With a death’s-head face and black wings like a tattered cloak, a black dragon somewhat resembles the humanoid personification of death. And indeed, of all chromatic dragons, the black dragon is the one most fascinated by death and ruin. Dwelling in rotting swamps among fallen and forgotten monuments, a black dragon revels in terror and decay.

Cruel Ambushers. Black dragons are equally at home high in the night sky or hiding beneath the murky waters of their swamp lairs. They can surround themselves with magical pools of inky shadow. With many ways to hide from prey, black dragons are deadly ambush hunters. Most black dragons relish the fear of their quarry and draw out their hunts as long as possible. Sometimes they reveal themselves long before they first strike simply to menace their foes. At other times, they grant wounded prey temporary respite, allowing the illusion of escape before plunging their quarry into darkness and terror.

Ancient Monuments. Black dragons are both attracted to—and the cause of—decay and ruin.
They often lair within the palaces of fallen kingdoms, especially those they helped topple. The corrupting
influence of a black dragon’s presence turns ground to turn to mud, causes grasping plants to crack stone,
and eventually drowns old relics under the stinking bog. But even long-buried peoples still seem alive to
the black dragon. It holds ancient rivals in a mixture of contempt and reverence, and often gloats over
the dead it has drowned. Collectors and students of ancient relics and treasure, black dragons are
eager to share their knowledge about ancient mysteries—though the questioner may not long
survive the answer.

Life Beyond Death. With their fixation on time and mortality, black dragons are the most common dragon liches. If personal undeath is beyond a black dragon’s arcane power, it may seek to bolster its physical defenses by creating armies of undead servants. Zombified would-be dragonslayers, as well as moldering skeletons from ages past, may patrol a black dragon’s lair alongside living minions.

The stuff of legend in cold and temperate lands, dinosaurs rule arid grasslands and steaming fens and jungles. Although not inherently magical, the majesty of these mighty lizards invokes sheer primal awe; even the most docile herbivores can be earth-shattering titans.

Many Species. The hundreds of known species of dinosaurs share little in common with each other. Of the landbound dinosaurs, predators tend to run on two legs, while herbivores often walk on four. Some dinosaurs have armored or scaly hides while others bear bright, birdlike feathers. The largest predators, like tyrannosaurus rex , resemble wingless dragons—but dinosaurs are beasts, not magical creatures.

Domesticated Beasts. In the lands where dinosaurs dwell, humanoids frequently revere large dinosaurs as demigods (using such honorifics as “thunderbeast”and “behemoth”),  and they domesticate smaller dinosaurs as extraordinary farm animals and pets. Warriors ride triceratops and pteranodons into battle, a fact that makes the eggs of these dinosaurs highly prized. While the tyrannosaurus rex is difficult to train for war, many druids honor it as among the mightiest of beasts.

Mysterious History. While few deny that dinosaurs exist today, historical records suggest the great beasts were once extinct. This has led to endless speculation about what triggered the dinosaurs’ return: possibilities include druidic magic, divine intervention, or even a mass migration across a theoretical Plane of Time.

Devils occupy a vast yet rigid hierarchy dedicated to the corruption of goodness across the multiverse. While their numbers are impossible to count, all devils understand their place in the infernal order and scheme unendingly to improve their station. The most powerful devils spend eons rising through the ranks of hell, assembling legions to wage war against their demonic counterparts or to challenge the authority of the gods. These archdevils rule entire planes of existence and yet like mortal tyrants are often prisoners of their own paranoia. Even the mightiest devils know their subordinates eye them with terrifying patience, waiting for them to show the slightest sign of weakness.

The Fall. Most scholars believe devils were celestials cast out of the heavens when they plotted to overthrow the gods. Millennia later, devils remain imprisoned in the infernal realms, escaping only when a mortal summons them or opens a gate to the Material Plane. Devils who find their way to the mortal world are especially cautious, as dying there means they must face the wrath of their superiors when they return to hell.

The Armies of Hell. The hierarchy of hell resembles that of a mortal army. The weakest devils serve as cannon fodder in these legions and are commanded by increasingly powerful ranks of lieutenants, captains, and generals. Pit fiends lead the fiendish armies into battle and advise the true masters of the infernal realms, the ancient beings known as archdevils. Devils are unfailingly obedient to their superiors, and yet each is eager to take its commander’s place should that devil stumble.

