Sometimes the inevitable happens and your story simply ends. Instead of going our with a whimper, you might still have a saying on what will remains of your legacy.
At any point while you are dying, before you roll a death saving throw, you may opt to instead choose one of the options below. General actions can be used by all player characters, while others are class specific. At the end of this action your character falls dead. No effect can prevent this death and no method of resurrection can bring your character back to life.
General Actions
Last Words
You have just enough strength to deliver your final words. Creatures of your choice within 60 feet gain a full stack of
Inspiration. For the next 90 days, whenever they complete a long rest, their inspiration stack is full once again.
Parting Gift
You entrust a personal weapon or item to your comrades, imbuing it with your final wishes. The item becomes a magic item of your choice, appropriate for your level as determined by the GM. The new item must be similar to the original; a sword cannot become a bow, for example. If the item was already magic, its potency is increased by one level, if applicable. E.g. a +1
longsword becomes a +2 longsword. If the item requires attunement. you may attune it to a creature within 60 feet who is able and willing to be attuned to it.
Heroic Sacrifice
you may choose to make the ultimate sacrifice. By bleeding out and burning out your very soul, you immediately lose all the conditions the are currently affecting you, heal to maximum health, regain all short and long rest abilities and restore all expended spell slots. You immediately take a full turn and may interrupt another creature's action as you do so. Every attack you make automatically scores a critical hit. Every saving throw you provoke automatically fails and any skill check succeeds.
Artificer
Magnum Opus
You've been working on it for years, maybe even decades. Your greatest creation. You never got the chance to use it, but hopefully it will serve your friends well. You create a magic item of your choice. Select one item from chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. With the GM's permission, you may select one from another source, or even design your own. The item's maximum rarity depends on your artificer level. Uncommon at levels 1-2. Rare at levels 3-9. Very rare at 10-15. And legendary at 16-20.
As part of this action, you may pass the item to a creature you can see within 30 feet. If the item requires attunement, the creature may opt to become instantly attuned (if they're eligible to be attuned to it).
Meltdown
You decide to go out with a bang. Literally. By pulling a hidden string, pushing a button or setting off a switch, you mix your entire collection of alchemical and magical ingredients, together with a whole lot of black powder.
As your body explodes in a flash of light that rivals a small sun in brightness, Creatures within 50 feet must make a Dexterity saving throw. They take 2d6 thunder damage per artificer level, or half on a successful save. Creatures within 15 feet also take 2d10 fire damage per artificer level, or half on a save. This ability completely demolishes any structure within 15 feet, and may cause significant damage beyond that.
Barbarian
Over My Dead Body
With a final surge, you leap in front of your friends, taking the blow for them. And even after death, your spirit continues to watch over them. This action is triggered when an ally within 40 feet of you would suffer harm. You intercept the danger completely, causing any creatures of your choice to be totally unaffected by it.
Creatures saved this way gain temporary hit points equal to three times your barbarian level, and advantage on saving throws for the next 24 hours.
Undying Rage
Even in death, you fight on. Far beyond what should be possible for a mortal. You regain consciousness, and all of your hit points. You immediately stand up and begin raging, even if you had no uses of your rage left. You have advantage on all saving throws you make, and once per turn can end any one condition affecting you as a free action. You can move as normal, but can only take the Attack action during your turn. You continue this berserker rage until you are reduced to 0 hit points, or until your rage ends.
Bard
Grand Finale
This is it! The big one. One last hurrah! You regain consciousness and half your maximum hit points. Any negative conditions affecting you immediately end. For the next minute, you have advantage on all skill checks and saving throws. You die when the minute ends, or when you run out of hit points.
Once during this time, after making an attack roll, you may turn the attack into a critical hit. Alternatively, after forcing a creature to make a saving throw, you may force it to fail. Doing so causes the affected creature to take the maximum possible damage (if any), but causes your time to immediately run out.
That's All She Wrote
You die as you lived: inspiring those around you. Challenging them to be better. Each player character present during your death permanently increases one of their ability scores by 1.
Cleric
Dying Wish
You spend the last of your strength focusing on one final prayer deemed worthy of answering and exchange your soul to safeguard one allies at the ultimate cost. Your body shines in a bright light, damaging all enemies for 1d6 radiant damage per cleric level, rendering them blind. For their next turn, your allies are immune to all sources of damage, has advantage on all saving throws and deal an additional 1d6 radiant damage per cleric level you have.
