For my Aurikesh campaign, way back in 2012 for D&D Next, I wrote a Seeker class (several iterations appear in this blog) for a creepy occultist gunslinger concept, very much taken from Torchlight 2’s Outlander. In the years since then, Tribality has created a gunslinger class (now found in Seas of Vodari). In this post I’m bringing that creepy occultist theme to Tribality’s class.
Soulbinder
Whether you made a bargain with a sinister spirit at a crossroads or etched eldritch sigils into the barrel of your gun in your sleep, your mind is filled with sinister knowledge that you apply to your gunslinging. Many who possess such knowledge pledge themselves to a noble cause, knowing better than most how their souls teeter on the edge of darkness. Soulbinders manipulate the souls of those who die near them to accomplish their deeds.
Harvester of Souls
3rd-level Soulbinder feature
When a creature dies within 60 feet of you, for the next minute you can use your reaction and spend 1 bravado point to bind its soul to a weapon you are wielding. The soul remains bound to that weapon until you finish a long rest. When you hit with an attack using a weapon that has any number of souls bound to it, you deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage, your attack ignores resistance or immunity to nonmagical piercing damage, and your attack leaves a visible trail of darkness through the air for a moment. You can bind a number of souls to your weapon at one time up to your proficiency bonus. A creature whose soul is bound to your weapon can’t be returned to life against your will.
Occult Deeds
3rd-level Soulbinder feature
One must be fearless when dealing with the uncanny or sinister powers of the world. You use your bravado to accomplish deeds of magic.
Fiend’s Fortunes. When you roll a 1 on an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw, you can spend 1 bravado point or release a soul bound to your weapon to roll again.
Dread Shot. When you hit with an attack using a ranged weapon, you can spend 1 bravado to force the creature that you hit and one creature that can see your target to roll a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they are frightened of you for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, a target can make another Wisdom saving throw, ending the frightened condition on a success.
Seal Upon the Soul. You learn protection from evil and good, and you can spend 1 bravado point or release a soul from a weapon you are wielding to cast it without expending a spell slot. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell. When you fail a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on this spell, you can spend 1 bravado point to succeed instead.
Pallid Guard
6th-level Soulbinder feature
You have learned secret wards against harm. You gain resistance to necrotic damage, and you have advantage on saving throws against effects that deal necrotic damage.
Mortal Wager
10th-level Soulbinder feature
With ten minutes of concentration or as part of a short rest, you can make a wager with an elemental, fey, fiendish, or undead spirit. You can risk up to as many souls as are currently bound to your weapons. Roll that number of d6s. If none of the dice roll a 5 or 6, you lose all of the souls you risked and have disadvantage on saving throws until you finish a short or long rest. For each 5 or 6 result, you gain one additional bravado point, regain 5 hit points, and gain 5 temporary hit points. Bravado points above your normal maximum are lost when you finish a long rest. Temporary hit points from this feature stack, up to a maximum of 30.
Deeds of the Occult Master
15th-level Soulbinder feature
You gain the following bravado deeds.
Ethereal Sight. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 bravado point and release one soul that is bound to your weapon to share the soul’s perceptions for 1 minute. You gain darkvision to a range of 60 feet, and you can see creatures and objects within 60 feet that are invisible or in the Ethereal Plane. Alternately, you can spend 4 bravado points and release one soul to gain truesight to a range of 60 feet for 1 minute.
Shadow-Shot. When you take the Attack action, you can spend 2 bravado points to make an additional attack against a creature within 30 feet of a target of your attacks. If this additional attack hits, all of the damage it deals is necrotic. This attack does not consume ammunition.
Spirit Wrack. As a bonus action, you can release one soul that is bound to your weapon. It screams in torment, and creatures in a line 30 feet long and 5 feet wide roll a Constitution saving throw. Creatures that fail this saving throw take 3d8 thunder damage, or half damage on a success. A creature that fails this saving throw by more than 5 is stunned until the start of your next turn.
Midnight Binding
18th-level Soulbinder feature
Souls bound to your weapons are not released when you finish a long rest, as long as the weapons remain in your possession throughout the long rest.
When you roll initiative, you can release a soul bound to your weapons to regain up to 6 bravado points.
Design Notes
This is my second draft of this, significantly different from what I posted on Patreon (including a name change), and if it’s anything like my other gunslinger subclasses it’ll change a lot between now and a full release. I want this to feel like something out of Preacher, Supernatural, or Deadlands, without directly lifting from any of them.
I’m hoping that adding a second currency to the gunslinger isn’t just a disaster. If it is, well, I need to rework the whole concept.
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I really like this concept. It reminds me of a PC from my 4th edition game in my homebrew setting. They were a revenant “blade” pact warlock that used magical guns tied to their patron. Their whole schtick revolved around collecting souls in order to keep putting off their own final death until they could accomplish their revenge mission. Unfortunately nothing ever really came of that because the player had to drop out of the game before that plot line ever really became relevant. This subclass feels like it is playing in some of the same places as a warlock without going too deep on the same patron/pact themes.
On a mechanical level, I like how this is working. I think the second currency is actually what makes this subclass interesting, I like mechanics that give players more options and ways to spend their limited resources. The abilities that allow spending both currencies to so different things are really cool. Mortal Wager is really cool, though I kinda feel like the choice of what type of spirit to make the bargain with should have mechanical weight. Maybe the temp hp is granted by a celestial spirit, but others grant something else?
On a different note, am I the only one that has to check myself every time they read, say, or write “protection from evil and good”? It looks and sounds off.
I’m delighted to hear that you like it! A Pact Weapon feature rather than letting you bind souls to ANY weapon was also a possible implementation.
Mortal Wager is already wordy enough as a feature that I’m reluctant to add more to it, but I’ll talk to Shawn about it (this is for a Tribality release) and we’ll see what goes to a final version. =)
I really like the flavor of this, and I think the function seems mostly solid. I would probably tweak the wording of Harvester of Souls – it isn’t at all clear to me that the extra necrotic damage isn’t 1d6 per soul, even though I’m sure that’s not the intended function because of how egregious it would be
Thanks! I’ll edit that into the post.
I’m so glad you like it!