Sorcerer - Ghost-Touched Origin

by somanyrobots

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Sorcerous Origin

Ghost-Touched

Some sorcerers experience a brush with death and come back changed. They may have hovered on the boundary between life and death, and had their soul thinned by the experience. Perhaps they are haunted by a specter or suffered a necromancer's botched experiment, which left them permanently infused with a ghostly essence. Some Ghost-Touched may not even be themselves anymore, their bodies mere shells for powerful spirits feigning mortality.

Ghost-Touched sorcerers may be any alignment, and come from any background. Many Ghost-Touched become cautious and suspicious, careful of repeating the circumstances of their change. Others may be impulsive and wild, heedless of the circmustances that caused their condition. But consider how your character became Ghost-Touched, and what it means for their outlook on life.

Ghost-Touched Origin Features

Sorcerer Level Feature
1st Origin Spells, On the Boundary, Sorcerous Possession
6th Fade Away, Death's Face
14th Thinning the Boundary
18th Ethereal Essence

Origin Spells

You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Ghost-Touched Origin Spells table. Each of these spells counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.

Sorcerer Level Spells
1st false life, fearsome visageSDS
3rd gentle repose, invisibility
5th false deathSDS, summon grave spiritSDS
7th death ward, phantasmal killer
9th antilife shell, necromantic stormSDS

Spells marked with a SDS are from Spells That Don't Suck and spells marked with a K are by KibblesTasty. All are included at the end of this document.

On the Boundary

At 1st level, you gain an uncanny affinity for the dead and dying, and an ability to commune with the recently deceased. You learn the spare the dying cantrip, which which doesn’t count against the number of sorcerer cantrips you know. Additionally, you can use Charisma in place of Wisdom when making Medicine checks to determine a creature's cause of death, and if you take at least one minute to conduct a ritual over the creature, you have advantage on the check.

Sorcerous Possession

At 1st level, you may send a portion of your spirit into another creature and use it as a conduit for your spellcasting. When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you may choose a creature within 30 feet. As a reaction, that creature delivers the spell, performing any verbal and somatic components as necessary. If the spell requires material components, the creature must have the components and use them as normal. The creature may perform one free object interaction as part of the spellcasting (for instance, to sheathe a weapon in order to have a free hand).

Unwilling creatures may make a Charisma saving throw; if they succeed, they are unaffected and you may cast the spell yourself if possible. You may choose not to cast the spell, but you may not take a different action in place of casting the spell.

If the spell requires concentration, it still uses your concentration. If the spell has a range of Self, then when your spirit fully returns to your body at the start of your next turn, the spell is transferred to you. Attempts to counterspell the spell are made at disadvantage, and fail if you are not within counterspell's range.

You may use this ability once per long rest. After you have used it once, you may use it again by spending sorcery points equal to the level of the spell.

Fade Away

At 6th level, you can straddle the eternal boundary, making yourself partly ethereal. As a reaction before taking damage, you may spend 2 sorcery points to turn ethereal until the end of your next turn. You can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, and gain resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. If you end your turn in a creature or object, you take 1d10 force damage and are shunted out to the nearest empty space. Every time you use this feature again, it costs 1 additional sorcery point. Its cost resets to 2 sorcery points after you complete a long rest.

Death's Face

Also at 6th level, you are immune to the frightened condition and all possession effects.

Thinning the Boundary

At 14th level, you can wrench spirits back into their mortal bodies when on the brink of death. Before another creature within 30 feet attempts a death saving throw, you may use your reaction and spend 4 sorcery points to make the die result a 20. The creature gains temporary hit points equal to your sorcerer level.

Ethereal Essence

At 18th level, your Fade Away feature now has a base cost of 1 sorcery point, and its cost no longer increases. While you are under its effects, you are immune to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

Ghost-Touched Origin quirks

The following are some optional quirks for a player of this Domain to choose from.

d6 Quirk
1 You cannot remember any memories from before you became Ghost-Touched.
2 Cups and glasses sometimes rattle when you pass.
3 You have a vivid fear of cemeteries.
4 You prefer to sleep with your arms folded.
5 You suspect you are, in fact, a ghost.
6 You don't even believe in ghosts.

Appendix 1: Spells

False Death

3rd-level necromancy

  • Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Wizard
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M (a pinch of graveyard dirt)
  • Duration: 8 hours
  • Replaces: Feign Death

You touch a willing creature, charging it with necrotic magic and allowing it to mimic death. The target gains 10 temporary hit points for the duration.

As an action, or as a reaction to being hit with an attack or taking damage, the target can appear dead to all outward inspection and to spells used to determine the target's status. If the target breathes, its respiration is undetectable.

While in this false state, the target drops prone, can see and hear normally, and has resistance to all damage except psychic damage. The false state ends if the target moves or takes an action, bonus action or reaction.

