Otherworldly Patron
Ancient of the Wilds
A being of unfathomable instinct and intent lurks in the wilderness and wild places of the material plane. Ancient gods devoted to blood, to the old ways. Druids are not enough to sate the needs of these demanding entities that demand sacrifice. From bloodthirsty bear gods of yore to the ever-expanding worldtree. The wilderness is alive and you met with one of its demiurges, in some form or fashion, becoming a speaker of the wild ways of bygone days - days of crimson winds and the scent of grass thick on the air.
Making a pact with these patron often requires a blood payment and more often than not, warlocks bound to these cruel and instinctual beings become more animalistic or savage as they continue their duties to their patron.
Ancient of the Wilds Binding Mark
| d6 | Binding Mark |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your nails become almost claw-like and your hands hairy. |
| 2 | When you sleep, a ghostly aura that looks like a great beast of prey sleeps beside you. |
| 3 | Your eyes become cat-like and glow in the dark. |
| 4 | Scars appear and disappear on your body constantly, all of them look like they were made by great beasts. |
| 5 | Your skin resembles the bark of a elder great trees. |
| 6 | Tattoos depicting a great hunt of beasts and the growth of the wilds decorates your body. |
Binding Mark
The pact binding warlock and patrons of the ancient wilderness often reflect the savagery of more primal times or the inner animalistic powers that reside within them. The above table is some optional choices you can apply to your warlock to denote the price or effect their pact has had on their physical form.
Ancient of the Wilds Features
| Warlock Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 1st | Expanded Spell List, Arbiter of Ancients, Eldritch Savagery |
| 6th | Primal Bloodthirst |
| 10th | Mantle of the Wilds |
| 14th | Lord of the Wilds |
Expanded Spell List
The Ancient of the Wilds 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.
Ancient of the Wilds Expanded List
| Spell Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 1st | animal friendship, beast bond |
| 2nd | enhance ability, locate animals or plants |
| 3rd | conjure animals, life transference |
| 4th | dominate beast, guardian of nature |
| 5th | commune with nature, tree stride |
Arbiter of Ancients
Starting at 1st level, you become the harbinger of the old ways. You gain proficiency with Animal Handling, Survival, and you gain the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts.
Also, you become an aspect of the wilds. Choose one of the following options:
- Ancient Savagery. While you're missing hit points, you have advantage on melee attacks.
- Primeval Endurance. While you aren’t wearing armor, you can calculate your AC as 13 + your Charisma modifier. You can use a Shield and still gain this benefit.
- Wild Resolve. While you're missing hit points, at the start of your turn you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier
Rule Tip: Temporary Hit Points Don’t Stack
If you have temporary hit points and receive more of them, you don’t add them together, unless a rule says you can. Instead, you decide which temporary hit points to keep. For more information on temporary hit points, see chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook.
Eldritch Savagery
At 1st level, your physical form becomes interwoven with an ancient savagery unbeknownst to most. When you make a melee weapon attack or an unarmed strike, instead using your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage roll, you can use your Charisma modifier instead. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.
Additionally, your patron's eldritch power can flow through this strike. You can cast the eldritch blast cantrip as a melee spell attack instead of a ranged spell attack. If you do so, add your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice) to the attack and damage roll.
Bloodthirsty Retaliation
Starting at 6th level, you can call forth ancient spirits of nature to strike those who would stop your hunt.
As an reaction to when you or creature within 10 feet are damaged by a creature, you call forth an echo of your patron that forces the creature that triggered the reaction to roll a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, the echo deals 1d8 force damage. If the creature that triggered the reaction is missing hit points, it deals 1d12 force damage instead. This feature's damage increases by one die when you reach 14th level (2d8 or 2d12).
You can call forth this echo of your patron as a reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
Mantle of the Wilds
At 10th level, your patron bestows you with a cloak made of wild things. Whilst wearing this cloak, as an action you can transform into one of the following creatures: an awakened tree, cave bear, dire wolf, giant boar, giant elk, giant spider, giant octopus, or a killer whale. You stay transform this way for an hour and cannot revert back until the duration is over. You automatically revert if you fall Unconscious, drop to 0 Hit Points, or die.
If you lose this cloak you cannot transform. If you lose your Mantle of the Wilds, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to receive a replacement from your patron. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous cloak. The cloak turns to tiny beast of your choice when you die.
While you are transformed, the following rules apply:
- Your game Statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your Alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the creature’s bonus instead of yours.
- When you transform, you assume the beast’s hit points and hit dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 Hit Points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren’t knocked unconscious.
- You can’t cast spells, and your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form. Transforming doesn’t break your concentration on a spell you’ve already cast, however, or prevent you from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as call lightning, that you’ve already cast.
- You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.
- You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of Equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.
After you transform, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Lord of the Wilds
At 14th level, you become a master of your patron's sphere of influence twisting things into their natural state. As a reaction to a friendly creature being reduced to 0 hit points, you can transform them into a beast that is available to you through the Mantle of the Wilds. This transformation last an hour, or until the target drops to 0 hit points or dies.
When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to being at 0 hit points it had before it transformed and is unconscious. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form.
The creature is limited in the actions it can perform by the nature of its new form, and it can’t speak, cast spells, or take any other action that requires hands or speech. The target’s gear melds into the new form. The creature can’t activate, use, wield, or otherwise benefit from any of its equipment.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Optional Rule: Wild Hunt
If you feel like the list of available beasts for Mantle of the Wilds isn't satisfying enough for your character, or doesn't have the exact flavor of creature for your patron, I suggest this optional rule for the feature.
Wild Hunt. When you defeat or consume a beast while wearing the Mantle of the Wilds, you can add that beast to the list of available beasts for Mantle of the Wilds. The CR of the beast cannot be higher than 3 and it cannot be legendary.