to 2 hits from your Arm Club and be knocked prone.

Lashing Tendon. You can replace one of your Lashing Tendon attacks, swiping those around you instead. Each creature within 15 feet of you must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your Living Nightmare save DC or take damage equal to 1 hit from your Lash, be pulled 10 feet in a straight line towards you, and be restrained until the start of your next turn.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Forbidden Corruption

You can temporarily infect creatures with the nightmare that lives within you, turning them into puppets. As an action, you transform a creature within 60 feet of you into an aberration of your choice under your control for 1 hour. The aberration’s CR must be equal to or lower than your level, and you can issue commands to the target telepathically (no action required).

While transformed, the target’s game statistics are replaced by the stat block of the chosen aberration, but the target retains its alignment, personality, hit points and hit point dice. The target is limited in the actions it can perform by the anatomy of its new form, and its gear falls to the ground.

An affected creature makes a Charisma saving throw against your Living Nightmare save DC at the end of each of its turns, ending this effect with three successes or stops making saves with three failures. You cannot command the target to fail this saving throw without rolling. Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.