Hell’s Bargain. A devil killed in hell is destroyed forever, so devils rely upon the souls of mortals to replenish their numbers. A devil summoned to the Material Plane will promise great power or riches in return for a soul and may even submit to serving a mortal if it means claiming another recruit for the legions of hell. A mortal who pledges their soul to
a devil might enjoy a lifetime of worldly pleasures. But when that mortal dies, their condemned soul is carried off to hell and transformed into a lemure , the lowliest of devils.

The Path of Diabolism. Though devils long to escape their infernal prisons, calling one to the mortal realm is no simple task. Elaborate rituals—outlined in only the most  ancient and forbidden tomes—must be performed to summon a devil to the Material Plane. Diabolists looking to press a devil into their service without forfeiting their soul must go to even greater lengths. Doing so often requires a blood sacrifice, speaking the devil’s true name, or drawing upon the magical power of a talisman linked to the devil’s essence.

Demons embody the destructive nature of chaos. Whereas most scholars believe that devils were once fallen angels (or the souls of mortals corrupted by them) demons arise spontaneously from the formless havoc of the Abyss. Most demons are little more than mindless monsters, and even the shrewdest demon lord is gripped by a madness that mortals can’t fathom. Distracted by neither compassion nor logic, the gnashing hordes of the Abyss are an unrelenting engine of destruction.

Never-Ending Chaos. Like the plane from which they spring, demons seem to be infinite in number. While a particularly crazed or evil mortal might transform into a demon upon their death, far more often it is the Abyss itself that spawns these foul creatures. The process never ceases and—judging from the billions of demons that currently exist—has been occurring since the dawn of time. To make matters worse, a demon killed on the Material Plane re-forms in the Abyss eager to resume its campaign of destruction. The only way to destroy a demon permanently is to slay it in the Abyss. But for every demon that falls, a thousand others clamor to take its place.

Existential Threat. The threat demons pose to the multiverse is so profound that even angels and devils may join forces to oppose them. Though brilliant tacticians, devils understand the hordes of the Abyss outnumber them and have turned occasionally to the armies of Heaven to bolster their ranks. Angels, for their part, grudgingly recognize that Hell’s willingness to fight unfettered by morals has proven effective, even if they refuse to break those shackles themselves. Though never entered into happily, both angels and devils agree such alliances are preferable to complete annihilation.

Abyssal Incursions. As with other extraplanar creatures, mortals can use magic to summon individual demons to the Material Plane. Even the mightiest wizard, however, lacks the power to call an entire horde of demons from the Abyss. Instead, demons invade the mortal world through tears in the fabric of reality itself. Such rifts allow an unending stream of demons to pour through and wreak destruction like a plague. Even after the rift is sealed, the surrounding landscape remains blighted for generations afterward.

Cults of Madness. Demon lords care nothing for the mortals who worship them, yet this does not stop some crazed individuals from venerating them as gods. When these troubled souls find each other, cults will form, especially if one of its members proves to be a charismatic leader. Demon cultists are often bound together by the mistaken belief that their activities will earn them favor with the demon lord they serve. Just as often, however, they are twisted sadists or simply nihilistic, eager to throw away their lives if doing hastens the destruction of the world.

Prerequisite: Brook No Delay feat, proficiency in Acrobatics, Arcana, and Athletics, must have trained with the Wayfarers Cirque, character level 7th

Features

Hit Dice: 1d8 per wayfarer cirqueliste level.
Hit Points: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per wayfarer cirqueliste level.

Wayfarer’s Athleticism (1st level). You can double your proficiency bonus when making Acrobatics and Athletics checks. Your base speed increases by 5 feet.

Wayfarer’s Kineticism (1st level). You can create and empower magic through movement.

Whenever you move at least 20 feet on your turn, you gain a “step” of power. If you move more than your speed on your turn (such as by taking the Dash action or flinging yourself with a trebuchet), you gain an additional step of power. This gathered power lasts until you spend it or until you finish your turn and have not moved at
least 20 feet, and you can have up to a maximum of three steps of power stored at a time.

