Shade Collector

The teachings of shade collector druids cover the nature of the Bleak Gate and focus on how the shadowy creatures native to that plane support the survival of the natural beasts of the prime material plane. Following the lead of the fey of the Bleak Court, shade collector druids learn to use shadows to their advantage. Often considered heretics by more traditional druids, shade collectors nevertheless insist on the importance the balance between natural life and its dark inverse—though they rarely do so publicly.

Bleak Arcana

When you choose this archetype at 2nd level your knowledge of the Bleak Gate expands. You gain proficiency in Arcana, as well as the planes skill specialty, and Religion, as well as the undead skill speciality. If you already have proficiency with either of these skills, you instead gain an expertise die . You can always use Wisdom when making Arcana and Religion checks.

Dark Swarm

At 2nd level you can summon a swarm of shadowy insects from the Bleak Gate to sap your enemy’s vitality. As a bonus action, you create a swarm at a point you can see within 60 feet. The swarm occupies a 10-foot square, which it can share with other creatures, and lasts for 1 minute, until you dismiss it as a bonus action, or until you use this feature to create another swarm. When you create the swarm, you can make a melee spell attack against one target it shares a square with. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 necrotic damage, and it must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure the target is slowed . At the end of each of its turns, the creature can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. When you reach 10th level in this class, the damage increases to 2d6.

As a bonus action on your turn, you can command the swarm to move up to 30 feet and repeat the attack.

Shadow Steeped

Also at 2nd level you can take the Hide action as a bonus action if you are obscured by dim light or darkness .

Umbral Call

At 6th level the creatures of the Bleak Gate answer your call. As an action, you can expend 2 uses of Wild Shape to summon a creature into an unoccupied space you can see within 30 feet. The creature uses the statistics of a beast a CR no greater than 1/3 your druid level, but with a shadowy, wraith-like appearance and the following traits:

Amorphous. The creature can pass through an opening as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Sunlight Weakness. While in direct sunlight, the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls , ability checks , and saving throws .

Undead Nature. The creature has the undead type and doesn’t require air, sustenance, or sleep.

Alternately, you can choose to summon a ghasthopper or cloud of ghast hoppers. Creatures summoned in this way are allied to you and your companions and roll their own initiatives. In addition, whenever the creature rolls initiative, it gains a number of temporary hit points equal to your level multiplied by your proficiency bonus.

While creatures summoned in this way are within 60 feet you can use a bonus action to mentally command them to take an action on their turn. When you command multiple creatures in this way, you must give them all the same command. You may decide the action the creature takes and where it moves during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as guarding an area. If not given a command, a creature plant only defends itself. Creatures you summon in this way remain for up to 6 hours, or until killed or magically dismissed as a bonus action.

Second Shadow

At 10th level, the creatures you summon become more skilled. The first time you use Umbral Call after a long rest , choose one of the following to affect any creatures summoned with that feature until your next long rest:

Shadowy Sneak. The creature can take the Hide action as a bonus action, even if only obscured by dim light or darkness.

Shadowy Speed. The creature can take the Dash action as a bonus action.

Shadow Dodge. The creature can take the Dodge action as a bonus action.

Shadow Strengthened. The creature gains a +2 to its AC and attack rolls.

Bleakened Soul

At 14th level, you learn to slip sideways into the Bleak Gate, hovering between life and death. You learn the etherealness spell, but instead of stepping into the Ethereal Plane, you enter the Bleak Gate. All other effects of the spell act as normal, and effects that allow a creature to see into the Ethereal Plane allow them to see you in the Bleak Gate. Additionally, once per long rest you can cast this spell without using a spell slot.

While you are in the Bleak Gate or a plane that doesn’t border it, such as an Elemental Plane, using this feature to cast the spell without a spell slot merely renders you invisible for the duration as the invisibility spell.