Guardian Angel
As your spirit departs your body, it ascends to the heavens, where it continues to keep watch over your friends. Whenever one of your party members takes damage or fails a saving throw, you may roll a d20. On a 10+, the damage is miraculously avoided, or the failed save turns into a pass. After successfully using this feature, you can't use it again until the target character finishes a long rest.
Druid
Return to the Soil
As you breathe your last, plants bloom all around you, and a great tree sprouts from your body. A beautiful garden forms, 100 feet in diameter. This counts as difficult terrain to creatures of your choice. Additionally, once per year, your tree bears 2d8 gleaming fruits. Player characters who eat the fruit have their maximum hit points increased by 2d4.
The Hunt
At the end of the round, an enormous pack of wild beasts arrive, howling and yammering, thirsting for blood. Carrying your body aloft, the pack acts on your turn, moving up to 50 feet. The tide of fur and fang is overwhelming; hostile creatures within 20 feet of your body count as being in difficult terrain. Additionally, you can make three spell attacks during your turn, targeting one or more creatures within this area. Each hit deals magical piercing damage equal to 1d8 per druid level (rounded up), and the target's speed is reduced by 10 until the end of its next turn.
The pack persists for 10 minutes, or until there are no hostile creatures within 500 feet. At the GM's discretion, attacking or damaging the pack might reduce its time remaining. When the pack disperses, there is no sign of your body.
Fighter
Remember To Keep Your Shield Up...
You impart a final piece of wisdom to your friends. Hopefully it's enough to keep them safe. Each creature in your party gains a permanent +1 bonus to AC. This is applied after all other AC bonuses and modifiers.
They'll Tell Stories About This Day
You don't have time to be lying around, dying. If those are to be your last moments, you're going to make them count. You immediately take a turn as though you were alive and uninjured, and can use your Action Surge even if you couldn't normally use it. You are immune to all damage and conditions during this turn. You have advantage on all attack rolls and strength checks, and roll three dice instead of two, choosing the best result. Creatures have disadvantage on saving throws you force them to make. If you hit a creature more than once, all attacks that land after the first one are considered critical hits.
Monk
Strength Of A Thousand
The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Your own flame is about to be snuffed. Far better, then, to go out in a blaze of glory. You stand up, regaining half your maximum hit points and ki points. You life ends after 1 minute, or when your hit points reach 0.
You move so fast you seem to be in several places at once, a blur of striking limbs and parried blows. On each of your turns you can take either a second action or a second bonus action. Additionally, you can move through enemies' spaces, and cannot be hit by attacks of opportunity.
Transcendence
You have mastered your fear of death, and leave behind your mortal form willingly. As you ascend, you reach out and touch the souls of those around you, unlocking their true potential.
Each player character present gains 1 ki point. These can be spent to use one of the monk class features Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, or Step of the Wind. When a character uses Flurry of Blows this way, they may choose to deal 1d4 + their Strength or Dexterity modifier, instead of their normal unarmed damage. Spent ki points are recovered at the end of a long or short rest.
Paladin
Armageddon
Calling on your divine powers one last time, your body fills with holy energies. Glowing with a blinding light, you stand up and move up to twice your speed. Then you unleash the smite to end all smites. All enemies within 60 feet must make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. A creature takes 2d8 radiant damage per paladin level on a failed save, or half as much on a success. When the light fades and the dust settles, there is no sign of your body.
Eternal Guardian
You make a final oath, one that the universe itself cannot prevent you from fulfilling. You speak a word of power of your choice, binding every ally around you with a holy promise of protection or vengeance.
As an action, or as a reaction to being hit by a melee attack, an ally that witnessed you die may call upon you. When they do, a ghostly specter of your former self appears in the unoccupied space nearest to them, blocking one imminent attack. The player can then direct your specter to move and take a single action, as though controlling a normal character. It is armed with a single melee weapon it used in life, dealing 2d8 radiant damage, plus 1d8 for every 3 levels the ally who summoned you has. After using this ability, it cannot be used again by anyone else for 2d10 days.