Holding this power over a long period of time is perilous, so you only gather steps of power when you are clearly in danger. You start each encounter with zero steps of power, even if you were moving just before the encounter begins.

You can spend steps in the following ways.

• Without using an action, spend one step to gain the effects of freedom of movement until the end of your next turn.
• Without using an action, when you are endangered by something triggered by your movement like a trap or hazard, spend one step to gain advantage on a Dexterity saving throw or impose disadvantage on an attack roll against you.
• Spend one step to cast misty step as an action, or two steps to cast it as a bonus action. Instead of being transported in silvery mist, however, your departure and arrival points are marked with a harmless burst of flame that lingers in the shape of your body. Often cirquelistes will teleport in the middle of acrobatic flips, appreciating the aesthetic of leaving dramatic flaming afterimages of their movement.
• When you or an ally you can see casts a spell, spend two steps to modify that spell with one of the following sorcerer Metamagic abilities: distant, empowered, or extended. You can use your Dexterity modifier in place of your Charisma modifier for this effect.

Wayfarer’s Leap (1st level). You can cast dimension door . After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or long rest .

Nomadic Strike (2nd level). When you teleport within 5 feet of a creature, the first attack you make against that creature before the end of your current turn has advantage .

Sense Teleportation (2nd level). You are aware whenever a creature within 150 feet arrives or departs using teleportation, and you know the distance and direction to their origin and destination.

Wayfarer Guide (2nd level). Whenever you use an ability that lets you teleport, you can bring three extra creatures within 20 feet of you along with you, even if the ability normally only teleports you, such as misty step . After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or long rest .

Grand Journey (3rd level). You can cast teleportation circle . After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or long rest . When you gain this ability, the wayfarers typically share their full collection of sigil sequences.

Ready to Move (3rd level). You start each encounter with one “step” charged up.

Prerequisite: Hand of Retribution feat, proficiency in History and Religion, must have three iconic scars somewhere on the body, character level 7th

Features

Hit Dice: 1d12 per vekeshi excoriant level.
Hit Points: 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per vekeshi excoriant level.

Dreadnought (1st level). The mystic rites you have undertaken to connect you to the goddess have strengthened your will and freed your will to resist worldly temptations. You are proficient in Wisdom saving throws . If you are already proficient in Wisdom saving throws, you get a +2 bonus to Wisdom saving throws.

You also add your proficiency bonus to death saving throws.

Daunting Presence (1st level). On your turn, you can choose to adopt terrifying mannerisms designed to drive your foes back. If you do, you cannot make normal opportunity attacks until the start of your next turn. However, when a creature within your reach would make an attack against you, you can use a reaction to force the creature to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). If it fails this save, the attacking creature becomes frightened of you for one round; if it succeeds, it becomes immune to being frightened by your daunting stance for one day.

Threefold Presence (1st level). At the start of your turn, you may call upon the threefold presence of Srasama. During this turn, when you move, you can trace three different paths from your initial starting position, as if you were splitting into three versions of yourself. At the start of your next turn, you must choose which of those locations is your actual location, at which point the other two versions of you disappear.

Before you choose your actual location, you can act as if you were in any of the three locations, and you can be affected by others as if you were in any of those locations.  Things that would affect you more than once, such an area attack that would hit two of your locations, only affect you once.

Before the start of your next turn, you can take one extra action, one extra bonus action, and one extra reaction. You cannot have any one of your three versions take more than one action, one bonus action, and one reaction each. You cannot use an extra action if another ability grants you an extra action the same turn, such as a fighter’s Action Surge.

After using this ability, you cannot use it again until you take a short or long rest .

Vengeful Gaze of the Goddess (1st level). As a bonus action you can choose a creature you can see. Guided by the divine sight of Srasama, you unerringly know the  direction to the target until you finish a long rest . You cannot use this power again until you finish a long rest.

Triune Blessing (2nd level). You can call upon the three aspects of the goddess Srasama as a bonus action. For each of these blessings, choose yourself or one creature you’re aware of to affect; you can choose the same creature multiple times.

The maiden grants advantage on the creature’s next saving throw , and their next attack roll .

