Base Class: Warlock
You’ve made a pact with an ancient oceanic entity known as the Keeper of the Depths. As life teems within the seas, so do the secrets of the forgotten ages – sunken cities, ships lost at sea, and treasures unimaginable gone to the darkest currents that churn with horrible tentacles and creatures from nightmare. The Keeper watches over all this hidden knowledge, and harvests ever more in its endless pursuit of the unspoken secrets of the universe. In the deepest crevices where sunlight has never been seen, all oceans are one to the Keeper of the Depths, and its desire is insatiable.
Traits of the Dweller
The Keeper takes more than just restful sleep; it steals humanity and one’s own sense of self as well. Consider adding one or more of these traits when creating a warlock or after serving the goals of the Keeper of the Depths.
1. You often inquire about the dreams of others
2. You insist on going to bed early every night.
3. You sometimes talk in your sleep, whispering terrible secrets about things unknown to you.
4. You are extremely interested in the secrets of other people, especially those no one else knows.
5. You always listen with complete focus when being taught something.
6. You move in a way that is somehow... wrong.
7. You speak to bodies of water and expect a response.
8. You tend to blabber on and on.
9. You sometimes ask personal questions instead of offering greetings.
10. You appear oddly wet at all times, even when dry.
11. Your skin becomes rubbery and cold.
12. Your pupils are oddly shaped, like those of an octopus.
13. Your fingernails have disappeared.
14. Your heartbeat can't be felt, only heard.
15. Clothing or armor you wear for long periods of time assumes the appearance of coral or seaweed.
16. Your blood slowly becomes saltwater when exposed to air and smells like dead fish.
17. Your hair is always wet and discolored.
18. A scent of ocean air seems to follow you.
19. When you cast a spell, dark tentacles seem to reach up from under your skin before disappearing.
20. Chitinous barbs sprout from your skin and seem to easily collect scraps of clothing and plants.
Expanded Spell List
The Keeper of the Depths 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
2nd / locate object, zone of truth
3rd / crushing tide, luring light
4th / control water, sleepwalking
5th / forgotten pain, legend lore
Secrets of the Lost
Starting at 1st level, your patron visits you in your dreams, stealing fragments of your experiences in exchange for hidden knowledge. Whenever you finish a long rest, you gain proficiency in two skills, languages, or tools of your choice. You remain proficient in these until you finish another long rest, at which point you can choose new ones to replace them.
Additionally, you gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
Sailor's Nightmare
At 6th level, you learn to curse your enemies, using the weight of ethereal water to drag them into the sea’s embrace. As a bonus action, you can curse a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you for 1 minute. While the creature is afflicted by this curse, it cannot jump or fly, and it treats all terrain as difficult terrain. If the creature is flying or swimming, it automatically descends 60 feet at the start of each of its turns.
Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Madness of the Deep
At 10th level, the Keeper’s gaze looms over you. Whenever you take damage, you can use your reaction to unleash a wave of black ink to cloud the air in a 10-foot radius of your current location for one minute, heavily obscuring the area. Hostile creatures that end their turn within the area must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. If they fail, they are frightened until the start of your next turn and must attempt to escape the cloud.
Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Hunger for Knowledge
Starting at 14th level, you can summon the terrible maw of the Keeper to appear before you as an action. A massive beak surrounded by tentacles appears and attempts to grab a target of your choice within 30 feet. When a creature is targeted, it must make a Strength saving throw against your warlock spell save DC to shake off the grasp of the horror. If the target fails, it is dragged into the beak and bitten, taking 6d10 piercing damage and 6d10 psychic damage. If this is enough to reduce the target to 0 hit points, you can choose to have them be swallowed whole by the mouth, consuming them. Either way, the maw then immediately disappears.
Once you summon this maw, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
If the maw consumes a creature using this feature, your patron visits you in your dreams during your next long rest and grants you a boon in return for the sacrifice. Choose any spell of 5th level or lower from the warlock or wizard spell lists. You can cast this spell twice using a warlock spell slot, after which it is lost. The spell is also lost if you sacrifice a new creature and select a new spell using this feature.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This ability does 6d10 piercing and 6d10 psychic, but the rollable attached to the ability is set to 12d10. That's because DnD Beyond doesn't allow me to attach two separate damage types to the same ability/spell. So know that half the damage dealt is piercing and the second half is psychic. Also, for the boon granted by your patron, work with your DM, as I cannot add such spells/options to this feature for you to add to your sheet.
Eldritch Invocations
These are additional options to choose from whenever you can pick Eldritch invocations. Because of how DnD Beyond makes me set this up, please be mindful of how many invocations you are allowed to have at each level, and work with your DM to ensure you have the correct amount of invocations you are meant to for your level.
Awestruck Awakening
Whenever you finish a long rest, your mind overflows with the terrible secrets of your patron. You can speak to one allied creature over the course of 10 minutes, filling its mind with what you’ve learned. That creature can add your proficiency bonus to one skill or tool of your choice that it is not already proficient in until its next long rest.
Book of Stolen Secrets
Whenever you are in conversation, you can take your Book of Shadows in hand and ask a creature one question. The creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC if it is unwilling to answer. If it fails or if it decides to respond truthfully, the most accurate answer the creature could possibly give is immediately written in the book.
Once you do this, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Clash of Wills
Whenever you deal damage to an enemy creature with a cantrip or weapon attack, you can use your bonus action to disrupt their magic. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. If they fail, their concentration saving throws are made with disadvantage until the end of your next turn and if the target is not maintaining concentration on a spell, it takes 1d4 psychic damage.
Darkest Secrets
Whenever you choose your proficiencies for your Secrets of the Lost feature, you can forfeit both gained proficiencies. When you do, you can have your proficiency bonus be doubled for any ability check on a single skill or tool you are proficient with. This lasts until you finish a long rest.
Deepest Sympathies
If you have an eyeless watcher as a familiar, it gains additional hit points equal to your warlock level. Whenever your eyeless watcher takes the Help action, it can use a bonus action to become invisible until the start of its next turn.
Net of the Truth-Harvester
You can create a net made of coiled seaweed and living flesh using your Pact of the Blade feature, in addition to your normal Pact of the Blade weapon. It has a range of 15/30, AC 15, and hit points equal to 5 + your warlock level. The Strength DC to break free is equal to your warlock spell save DC. Creatures entangled in this net suffer 1d8 lightning damage whenever they knowingly lie.
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