A Soul is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Soulbreakers practice the dangerous and forbidden art of Soul Magic. Why settle for mundane spellwork when you can tear apart the essence of your own soul to cast the most over-the-top, high-risk spells imaginable? They're the ultimate overachievers, wielding Soul Magic that lets them shred and splinter their own soul like it's going out of style, all for a bit more bang in their spellcasting. When things get too dangerous, they can just pluck out their entire soul (or at least what's left of it) and transplant it into a new body.

Soulbreakers have all the chill of a rogue taxidermist. Detached from the pesky details of bodily permanence, they hop between bodies like they’re switching cloaks, transferring their soul when their body starts to fail. Naturally, they spend most of their time waxing poetic about life and death while sewing such chaos that their "allies'" question their sanity. But hey, what's a little existential crisis when you can melt faces with the raw power of soul magic? Just don’t be surprised if they go a little too far and start looking, well… a bit frayed around the edges.

Soul Magic

3rd-level Soulbreaker feature

Soulbreakers tap into a forbidden magic that allows them to fracture their soul and infuse their magic with it. Spells from the School of Soul Magic are double-edged swords with exceedingly powerful effects and challenging drawbacks.

You can split your soul into six pieces, known as Soul Shards. When you cast a spell from the School of Soul Magic, you must expend a number of Soul Shards equal to the level of the spell. When you finish a Long Rest, you regain 1d6 Soul Shards.

If you expend all of your Soul Shards, you drop to 0 Hit Points after casting it and begin making Death Saving Throws. Your Hit Points can only be increased once you have stabilized and you can only be stabilized by succeeding on three Death Saving Throws. If you die while in this state, you cannot be revived by any means short of a Wish spell.

Your maximum number of Soul Shards increase to eight at Level 5 and you regain 1d8 shards on a Long Rest. Your number of Soul Shards further increases to 10 at Level 10 with 1d10 regained on a Long Rest, and 12 shards at Level 15 with 1d12 regained on a Long Rest.

The following Homebrew spells comprise the School of Soul Magic and are denoted with the [Soul Magic] prefix in their names. These spells belong to the School of Soul Magic rather than the School of Necromancy listed in their descriptions. 

School of Soul Magic Spells

Spell Level	Spells
Cantrips	Soulburn
1	Ethereal Shackles, Fleeting, Ghostly Armaments, Soul Fracture
2	Deathknell, Otherworldly Hunger, Phantasmal Body, Soul Seance (Ritual)
3	Meld Essence, Spirit Parasite, Vampiric Fury
4	Celestial Binding (Ritual), Mortal Release, Soulfire Lash
5	Dueling Spirits, Greater Cause
6	Death Nova, Reaper's Touch
7	Drain Spirit, Heroes' Blessing
8	Grim Tether, Soul Siphon
9	Rend Spirit, Walk a Mile

Spark of Life

3rd-level Soulbreaker feature

Your life force and soul are irrevocably entwined and you have learned to use one to bolster the other. When you take a Short Rest, you can expend Soul Shards to regain Hit Points. For each shard spent, you regain 2d10 Hit Points.

Transfer Vessel

6th-level Soulbreaker feature

Your soul has grown more resilient and independent, able to sustain itself outside your body for brief periods. You can transfer your spirit into a new body, letting your old one wither. You can spend a Soul Shard and 1 minute conducting a ritual to transfer your soul into an Unconscious or recently deceased humanoid (dead no more than 1 hour) that you can touch. This ritual closes all mortal wounds, but it doesn’t restore missing body parts. If the creature is lacking body parts or organs integral for its survival—its head, for instance—the ritual automatically fails. An Unconscious creature can make a Constitution saving throw to resist this effect. On a successful save or otherwise failed ritual, you take Radiant damage equal to 1d8 plus twice your Wizard level as your soul is rebuffed. This damage cannot be reduced or prevented in an way.

If you successfully transfer your soul into a new body, your species changes to that of the target creature, gaining the abilities of your new species and losing all abilities granted by your prior species. You retain your level, class(es), stats, abilities, and spells. You can use any equipment that you still possess the requirements and physical capabilities to use. Your Hit Points are set to 1. The appearance of your new body is altered in accordance with your soul, abilities, and stats, at the discretion of the DM. Your former body withers, becoming a dehydrated husk that can no longer sustain a soul.

Once you have successfully conducted this ritual, you cannot use do so again until after you have completed a Long Rest.

Raise Your Spirits

6th-level Soulbreaker feature

No longer is your soul simply a one-way street to unbridled power. During Short or Long Rests, you may expend one spell slot of a level greater than or equal to your Proficiency Bonus to regain a number of Soul Shards up to your Proficiency Bonus.

Acceptable Losses

10th-level Soulbreaker feature

When survival is on the line, a sliver of your soul is a fair price to pay. When you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to automatically succeed by expending a number of Soul Shards equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

Consume Soul

10th-level Soulbreaker feature

While no two souls are alike and few can match yours in strength, you can drain their essence to replenish a portion of yours. You can use a Magic action to extract the soul from a creature that died within the last minute. You regain a number of Soul Shards, up to your Proficiency Bonus, equal to half (rounded up) the Level or Challenge Rating of the target creature. Constructs, Undead, and other creatures without souls are immune to this effect.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Overcast

14th-level Soulbreaker feature

You are no longer limited to using your Soul Shards for Soul Magic and can now empower any spell with your soul. When you cast a spell that is not from the School of Soul Magic and forces a creature to make a saving throw, you can expend a number of Soul Shards equal to twice the spell's level to give one target of the spell Disadvantage on saves against the spell.

In addition, when casting a spell or using an ability that requires Soul Shards, you can exceed the amount you have remaining. The Death Saving Throws you make as a result of this are made with Disadvantage.

Mysterious Stranger

14th-level Soulbreaker feature

Your mastery of your soul allows you unparalleled control over your aura. You are aware of any Divination spells that attempt to target you and magical scrying sensors that attempt to perceive you. You may prevent these spells from targeting you or alter how you are perceived, such as appearing as a different creature type, masking magical objects on your person, making nonmagical objects on your person appear magical, or altering the school of magic attached to such objects.