The Dark Mage
Chuckling with barely suppressed madness, a robed human figure crushes a small figurine of an elephant in their hand, while the thugs who had cornered them look on in fear. Their ashen skin turns even more corpse-like, as dark purple flames spring from their fingertips to engulf the would-be assassins, turning them to ash.
Deflecting the knight’s blade with her own, the armoured orc presses a hand to her foe’s chest. He screams in pain as his life force flows into her, her black eyes returning to a healthy yellow. She wastes no more time on this fool, dispatching him with a quick sword thrust and watching him fall lifelessly to the ground. She already has the knowledge to wield blade and armour effectively, but his essence can serve her all the same.
Dark mages are powerful spellcasters who turn their fallen enemies into fuel for their magic. Capable of learning spells from any class, they are highly versatile, but they must be careful with their casting lest they run out of corpses, or succumb to their own corruption.
Thieves of Magic
Sorcerers are born to power, clerics are blessed with it, wizards study it, and warlocks bargain for it; but all look in horror upon the dark mage, who rips away the residual life force of others to wield the power otherwise denied to them. Dark mages are almost universally outlawed by mortal governments and arcane councils alike, but somehow new apprentices are always seduced by its easy power, whether taught by a master or by finding a dark tome long thought destroyed.
Insatiable Vagabonds
Outlawed by most civilised societies, a prudent dark mage stays on the move, passing through before the physical manifestations of their power can give them away. The dangerous life of an adventurer is a tempting one for a dark mage, who constantly requires fresh bodies to harvest to fuel their spells to bigger and better heights.
Class Name
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Cantrips Known | Spells Known | Max Cast Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Dark Trinkets, Spellcasting | 2 | 3 | 1st |
| 2nd | +2 | Dark Corruption, Dread Lore | 2 | 4 | 1st |
| 3rd | +2 | ─ | 2 | 5 | 2nd |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Increase | 3 | 6 | 2nd |
| 5th | +3 | ─ | 3 | 7 | 3rd |
| 6th | +3 | Dread Lore feature | 3 | 8 | 3rd |
| 7th | +3 | ─ | 3 | 9 | 4th |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Increase | 3 | 10 | 4th |
| 9th | +4 | ─ | 3 | 11 | 5th |
| 10th | +4 | Dread Lore feature | 4 | 11 | 5th |
| 11th | +4 | ─ | 4 | 12 | 6th |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 12 | 6th |
| 13th | +5 | ─ | 4 | 13 | 7th |
| 14th | +5 | Dread Lore feature | 4 | 13 | 7th |
| 15th | +5 | ─ | 4 | 14 | 8th |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 14 | 8th |
| 17th | +6 | ─ | 4 | 15 | 9th |
| 18th | +6 | Destructive Harvest | 4 | 15 | 9th |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 16 | 9th |
| 20th | +6 | Master the Darkness | 4 | 16 | 9th |
Creating a Dark Mage
The most important question to consider when creating your dark mage is why they pursue this form of magic when most people abhor it, and how they feel about it. Do they hail from a culture which sees it as an honourable sacrifice for the dead to make? Were the studies of wizardry closed to them by socio-economic barriers? Or were they simply lured in by the promises of easy power?
Quick Build
You can make a dark mage quickly by following these suggestions. Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the Sage background.
Multiclassing
To multiclass as a dark mage, you must have an Intelligence score of at least 13. You gain proficiency in daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows.
Class Features
As a dark mage, you gain the following class features
Hit Points
- Hit Dice: 1d6 per dark mage level
- Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modfier
- Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per dark mage level after 1st
Proficiencies
- Armor: none
- Weapons: daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows
- Tools: none
- Saving Throws: Intelligence, Charisma
- Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidation, Medicine, and Religion
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger
- (a) a CR 1/2 Dark Trinket or (b) two CR 1/4 Dark Trinkets
- (a) a scholar's pack or (b) an explorer's pack or (c) a dungeoneer's pack
Alternatively, you may start with 4d4*10 gp and purchase your own equipment.
Dark Trinkets
1st-level dark mage feature
You draw power from death, but few dark mages have the time to cart rotting corpses around with them – they have instead devised a more elegant solution. As an action, you may touch a corpse which has been dead for no more than an hour, magically extracting its energy and coalescing it into a Dark Trinket with a value equal to the deceased creature’s challenge rating. You may only create a number of Dark Trinkets equal to your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1); attempting to create more Dark Trinkets will result in one active Dark Trinket of your choice being instantly destroyed.
Creating a Dark Trinket drains the corpse of energy, meaning it cannot be used to create more Dark Trinkets, but does not destroy it or any equipment it is wearing or carrying.
