Flagellant

Bent double under a group of kobolds unleashing their spears on him an old dwarf laughs through the agony. Empowered by the punishment he begins to focus his pain. Moments later a thunderous roar sends the kobolds flying through the air.

Villagers look in disgust at the diseased half-orc, dressed in tattered robes and covered in sores, as she is being chased from the village. But the boy she was attending to moments earlier is slowly opening his eyes, the crippling disease no longer affecting him.

A wide-eyed, insane human rushes towards a group of charging orcs with a flail in hand. Frothing at the mouth, awash in his own blood and castigating himself, he shows no sign of slowing down. The orcs pull to a halt with fear in their eyes to defend themselves against the zealous warrior.

Flagellants seek atonement for vile deeds committed in the past by them or their kindred. Wandering the lands, preaching, healing the meek and fighting the darkness with a fervor that borders on insanity they hope to make amends in the eyes of the people they once hurt and the deity that protects them.

Quick Build

You can build a flagellant quickly by following these suggestions. First, Constitution should be your highest ability score, followed by Strength. Second, choose the Acolyte background

Class Features

As a flagellant, you gain the following class features

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a flail or (b) another one-handed martial weapon
• (a) a Light Crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any one-handed simple weapon
• (a) a Priest's Pack or (b) an Explorer's Pack

Scar-laden Flesh

Starting at 1st level your constant and ruthless self-flagellation makes you less susceptible to pain. If you are not wearing armor or using a shield your AC is 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.

Envoy of Suffering

Beginning at 1st level, as a reaction when an ally within 5 feet is Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Stunned, or affected by a disease or poison, you can take these conditions on yourself. As a part of your reaction you can make the saving throw instead of the target, if a saving throw applies. If you succeed on this throw the condition does not affect you. If you fail, the condition affects you like normal. You cannot endure a condition that is permanent and you cannot stack conditions. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier. After finishing a long rest you regain all uses.

At 6th level, you can also suffer any damage an ally takes. This damage cannot be reduced in any way. Half the damage from this attack converts to sanguinity points.

Sanguinity

You constantly repent for your sins by inflicting pain upon yourself. You revel in these extreme emotions and at 2nd level a spark of insane enjoyment lights inside of you. You can, as a bonus action, lash at your own body. You lose hit points equal to your character level and gain an amount of sanguinity points equal to the damage taken. You deal an extra 1d4 radiant damage whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack while you have a number of sanguinity points. This damage die changes as you gain flagellant levels, as shown in the Sanguinity Damage Die column of the Flagellant table below. Additionally, as you gain sanguinity points you gain benefits as shown in the Sanguinity Table. These benefits stack. You can have a maximum amount of sanguinity points equal to double your flagellant level. You lose all stored sanguinity points after 1 minute without taking any damage or when you regain any number of hit points.

You can spend a bonus action to spend all sanguinity points and heal an amount of hit points equal to half of the sanguinity points lost.

Fighting Style

At 2nd level, you adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

Vow

Each flagellant makes a vow at 3rd level shaping the nature and effect of their penance. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 14th levels.

Bloodletting

Starting at 3rd level, as an action, You can end one disease or condition afflicting you by bloodletting. The condition can be blinded, deafened, or poisoned. You cannot use this feature again until you complete a long rest.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, 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 can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the attack action on your turn.

Shared Burden

Starting at 9th level, as an action, you can share your burdens with a creature. If you are blinded, deafened, or poisoned you can choose to transfer these afflictions to a creature you hit with a melee attack. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency modifier. If it fails the condition affecting you now affects that creature as well. You cannot use this feature again until you complete a short or long rest.

Abstinence

Starting at 10th level, after years of abstaining, you no longer need to eat or drink to survive.

Choir of Wounds

At 13th level you find comfort in the sweet songs of pain your merciless flogging brings you during moments of respite. When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points during a short rest, the minimum number of the result equals twice your Constitution modifier (minimum of 2).

Sacrament of the Lash

At 15th level your body is completely covered in ritual scars and abrasions and your perseverance is steadfast from the years of punishment you endured, granting you advantage on Constitution and Wisdom saving throws. A convincing testimony of your mettle, you now have advantage on Charisma (Intimidate) checks when you are not wearing any armor hiding your scars.

Unwavering Fervor

A flagellant does not stray from the path before him towards the light. If the flagellant is indifferent for one moment it will undo a lifetime of penance. This gives the flagellant a vitality that most cannot hope to achieve. Starting at 17th level, when you are reduced to 0 hit points you regain half of your maximum hit points, half of your maximum sanguinity points (rounded up), and gain a level of exhaustion. You cannot use this feature again until you complete a long rest.

Presbytery of Pain

Starting at 18th level your body is a testament of the pain one can take before breaking. You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons.

