Base Class: Warlock
Almost every warlock forges a pact with a single patron. Warlocks of the Dark Council are the exception. These warlocks draw power from multiple entities bound together by shared interest, mutual convenience, or occult contract. Some councils form willingly to pursue a common goal. Others are the result of a warlock manipulating rival powers into an uneasy accord. In rarer cases, a patron may even sign their claim over to a greater council, relinquishing sole ownership of the pact. A Dark Council warlock must constantly balance the desires of their patrons. Favoring one too heavily risks the displeasure of the others—and losing the council’s favor entirely.
Level 3: Dark Blessings
The Dark council bestows flexible but fragmented powers. Your multiple patrons allow you to gain two weaker versions of other warlocks starting features. Choose two patrons from this list and gain two unique benefits based on what they would normally bestow to their own benefactor. You gain a third at level 6 and a fourth at level 10.
Archfey
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to harness the presence of the fey. As an action, you can cause each creature within 5 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. Any creature that fails their saving throw become charmed by you until either one minute has passed or they take damage. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Celestial
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to channel celestial energy to heal wounds. You have a pool of d6s that you spend to fuel this healing. The number of dice in the pool is equal to your proficiency bonus. As a bonus action, you can heal one creature you can see within 60 feet of you, spending dice from the pool. The maximum number of dice you can spend at once equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of one die). Roll the dice you spend, add them together, and restore a number of hit points equal to the total. Your pool regains all expended dice when you finish a long rest.
Fathomless
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to magically summon a spectral tentacle that strikes at your foes. As a bonus action, you create a 10-foot-long tentacle at a point you can see within 30 feet of you. The tentacle lasts for 1 minute. When you create the tentacle, you can make a melee spell attack against one creature within 10 feet of it. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 cold damage, and its speed is reduced by half until the start of your next turn. When you reach 10th level in this class, the damage increases to 2d6. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the tentacle up to 30 feet and repeat the attack. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Fiend
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your warlock level (minimum of 1) when you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points.
Genie
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to resist elemental damage. The type of damage you resist is determined when you first pick this option.
Great Old One
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
Hexblade
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest.
Undead
Your patrons bestow upon you the ability to take an a dreadful transformation as a bonus action for 1 minute per long rest. While transformed you gain temporary hit points equal to your warlock level, you are immune to the frightened condition, and gain advantage on all intimidation checks.
Undying
Your patrons bestow upon you protection from the undead. If an undead targets you directly with an attack or a harmful spell, that creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC (an undead needn’t make the save when it includes you in an area effect, such as the explosion of fireball). On a failed save, the creature must choose a new target or forfeit targeting someone instead of you, potentially wasting the attack or spell. On a successful save, the creature is immune to this effect for 24 hours. An undead is also immune to this effect for 24 hours if you target it with an attack or a harmful spell.
Level 3: Council Spells
The magic of your patrons ensure that you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Warlock level specified in the Council Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.
| Warlock Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 3 | Command, Darkness, Mirror Image, Unseen Servant |
| 5 | Nondetection, Sending |
| 7 | Blight, Compulsion |
| 9 | Modify Memory, Scrying |
Level 6: Council Vote
A number of times per long rest equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), you may directly call upon the Dark Council for aid. When you do so, the council votes to determine how best to help you. Roll [roll]1d20[/roll] on the Dark Council Aid Table to determine the result. Once per short rest, immediately after rolling, before any effects take place you may veto the council’s decision and instead choose a different result from the table.
| Dark Council Aid Table | ||
| d20 | Council Aid | Summary |
| 1 | Loyal Minion | Your patrons send a Small or Medium ally that lasts for one hour. The ally has the statistics of a commoner, cannot speak, and takes on any appearance you choose. It follows your commands to the best of its ability. |
| 2 | Unseen Servitors | Invisible hands assist you for the next hour. You can interact with objects, open doors, draw or stow items, or administer potions as a bonus action. |
| 3 | Borrowed Authority | For the next hour, you gain advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks. Creatures are subtly aware that unseen powers stand behind you. |
| 4 | Veil of Many Eyes | For the next hour, you gain darkvision out to 120 feet. If you already have darkvision, you can see normally through magical darkness. |
| 5 | Esoteric Knowledge | Your patrons whisper secrets of the universe into your mind. You gain advantage on all Intelligence-based skill checks for the next hour. |
| 6 | Black Ledger | Your patrons reveal hidden debts. For the next hour, you always know whether a creature you are interacting with intends to harm you or betray you in the immediate future (next 1 minute). |
| 7 | Guiding Omens | Your patrons send cryptic psychic communications. For the next hour, you may use a bonus action to ask the council a question. They provide vague but useful guidance, clues, or warnings at the DM’s discretion. |
| 8 | Warding Murmurs | For the next hour, when you or another creature you can see fails a saving throw, you may roll a d4 and add it to the result. You can do this once per turn. |