A Dark Trinket is a Tiny object with AC 10, 1 hit point, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. You may choose its aesthetic appearance beyond this – some mages prefer coins stamped with an impression of the deceased, others create talismans of bone carved with unholy runes, to name some examples.
Spellcasting
1st-level dark mage feature
As a dark mage, you are privy to powerful secrets no mortal should rightly possess.
Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from any spell list. You learn additional cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Dark Mage table.
Learning Spells of 1st Level and Higher
The Spells Known column of the Dark Mage table shows how many spells you know of 1st-level or higher, and at what levels you learn new ones. When you learn a new spell, you must choose a spell to learn from any spell list, and the spell you choose cannot be higher than your Maximum Cast Level as noted in the Dark Mage table.
When you gain a new level in this class, you may choose to replace one spell you know with a different one. This new spell must also be your Maximum Cast Level or lower.
Casting Spells
Dark mages draw their power from expended life sources, and have no need of spell slots. To cast a spell you know, you must expend a number of Dark Trinkets which are on your person, which are destroyed at the end of the casting time. The Dark Trinkets destroyed must have a combined challenge rating equal to one half of the spell’s level; for instance, to cast a 1st-level spell, you must expend one Dark Trinket of CR ½ or two of CR ¼. You may expend higher-value Dark Trinkets than you require to increase the spell’s potency, for instance you could cast burning hands at level 2 by expending a CR 1 Dark Trinket, but you can never cast a spell at a higher level than your Maximum Cast Level as shown in the Dark Mage table.
You must still expend any additional material components the spell requires alongside the Dark Trinkets.
Cantrips count as level 0 spells and therefore do not require you to expend a Dark Trinket.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your dark mage spells, since your magic stems from understanding how to manipulate the latent power within other creatures. You use you Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a dark mage spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell Save DC
Spell attack modifier
Ritual Casting
You can cast a dark mage spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag. You do not expend Dark Trinkets when you cast a spell as a ritual, but you must still possess enough Dark Trinkets to cast the spell normally.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use an arcane focus, or one of your Dark Trinkets, as a spellcasting focus for your dark mage spells.
Dark Corruption
2nd-level dark mage feature
Dark magic is as dangerous as it is addictive, and over time it will consume you.
You start with 0 Corruption. Whenever you cast a dark mage spell of 1st level or higher, you gain 1 point of Corruption per level of the spell cast. If your Corruption ever exceeds 20, you succumb to darkness and become an Evil NPC partially under the DM’s control, until such a time as you can reduce your Corruption to 20 or below again. Your Corruption manifests as some sort of noticeable cosmetic feature, such as discoloured eyes, ashen skin, or purple veins, which grow more intense the more points you accrue. While you have points of Corruption, you may use it in the following ways:
Tainted Strength
The spreading evil gives fuels your strength and your arrogance in equal measure, proving both a boon and a hindrance to you.
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You may add your total Corruption to the following rolls: Athletics checks, Intimidation checks, and Strength saving throws.
-
You must subtract your total Corruption from the following rolls: Insight checks, Persuasion checks, and Wisdom saving throws.
Recover Humanity
The path to darkness is not a one-way street; you can turn back. When you take a long rest, you may choose to reduce your Corruption by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus.
Additionally, as an action, you may destroy any number of Dark Trinkets on your person, reducing your Corruption by twice the total CR, rounded down.
Your total Corruption may never be reduced below 0.
Succumbing to Darkness
Whether you're the DM or a player, maintaining player autonomy is crucial, so dark mage players should work with their DM to work out precisely what it means if they go over their Corruption limit. In some rare and dramatic cases, that can be it for the character (until they show up as a juicy BBEG in campaign 2) but this should only be done after the player and DM have discussed it. In most cases, the dark mage will remain in the scene until the danger has passed (albeit with a new evil personality), then scurry off to do some off-screen nefariousness, the consequences of which they can deal with in character once they've had a nap or two.
Dread Lore
2nd-level dark mage feature
There are many evil paths walked by the dark magi. When you gain this feature, choose a branch of Dread Lore to pursue from the end of this class description. This choice grants you class features at 2nd level, and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.
Ability Score Improvement
4th-level dark mage feature
At 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th levels, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you cannot increase an ability score above 20 with this feature.
Destructive Harvest
18th-level dark mage feature
When you touch a corpse to create a Dark Trinket, you may instead choose to create two Dark Trinkets instead of one. If you do so, the corpse (but not its equipment) is utterly destroyed, and the creature cannot be returned to life without a true resurrection or wish spell.
Master the Darkness
20th-level dark mage feature
When you would gain points of Corruption, you may choose to instead take none. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.
Dread Lore
Passed down from master to apprentice, or deciphered in secret from forbidden tomes, the Dread Lore of the dark mage offers exclusive pathways to mastery of their foul magics.
