The War Herald

***Your patron is an entity that originates from time beyond time, and has witnessed the horror and glory of war throughout the multiverse. Their knowledge of combat and strategy is only rivaled by the zealousness to remove and punish evil from the multiverse by any means necessary. Beings of this sort are typically wise, calm, with a temper that would make death seem favorable; Haneku, Herald of War and Curses is one of such beings. Work with your DM to come up with a patron that would suit (or contrast) your character's alignment and personality.***

## Expanded Spell List

The War Herald 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.

War Herald Expanded Spells
 2nd
 3rd
 4th
 5th

## Warmonger

At 1st level, the War Herald brands your soul as a disciple of the Herald of War and gifts you the following boons:

* You gain advantage on Initiative rolls.
* You have proficiency in heavy armors, shields, and martial weapons.

## Mark of Genocide

Also at 1st level, you can mark a creature within 120ft of you with the symbol of the Herald of War as an action for 1 minute. Marking a creature in such a way gives you the following benefits:

* You deal additional damage equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 0).
* Attack rolls you make against the creature are critical hits on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
* Roll a 1d4. If the target makes an attack roll against you, subtract the roll's result from attack roll. If an attack against you does not have an attack roll, subtract the roll's result from the damage roll instead.

The Mark of Genocide stays on a creature until the creature either dies or is knocked unconscious, the duration ends, you fall unconscious, or you dispel it as a bonus action. While Mark of Genocide is on a creature, you can use your bonus action to dispel it, causing one of the following effects of your choice:

* For 5 rounds, any deaths that occur within 30ft of you reinvigorate you, healing you for an amount equal to the killing blow's damage roll.
* You let out a bloodcurdling roaring scream, causing every creature within a 60ft radius of you to become Frightened for 10 minutes.
* Choose a number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) that you can see; the creatures are bound with ethereal chains, paralyzing them until the end of your next turn.

Ending the Mark of Genocide with your bonus action will additionally cause the War Herald's spirit to attempt to possess you. You must succeed a Charisma saving throw with a DC of 10 + your Charisma modifier or become possessed until every hostile enemy within a 120ft of you is either unconscious or dead. A possessed player in this manner has their actions, movement, and intentions directly influenced by the Patron, aligning with a Neutral Evil personality. This possession cannot be undone by spells or effects that forcefully remove spirits.

You cannot mark the same creature more than once within 24 hours after being marked. You can mark creatures up to your Charisma modifier each long rest.

## Pact Boon: Pact of the Cursed

*Pact of the Cursed (Prerequisite: Ward Herald Patron)*

At 3rd level, you obtain the unique weapon "Corrupted Gauntlets", and are proficient with them. This weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. While not worn, these gauntlets disappear into an extradimensional space. You can summon or unsummon these gauntlets worn onto your hands if your hand are unoccupied.

### Corrupted Gauntlets

* **Type**: Melee (Unique)
* **Damage**: 1d8 / 2d6 Slashing
* **Weight**: 4lbs
* **Properties**: Light, Reach, Versatile, Special
* **Special Trait**: These gauntlets give you a +1 bonus to AC when worn, but you cannot hold any other weapons or shields.

*A pair of heavy-plated ebony metal gauntlets that possesses silvered slanted spikes and edges alongside the braces, finishing with golden razor-sharp edges on each fingertip. Its bulky nature disallows it to hold anything short of a creature effectively.*

## Blood Tribute

At 6th level you can shed your own blood during combat to gain the favor of the War Herald, in the form of a Blood Points resource pool. You can inflict 1d10 magical slashing damage to yourself during combat as a bonus action and gain Blood Points equal to the amount of damage taken: this damage cannot be reduced or avoided by any means. When you are out of combat, the Blood Point pool resets to 0.

While you have Blood Points, you may expend a number of Blood Points to activate any of the following effects:

* 1 Blood Point: As an action, you can choose to be possessed by the War Herald's spirit, immediately failing the Charisma saving throw. If you are already possessed, you instead Frighten 1 creature within 30ft of you until the end of your next turn.
* 2 Blood Points: As a bonus action, you can shove a creature within 10ft of you prone with no contested check.
* 4 Blood Points: As a reaction, you can impose disadvantage on an attack meant for another creature within 30ft of you.
* 6 Blood Points: As a bonus action, you empower your next damage roll, dealing extra damage equal to triple your proficiency bonus.
* 8 Blood Points: As a reaction, you can dodge one attack of your choosing and counterattack.
* 10 Blood Points: As a bonus action, your unwavering focus makes your next attack a critical hit with maximum damage rolls.

If you use this feature while your are possessed by the War Herald's spirit, or if you are possessed by the War Herald's spirit at any point while under the effect of this feature's effect (including possession due to this feature), you no longer choose the effects; the DM decides which effects activate and which target to affect regardless of the Blood Points resource pool, either of their own choosing or by rolling for them. While possessed, should the DM choose to activate any of the effects, Blood Points are not expended.

## Surmount the Herald

At 10th level, during any new, full, or blood moon, you may perform a 1-hour ritual to challenge the War Herald to combat in exchange for their boon. A ghostly visage of the War Herald controlled by the DM appears in an unoccupied spot within 10ft of you, and will appraise you of the rules of the challenge before engaging in combat.

* This challenge must be issued alone between you and the War Herald; spectators cannot be within 20ft of either participant, otherwise the challenge is forfeit.
* Any external help (such as allies or pre-placed traps), whether passive or active, during the challenge will forfeit the challenge.
* The challenge begins when you make the first strike, and it ends when one of the participants falls to 0 hp.
* If you fall to 0 hp during the challenge, or the challenge becomes forfeit due to external interferance, you will not be able to perform this ritual again until the next new, full, or blood moon.
* Fight as if your life depends on it. Whenever you lose a challenge or the challenge is forfeit, the possession DC permanently increases by 2 for each loss or forfeit.

If you win the challenge, you gain the following benefits:

* You no longer roll for possession whenever you use the Mark of Genocide feat.
* If you roll a 1 for your Blood Points roll, you may reroll it. Your Blood Tribute's Blood Points double after rolling for damage, if it is not a 1.
* If a creature under the effects of Mark of Genocide falls unconcious or dies, the nearest hostile creature within 60ft receives the Mark of Genocide instead of ending: this does not count towards your maximum allowed uses for Mark of Genocide.
* While you have Blood Points, when taking the first option you can choose to either be willfully possesed by the War Herald, or use the secondary effect without the possession prerequisite.
* (Prerequisite: Pact of the Cursed) Your Corrupted Gauntlets become Corrupted Gauntlets+1, increasing your AC by an additional +1, and are able to hold other weapons or shields.

## The Seal of War

At 14th level when you make an attack action with a versatile or two-handed melee weapon against a creature that is marked with the Mark of Genocide, you can perform an additional 5 attacks against the creature using the same weapon; the creature is then stunned until the end of your next turn. Using any Blood Point effects that affect the first attack roll also affect the additional 5 attacks. You can only use this feature once per long rest.