Animist

As the adventurers reach the towering archmage castle they see themselves stuck, not having a way to reach the top.
How does one build a tower without stairs? The frail gnome eagerly waves her hands looking at her owl familiar.
A magical gale begins creating silver shimmering projections that embrace the tiny featherling.
The shining magical fog fully surrounds the owl and then disperses itself in a flash, revealing a powerful astral griffin that carries the adventurers towards the top of the high castle

The Gift

The animist is a being that is in touch with the spirits of nature. The spirits guide and empower them, the animist is bestowed their powers from the most prime element of life. An animist can create bonds with other creatures' souls or manipulate the spirits of nature to do their bidding.

Creating an Animist

When creating an animist you must ask yourself why the spirits obey or communicate with you?
Are you a shaman that uses ritualistic magic to summon the souls to your aid?
Perhaps you are a creature that created a spiritual bond with the wild beast you've slain due to the connection between your souls, or the child of a god of death?
What has caused you to follow such a path and are you even aware that you have this power?

Class Features

As an Animist, you gain the following class features

Spellcasting

The animist draws the magical weave to itself with the help of the spirits. You gain the ability to cast spells.

Seventh Sense

At 18th level, your attunement to the astral plane allows you to warp in or out of the Ethereal Plane freely. You can cast misty step to a range of your remaining movement speed. It doesn't require a bonus action to cast and you don't spend a spell slot. If you have cast misty step this way your movement speed is reduced by the distance you have teleported until the start of your next turn.

Animist Aspect

An animist aspect shapes the way your animist bend or is bent by the spiritual energy of the astral plane.

Spectral Summon

At 1st level, you gain an astral summon. You can choose one creature from the find familiar spell, they are under the same rules of a familiar conjured by the spell with the changes detailed bellow. You can choose the form of your familiar. The summoned creature have the following benefits:

• Your summon have specter like appearance and its considered either undead of fey (Your choice).
• Your summon uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. it adds half of the proficiency bonus (Rounded Up) to its AC and damage rolls.
• Your summon gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with two saving throws of your choice.
• Your summon can attack, however, it loses the multiattack action if it had it.

The summon obeys your commands as best it can.
It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your summon acts on its own. Your summon has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your animist level.

For each level you gain after 2nd, your summon gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly.
Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement from your animist class feature, your summon’s abilities also improve.
Your summon can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.

Your summon shares your alignment and ideal and has a personality trait and a flaw of your choice. It's bond is always, “The animist is my master and I shall obey my master with everything I have.”
If your summon dies, you take physical damage equal to your Animist level.

True Bond

Starting at 5th level, you can create a magical bond with your spectral summon by performing an 8 hour ritual. A mark appears on the animist and the creature's bodies demonstrating the strength of the bond. This bond lasts until one of you die and you can only be bonded to one creature at a time. While the creature is bonded to you, it gains the following benefits:

• Your summon adds half your Wisdom modifier (rounded up) to its AC, initiative and attack rolls.
• Your summon gains 10 hit points. Every time you level in this class, the bonded creature gains 2 extra hit points.

Additionally, you can use an action to make your summon attack a creature within its range.

Ascendend Form

At 11th level, your familiar gains an ascended form that it evolves into. You can use your action to empower your companion, transforming it into a stronger version of itself for 1 minute or until the summon drops to 0 hit points. You can use this feature a number of times equal to half your Wisdom modifier (rounded down). While in the ascended form:

• It's size becomes Large and it gain +1 to its Armor Class.
• It gains temporary hit points equal to it's maximum health.
• Your summon adds half your Wisdom modifier (rounded up) to it's attack and damage rolls.
• Your summon gains the multiattack feature.

Additionally, when you gain this feature, you can choose two of the following ascended traits for your summon to gain in the ascended form:

Aspect of Dominion

An animist of dominion conjures and binds other creatures to their command, focusing on making powerful underlings do your bidding. The animist of the Aspect of Dominion is a otherworldly commander, using their spiritual manipulation to do so.

