The Sigilant

A graceful elf steps inside the swing of an orc's greataxe. Her hand contorts in complex figures, and a glowing brand appears on her enemy. With a precise stab, she strikes through it, and carelessly pivots away as a conflagration consumes her opponent.

An assassin slips through the shadows, using wit and magic in equal amounts to remain unseen. His blade glows ice-white a moment before he lunges for his target, cold as death before the corpse reaches the ground.

A plate-clad warrior roars a challenge, his armor sparking, the air stinking of ozone. He swings recklessly through a massed pack of hobgoblins, fearlessly allowing his defensive magicks to protect his body while his all-out offense carves a path of blood, lightning, and pain.

These are the Sigilants, masters of the synchronized sword and spell, who focus arcane study into weapons of war. Their spellstrikes carry the searing flame, the burning frost, the sting of acid, and the shock of lightning.

The Arma Arcana

Spellsword. Duskblade. Eldritch Knight. Magus. Common terms, used for any style of warrior who mixes arcane study with martial prowess. The Sigilant is different. Where other warriors cast their spells and swing their swords separately, the Sigilant's every strike contains punishing magical energy focused into a razor's edge.

Derived from the rune magics of the Giants and Dwarves, or perhaps the rune scribes of ancient times, their hallmark is the arcane sigil. The sigil is a vicious brand laid upon the Sigilant's enemies, ready to explode in a shower of elemental energy when struck with a weapon. Their study of the bellicose applications for magicks leaves little room for other studies, though a Sigilant often learns a few spells for life outside of battle.

Sigilants call their art the Arma Arcana: their skill is in binding elemental forces to the physical plane in a delicate web of magic, a technique that requires expert memorization and wit to form and hold the sigil. As a Sigilant improves in skill, they learn to bind more sigils at once, with devastating results when unleashed with a weapon strike or in a torrent of evocation magic.

Class Features

As a Sigilant, you gain the following class features:

Hit Points

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• Hit Dice: 1d8 per Sigilant level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per Sigilant level after 1st

Proficiencies

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• Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
• Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
• Tools: None

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• Saving Throws: Constitution, Intelligence
• Skills: Choose two from Athletics, Arcana, Deception, History, Insight, Investigation, and Persuasion

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background (or 5d4 x 10 gp):

• - (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two weapons
• - (a) a chain shirt or (b) leather armor
• - (a) five javelins or (b) a longbow and 20 arrows
• - (a) a scholar's pack or (b) a dungeoneer’s pack

Multiclassing

• Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Sigilant class, you must meet these prerequisites: Strength or Dexterity 13, and Intelligence 13.
• Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Sigilant class, you gain the following proficiencies: Light armour, medium armour, shields, simple and martial weapons.

Spellstrike

You learn how to write glyphs of arcane power that infuse weapons with magical effects, represented by a pool of runes that replenish at the end of a short or long rest. The number of runes you have is shown on the Sigilant table above. Your rune dice are d8s, which turn into to d10s at level 18.

As a bonus action, you empower a melee weapon you are wielding with one or more runes from your pool, choosing a Spellstrike type from the following elements: fire, lightning, cold or acid.

The Spellstrike ends when it has zero runes, when you stop wielding the weapon, or when you finish a short or long rest; excess runes are lost. Creating a new Spellstrike ends an existing one. You can add runes to your Spellstrike or return runes to your pool with a bonus action.

When you hit a creature with your Spellstrike weapon, you can use a bonus action and expend a rune to inflict the Spellstrike's Transmutation effect. A creature that is immune to a damage type is immune to that Spellstrike.

Student of Writ

You have studied glyphs and runes extensively, delving into the systems of binding power and meaning to marks in paper, stone and metal.

You have advantage on ability checks to determine the purpose, meaning, or effect of glyphs, runes, warning signs, magical circles, or other written or inscribed art, and on saving throws against magical traps triggered by inscriptions (such as the explosion of a glyph of warding).

Arcane Edge

Bladecasting

At 3rd level, you efficiently deploy your sigils. When you use your Evocant Sigil, you can create a new Spellstrike, or change a Spellstrike's type, using the same bonus action.

Ordo Arcana

Upon reaching 3rd level you are inducted into your Sigilant Order, beginning to delve the greater secrets of the Arma Arcana. Choose either Shadowdancer, Warblade or Arcanamach as your Order.

You gain your Order’s unique Spellstrike option at 3rd level, and additional Order abilities at 7th and 15th level.

Ability Score Improvement

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.

Abjurant Sigil

Starting at 6th level, you have learned to quickly deploy a protective version of your sigil. When you or a creature within 10 feet of you takes damage, you can use a reaction to expend a spell slot, forming a momentary ward that reduces the damage by your Intelligence modifier, plus 1d6 per level of the spell slot. If any of the damage and your sigil are the same type, add 1d6 to the damage reduction.

At 18th level, the range of this ability increases to 30 feet.

Ritual Casting

At 6th level, you can cast any Sigilant spell you know as a ritual if it has the ritual tag.

Necrant Sigil

Starting at 8th level, you learn to bind sigils to your own life, draining some of the energy from them to yourself.

When a sigil bursts within 30 feet of you or you use your Abjurant Sigil feature, you regain one hit point for each die of sigil damage or reduction.

Conjurant Circle

At 10th level, you learn to use rune-circles to summon minor denizens of the elemental planes. As an action, you can conjure up to two mephits to serve you for up to one hour, appearing in an unoccupied space you can see.

The mephits obey your commands to the best of their ability. A summoned mephit cannot summon additional mephits. They act on the same initiative you act on. If you die or fall unconscious, each mephit returns to its home plane.