The mother heals 5d8+5 points of damage to that creature.

The crone hexes the creature, so that until the start of your next turn, attacks that hit the creature deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage.

After using this ability, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest .

Live for Vengeance (2nd level). Whenever you succeed a death saving throw, you can spend two Hit Dice and heal that many hit points, allowing you to regain consciousness.

Vestige of Srasama (3rd level). As an action, you can call upon a vestige of your goddess . A towering, flaming image of a woman steps into existence. Her features shift by the moment, from youthful warrior, to mature healer, to withered and skeletal sorceress. She strides toward your enemies, six burning swords held in or floating beside her six hands. This aspect of Srasama does not act with any real intelligence; the only word she ever says is for her guttering desperation attack. She is focused on defeating your enemies. She acts on your initiative as soon as you summon her. She follows your desires without you needing to take any action to direct her. This manifestation does not require concentration to maintain as long as any enemies are present, but once you are no longer in danger, you can maintain concentration to keep the aspect present and on guard.

After using this power again, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest . Any wounds the aspect suffers remain the next time you summon her, though all her injuries heal at the start of the next full moon. If the aspect is reduced to 0 hit points, she fades away and cannot be summoned until the start of the next full moon.

Prerequisite: Unfinished Business feat, proficient in Persuasion and Insight, character level 7th

Features

Hit Dice: 1d6 per urban empath level.
Hit Points: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per urban empath level.

Spellcasting. Add the following spells to all of your classes’ spell lists: conjure elemental , dissonant whispers, knock , locate creature , message , tiny hut (takes the appearance of a small house). Whenever you gain a level in this class, it grants or advances your choice of bard , cleric , druid , sorcerer , or wizard spellcasting , or warlock Pact Magic. This advancement includes spell slots, spells prepared, and spells known.

Every Building a Welcoming Home (1st level). As a bonus action, you can ask a city to let you through. Until the end of your turn, you can move through manmade  structures as if they weren’t there. After using this ability you cannot use it again until you take a short or long rest .

Urban Bond (1st level). While in an urban environment (defined generally as a bounded area with a population density of at least 1000 people per square mile), you need neither food nor drink, and you gain a +2 bonus to Acrobatics, Athletics, and Perception checks.These effects generally extend as long as you’re within 3 miles of the
border of an urban area.

The City Comes Alive (1st level). As an action you can call upon the city to strike an enemy and possibly trap it in a maw of bricks and cobblestones. Make a melee spell attack with a range of 30 feet; the target must be within 5 feet of a manmade structure, even just a wall or street.

If the attack hits, the target takes 2d12 damage, and if the creature is Large or smaller you may knock it prone , but if you do, it has cover while prone. This damage increases to  3d12 at 11th level, and 4d12 at 17th level.

The City Whispers (2nd level). You can listen to the spirit of the city to learn what it hears and sees. This communion functions similar to the commune with nature ritual, granting you knowledge of three facts the city can share. Sample “facts” include:

The general state of every publicly accessible location within 3 miles.

Disturbances in private locations if they could be seen or heard from a public area.

Choose a creature or small group that the city can identify through some physical means. You learn whether it is in the area and where, unless it entered a private area in which case you learn when it entered.

Gain intuitive understanding of all publicly traversable terrain in the area, allowing you to navigate perfectly.

For the purpose of this, “private” generally means somewhere legally owned and off-limits to outsiders. While a museum is owned, the public can access it, and while the sewers are not normal thoroughfares, usually there is no personal ownership of a sewer.

The city doesn’t have precise recollection, and cannot convey conversations or subtle actions, but could share details of a broadly witnessed speech. This power functions to a distance of three miles in an urban environment, but only to 300 feet outside an urban area.

After using this ability you cannot use it again until you take a short or long rest .

Every Window an Eye (2nd level). You gain tremorsense out to 60 feet in an urban environment, and can sense the presence and location of creatures that have concealment or cover as long as they are hidden by manmade structures.

The City Marches to War (3rd level): You can call upon a city in your time of dire need, causing walls, streets, and gates to move at your command.