Lore of the Archmage
Dark archmagi are masters of the arcane, or are at least well on their way to becoming such. This lore plumbs the depths of dark magic, embracing their own corruption for devastating magical capabilities.
Dark Metamagic
2nd-level archmage feature
Choose two Metamagic options to learn from the Sorcerer class. You gain one additional Metamagic option of your choice at 10th level.
To use a Metamagic option on a spell, you do not expend Sorcery points. Instead, you gain an amount of Corruption equal to the Sorcery point cost, in addition to any Corruption gained from casting the spell.
Arcane Lore
2nd-level archmage feature
When you gain this feature, choose an option from the list below; you immediately gain the benefits of that feature. You gain one additional option of your choice at 6th, 10th and 14th levels.
- Lore of Abjuration. When you gain Corruption, your Armour Class increases by an amount equal to the Corruption gained until the end of your turn.
- Lore of Conjuration. As a bonus action on your turn, you may gain 3 Corruption to teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 30 feet of you.
- Lore of Divination. As a reaction when a creature you can see makes a roll with advantage or disadvantage, you may gain 1 Corruption to cancel the advantage or disadvantage.
- Lore of Enchantment. When you deal damage to a creature on your turn, you may gain 1 Corruption and force it to make a Charisma saving throw. On a failure, the creature is frightened by you until the end of your next turn.
- Lore of Evocation. When you roll dice to determine the damage or healing of a dark mage spell, you may gain 2 Corruption to reroll any of the dice, but you must use the new rolls.
- Lore of Illusion. When you take the Disengage action, you may gain 1 Corruption to become invisible until the end of your next turn, or until you attack or cast a spell.
- Lore of Necromancy. As a bonus action, you may regain a number of hit points up to your dark mage level, and increase your Corruption by the same amount.
- Lore of Transmutation. As an action, you may gain 5 Corruption and polymorph into a CR 0 creature for up to 1 hour or until you choose to end the effect early as an action. You retain your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores in this form, along with your skill proficiencies.
Mana Vampire
6th-level archmage feature
As a reaction when a creature you can see within 60 feet of you casts a spell, you may roll 1d20 and add your Intelligence modifier. If the total is equal to 10 + the level of the spell, the creature’s spell fails and has no effect, and you reduce your Corruption by an amount equal to the spell’s level.
Once you have used this feature, you must complete a short or long rest before you can do so again.
Arcana Unbound
14th-level archmage feature
Choose one 1st-level dark mage spell you know. You may cast this spell at 1st level without expending Dark Trinkets or gaining Corruption.
Lore of the Revenant
Dark mages who learn the Lore of the Revenant can touch the souls of others, drawing knowledge from the dead and sustenance from the living. While this knowledge could be used for many things, most dark mage revenants choose this path to become stronger frontline combatants, supplementing their magical talents with martial skills stolen from dead warriors.
Dessecrated Knowledge
2nd-level revenant feature
When you create a Dark Trinket, make a note of the creature you created it from.
When you take a short or long rest, choose one of your Dark Trinkets. You gain any skill, tool, weapon, and armour proficiencies which the creature it came from also knew. You retain these proficiencies until your next short or long rest.
Defensive Embrace
2nd-level revenant feature
You can call on your unholy powers to shield you in times of need. When you are hit by an attack you can see, you may use your reaction to increase your armour class by an amount of your choosing, potentially causing the attack roll to miss. Your armour class reverts to its normal value once the attack roll has been resolved.
You immediately gain Corruption points equal to the amount you increased your Armour Class by.
Dark Flurry
6th-level revenant feature
You may attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Touch of the Revenant
10th-level revenant feature
When you take the Attack action, you may replace one of your attacks to touch a creature within 5 feet of you. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC, taking necrotic damage equal to 1d10 + your Intelligence modifier on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. On a failed save, you can also reduce your total Corruption by the die roll.
Once you successfully use this ability to reduce your Corruption, you must complete a short or long rest before using it again.
Revenant's Call
14th-level revenant feature
When you create a Dark Trinket, make a note of the creature you created it from.
As an action, you may gain 5 Corruption and destroy one of your Dark Trinkets to conjure a spectral apparition. The apparition uses the stat block of the creature the Dark Trinket came from, with the following changes: the creature’s type becomes Undead, it gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons, and it gains immunity to poison damage, the poisoned condition, and the charmed condition.
The apparition acts on your initiative in combat, taking its turn immediately after yours. It is friendly to you and obeys your verbal commands (no action required by you), but is otherwise hostile to all other creatures.
The apparition lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1 round), or until it is reduced to 0 hit points, whereupon it its finally released into the afterlife and disappears.