The spell ends once the target has left the false state. Additionally, you can use an action to touch the target and dismiss the spell.

If the target is diseased or poisoned when you cast the spell, or becomes diseased or poisoned while under the spell's effect, the disease and poison have no effect until the spell ends.

Fearsome Visage

1st-level illusion

  • Classes: Warlock, Wizard
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 90 feet
  • Components: V, M (a dead spider)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
  • Replaces: Cause Fear

You bewitch a creature's mind, terrifying it. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for the duration. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. A target that is more than 90 feet away from you has advantage on its saving throw.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot above 1st.

Necromantic Storm

5th-level necromancy

  • Classes: Warlock, Wizard
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 60 feet
  • Components: V, M (a piece of tattered black silk)
  • Duration: Instantaneous

You tear a rift to a plane of death, summoning forth a flood of negative energy. Choose a point within 60 feet to open the rift. All non-undead creatures within 10 feet must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 6d8 necrotic damage on a failure or half as much on a success. If a creature is killed by this spell, the blast spreads, affecting a 10-foot radius around that creature as well. A creature cannot be damaged twice by the spell, and the spell ends after damaging 10 creatures.

If a humanoid dies from this spell, they rise as a zombie at the start of your next turn and attack the closest living creature. You can assert control over the zombies by casting animate dead as if you were reasserting control over zombies created with that spell. Statistics for a zombie are in the Monster Manual. At the DM's discretion, other creature types may rise as different undead.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell with a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the maximum number of creatures affected increases by 2 for each slot level above 5th.

Summon Grave Spirit

3rd-level necromancy

  • Classes: Warlock, Wizard
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Self
  • Components: V, S, M (a jeweled skull statuette worth at least 300gp)
  • Duration: Instantaneous
  • Replaces: Summon Undead

You summon an undead creature, which manifests in an unoccupied space that you can see within range. It uses the Grave Spirit stat block. When you cast the spell, you choose one option out of: Ethereal, Ghoulish, Bone. The creature uses the chosen form, which determines certain traits in its stat block. The creature disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.

The creature is an ally to you and your companions. In combat, the creature shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys your verbal commands (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any, it takes the Dodge action and uses its move to avoid danger.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, use the higher level wherever the spell’s level appears in the stat block.

Grave Spirit

Medium Undead

  • Armor Class 10 + the level of the spell (natural armor)
  • Hit Points 15 (Ethereal) or 25 (Ghoulish & Bone) + 10 for each spell level above 3rd
  • Speed (Ghoulish & Bone) 30 ft.
  • Speed (Ethereal) 20 ft. fly
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 6 (-2) 10 (+0) 8 (-1)
  • Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
  • Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned
  • Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
  • Languages understands the languages you speak
  • Proficiency equals your bonus

Ghostly Movement (Ethereal Only). The spirit can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. If it ends its turn inside an object, it appears in the nearest unoccupied space and takes 1d10 force damage for every 5 feet traveled.

Terrifying Grasp (Ethereal Only). Once on its turn when it hits an enemy with a melee attack, the spirit can force the target to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened until the end of its next turn.

Revive From Bones (Bone Only). When reduced to 0 hp by anything other than a critical hit or bludgeoning, force, or radiant damage, the spirit leaves its bones behind instead of disappearing. As a bonus action, you can revive it at 1 hit point.

Actions

Multiattack. The spirit makes a number of attacks equal to half this spell's level (rounded down).

Deathly Chill (Ethereal Only). Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4 + 2 + the spell's level necrotic damage.

Bone Arrow (Bone Only). Ranged Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, range 80/320, one target. Hit: 1d6 + 2 + the spell's level piercing damage.

Vile Claws (Ghoulish Only). Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 + 3 + the spell's level slashing damage. The target must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or become poisoned until the end of its next turn. If the target is already poisoned, they are paralyzed instead.

Changelog

v1.1

  • Replaced Frighten with Fearsome Visage

v1.1

  • Corrected ability score for On the Boundary

v1.0

  • Added Summon Grave Spirit

v0.9

  • Updated art and license
  • SRD-proofed origin spells (still need to write summon undead replacement)

v0.3

  • Nerfs to Fade Away
  • Minor language cleanup to On the Boundary & Sorcerous Possession

v0.2

  • Art & formatting, cleaned up edge cases, implemented rough feedback

v0.1

  • Rough Draft
Credits & References:

Ghost-Touched Origin created by
somanyrobots | Discord | Patreon

Art

Ghost-Touched Sorcerer, by Alifka Hammam Nugroho

Spells
  • False Death, Fearsome Visage, Necromantic Storm, and Summon Grave Spirit by Omega Ankh & somanyrobots
Background Image Stains

Jared Ondricek

License

© 2024 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0

Includes spells from Spells That Don't Suck by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.

5E SRD Content

  • This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.

  • The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.