Dominate Spirit

When you choose this aspect at level 1 you can attempt to bend the souls of the fallen to your will. As an action you can target a paralyzed undead creature or a creature that has died within the last hour, with a challenge rating of half your level or lower, to try to dominate it.
If you see a creature drop to 0 hit points you can use this feature as a reaction, when doing so the target has to make a charisma saving throw against your spellcasting ability, if it fails their soul is dominated by you. If it succeeds it gains immunity to this ability for a day. You can have a number of souls equal to your Wisdom modifier dominated at once stored within you, you may free any of the dominated souls you have as an action.

Soul Strife

At 1st level, as a bonus action, you can summon one of the dominated souls you have into combat in any space within 10 feet of you.
A dominated soul has hit points equal to the maximum hit points of the creature it was and the same characteristics, however, using your proficiency bonus instead of its own, it doesn't act on its own, you can make it take actions as an action.
A dominated soul can occupy the same space as you, you can make it move its movement without taking an action, while the dominated soul is within 10 feet of you, all damage you take is halved.
Whenever you take damage or is healed the dominated soul takes the same amount of damage or is healed the same amount and vice-versa, the dominated soul is not affected by AOE effects if you are in the area as well and can't be targeted at the same time you are targeted by the same feature or spell.
If the dominated soul's hit points are reduced to 0, you can't use that dominated soul until you finish a long rest. You can store the dominated soul within yourself as an action if it is within 10 feet of you, a dominated soul hit points and features with limited uses per day are only restored when you finish a long rest, unless a feature it have can be restored by taking a short rest.
You can't summon a creature that has a challenge rating higher than yours, you can alternatively summon the default dominated soul, the default dominated soul is a skeleton, a default dominated soul does not have hit points and you don't halve damage you take when the default dominated soul is within 10 feet of you.

Ethereal Pact

Starting at 5th level, your spiritual power forces a creature into submission against you. You gain one mystical summoner book from the otherworld. You can sense the summoner book presence and always knows where it is even if it is in another plane of existence.
It can't be destroyed by non-magical means. You can perform an 8 hour ritual and 100gp to create the book again if it was destroyed. While you have the book open on your hand, you gain the benefits listed.
You don't gain the benefits of the summoner book if you can't read it, you choose one of the following summoner books from the list below when you gain this feature:

Necrotic Grimoire

This was probably stolen from a lich, giving you the knowledge from the king of the undead himself.

• You learn one language of your choice.
• You can atempt the dominate soul feature on an undead even if it is not paralyzed.
• When summoning the default dominated soul granted by the soul strife feature, you gain temporary hit points equal to a the default dominated soul hit points, these temporary hit points are lost when you store the dominated soul within yourself. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again.

Primordial Tome

This summoner book can only be read by someone who can read Primordial. This tome was wished into existence and have been granted to you by the spirits of the ethereal plane.

• You can speak, write and read Primordial.
• You have advantage on saving throws against elementals spells and magical effects.
• You can target a elemental creature with the dominate soul feature even if the creature isn't dead.

Summoner Spellcasting

When you reach 11th level, you discover secret ciphers whitin your summoner book that reveals the secrets of ritual spellcasting.

Scripts from the Other Side

Starting at 15th level, the summoner book granted to you by the ethereal plane empowers you with unrelenting knowledge, you gain traits attributed to the summoner book chosen by you.

Dominating Pact

At 20th level, you can choose one of your dominated souls stored within yourself that are of the type listed in your summoner book, you make a dominating pact with that soul, you can't set that soul free, that creature becomes your default dominated soul as well as can be used as a regular dominated soul. When this dominated soul is summoned as a regular dominated soul, you gain all its resistances, immunities and vulnerabilities and the damage your dominated soul takes doesn't cause damage to you.

Aspect of Ferocity

Monstrous Endurance

When you choose this Aspect at 1st level, your body becomes empowered by the souls of the wildest beasts, granting you bestial resilience. Your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class.