As an action, you cause the terrain in a 40-foot-radius burst within 100 feet of you to rise up and hinder your foes. Enemies that enter that area or end their turn there take 2d6 bludgeoning damage. As a bonus action, you can cause up to six 5-foot cubes of terrain in the area to move up to 30 feet, or to extrude into the area from an existing wall or floor, or to withdraw into an existing wall or floor. This moving terrain can only enter unoccupied spaces, and it is generally composed of whatever the prevailing building materials in the area are. The area lasts for five minutes or until dismissed.

Outside an urban area, instead you can affect a 10-foot-radius burst within 50 feet of you.

After using this ability you cannot use it again until you take a short or long rest .

Prerequisite: Arctech Tinkerer feat, proficient in Arcana and Engineering, character level 7th, access to a technology lab with at least 5,000 gp in components.

Features

Hit Dice: 1d8 per steamsuit pilot level.
Hit Points: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per steamsuit pilot level.

Steam & Steel (1st level). You have designed an arcanoscientific power matrix which you can integrate into a suit of armor as a sort of steam engine, enhancing your strength and ability to move while wearing the armor. Indeed, the power matrix can even let you wear armor larger than your actual body.

If you start with a suit of armor and spend one day and 500 gp in raw materials, you can upgrade that armor with a power matrix and the necessary enchantments and steam valves to operate it. The armor can be your size or larger, up to Large size. Large armor costs the same as medium or small armor, since the main expense
is labor, not materials. The archetypical steamsuit is modified Large full plate, whose only drawback is that it might not fit in some places. (You can certainly build a leather steamsuit, or multiple steamsuits, but you can only operate one at a time.)

A steamsuit is inert without a pilot, and since you designed it for yourself only a creature the same size as you can fit into your suit. You can enter or exit a suit by spending 10 feet of movement. Most suits are designed with masterful locking mechanisms which can be opened either by a key as a bonus action, or by a Dexterity check (DC 20) with thieves’ tools as an action. When you enter the suit you can lock it without spending an action.

You are restrained and blinded while inside a suit that is deactivated. Activating or deactivating the arcane steam engine takes a bonus action. While the engine is active, you are considered proficient in whatever type of armor the suit is. You have a magical link to your steamsuit, so any magical enchantments on what you’re wearing also apply to the steamsuit’s armor. Your steamsuit will typically have hands, so it can wield weapons. If you have a magic weapon, it can wield that weapon, or if it has the same type of weapon and you have the weapon on your person while inside the suit, the weapon the suit wields benefits from that enchantment.

As long as the engine is active, you must maintain the power matrix. As creator of the suit your magical link lets you do this without spending an action as long as you’re inside the suit, even if you’re incapacitated . If anyone else is in the suit, they must make a DC 15 Intelligence check at the start of each turn or else be restrained and unable to use any of the suit’s powers until the start of their next turn.

While in your suit, your Strength score is increased to 19, or to 23 if you are proficient in the type of armor the suit is made out of (i.e., you don’t need the suit to do as much work for you), unless your Strength is already higher. You have double the lifting capacity of a normal creature your size with that Strength. Your suit doesn’t count toward your encumbrance.

You are considered proficient with your suit’s unarmed attacks, which deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage.

At the end of your turn, if you took damage since your last turn while in the suit, make an Intelligence saving throw (DC 10) to keep the suit’s power matrix stable. If you fail three saves, the engine enters a safe mode. This reduces your Strength to its normal amount, imposes a –2 penalty on AC and Dexterity saving throws , and prevents you from taking reactions that require movement.

You can repair the suit during a short rest .

Personal Touches (1st level).  Choose up to ten objects that can be held in one hand (or two-handed objects, which take up two “slots”). You integrate these objects into your suit and can retrieve them and swap between them without limit on your turn, plus they can be hidden from casual view. Sure, it’s obvious you’re in a a halfton clanking shell of steel, but your enemies won’t know you’ve got a shotgun, a musket, a shield, a lantern, a portable ram, and a pair of integrated scimitars. You can still only make use of two hands’ worth of weapons or shields at a time.

Additionally, choose a 1st level spell from the wizard spell list, as long as it does not require an expensive material component. You can use the suit to cast that spell one time, using your Intelligence as the spellcasting ability. Afterward you cannot use it to cast that spell again until you finish a short rest .

