Horrifying Spells of Hadar
Hadar is a star-like elder evil from beyond the Far Realm which currently resides in Realmspace. It appears a cinder-red star that is barely visible in the night sky. However, unlike normal stars Hadar doesn't have a fixed location but instead dances and wavers across Realmspace. Hadar is a Great Old One, one of the most powerful and ancient beings in existence.
Also known as the Dark Hunger or the Fading One, Hadar is slowly dying and needs to be fed souls in order to prolong its own existence. Warlocks who forge pacts with it will be driven to kill and destroy in order to temporarily quench Hadar's eternal hunger. If Hadar were to fade, his warlocks would lose their magical abilities. Most of his agents do not feed their star patron out of a sense of duty or love. They're primarily driven by fear of Hadar's wrath and their own greed as none of them want to lose their magic.
These warlocks, and others that make pacts with entities capable of accessing Hadar's magic, can learn terrible and horrifying spells, some of which are described below. This power comes at a terrible price, read on at your own peril...
Touch of Hadar
Transmutation cantrip
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Self
- Components: S
- Duration: 1 round
Your hands or fingers become twisting, purple tentacles. When you cast this spell, you make a melee spell attack against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 necrotic damage. Hit or miss, until the start of your next turn when a hostile creature provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to make a spell attack with this spell, rather than making a weapon attack. Your limbs or digits return to normal at the start of your next turn.
At Higher Levels. The spell’s damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).
Spell lists. Warlock
Speech of Hadar
2nd level enchantment spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 30 feet
- Components: V, S, M (the radula of an octopus)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
A creature of your choice you can see within range must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, its speech becomes unintelligible to all creatures except you and creatures that speak Deep Speech for the duration.
Additionally, as long as it is enchanted in this way, whenever the creature casts a spell that requires verbal components, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or the spell fails and has no effect.
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the spell's duration increases by 1 hour for each slot level above 2nd.
Spell lists. Warlock
Coil of Hadar
4th level conjuration spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 90 feet
- Components: V, S, M (a pickled squid tentacle)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You cause dark, spectral tentacles to reach up from the ground and envelop a creature you can see within range. The creature must make a Strength saving throw. On a failure it takes 4d8 necrotic damage and is restrained until the spell ends. On a success, it take half as much damage and isn't restrained.
A creature restrained by this spell repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, it takes 4d8 necrotic damage and is still restrained on a failure, or half as much and is no longer restrained on a success.
As an action on your turn, if the summoned tentacles aren't restraining a creature, you can choose a creature you can see within range, and force that creature to make a Strength saving throw, on a failure it is restrained by the tentacles as they spring up around it until the spell ends.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the spell's damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 5th.
Spell lists. Warlock
Visions of Hadar
5th level divination spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 30 feet
- Components: V, S, M (a squid brain)
- Duration: 10 minutes
You choose a willing creature you can see within range and imbue them with terrible knowledge and visions of the future. For the duration, whenever the target makes an ability check, attack roll or saving throw, they can choose to take 1d4 psychic damage. If they do, they add 1d6 to that roll. The creature can wait until after they roll the d20 before deciding to do this, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails.
Spell lists. Warlock
Investiture of Hadar
6th level transmutation spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Self
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Strange otherwordly whispers surround you as your veins become black. You gain the following benefits for the duration:
- You are immune to psychic damage and have resistance to necrotic damage.
- You can move across difficult terrain created by tentacles or darkness without spending extra movement.
- You gain a blindsight of 15 feet.
- As an action you can cause spectral dark tentacles to lash out at those around you. Each creature within 15 feet of you must make a Strength saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. If a creature fails this save, it also can't take reactions until the end of its next turn.
Spell lists. Warlock
Herald of Hadar
7th level transmutation spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Self
- Components: V, S, M (a statuette of a mindflayer, a beholder or another aberration, worth at least 500 gp)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You are surrounded by strange unintelligible whispers as you gain aberration-like features, becoming a herald of Hadar. You gain the following benefits until the spell ends:
- Telepathy. You can communicate telepathically with creatures you can see within 120 feet of you.
- Mind blast. When you cast this spell, and as an action on subsequent turns for the duration, you can target a creature within 90 feet of you with a blast of psychic energy. The creature must make an Intelligence saving throw. It takes 5d8 psychic damage and is stunned until the start of your next turn on a failed save, or half as much damage and isn't stunned on a successful one.
The King in Yellow, by Jakub Jagoda
- Tentacles. Your speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free. You also gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
Spell lists. Warlock
Hatred of Hadar
8th level enchantment spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 120 feet
- Components: V, S, M (an octopus brain)
- Duration: Instantaneous
You attempt to corrupt the mind of a creature that you can see within range, to fill it with Hadar's hate and hunger. The target takes 4d6 psychic damage and must make an Intelligence saving throw.
On a failed save, the creature's Wisdom score becomes 1. The creature must use its action on each of its turns to attack the creature nearest to it, or move towards that creature if the creature isn't within range of its attacks.
If there are multiple creatures the same distance from it, it selects one of them at random. If the target can't see any creatures, than it will look after its physiological needs such as eating and sleeping but will do nothing else.
At the end of every 24 hours, the creature can repeat its saving throw against this spell. If it succeeds on its saving throw, the spell ends and its Wisdom score reverts to its
original value.
The spell can also be ended by Greater Restoration, Heal or Wish.
Spell lists. Warlock
Journey to Hadar
9th level conjuration spell
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 100 feet
- Components: V, S, M (a pinch of star dust)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
When you cast this spell, a creature you can see of your choice within range is surrounded by a cacophony of whispers as you attempt to send it to the dark between the stars, a region infested with unknown horrors. The target takes 6d8 psychic damage and must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failure, the creature is teleported to the far realms. On a success, it isn't teleported, and the spell ends.
While in the far realms, the target is blinded and incapacitated. At the beginning of each of its turns while there, it must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. It takes 2d8 cold damage, 2d8 acid damage and 2d8 necrotic damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
When the spell ends, the target reappears in the space it left or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. If the creature is killed while in the void, its corpse reappears turned inside out. A body turned inside out this way can only be brought back to life using Wish or True Resurrection.
If you maintain your concentration on this spell for its full duration, the target is affected by one form of madness at random from the Indefinite Madness table. This effect can be ended by Greater Restoration, Heal or Wish.
Spell lists. Warlock
Hadar's Horrendous Invocations
Warlocks who have gained access to Hadar's magic may also choose to learn the following eldritch invocations.
Reach of Hadar
Prerequisite: Touch of Hadar cantrip
The range of Touch of Hadar's melee spell attack increases to 10 feet for you, and whenever you cast it your reach increases by 5 feet until the end of your next turn as well.
Additionally, when you cast Touch of Hadar, you add your Charisma modifier to the damage it deals on a hit.
Craving of Hadar
Prerequisite: 5th level, a spell with Hadar in its name
Whenever you reduce a creature to 0 hitpoints with a spell with Hadar in its name, you gain 1d4 + your proficiency bonus temporary hitpoints. As long as you have temporary hitpoint from this invocation, you gain a bonus of +2 to your AC as well.
Embrace of Hadar
Prerequisite: 7th level, Touch of Hadar cantrip
When you hit a creature with Touch of Hadar, if that creature is large or smaller, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be grappled by you until the start of your next turn.
You can only have one creature grappled at a time this way.
Contempt of Hadar
Prerequisite: 12th level, a spell with Hadar in its name
Whenever you cast a spell with Hadar in its name, you may choose a creature you can see. The chosen creature has disadvantage on the first saving throw it makes against the cast spell.
Gravatational Distortion Alternative, by Pedro Sena