Feral Characteristics

Your body have been bended by the spirits to assume a more adapted form to suit your needs. At first level, you can choose two features from the list below.
You learn additional features at 5th level, 11th, 15th and 20th level. Some Feral Characteristics have prerequisites that you must have to take that Characteristic.
If a Feral Characteristic require a saving throw the DC is your spell save DC unless stated otherwise in the feature description.

Beast Speech

You can cast speak with animals at will, without expending a spell slot.

Draconic Breath

You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by you when gaining this feature, you can choose one from the dragonborn breath table.
The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution or Wisdom modifier(your choice) + your proficiency bonus.
A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 5th level, 4d6 at 11th level, 5d6 at 15th level, and 6d6 at 20th level.(Recharge 5-6). You can make it as one of your multiattacks when you got that feature.

Canine Senses

You have advantage on Perception checks that relies on hearing or smelling.

Feline Quickness

While you are not wearing medium or heavy armor, your movement speed increases by 10ft, you can take the dash action as a bonus action. At 5th level, you can also take the disengage action. At 11th level, your movement speed increases by an additional 5ft while not wearing armor.

Feral Claws

You gain claws that are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes, it is considered a finesse weapon. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength or Dexterity modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. You also gain 20ft of climbing speed. Your claw weapon damage increases to 1d6 at 5th level, and to 2d4 at 15th level.

Feral Fangs

Your teeth are sharpened by the wild spirits, you can use an action to make a bite attack for 1d10 + your Strength modifier piercing damage. You are proficient with this attack. The bite damage increases to 2d10 at 11th level, you can't use this natural weapon for opportunity attacks. When you gain the multiattack feature, you can only make one bite attack per turn.

Feral Fists

Your fists have hard protuberances, they are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, and you add +1 to the damage roll. Your fist natural weapon damage increases to +2 at 5th level, and +3 at 15th level.

Feral Horns

You gain horns, as a bonus action, you can make a horn attack for 1d4 + your Strength modifer piercing damage. Increases to 1d6 at 11th level, and to 1d8 at 20th level.

Feral Tail

You gain a strong tail. You have advantage on Acrobatics checks to maintain balance. Your tail becomes a natural weapon for you, when you attack with your tail weapon, the target has to make a Strength saving throw against your Feral Characteristic DC or fall prone.
The damage of your tail is 1d6 + your Dexterity or Strength modifier, it increases to 2d6 at 11th level on this class. When you gain the multiattack feature, you can only make one tail attack per turn.

Juggernaut Build

Your carrying capacity doubles, your hit point maximum increases by an amount equal to your level when you gain this feature. Whenever you gain a level thereafter, your hit point maximum increases by an additional 1 hit point.

Owl Vision

You have advantage on Perception checks that relies on vision, you also gain darkvision of 30ft, if you already have darkvision, it increases by an additional 10ft.

Soul of the Fallen Warriors

You gain proficiency with martial weapons, and you gain proficiency with an artisian tool of your choice.

Tough Skinned

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.

Arcane Alterations

Prerequisite: 5th level Your natural weapons granted by this feature count as magical to overcome resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Feral Constitution

Prerequisite: 5th level You can use your reaction to have advantage on a Constitution or Strength saving throw. When using this feature you also add 1d4 to the highest roll.

Feral Clarity

Prerequisite: 5th level You can use your reaction to have advantage on a Wisdom or a Charisma saving throw. When using this feature, you also add 1d4 to the highest roll.

Feral Cunning

Prerequisite: 5th level You can use your reaction to have advantage on a Dexterity or Intelligence saving throws. When using this feature and you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Raging Surge

Prerequisite: 5th level You enter a devasting frenzy state for a short moment. When you take the attack action, you can roll all of the attacks's damage dice twice and add them together for every attack you make with the action. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level, you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.

Deep Ocean Gift

Prerequisite: 11th level You can breath underwater and you gain swimming speed equal to your walking speed. You ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.