Patron Saint

When you reach 20th level you are considered one of the chosen disciples and hallowed of your deity. Marked a champion, you may ask your deity for a Wish, once. You cannot use this boon to grant effects that oppose the deity or alignment of your choice. Your Constitution ability score increases by 2 to a maximum of 22. When taking long rests you regain all of your expended Hit Dice.

Vows

Every flagellant takes up a vow. What vow a flagellant makes defines him. It either turns him towards the light to serve as a radiant shield or spellcaster for his allies or towards the darkness as a vengeful holy warrior. Depending on your deity or worldview you can either choose to take up a Vow of Martyrdom, a Vow of Retribution or a Vow of Divinity.

Redeem

At 3rd level when you use a bonus action to spend all sanguinity points to heal an amount of hit points equal to half of the sanguinity points lost, you may add your Constitution modifier to the hit points gained.

Steel Resolve

At 7th level you can count on your resolve to see you and your allies through the attacks from your foes. You can use your envoy of suffering feature after a creature has been hit but before the damage has been determined. Roll your Sanguinity Damage Die, and add the number rolled to the target creature's AC against that attack, possibly causing the attack to miss. If the attack hits, you take the damage instead. This damage cannot be reduced in any way. Half the damage from this attack convert to sanguinity points.

Clarity

Starting at 11th level, at the start of each of your turns, you regain hit points equal to 1 + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 2) if you have no more than half of your hit points left. You don't gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.

Endure

At 14th level, when an enemy casts a spell and targets an allied creature within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to try to absorb the spell. You make a Constitution ability check. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the spell doesn't affect you or the target. If you fail, the spell affects you instead of the target. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Vow of Retribution

Enduring the self inflicted penance as a flagellant is a task the meek best avoid. Penance by self-mortification alone is not enough however. A flagellant who takes up the vow of retribution seeks out evil and burns the dark heart out of it. They know what evil, if left unchecked, can do and they will do anything to stop that from happening. They are a maddening storm able to cripple enemies with the same torture that they themselves endure with brutal lashings and punish an enemy that dares to attack them immediately with an almost divine requital.

Vow of Divinity

Only in pain can one find enlightement as it brings one closer and closer to the divine as the burden grows. Flagellants making a vow of divinity suffer to understand and ultimately come closer to their chosen deity or patron saint. By lashing and praying they let all foulness be purged from their sacred flesh and as a result they can cast divine spells and heal allies, not unlike a cleric or paladin, even though the aforementioned rarely respect or understand the ways of a flagellant.

Spellcasting

Cantrips

You start with 2 cantrips from the cleric spell list. At level 10 you gain a 3rd cantrip known.

Spell slots

The Flagellant Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Flagellant Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells. To cast one of your flagellant spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

You prepare the list of spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the cleric spell-list. When you do so, choose a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier + 1/3 your flagellant level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Casting the spell doesn't remove it from your list of prepared spells. You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of flagellant spells requires time spent in prayer and self-mortification: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your cleric spells. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability.

• Spell save DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Charisma mod
• Spell attack mod = proficiency bonus + Charisma mod

Spellcasting Focus

You can use your own blood as a spellcasting focus for your flagellant spells by lashing at your own body.

Ordeal

At 3rd level, you learn to use pain to call forth divine healing from your deity. As an action you may sacrifice Hit Points up to you flagellant level + Constitution modifier. You then choose a creature other than you within 30 feet of you to heal for the same amount of hit points as you lost. You have a number of uses of this feature equal to your Constitution modifier. You regain all uses when you finish a long rest.

Bless Water

At 7th level may create holy water by performing a special ritual. The ritual takes 1 hour to perform, uses 25 gp worth of powdered silver, and requires the caster to expend a 1st-level spell slot. Additionally, you learn the Thaumaturgy cantrip if you don't know it already

Sanguine Magic

At 11th level, you can temporarily infuse yourself with a spell. As an action, when you have a number of sanguinity points, you can imbue your weapon with one cleric spell you can cast or is already active, then make a single attack with that weapon. If that attack hits, all spell attack rolls for the imbued spell hit the target automatically and are considered part of the single weapon attack. The target takes weapon damage, and is subject to the effects of the spell. You expend a spell slot accordingly. If the attack has advantage, the target’s initial saving throw against the spell has disadvantage. If the attack misses, the spell has no effect. Area spells originate from the target’s space. The spell must be of 1st level or higher, have a casting time of 1 action, or require an action to activate an already active concentration spell.

Divine Zeal

At 14th level The moment a creature falls unconscious or dies within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to spend a spell slot. You awaken in that creature a final act of zealous rage. That creature immediately makes a single weapon attack against a target of your choice within its attack range. After the attack, the creature returns to being unconscious or dead.

Design Log

Comparison Tables AC 15