Witch

Witches of the Covenant of Blood believe in strong connections between the physical world and the spiritual one. Spirits are connected to the physical world through objects that were important to them while they were alive. This knowledge allows a witch to bind spirits more easily—as long as they know something of the spirit's life.

Though not always, witches from the Covenant of Blood tend to dominate the spirits under their control. They generally take care to leave spirits intact and in a state no worse than before they were bound, but nevertheless are capable of using a spirit's weaknesses against them, taking advantage of their connections to the physical world in order to gain great control of them.

At 6th level, you gain the power to cast spells on targets over vast distances beyond what the spell may ordinarily allow. Provided you have an article (blood, hair, clothing, or favoured object) from the target, your spells of 5th level or lower which have a single target may affect the creature if it is on the same plane of existence as you.

When you cast a spell that targets a creature in this way, the article you have from the target is consumed.

At 10th level, when a hostile creature dies within 30 feet of you, you can bind its soul as a reaction. You bind a spirit type of your choice to a spell slot of your choice. This binding expires after 24 hours or whenever you use this ability again. The target cannot be resurrected so long as its spirit remains bound in this way.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

At 14th level, you gain the ability to force an ethereal or incorporeal creature that you can see within 60 feet into the material plane as an action. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or lose their incorporeal movement trait and immunities to grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, and restrained for 1 minute. Alternatively, you can use this feature to to cast revivify once without expending a spell slot or material components.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Witches of the Covenant of Charm tap deep into the emotions which govern lingering spirits' behaviours. They use these emotions as signposts and guides to manipulate the desires and shape the aspirations of the living. They believe that although lingering spirits are echoes of the past, they hold the key to individual futures. By harnessing the raw emotional energy of the beyond, one can gain absolute control over the hearts and minds of those around them.

Witches of this philosophy vary in their treatment of spirits. Some befriend and learn from the spirits they bind, using that knowledge to further their own ends. Others take only cursory notice of the spirits they enslave—an attitude that often carries over into their living interactions, manipulating and charming those they will, without any true regard for the desires of those they meet.

At 6th level you can tie one of your spirits you already have bound to a small object. As an action, you bind the spirit to an object that is significant to a creature you choose, the spirit still counts towards your maximum bonds while attached to the object. As long as the creature is in possession of the token, the spirit provides its passive effect as though the spirit were bound by the target (even if they are not a witch). In either case, the magic holding the spirit to the object expires after 24 hours when it returns to your control. If the token is returned to you, you can break this magic sooner as a bonus action, regaining use of the spirit.

At 10th level, creatures charmed by you are also considered charmed by your allies.

Additionally, when you trigger a spirit's release effect, until the start of your next turn allies within 60 feet of you can damage charmed creatures without affecting the charm.

At 14th level, you can't be charmed or frightened, and your spells and spirits ignore immunity to the charmed condition.

The Covenant of Ruin has less respect for spirits than the other covenants. Witches who bind these spirits utilize their magic to torture and pressure spirits in order to extract power from them. Their philosophy revolves around invoking ruin and causing as much damage as possible.

Though good witches of this covenant are rare, they are not unknown. Good witches who share this covenant's ideology typically aim to bind evil spirits, turning these beings into weapons for good against their will (though this can hardly be considered to be completely benign). Such witches often claim their actions are for the greater good—using evil to combat greater evil.

At 6th level, spirits you release erupt with energy as their bonds are broken, causing harm to those around you. When you release a spirit, roll a number of d6s equal to the level of the spirit. Creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you take psychic damage equal to the total. Those who take damage hear wails and screams as the spirit is released, and feel a rush of sorrow and discomfort.

Beginning at 10th level, the Spirit Wards you create are accompanied by spiritual dissonance which can strain and break the weak of soul. When a creature starts its turn inside your Spirit Ward, you can choose for the ward to deal 3d6 psychic damage to the creature (no action required by you).

At 14th level, you can attempt to exorcise a living creature's soul. If a creature within 30 feet of you fails a Wisdom or Charisma saving throw against one of your spells or spirits' release effects, you can use your reaction to attempt to exorcise that creature's soul. The target takes 5d6 psychic damage and 5d6 necrotic damage as their soul is torn from their body, and they are stunned until the end of your next turn.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

The Covenant of Shadows subscribes to the belief that everything that exists, both physically and metaphysically, is a shadow cast by that which came before it. Shadows are windows into worlds beyond the material plane—as one world becomes dimmer, others become brighter and easier to see by comparison.

There is reason to be wary of the dark. Witches from this covenant are more cautious dealing with spirits. They know that dangers lurk in the shadows, and they are careful with their dealings lest the spirits they bind show their dark side.

At 6th level, hostile creatures that are affected by any of your spirits' release effects must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or be blinded for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, a target can make a Constitution saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. This ability has no effect on creatures who do not use light to see.

