The Symbiote

You have opened your body to be a host for a strange, foreign power whose desire to survive means they are willing to grant you a fraction of their power in a mutually beneficial relationship. Such being might be an aberrant organism like a mutated tadpole of a slaad or mind flayer that for some reason cannot develop fully and needs a 'willing' host. Maybe it's a spirit, severed from its body, that needs a vessel to inhabit lest it fade into nothing. Or perhaps you have discovered a sentient crystal that has promised you immense power in exchange for an organic host to convey it around. Whatever the nature of your symbiote is, it wants ones thing; to survive. And it needs you to do that, and it will grant you power in return.

Your symbiote might manifest in various ways that reflect the nature of your relationship with your 'passenger'. It could appear in the form of a thick black ichor envelops body, forming a glistening second skin. Maybe you suddenly transform into a hulking beast of rippling muscle and sinew completely unlike your normal form. Or perhaps crystals violently (and painfully) erupt from your skin, encasing you in a brilliant, shining exoskeleton. Likewise, your spells might reflect the nature of your symbiote.

Expanded Spell List

The Symbiote 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.

The Symbiote Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	disguise self, shield
2nd	alter self, web
3rd	animate dead, revivify
4th	black tentacles, death ward
5th	contagion, raise dead

Symbiote Biology

Starting at 1st level, your body has been transformed by your symbiote. Once per day you can you can use your action to regain hit points equal to 1d4 + your Warlock level, regaining the use of this ability following a long rest. If you would be reduced to 0 hit points and you haven't used this ability yet that day, rather than falling unconscious, your symbiote intervenes and you use the ability automatically without using an action.

In addition, your symbiote is able to reshape your limbs into crude but effected weapons, flesh and bone becoming blades. You can use these natural weapons to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. Additionally these attacks have a reach of 10 feet.

Abnormal Appetite

As you reach 6th level, your symbiote begins to fill you with freakish hunger that can only be satiated in the must abhorrent ways. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to ravenously devour it. You cannot move or take any actions until the end of your next turn, at which point you gain one of the following benefits:

• Reduce your level of exhaustion by one
• End one reduction to any of your ability scores
• End one effect reducing your hit point maximum
• Regain hit points equal to 5d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier

In order to gain the benefits of this ability, the creature you devour must have a CR equal to or greater than half your warlock level, and cannot be a construct or undead.

Survival Instinct

At 6th level, your symbiote will do everything it can to survive, going so far as to commandeer control of your body should you fall in battle. Should you be reduced to 0 hit points and fall unconscious, your symbiote will take over your body and begin to fight for survival. At the start of your next turn you gain temporary hit points equal to 5 times your Warlock level and immediately stand up as a free action, dropping any items you may be carrying.

On each of your turns, after making your death saving throw as usual, you must move towards the nearest enemy and attack them if possible. If you can't reach an enemy, you must take the dash action towards them, otherwise you make two unarmed melee attacks.

Should you stabilise, either by succeeding on three death saving throws or through the intervention of an ally, you immediately regain control of your body, but lose all temporary hit points. This ability cannot be used again until you finish a long rest.

Losing all your temporary hit points causes you to become unconscious again. Failing three death saving throws or being reduced to negative half your hit point maximum still results in your death.

Symbiote Clone

Starting at 10th level, your symbiote can spawn of a weaker clone of you using it's own strange mass. The clone has the same game statistics as a commoner, except that it has the same Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma ability scores as you, as well as any proficiencies and languages. Its maximum hit points are equal to half your hit point maximum. You must have all your hit points to use this ability.

It takes 1 minute to produce a clone this way, at the end of which your current and maximum hit points are reduced by half. The clone has no equipment and cannot use any of your class or racial abilities. The clone survives for 24 hours during which time you have a psychic link to it and can control it fully, at the end of which it drops to 0 hit points and turns to dust. Before this period ends you can merge with your clone as an action, restoring your hit point maximum to full and regaining hit points equal to the remaining hit points of your clone. If you don't merge with your clone before the duration ends or because it is killed, you get 2 levels of exhaustion and your hit point maximum isn't restored until you lose all levels of exhaustion.

You can only have one clone at a time, and once you have used this ability you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.

Symbiotes True Form

At 14th level, you have unleashed the full power of the symbiote within you, allowing you to take on its true form. Choose a symbiote form for your true form.

Brute Form

As a bonus action, you can transform into your symbiotes true form. This transformation lasts 10 minutes, during which time you gain the benefits of the enlarge/reduce spell (enlarge effect) and gain a burrow speed of 30 feet.

You also gain tremorsense with a range of 120 feet and your AC becomes 20, but you cannot benefit from armor or shields.

The first time you use this ability, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a long rest, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

Hunter Form

As a bonus action, you can transform into your symbiotes true form. This transformation lasts 10 minutes, during which time you gain the benefits of the haste spell and gain a base fly speed of 30 feet.

You also gain blindsight with a range of 120 feet and have advantage on perception and survival checks made to track other creatures or discern their location.

The first time you use this ability, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a long rest, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

Wraith Form

As a bonus action, you can transform into your symbiotes true form. This transformation lasts 10 minutes, during which time you gain immunity to bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage from non-magical attacks, and you can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. If you end your turn inside a creature, that creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or become possessed by you.

While possessed this way, you occupy the creatures space, are immune to all damage, and control all the possessed creatures actions. At the end of each of the creatures turns, it can make a Charisma saving throw to end the possession, expelling you on a success into an unoccupied space within 5 feet. The possession is also ended if the creature is reduced to 0 hit points, targeted by the protection from evil and good spell, or you end it as a bonus action.

The first time you use this ability, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a long rest, you suffer one level of exhaustion.