| 9 | Weapon Boon | Your patrons provide a temporary enhancement to your weapon. For the next hour, whenever you deal damage with a weapon, you may add an additional 1d6 damage of a type of your choice. |
| 10 | Cloak of Consensus | For the next hour, opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage. |
| 11 | Shadow Step Accord | For the next hour, whenever you cast a warlock spell of 1st level or higher, you may teleport up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space you can see as part of the same action. |
| 12 | Council’s Intercession | Once within the next hour, when a creature you can see within 60 feet is hit by an attack, you may use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. |
| 13 | Shared Burden | Once within the next hour, when you take damage, you may choose a creature within 30 feet to take half of that damage for you. If the chosen creature is unwilling, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a success, you take the full damage, and this use of the feature is not expended. |
| 14 | Threads of Fate | For the next hour, you may roll twice and take the better result on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. This benefit refreshes once every 1 minute. |
| 15 | Scripted Outcome | For the next hour, the first time you miss with an attack roll, the attack instead hits if the original roll was a 9 or higher. |
| 16 | Council’s Favor | For the next hour, you gain temporary hit points equal to your warlock level at the start of each turn. |
| 17 | Pact Protection | Your patrons bestow a small effigy of yourself that lasts for one hour. While the effigy is on your person, any damage that would reduce you to 0 hit points instead destroys the effigy, leaving you at 1 hit point. |
| 18 | Echoed Casting | For the next hour, the first time you cast a warlock spell that deals damage and targets only one creature, you may choose a second creature within 30 feet of the original target to suffer minor backlash, taking psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier. |
| 19 | Grand Escape | Your patrons manifest a playing card in the form of the Queen of Hearts, lasting for one hour. While the card exists, you can use a bonus action to teleport yourself and a number of willing creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one) to a location within 120 feet that you have previously visited. |
| 20 | The Council Watches | For the next hour, if you drop a creature to 0 hit points, you immediately regain one expended warlock spell slot (this can only trigger once per use). |
Level 10: Dark Recovery
You can harness the power of your dark council to recover spent power. A number of times per long rest equal to half your proficiency bonus rounded up, you can use a bonus action to recover a spent warlock spell slot. Additionally once per long rest at the end of your turn if you are still conscious you can roll 1d100, and regain hit points equal to the dice roll as a percentage of the hit points you are currently missing (rounded up)
Level 14: Dark Ascension
Your Patrons grant you a new form based on their powers. Once Per short rest you can use a action to activate the dark ascension for one hour. While Dark Ascension is active, you benefit only from the transformation effects corresponding to patrons you have selected from Dark Blessings.
Archfey
While Dark Ascension is active, your form elongates and warps into an unsettling beauty, your features growing sharper and more fluid. As a bonus action on each of your turns, you may make a Charisma (Persuasion) check against all humanoid creatures within 5 feet of you. The DC equals 10 + the creature’s Wisdom modifier. This ability automatically succeeds on charmed humanoids. On a success, that creature cannot willingly harm you until the start of your next turn. Once you succeeds with this effect, it cannot be used to affect the same humanoid again for 1 minute.
Celestial
While Dark Ascension is active, radiant wings unfurl from your back, formed of light, flame, or shimmering script. You gain a flying speed of 30 feet for the full duration of Dark Ascension. While flying, you shed dim light in a 10-foot radius (you may suppress or resume this light as a bonus action).
Fathomless
While Dark Ascension is active, your skin splits and reforms into scaled flesh as gills open along your neck. You can breathe underwater as easily as air. You also gain a +1 bonus to your AC and, while standing in water or submerged, you have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to swim or grapple.
Fiend
While Dark Ascension is active, your shadow deepens and burns at the edges, as if lit by unseen fire. When you have temporary hit points from any source you deal an extra amount of fire damage equal to your Charisma modifier on all weapon attacks.
Genie
While Dark Ascension is active, arcane sigils coil around your limbs, trailing faint motes of elemental power. Once on each of your turns, when you deal elemental damage that is the same type selected from you dark blessings genie, you may double the damage of that type.
Great Old One
While Dark Ascension is active, your eyes fracture into alien patterns, and reality subtly bends around your thoughts. Your telepathy range increases to 120 feet. When a creature within this range is forced to make a Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma saving throw against one of your warlock spells, you may use your reaction to impose disadvantage on its saving throw.
Hexblade
While Dark Ascension is active, your Hex weapon vibrates with dark energy. Your Hexblade weapon gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls. While Dark Ascension is active, any creature hit by your Hex blade takes extra necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus.
Undead
While Dark Ascension is active, your flesh pales and tightens as death clings to you like a second shadow. At the start of each of your turns, you gain temporary hit points equal to half your warlock level (rounded down). While you have temporary hit points, creatures have disadvantage on saving throws against being frightened by you.
Undying
While Dark Ascension is active, your body refuses to fail, animated by stubborn, unnatural persistence. You gain resistance to necrotic damage. When you would be reduced to 0 hit points, you may instead drop to 1 hit point. Once this benefit triggers, it cannot trigger again until Dark Ascension is reactivated.
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