At 10th level, as long as you have at least one spirit bound, you can call upon the movements of nearby shadows to replace the somatic components of your spells.

Alternatively, the ghostly whispers of your bound spirit may replace the verbal components of your spells. You can therefore cast spells with these components even if you yourself cannot motion or vocalize. Additionally, when you are hidden from a creature and cast a spell, casting the spell doesn't reveal your position to it.

Beginning at 14th level, after you release a spirit that targets a hostile creature, you can choose for the spirit to also haunt that creature for up to 1 minute, requiring your concentration as if on a spell. The passive effect of the spirit continues but uses the haunted creature as the origin. The passive effect otherwise treats you as the owner. After 1 minute or when you lose concentration, the spirit's release effect activates again.

Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Silver is a powerful weapon in any witch's arsenal but a witch who holds to the Covenant of Silver understands how to unlocking the transformative and soul-binding powers of a simple looking glass. It is through this window to the soul that the Silver witch draws their power. Reflections are the silver chains that bind the worlds together.

Witches of the covenant of silver know that everything living has a reflection in the otherworld, and everything dead must reciprocate. Their craft is full of risk and reward, and through reflections, they come to understand and manipulate those outcomes.

Beginning at 6th level, if you have a reflection captured in your soul mirror, you can summon an eruption of ghostly mirror-shards whenever you release a spirit as a reaction to taking damage. The reflection is released along with the spirit, and the target of the spirit's release effect takes force or radiant damage (your choice) equal to the triggering damage. You regain a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt.

Beginning at 10th level, you can assume the form of the creature whose reflection you trapped in your soul mirror as an action. When you do so, the reflection is released and magically transforms into a disguise that appears on you. You now look like the creature, but flipped horizontally like a reflection. This disguise lasts for 1 hour or until you end it as a bonus action.

While you're in the disguise you can perfectly mimic the mannerisms, speech patterns, accent, and other superficial qualities of the original creature.

Another creature can see through this disguise by succeeding on a Wisdom (Insight) check with disadvantage against your spell save DC.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

At 14th level, you can use your action to compel a creature you can see within 60 feet to look at a warped illusion of itself. The target sees you as a wretched, horrifying version of itself—a visage that manipulates it with its insecurities and plays on its fears. You cast geas on the target without expending a spell slot or material components. When cast in this way, the target is also frightened of you for the duration, and the duration of the spell is seven years.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Witches who tie themselves to the Covenant of Steel are a select few who combine their spiritual connection with a grounding in eldritch combat. These witches traditionally devote themselves to the grim task of binding or banishing malign spirits, and then bending such spirits to their cause.

Those of the Covenant of Steel often cannot afford to dwell on the wellbeing of their spirits, having often bound them to keep them from endangering the living. They know better than most the danger and power of these rogue entities, and lesser minds have been driven mad by their ethereal influence. For witches of this coven, any interaction with spirits is often kept to a necessary minimum, and even then with great suspicion.

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

At 10th level, your physical and spiritual reflexes are razor sharp. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to the number of spirits you have bound.

Additionally, when you make a saving throw you can use your reaction to gain a bonus to the roll equal to the number of spirits you have bound.

At 14th level, your body and soul have been forged and tempered by your training. As an action, you can release a spirit to unleash a flurry of spiritually fueled strikes. You make a number of weapon attacks equal to the spirit's level, and the damage from these attacks ignores resistance and immunity. The spirit's release effect does not trigger.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

The Covenant of Unity subscribes to a philosophy that all spiritual entities are connected by a collective consciousness. They use this knowledge to surmount power over the spiritual realm itself. In other words, these witches gain their abilities by harnessing the secrets which govern the very basis of spiritual existence, rather than focusing on the relationships between the metaphysical and the material world.

The Covenant of Unity is perhaps more sympathetic to the spirits such witches bind. Witches of this covenant tend to see spirits as allies instead of tools. They trust the spirits they bind enough to allow their power to grow under their command with the purpose of sharing this power.

At 6th level, after you release a spirit you can choose to retain control over it, so that the spirit remains bound and ready to be released again.

You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

At 10th level, your body and soul develop the ability to contain more powerful spirits. The passive and release effects of spirits you bind are considered one level higher than the spell slot you use to bind them.

At 14th level, if you are reduced to 0 hit points, but not killed outright, you are not knocked unconscious and your body becomes possessed by a spirit you control while you have 0 hit points. You remain conscious and possessed in this way for 1 round per level of the highest level spirit you have bound. You still must make death saving throws, and you suffer the normal effects of taking damage or regaining hit points while at 0 hit points.

Onlookers notice a strangeness in your movements, eyes, and voice while you remain possessed. While possessed, you can use your action on your turn to activate the release effect of one of the spirits you have bound and have it remain bound. This does not expend any uses of the Forceful Presence ability.