Ethereal Resistence

Prerequisite: 11th level When you gain this feature, you can choose one damage type, you become resistant to the chosen type. If you have choosen poison, you become immune to being poisoned.

Elemental Strike

Prerequisite: 11th level When you gain this feature, you can choose acid, cold, fire, eletric or poison, you add 1d4 of the chosen damage type to your damage rolls.

Feral Enchantment

Prerequisite: 11th level You can cast enhance ability once, without using a spell slot. You have to finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.

Fey Charm

Prerequisite: 15th level As an action, you target one humanoid or beast that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the target can see you, it must succeed on Wisdom saving throw against your Feral Characterist DC or be magically charmed. The charmed creature regards you as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected.
Although the target isn't under your control, it takes the your requests or actions in the most favorable way it can. Each time the your or your allies do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until you fall unconcious, is on a different plane of existence from the target, or ends the effect as a bonus action.
If a target's saving throw is successful, the target is immune to Fey Charm for the next 24 hours.

Frightening Gaze

Prerequisite: 15th level As an action, you fixes your gaze on one creature you can see within 10 feet of you. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your feral characterists DC or become frightened for 1 minute.
The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to this feature for the next 24 hours.

Legendary Resistance

Prerequisite: 15th level If you fail a saving throw, you can choose to succeed instead (1/Day). At 20th level this feature becomes (2/Day).

Magic Resistance

Prerequisite: 15th level You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Spectral Wings

Prerequisite: 15th level Wings sprout from your back, you can decide the appeareance of those wings when you gain this feature. As a bonus action, you can make your wings appear, you gain flying speed of 30ft while they are active.

Multiattack

When you gain this feature at 5th level, you can make two attacks with any of your natural weapons granted by your Feral Characteristic features.
Alternatively, if you are wielding a weapon you are proficient with, when you take the attack action, you can make two attacks with the same action, this feature counts as the Extra Attack feature when used this way.

Bestial Awareness

You gain proficiency in a Wisdom skill of your choice. When making Wisdom ability checks with a skill you are proficient with, instead of 1d4 add 2d4 and you add 1d4 to any Wisdom skill check you are not proficient in.

Feral Frenzy

Starting at 15th level, you add an extra weapon dice to the first damage roll you make every turn. Also, you become immune to the frightened condition

Spiritual Evolution

At 20th level, you mastered your body. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one Feral Characteristic you have and swap it for another one on the list.

Aspect of Mistery

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose the mistery aspect at level 1, you gain proficiency in the Perception and Insight skills and they are animist skills for you. You also gain proficiency in the Gaming set tool.

Diviner Spellcasting

Ritual Casting

You can cast an animist spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Future Economy

Beginning at 5th level, casting divination spells comes so easily to you that it expends only a fraction of your spellcasting efforts.
When you cast a divination spell of 2nd level or higher using a spell slot, you regain one expended spell slot. The slot you regain must be of a level lower than the spell you cast and can't be higher than 5th level.

Mind Fortress

At 11th level, you become immune to psychic damage, any effect that would sense your emotions or read your thoughts, divination spells, and the charmed condition.
The spell even foils wish spells and spells or effects of similar power used to affect your mind or to gain information about you.

Bend Destiny

Starting at 15th level, your domination over divination starts to affect reality.
You can reroll any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see by spending an animist spell slot, you choose what roll to take. You can only reroll a roll this way once per turn.
If the roll has advantage, disadvantage or could be rolled more than once, reroll in the same way (with advantage etc.).

Eternal Foresight

At 20th level, you can cast the foresight spell once, without spending a spell slot. You have to finish a long rest before being able to use this feature agai

Aspect of Treachery

Martial Training

At 1st level, when you choose this aspect, you gain proficiency with two martial weapons of your choosing, medium armour and shields.

Treacherous Spirit

Your spiritual trickery protects and empowers you. At 1st level, you gain the following benefits.