Ranger
From Hell's Heart I Stab At Thee
You move up to your speed, and then make a single weapon attack against a creature in range. You have advantage on this attack, and may draw or pick up weapons and ammunition as part of the move. On a hit, if the target has fewer hit points remaining than 10 times your ranger level, it is slain. On a miss, or if the target is not slain, then your attack becomes a regular critical hit instead. If the target is a large creature or bigger, the attack automatically succeeds.
You'll Always Be Our Guide
You can't be there to guide them anymore. But they'll always remember the advice you left them. Each player character who journeyed with you selects a skill that you have proficiency in. They permanently gain proficiency with that skill.
Rogue
The Long Con
You've done it. You've fooled them all into thinking you're dead. Even your companions. Funny, you think you might actually miss them. Your character escapes, alive and well and completely undetected. However, he will now be supporting the party in a way he couldn't while he was with them, pulling strings from the shadows. The character becomes a secretive NPC controlled by the GM and the player, remaining an ally of the group.
When you create a new character it gains the
Lucky feat. Almost as if some mysterious benefactor was helping them out. Additionally, at any later point, you may declare that your rogue character suddenly reappears, ready to save the day. How they do so is up to the GM, though they have have significant resources at their disposal. They can only help out this way once. After they do so, their debt to your party and to your new character is forfeited and your character loses the Lucky feat.
Yippee Ki-Yay
You have one final sneak attack up your sleeve. Saved the best for last. While mortally wounded you manage to sneak and move up to your speed. You can then choose up to 3 targets you can see within 30 feet and make a single attack roll with advantage. If the attack hits, you multiply the number of your sneak attack dice by 4 times and increase the die size by 1. You also render the first target you hit
incapacitated until the start of their next turn.
Sorcerer
Power, Overwhelming
You finally cut loose, letting your magic run wild. So much power! You can do anything! You're invincible! You regain consciousness, and can no longer be harmed or incapacitated. Additionally, you recover all your spell slots and sorcery points, and you gain a fly speed of 20 feet.
At the end of each of your turns, roll 1d4. On a 1, you lose control of your magic and are consumed by it, rolling on the
wild magic table with the highest severity. You die, and are replaced by a vortex of power, following the rules for the
Storm Sphere spell. It is cast as if with your highest level spell slot (minimum 5th), and does not require concentration. On your initiative, it emits a lightning bolt as if you had spent a bonus action, but the target is selected randomly.
Power, Controlled
For the first time, you manage to completely control your magic. Too late to save you, but you can save your friends. You regain your three highest level spell slots, and immediately use them to cast up to 3 different spells. They must have a casting time of 1 action or 1 bonus action. You ignore any required components. The selected spells can be any spells from the sorcerer spell list, though their level cannot be higher than the slot you cast them with. Spells with a range of self may be cast on a willing creature you can see within 30 feet.
You die immediately after casting these spells. If any of them require concentration, you count as concentrating on them for their full duration or until they are dispelled.
Warlock
Chain Of The Pact
Unforgiving of your failures, your patron punishes you by transforming you into a wretched little familiar. When you create a new character it gains the
Find Familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual. The familiar summoned by this feature is your previous warlock character, trapped in a new body. They retain their memories and personality, but replace their previous abilities and attributes with their new form's. Its size must be tiny.
My Death Is Only The Beginning
Death is but a door. Time is but a window. You'll be back. Your physical body is destroyed. But traces of your spirit still linger about your allies. Conduits from which your power can manifest. When an allied player character damages a creature, you may mark the creature with an aura of doom. For the next minute, if its hit points are ever less than or equal to twice the triggering character's level, then a phantasmal apparition of your warlock appears. It tears out the creature's life force, slaying it instantly, before returning to whatever horrible dimension it came from. After marking a creature this way, you can't mark a creature again until the triggering character finishes a long rest.
Wizard
Death Curse
You use your own life force as fuel for one final spell. Select a spell from the wizard spell list with a casting time of 1 action or 1 bonus action and up to 2 levels higher than your highest known spell. You cast the spell immediately, as though you were conscious, and ignore any component requirements. It is cast using a spell slot 2 levels higher than your highest spell slot. you require no concentration to maintain it for its full duration.
Mentor's Wisdom
The time has come to leave your friends. But you leave them better off than when you found them. Each player character you've journeyed with increases their
Intelligence,
Wisdom, or
Charisma ability score, whichever is lowest, by 2. In the event of a tie, the player chooses between the lowest ability scores.
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