At 2nd level, add a 2nd level wizard spell to your capabilities, and at 3rd level add a 3rd level wizard spell. You can cast each spell once between short rests.

If a spell the suit casts has the duration of concentration , whenever you take damage you may make an Intelligence saving throw instead of Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration.

Power Fist (2nd level). Steam pistons in your suit’s arm can launch a devastating punch. When you hit an enemy with your suit’s unarmed strike, you can trigger the power  fist. The attack deals an extra 1d6 damage, and the target must make a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Intelligence modifier) or else be shoved 10 feet. You can only use this ability once per turn, and you cannot use it if your suit is in safe mode.

Defensive Shield (2nd level). You can enhance your armor’s resilience with charged wards with limited duration. As a bonus action choose a damage type and gain resistance to that damage type until the end of your next turn. You cannot use this ability if your suit is in safe mode.

Matrix Stability (3rd level). If you suit goes into safe mode, you can repair it by spending an action instead of having to spend a short rest .

Redline Rush (3rd level). On your turn you can overheat your engine to increase your suit’s speed. You double your walking speed for the turn and gain a +5 bonus to all Acrobatics and Athletics checks during this movement. This destabilizes the engine as if you had taken damage, forcing you to make an Intelligence save at the end of your turn, in addition to any save you’d normally make due to taking damage. You cannot use this ability if your suit is in safe mode.

Quick-Don (3rd level). Without spending an action, you can cause your suit to magically collapse into a mechanical object that fits into your palm and weighs only five pounds. You can spend an action or bonus action to cause this object to transform into your suit, and may have the suit form around you and activate the engine. It thus becomes relatively easy to have multiple suits for different occasions.

Prerequisite: Martial Studies feat or Savant class, proficient in Culture, character level 7th; must have contacts with a college, university, or military academy.

Features

Hit Dice: 1d10 per polyhistor level.
Hit Points: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per polyhistor level.

Studied Proficiency (1st level). You are proficient in all weapons. For your Martial Studies feat, you can prepare two techniques after you complete a long rest , but one must be either experimental strike or committee defense.

Combat Focus (1st level). At the end of your turn, if in the past round you took a hostile action against a foe, a foe took hostile action against you, or you witnessed a foe taking or receiving hostile action, you gain 1 focus, to a maximum of five. Whenever five minutes pass without you gaining any focus, your focus resets to however many levels you have in this prestige class (1, 2, or 3).

You can use focus to temporarily access combat feats and gain other benefits.

Adaptive Style (1st level). You have learned a diverse set of fighting styles, and while you are master of none, as you gain insight into a battle you can discern moments where such techniques could be useful.

During your turn, you can spend 1 focus to gain the benefits of a combat feat. You must meet any prerequisites, and the feat must provide some benefit during combat and not provide an ability score increase. Whether a feat qualifies is at the Narrator’s discretion.

(If you’re playing Level Up, consider that you can use this ability to temporarily acquire new combat maneuvers via the feat Martial Scholar.)

You can gain access to up to two bonus feats this way at a time, which last until the end of combat, to a maximum of five minutes.

Inner Defenses (2nd level). You have devised techniques to recognize mental threats and divert them. Whenever you need to make a saving throw , you can spend 1 focus to become proficient in that type of save until the end of the combat (to a maximum of five minutes).

Perfect Aim (2nd level). If you have advantage on an attack roll and you hit with both attack rolls , you can spend 2 focus to treat the attack as a critical hit.

Cunning Defense (3rd level). You can anticipate your enemy’s moves, plotting out strikes, parries, and ripostes like gambits on a chessboard. You can modify your AC with your proficiency bonus instead of your Dexterity.

Masterstroke (3rd level). It is mentally exhausting, but you can use your considerable intellect to compose the perfect attack amidst the seeming randomness of battle. As an action, you can study the battlefield. Then until the end of your next turn you have advantage on all attack rolls, and if the unmodified die roll of an attack you make is 12 or lower, treat it as if you had rolled a natural 13. Additionally until the end of your next turn, your polyhistor abilities do not cost focus to use.

After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest .