Pact of the Undead
Death is not an ending — it is a threshold. The most powerful undead entities in existence have stood at that threshold so long they have made it their home, and a rare few warlocks have sought them out and struck bargains there. Liches, death knights, vampire lords of incomprehensible age — these beings offer power over the boundary between life and unliving to those bold or desperate enough to ask.
A warlock who walks this path finds themselves changing over time. They grow comfortable with cold, with stillness, with the quiet spaces that other living creatures find unnerving. They speak of death the way a seasoned sailor speaks of the sea — respectfully, practically, and without fear. In exchange for this patron's gifts, they carry within them a seed of unlife, a potential that blooms when the moment demands it.
Pact of the Undead Table:
| Level | Subclass Features Gained |
|---|---|
| 1st | Expanded Spell List, Form of Dread |
| 6th | Grave Touched |
| 10th | Necrotic Husk |
| 14th | Spirit Projection |
Subclass Features
Expanded Spell List
1st-level Pact of the Undead feature
The Undead patron lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| 1st | false life, ray of sickness |
| 2nd | blindness/deafness, web |
| 3rd | animate dead, bestow curse |
| 4th | blight, death ward |
| 5th | antilife shell, cloudkill |
Form of Dread
1st-level Pact of the Undead feature
As a bonus action, you can transform yourself into a terrifying undead-like visage for up to 1 minute. While in this form, you gain the following benefits:
- You gain temporary hit points equal to \(1d10\) + your warlock level.
- You are immune to the frightened condition.
- Once per turn when you hit a creature with an attack, you can force it to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
The form ends early if you are incapacitated, if you choose to dismiss it (no action required), or when the duration expires.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Grave Touched
6th-level Pact of the Undead feature
Your patron's unlife seeps into your biology. You no longer need to eat, drink, or breathe.
Additionally, while you are in your Form of Dread, the damage from your attacks can become necrotic. When you deal damage to a creature while in Form of Dread, you can change the damage type to necrotic, regardless of the attack or spell's original damage type.
Necrotic Husk
10th-level Pact of the Undead feature
Your connection to undeath hardens you against the forces that define it. You gain resistance to necrotic damage.
Additionally, when you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to let your body crumble while your unlife essence persists. Your body is destroyed, but a specter or shade (your choice) rises in your place in your former space. This new form uses your warlock statistics and has access to your warlock features, but it is undead. At the next dawn, your essence returns to your body, which is fully restored at 1 hit point — unless your body was destroyed or devoured.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Spirit Projection
14th-level Pact of the Undead feature
As an action, you can project your soul from your body. Your body falls unconscious and is incapacitated for the duration. Your projected spirit occupies the same space and has all of your statistics, class features, and equipment, but it is incorporeal. While projected, you gain the following benefits:
- You have resistance to all damage except psychic and radiant damage.
- When you cast a spell that requires a material component, you can ignore that component if it has no gold cost.
- You can move through solid objects and creatures, but you can't end your turn inside them.
The projection lasts up to 1 hour. It ends early if your body is moved more than 300 feet from your spirit, if your body drops to 0 hit points, or if you choose to end it (no action required). When the projection ends, your soul returns to your body.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.