The Shepherd Patron

The Soul Shepherd is a neutral undead entity (it can't be evil), dedicated to the shepherding of the undead, so they don't interfere with the affairs and duties of the living, nor the living interfere with the deeds of the undead. The Soul Shepherd's praxis states that the undeath is a new stage of life worth living and protecting, as long as the undead respect the living. Existence is a spiritual journey requiring far longer than a single lifetime, and only the Undying can ever truly learn what great wonders lie at its end. The only requisite to form a pact with the Soul Shepherd is to die; you must die in order for this entity to reach to you and choose you as a worthy follower.

Level 3: Shepherd Spells

The magic of your patron ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Warlock level specified in the Fiend Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Fiend Spells

Warlock Level	Spells
3	Dissonant Whispers, Gentle Repose, Inflict Wounds, Wither and Bloom
5	Animate Dead, Spirit Guardians
7	Death Ward, Phantasmal Killer
9	Cloudkill, Raise Dead

Shepherd of Souls

Starting at level 3, you gain the ability of collecting the souls of the dead as a bonus action, if in combat, into a Soul Vessel. The Soul Vessel can be any object you can carry (a lantern, a candles, gems in your clothing, a pendant, a gravestone, a staff…), and it will be magically attuned to you. You can collect a maximum of souls equal to half your Warlock level (rounded down, min. 1). You cannot collect souls from creatures you have not directly killed. Each soul in your Soul Vessel grants you +1 to your AC, +1 Necrotic or Radiant damage (your choice) to every damage spell you can cast, and you can release any number of souls from your Soul Vessel to cast a Necromancy spell with an original level equivalent to the number of released souls without expending a Spell Slot, but you cannot cast spells at higher levels this way. You cannot collect souls into your Soul Vessel while wearing any kind of armor. You cannot collect souls from soulless creatures.

Soul Alchemy

Starting at level 6, whenever you cast a Necromancy Spell releasing souls from your Soul Vessel you will not need to consume any materials or gold, except the ones that require dead people/creatures or their remains.

Spiritualistic Medium

Also at level 6, you can now see, hear and feel restless souls trapped in places or artifacts, such as haunted houses or Soul Coins, and learn how to absorb them into your Soul Vessel through a Spiritualistic Ritual, in which you stablish communication with that soul. You will only be able to absorb the soul if that spirit agrees to enter it (usually, they will demand you something in return). You can communicate with these souls using artifacts such as Ouija boards, Tarokka cards, entering into a trance-like state, lighting candles, etc.

Reanimator

Starting at level 10, as a bonus action, you can raise an undead creature from a corpse you can see at your service by releasing any number of Souls from your Soul Vessel. The number of Souls released will determine the power of the Undead Creature you reanimate.

1 Souls = Zombie

2 Souls = Skeleton

3 Souls = Shadow

4 Souls = Ghoul

5 Souls = Ghast

6 Souls = Mummy

7 Souls = Wight

8 Souls = Deathlock

9 Souls = Ghost

10 Souls = Wraith

If you use this feature, you cannot collect a soul from it with the Shepherd of Souls feature. You cannot reanimate soulless or non-humanoid creatures, except beasts, with this feature (This includes: Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, Plants and some Aberrations and Monstrosities).

You cannot use this ability if the creature was dead for more than a day or if the remains are extremely damaged. You can only control with this feature a number of undead equal to half your Warlock level, any undead that exceeds this limit will turn hostile.

Mastery over Souls

Starting at level 14, your domain over the threads of life and death and the control of the souls has grown extraordinarily high; you get the following benefits:

• If you cast a Necromancy Spell using your Soul Vessel, you can release a higher number of souls to cast the spell at higher levels.
• You are now able to collect souls from creatures you have not directly killed, and whenever a creature you can see dies, you can collect it's soul into your Soul Vessel as a reaction.

Additionally, you gain the following abilities for your Soul Vessel:

• Soul Reversal: You can release the Souls from an undead creature you control through the Reanimator feature or any spell that allows you to control undead (animate dead, summon undead, create undead, …,) that was casted with your Soul Vessel, to absorb them into your Soul Vessel. The creature dies instantly once you release them of your thrall. In case of releasing souls form an undead that was controlled by a spell like those mentioned before, you regain the number of souls released to cast the spell. You can cast this as a reaction, but you will only be able to retrieve half the souls into your Soul Vessel. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, then, you won’t be able to do it until you finish a short or long rest.
• Shepherd’s Aura: As an action, you can release any number of souls from your Soul Vessel to imbue yourself with a necromantic aura. Each undead creature in an area of 20ft around you, that increases another 10ft per each released soul, that has a CR lower than your Warlock level must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Warlock spell save DC. If they fail, they are now under your control and they will follow you wherever you go and become peaceful by default. As a bonus action, you can command them an order to follow, and they will follow it until you command another one. This effect lasts for 24 hours. If an affected undead has an Intelligence of 10 or higher, it has advantage on the saving throw. If a creature with an Intelligence of 12 or higher fails the saving throw, it can repeat the saving throw at the end of every hour until it succeeds and breaks free. Creatures that are immune to effects that turn undead cannot be affected by this ability. Once you use this feature you must finish a short or a long rest before using it again.