The Cultist of the Drowned God

A Character Class for Tales of Argosa, in the World of Weirth

You are a cultist, Sea-taken, the devoted servant of The Drowned God. Pale-skinned and gaunt, your flesh is perpetually slick with seawater, eyes clouded like drowned pearls, and lungs burning with the weight of abyssal depths. Garbed in sea-green robes over scale-mail wrought from shipwreck barnacles and sharkskin, you bear the Eight Arrows of Chaos branded into your chest—a mark of your pact with the Lord of Watery Death.

In the shadowed sea-caverns of forgotten Sarkomand, where the Moon Beasts rule blasted ruins, you whisper invocations to the elemental prince who commands crashing tempests, crushing pressures, and the sea-taken legions of the Drowned God’s Chaos Fleet. Your god devours the weak, revealing forbidden secrets to those who endure the foaming tide’s embrace. He aids the persevering, granting watery sorceries that drown foes in their own lungs or shield the faithful in liquid armor. But betray his tenets—cruelty to the unworthy, secrecy eternal, endurance unto undeath—and the abyssal currents will drag you to his realm forever.

Key Attribute

Willpower

Hit Points

Equal to Con score + (Level x2). (You endure as the deep sea crushes all but the chosen.)

Weapons

Bludgeoning (maces, flails, mauls), piercing (harpoons, tridents, daggers of coral and shell), and limb-trapping nets.

Armour & Shields

Light, Medium armor (scale-mail of sea-creatures preferred), and small shields (barnacle-crusted bucklers).

Class Starting Gear

Harpoon (1d8), Sharkskin Scale-Mail (+3 AC).

Holy symbol (a black pearl engraved with the Eight Arrows of Chaos, worn as part of a shagreen headband).

Skills

Apothecary (for brewing endurance draughts of seawrack and demon ichor), Divine Lore, Watercraft, plus roll 1d10 three times:

(i) Arcane Lore, (ii) Athletics (swimming/endurance), (iii) Deception, (iv) Detection, (v) Gather Info, (vi) General Lore, (vii) Persuasion, (viii) Stealth, (ix) Survival, (x) Wilderness Lore (coastal life).

Patron Benefit (The Drowned God’s Favor)

You may hold your breath for 1 hour per Will modifier without penalty (elemental gift of the Drowned God’s elemental kin). Additionally, once per session, you may attempt to summon a minor Water Elemental (35% chance, +5% per level), but it obeys only commands of watery death (it can envelop & drown one creature of man-size or smaller, up to 2 HD) or revelation (ask a yes/no question as Augury).

BLESSINGS

As an agent of the Drowned God, you may petition your patron for aid in the form of supernatural blessings drawn from abyssal Chaos. At 1st level, you know several blessings equal to your Will modifier; roll 1d12 and see below to determine which. With each new level, learn one additional blessing of your choice.

You begin an adventure with one use of this ability per level. Unless noted otherwise, attempting to invoke a blessing is similar to casting a spell; see p.96 (generally requires an action, and possibly a Will check). You may regain expended uses by taking Short or Long Rests (immersed in water doubles recovery on Short Rests). All cultists may learn the following blessings:

1. Blessed Weapon One weapon you touch counts as magical and gains +1 to attack rolls for 1d6 x 10 minutes (no action). 
2. Holy Smite When you hit with a melee attack, instead of rolling damage you cause maximum weapon damage + your level (no action). The attack is magical. This ability may not be used more than once per combat.
3. Sense Abomination You detect Undead, Demons and Aberrant Terrors (including their direction) within Far range for 2d6 minutes. 
4. Turning You brandish your holy symbol to turn 1d8 + level Undead, Aberrations or Demons within Far range. If a target’s HD are less than half your level they are destroyed. Targets with HD equal to or lower than your level gain a Luck (Will) save to resist fleeing for 1d6 x 10 minutes. Targets with more HD than you are unaffected. 
5. Watched Over You and all PC allies within Close range gain +1 AC as long as you are above zero hp and do not require atonement. Once known, this blessing is always active, and doesn’t require expending a blessing use.
6. Divine Word You command a creature within Close range to carry out an act for up to one round. The command must be three words or less (eg “drown yourself,” “reveal secrets,” “endure no more”) and cannot directly incapacitate or kill the target. A Luck (Will) save negates.

Drowned God Blessings:

• Abyssal Grasp: Tendrils of seawater erupt from the ground/sea, restraining one target within Close range (Luck save negates). Restrained targets take 1d6 damage/round and cannot breathe. Lasts 1d6 rounds.
•  Tidal Endurance: You or one ally within Close range gains resistance to all damage and advantage on death saves for 1d6 x 10 minutes. This can only be used once per long rest.
• Whispered Secrets: Learn one secret about a creature/object/NPC within Far range (GM reveals via visions in water). Must be able to submerge your head in seawater.
• Watery Death: Target within Medium range coughs seawater (Will save or 2d6 damage + stunned 1 round; repeat each round until save).
• Pearl of Hidden Lore: Conjure a black pearl granting advantage on one Arcane/Divine/General Lore check. Shatters after use.
• Chaos Tide Surge: Wave (Medium cone) knocks prone and deals 2d8 bludgeoning (Dex save half). Fills area with difficult terrain water for 1 minute.

Sacred Lore

At 1st level you have a detailed knowledge of religions. You may roll against Will rather than Int on checks relating to Divine Lore, holy or unholy, including deities, undead, demons, and elemental pacts of Chaos/Law (especially watery lords like Pyaray or Straasha).

Child of the Gods

At 2nd level you are blessed by your patron, increasing your maximum Luck by 1 point.

UNIQUE FEATURE

At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, you gain a Unique Feature. See p.15 and 45. (Suggestions: 3rd—Gills for underwater breathing; 6th—Command drowned undead minions; 9th—Immunity to drowning/pressure.)

NEW SKILL

At 2nd, 5th, and 8th level, you gain one new skill (the skill need not be on your class list).

Second Attack

At 5th level, when you use an action to attack, you make two attacks instead of one. If Two Weapon Fighting, you don’t get a second Extra attack (p.80).

Church Militant

By 7th level, divine providence guides your hand to strike true, expanding your crit range to 19-20.

Beyond 9th Level

If you survive this long, you retire as High Priest of the Abyssal Throne in a sunken temple amid coral-encrusted ruins, commanding fleets of ghost ships and zealots who drown empires in the name of the Drowned God.