The Parasite

You have bonded, mind and body, with a rare and enigmatic being that calls your body home, whether you like it or not. Its origins are unknown; perhaps it came from a vat of biomantic mut-x, the nightmares of an astral projector, or a subterranean pool of primordial ooze. Survival is its watchword and you are its host.

Expanded Spell List

At 1st level, the Parasite 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.

Spell Level	Spells
1st	Heroism, Sanctuary
2nd	Enhance Ability, Enlarge/Reduce
3rd	Haste, Spirit Guardians
4th	Evard's Black Tentacles, Freedom of Movement
5th	Contagion, Dominate Person

Parasitic Weapon

At 1st level, your patron can manifest on and protrude from your body in the form of a parasitic weapon—claws, teeth, tendrils, or other appendages. As a bonus action, you can manifest this parasitic weapon; you gain a new attack option that you can use when you take the Attack action on your turn. This special attack is a melee spell attack, with a reach equal to five times your proficiency bonus. The attack deals 1d12 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage on a hit (your choice when you manifest the weapon). You don’t add your ability modifier to the damage of the parasitic weapon.

The parasitic weapon retracts back into your body if you are incapacitated or you use a bonus action to end it.

Parasitic Flurry. The number of attacks you can make with your parasitic weapons when you take the Attack action on your turn increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to two attacks at 5th level, three attacks at 11th level, and four attacks at 17th level. If you have another feature that allows you to make multiple attacks as part of the Attack action (such as Extra Attack), making any of those extra attacks each replace one of these parasitic weapon attacks.

Magical Weapons. Starting at 6th level, your attacks with your parasitic weapon count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Opportunity Attacks & Parasitic Weapon

This parasitic weapon can’t be used for opportunity attacks; it specififies that it is only usable when you take the Attack action. Opportunity attacks are made using reactions. Opportunity attacks with a 30-foot-reach weapon would be hard to keep track of!

Symbiotic Reinforcement

Also at 1st level, invested in your survival, your patron manifests in protective ways. You can use your Charisma modifier in place of your Strength modifier when making Strength saving throws. In addition, as a bonus action, you can cause your patron to manifest in your free hand as a shield, with which you are proficient. This shield disappears if you are incapacitated or if you dismiss it as a bonus action. When you reach 10th level in this class, this shield increases your AC by 3 instead of 2.

Liquefied Body

At 6th level, as a bonus action, you can transform your body into a viscous, liquid form for 10 minutes. You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space or merges into your new form. For the duration, you can squeeze through a space as narrow as 6 inches wide, and moving through difficult terrain costs you no extra movement. After you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Birth Parasite

Also at 6th level, over the course of 1 minute, you can extrude an independent piece of your patron, causing it to manifest in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. This parasite acts as a familiar, as if with the Find Familiar spell. See this creature’s game statistics in the parasitic ooze stat block below, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places.

If you have the Pact of the Chain feature, the parasite counts as a familiar for you for the purpose of applying any benefits from that feature or your invocations.

If you have the Pact of the Chain feature, the parasite counts as a familiar for you for the purpose of applying any benefits from that feature or your invocations.

After you birth a parasite, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest. If you use this feature while you already have a parasite, the previous one dissolves in a puddle of goo.

Transmit Parasite

Starting at 10th level, you learn new ways to use your parasitic ooze to aid your friends or harm your foes. As a bonus action while your parasitic ooze isn’t incapacitated, you can command it to immediately use one of the options below.

Detonate Ooze. The ooze moves up to its speed and then explodes, causing it to drop to 0 hit points. Each creature within 10 feet of the ooze must make a Dexterity saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d6 necrotic damage and is blinded until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn’t blinded.

Symbiote’s Ward. The ooze moves up to its speed and attaches to the body of a willing creature within 5 feet of it. While attached in this way, the ooze is incapacitated, has a speed of 0 feet, and you can communicate telepathically with the creature it’s attached to, whether or not you share a common language. Whenever the creature the ooze is attached to takes damage, the ooze takes the damage instead. As a bonus action, you can command the ooze to detach from the creature.

Virulent Form

When you reach 14th level, your patron allows you to unleash a modicum of its true power as it envelops your form. As an action, you can gain the following benefits for 1 minute:

• You grow in size by one category—from Medium to Large, for example. If you lack the room to grow, your size doesn’t change.
  
• You gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) at the start of each of your turns.
  
• The damage dice of your parasitic weapon increases to 2d8.
  
• Your parasitic weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
  
• Whenever you take damage from a creature within your parasitic weapon’s reach, you can use your reaction to make an attack with the parasitic weapon against that creature.
  

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Parasitic Ooze

Tiny ooze, unaligned

Armor Class: 8 + PB (Natural Armor)

Hit Points: 5 + three times your warlock level

Speed: 5 + 5 x PB ft , climb: 5 + 5 x PB ft

STR

11 +0

DEX

6 -2

CON

16 +3

INT

7 -2

WIS

10 +0

CHA

5 -3

Saving Throws: Dex -2 plus PB, Con +3 plus PB

Skills: Stealth -2 + 2 x PB

Damage Resistances: necrotic

Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, prone

Senses: blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10

Languages: understands the languages you speak

Proficiency Bonus: equals your bonus

Amorphous. The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
False Appearance. While the ooze remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an oily pool or wet rock.
Spider Climb. The ooze can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Actions

Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 + PB bludgeoning damage

Invocations & Parasitic Weapon

If you are the GM, consider allowing invocations that have the eldritch blast cantrip as a prerequisite to also benefifit attacks the warlock makes with their parasitic weapon. For example, Repelling Blast would permit the parasitic weapon to push targets, while Agonizing Blast would allow the warlock to add their Charisma modififier to its damage rolls. However, take this with a pinch of salt; Eldritch Spear extends the weapon’s reach by a factor of 2.5 only, not 180 feet!

Flavouring Spells

Some of the spells in the Parasite Expanded Spells table have a divine flavour to them. Feel free to corrupt these to fit your parasitic patron! For example, sanctuary might be represented as part of your parasitic symbiont warding the target of your spell from damaging blows. Spirit guardians probably deals necrotic damage, even if you’re not evil, and could manifest as viscous threads of corrupting ichor that whirl around you with a mind of their own. If you’re especially into horror, you could even express dominate person as a part of your patron physically invading your target’s cranium through a nostril!