• Your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class.
• You can cast disguise self at will, as an animist spell, without spending a spell slot.
• You learn the prestidigitation and minor illusion cantrips, they are animist spells for you, and you may cast them at will.
• As a bonus action, you can make an illusion double of yourself within 5 feet of you for 1 minute. The clone mimics your movement, making it impossible to know who is the real one. While this feature is active, you add your Wisdom modifier to your AC.
  After using this feature, you have to finish a short or long rest to use it again, at 11th level, you can use this feature twice before needing to finish a long rest.

Extra Attack

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

Astral Aid

At 11th level, the spirits can grant you the talents they had while alive. When you finish a long rest you can choose one skill or tool you are not proficient with to become proficient with until you finish a long rest.
At 15th level, you manifest the talents of a genius of the chosen craft. The skill or tool you choose with this feature gains Expertise. Alternatively, you can choose a language instead of a skill or tool.

True Illusion

At 15th level, your illusions are indistinguishable from reality. Creatures with truesight, blindsight or immune to illusions by other means are affected by your illusions. Additionally, you add your Wisdom modifier to any animist spell that deals psychic damage if you already don't add it.

Soul of Misleading

At 20th level, if you are concentrating on an Illusion spell or under the effects of mirror image you gain the benefits of your illusion double from the Treacherous Spirit feature.
You also gain the mislead spell. When you cast mislead you gain the following benefits:

• You can cast spells through your illusion
• You can perceive through your illusion's senses without becoming blinded and deafened
• You can teleport to your illusion as a bonus action, ending the spell
• You can also swap places with your illusion as a reaction to being hit by an attack, spell or failing a saving throw, making the effects target the illusion

Aspect of Weave

The Arcanist
The weave animist is a master spellcaster, the spirits guiding them are directly linked to the nature of magic, granting the animist knowledge of the weave.

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose the Weave aspect at level 1 you gain proficiency in the Arcana and Insight skills, they are animist skills for you. You also gain proficiency in the Navigator's tools.

Spiritualist Spellcasting

Cantrips
When you finish a long rest, you can choose 2 cantrips from the following list: ray of frost, firebolt, acid splash, poison spray, shocking grasp. You know these cantrips until you finish another long rest. You can choose one additional cantrip from that list at 5th level, at 11th level, at 15th level, and another at 20th level.

Aspect of Weave Spells
You gain additional spells at the Animist levels listed.

Magical Enlightenment

At 5th level, the spirits teach you magical secrets of the weave and they whisper magical knowledge to you.
When you finish a long rest, you can prepare any 2 spells of a level you have slots for from any spell list. You can cast them as animist spells until you finish a long rest. Additionally, when you finish a short or long rest you can choose one cantrip granted by the Arcanist Spellcasting feature and replace with a cantrip from the same spell list you have chosen to prepare spells for.

Arcane Stock

When you reach 11th level in this class, your knowledge of the weave allows you to manipulate the magical energy left behind. Whenever you cast an animist spell, you gain Arcanist's Storing equal to the spell level.
Using a bonus action, you can create a spell slot by spending a number of arcanist's storings equal to twice the spell slot level. You may only create 5th level spell slots or lower with this feature.
By spending 3 arcanist's storings you can cast Dispel Magic and Counterspell at their lowest level. Whenever you finish a long rest, your unspent arcanist's storings are lost.

High Magic

Starting at 15th level, your control of the weave empower your spells. You gain the following benefits:

• When casting a spell of 1st or higher level, with effects that scale with spell slot level, you consider as having cast the spell with a spell slot 1 level higher than the one you have used to cast it.
• When casting a spell that doesn't scale with spell slot level that requires a saving throw, you can cast it with a spell slot of higher level. When doing so, you can impose disadvantage on the target for it's first saving throw against the spell effect.

Ascendant Magic

At 20th level, the spirits of the weave grant you the power of the archmage. You gain the following benefits when casting an arcanist spell:

• Your spell save DC increases by +1.
• You add +1 to your spell attack rolls and damage rolls,
• You can spend arcanist's storing to increase the damage dealt by a spell by twice the number of storings spent.

Animist Spell List