Tethered

Waking from death again, a human climbs to his feet. The spectral rope around his waist is wearing thin, it will be his end soon. He stands before an altar to the Anchor of the Soul, the rope gently pulls in its direction letting the knight know he is not yet untethered, not yet.

A Dragonborn conjures a flaming blade, and cuts down a group of skeletal warriors deep in a dusty crypt. Their bodies fall do pieces, and their faint threads of their soul are added to the rope around her wrist.

A gnome sneaks through a fortress, failing to notice the swinging axe trap for his final time. He is cut down and falls. His body unravels into spectral strands, blowing in the wind. A couple days later he wakes up in front of the Altar in the heart of the same fortress. He sets off again, this time he will not fail.

The Tethered are trapped in this world, destined to either fight on searching for a cure to their endless curse, or doomed to lose their souls and become yet another crazed untethered wandering the land fighting for souls to consume. This eternal struggle makes the Tethered versatile, able to adapt to their place in the world, and able to fight in the way that best suits them.

Class Features

As a Tethered, you gain the following class features:

Equipment Choices

You start with one of the following sets of equipment; You do not start with the items from your background:

Dodge Roll

When you are targeted with an attack reaction to move 5ft. in any direction without provoking attacks of opportunity. As part of this movement roll a D20 + your allowed armor Dexterity bonus and use the result as your AC for the attack, potentially avoiding the attack all together. You must use this reaction before the outcome of the attack is determined.

Additionally, you may use this reaction and movement any time you must make a Dexterity saving throw to gain advantage on the save, you must still move 5ft. which does not provoke attacks of

Tethered's Threads

Experience and Gold are represented as threads for you. You may only level up by spending threads on the Level to Thread Cost chart below. If you purchase an item with threads, each thread represents 1 gold and may not be subdivided. Any threads spent on items or leveling up are lost.

Mana Pool

Unlike other spell casters who gain a number of spell slots to cast spells from, you gain a pool of mana points instead. You expend a number of mana points to create a spell slot of a given level, and then use that slot to cast a spell. You can’t reduce your spell point total to less than 0, and you regain all spent spell points when you finish a long rest.

The number of spell points you have to spend is based on your level, as shown in the Mana Points column on the Tethered table.

The cost of casting spells is as follows:

Preparing and Casting Spells

You prepare the list of spells that are available for you to cast, you learn these spells from scrolls. To do so, choose one spell from your collection and commit it to memory. The number of spells you can memorize can increase at level 3 with the use of the Tethered Traits feature.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of spells requires time spent studying your scrolls and memorizing the incantations and gestures you must make to cast the spell: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

Spellcasting Conduit

Casting any spell for you requires a use of a spell conduit of which there are four types: Totems, Codices, Crests, and Rosaries. There are many types of each of these, and without one a tethered cannot cast a spell.

Each type of Conduit has its own spell list, a conduit cannot be used to cast a spell that is not on its list.

Spellcasting Ability

The power of your spells comes from your conduit, which will determine your spell casting ability. Refer to the Conduit Spellcasting Abilities table whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability to know which ability to sue. In addition, you use your spellcasting ability modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Unbreakable Soul

Any time you die and are reborn you no longer gain exhaustion. You can chose to not reform upon death. This is the only way you can be permanently killed short of a wish spell.

Traits

If a trait has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn it. You can learn the trait at the same time that you meet its prerequisites. A level prerequisite refers to your level in this class.

Increased Memory

Prerequisite: 3th level

You may prepare 2 additional spells during a long rest.

Increased Memory +1

Prerequisite: 6th level

You may prepare 2 additional spells during a long rest. This stacks with Increased Memory.

Increased Memory +2

Prerequisite: 9th level

You double the amount of spells you can prepare during a long rest. This stacks with Increased Memory and Increased Memory +2, and doubles their effect (to a maximum of 10 prepared spells).

Martial Strikes

Prerequisite: Dexterity 13

Your hands are considered light and finesse melee weapons and deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage. You are proficient in using these weapons. This damage becomes 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 11th level, and 1d10 at 17th level.

Multi-shot

Prerequisite: 11th level

You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon's range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target.

Opportunist

When a creature within 5 feet of you hits or misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to attack that creature immediately after its attack, provided that you can see the creature.

Parry

When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and roll 1d6 to reduce the damage by the number you roll + your proficiency bonus. If the damage is reduced to 0, the attacker paralyzed until they take damage, or the start of their next turn, whichever happens first.

To use this reaction you must be holding a shield with no more than a +2 bonus to ac, or a melee weapon with the finesse property and a damage die of no more than a d6.

The DM has the final say on if an attack can be parried. Some creatures with natural weapons, legendary actions, or a special ability might not be parried. Any creature of a CR lower than you, using melee a weapon attack, is strongly encouraged to be parry-able.

Power Stance

Prerequisite: 5th Level, Extra Attack (any)

When make your first attack on your turn, you can make a power stance attack. To use this feature you must have the ability to make multiple attacks with the attack action, and be wielding two weapons with the same type, and be able to attack with both of those weapons. Doing so allows you to make as many attacks as you have remaining after the first use the same result on the attack roll. You must declare the number of attacks being used before rolling to attack.

For example: If you are wielding 2 longswords, have Dual Wielder feat, you can declare all of your attacks to be part of the power stance attack. If you roll a critical miss, all of the declared attacks critically miss, and vice versa for a critical hit. However, if you were trying to wield 2 longswords, and don't have the Dual Wielder feat, you could not use this feature.

Protector

When a creature you can see attacks another target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wearing a shield that grants at least a +2 AC bonus.

Reactive Defense

Prerequisite: 7th level

When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 bonus to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the turn.

Slayer

When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, the creature takes an extra 1d8 damage if it's at or below half of it's hit points maximum (rounded down).

Slick Escape

Prerequisite: 7th level

Opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.

Twin Weapons

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Thick Hide

Prerequisite: Constitution 13

While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Vital Strikes

Prerequisite: Dexterity 13

Once per turn, you can deal extra damage to a creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or ranged weapon. The damage is equal to your proficiency bonus number of d6. IE: A 7th level tethered deals an extra 3d6 damage.

You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll.

Wild Swings

When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until the start of your next turn.

Other Considerations

Assassin stuff, Cunning Action, Uncanny Dodge (maybe this can tack on to the existing dodge?), Evasion. More Ranger stuff? More barbarian stuff? More Monk stuff? Combat Maneuvers. Tough feat again to get an additional +2 hp to simulate barbarian.

Many things like some combat maneuvers, beyond damage dice abilities, and arcane archer features will be attached to some weapons instead to mimic unique weapon arts. Others can go here for generalized weapon arts, IE: cleave on two-handed weapons.

New Items

Spell Lists