The mephits you summon are determined by your current sigil:

Once you have used this ability, you are unable to use it again until you have finished a long rest.

Elemental Escalation

Upon reaching 11th level, your Sigil and Spellstrike grow in power. Your Evocant Sigil deals an additional 1d4 damage.

Your Spellstrike weapon attacks always deal bonus elemental damage, rather than once per turn. Additionally:

• - Your Corrosion Spellstrike now deals your rune die in acid damage.
• - Your Shatter Spellstrike now affects a 30 foot cone.
• - Your Ignition Spellstrike now adds your Intelligence modifier to the initial fire damage.
• - If the target of your Shock Spellstrike fails its saving throw, it is also unable to take reactions until the effect ends.

Mixed Magical Arts

At 14th level, if you have no active sigils, you can change the damage type of your sigils when you use your Evocant or Abjurant Sigil, or when summoning mephits with Conjurant Circle.

Your bladecasting is perfected. When you use your Evocant Sigil, you ignore the bonus action cost to inflict your Spellstrike's Transmutation effect on that turn.

Divinant Mastery

At 18th level, you are a master of the Arma Arcana and can draw upon reserves of power when your magical senses detect danger. If you roll for initiative with no 1st level spell slots available, you regain two 1st level spell slots.

Once you have used this ability, you are unable to use it again until you have finished a short or long rest.

Martial Maelstrom

Starting at 20th level, as an action you can emanate elemental energies. For one minute, a sirocco of elemental wrath affects the area around you to a distance of 30 feet, generating cacophonous noise and heavily obscuring the area and an additional 30 foot radius. You can see and hear normally through the storm.

Whenever an enemy creature starts its turn in the maelstrom, the creature takes 2 damage from each of the following types: fire, cold, lightning, acid, thunder (10 damage total). This damage causes sigils to resonate and burst at the end of the creature's turn.

Once you have used this ability, you are unable to use it again until you have finished a short or long rest.

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancers are Sigilants with a bent towards Shadow Magic, a rare discipline connected to the Plane of Shadow. Legend holds that the first Shadowdancers were illusionists who studied with the secretive Shadar-kai.

Despite the connotations, many Shadowdancers use their powers for good, though there are several notorious assassins that also dance the shadows.

Wreath of Shadows

Upon attaining 15th level, you can use an action to become invisible for one minute to all creatures that are currently sigil-marked. If a sigil bursts or dissipates, you become visible to that creature until you activate this feature again.

SHADOWDANCER SPELLS

Level	Spells
3	disguise self
5	shadow blade (or blur)
9	gaseous form
13	shadow conjuration*
17	steel wind strike (or seeming)

* Sigilant Spell, see below.

Warblade

Sigilants who prefer power over finesse often choose the path of the Warblade, using heavy plate to ward off blows while smashing their foes with might and magic. A few prefer light armor, using their agility to draw foes close before crushing them. Warblades are by far the most common Order of Sigilant, drawing heavily from the bellicose evocation and abjuration schools.

Many Warblades remain stoically neutral and proudly avoid "distractions" such as good or evil, but some who rise in power shift toward tyranny and cruelty.

Efficient Evoker

At 15th level, when you use Evocant Sigil and take the Attack action during your turn, you can forgo a single weapon attack to place one sigil at no spell slot cost.

WARBLADE SPELLS

Level	Spells
3	armor of agathys
5	ars explosis*
9	lightning bolt
13	wall of fire
17	maelstrom

* Sigilant Spell, see below.

Arcanamach

The Arcanamach are Sigilants who focus on a specific style of arcane study derived from a book known as the Grimoire Arcanamacha. The Grimoire teaches secrets of stealth, heightened alertness, mental endurance, and combat-casting. Arcanamach are infamous as mage-slayers, capable of countering other spellcasters with their complex interplay of sword and spell.

Notably, they tend to avoid evocation and conjuration magics, preferring to use their spells to strengthen themselves and weaken their enemies. The Arcanamach are valued highly as both assassins and guardians.

Dispelling Strike

When you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can use a bonus action to target that creature with dispel magic as if cast by you at third level, or your highest spell slot level, whichever is higher. This does not consume a spell slot.

Bonus Cantrips:

You learn stalking blade*, plus one wizard cantrip of your choice, which you cast as a Sigilant spell.

Extended Spellstrength

Starting at 7th level, your mental focus is such that you can cast certain spells that would normally require your concentration without concentration. A qualifying spell must be of 1st or 2nd level, have a single target, and be from the Illusion, Transmutation, or Enchantment School. A sample list of these spells can be found here.

Once you have cast a spell in this way, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Tenacious Spells

Beginning at 15th level, your spells are particularly difficult to thwart. Attempts to dispel or counter your spells are never automatically successful, and the spellcasting checks to dispel or counter your spells are made at disadvantage.

ARCANAMACH SPELLS

Level	Spells
3	heroism
5	enlarge/reduce
9	counterspell
13	polymorph
17	far step

Ars Infuris

• 2nd-level enchantment
• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: 30 feet
• Components: V
• Duration: Instantaneous

A sigil-marked creature within range must make a Charisma saving throw, or every ally adjacent to that creature can use their reaction to immediately make a melee weapon attack against it.

Ars Iteritas

• 3rd-level evocation
• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: 30 feet
• Components: V, S
• Duration: Instantaneous

Place a sigil on every enemy within range.

At higher levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th or 5th level, the spell range increases by 15 feet for each slot above 3rd.