The first thing to decide when making a diabolist are the circumstances that led your character to seek out unholy alliances: are they destined to bring balance to the forces of good and evil, driven to do whatever they must to become rich, or tricked to stray into the depths of depravity? Have they any remorse for the horrendous acts they perform in exchange for power? While your diabolist is undoubtedly evil, is there any good still within the corruption overtaking their soul?
Is your character a force of chaos that imposes their will on lawful servants, a slave master of chaotic entities, or devoted only to their goals and working with whatever allies they can conjure? Do they seek to inspire fear or attempt to blend in with the sheep of society? Perhaps most importantly, how do they plan to save their soul from the ultimate end of their bargains with the powerful creatures that act as their lackeys—or have they fallen too far to care?
As a diabolist you gain the following class features.
Hit Dice: 1d8 per diabolist level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per diabolist level after 1st
Weapons: Simple weapons
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose three from Arcana, Culture, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Persuasion, and Religion
Tools: Ceremonial relics
You begin the game with 110 gold which you can spend on your character’s starting weapons and adventuring gear. You can select your own gear or choose one of the following equipment packages. Also consult the Suggested Equipment section of your chosen background. You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background.
TABLE: DIABOLIST
| LEVEL | PROFICIENCY BONUS |
FEATURES | DIABOLIC GIFTS |
FIENDISH MASTERIES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Manifestations, Necromantic Touch, Protected Presence, Spellcasting | – | – |
| 2nd | +2 | Diabolic Resistance, Diabolic Strike, Ritualism | – | 1 |
| 3nd | +2 | Dark Path, Summon Thrall, Unholy Familiar | – | 1 |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Increase | – | 1 |
| 5th | +3 | Telepathic | 1 | 1 |
| 6th | +3 | Careful Conjuring, Dark Path | 1 | 2 |
| 7th | +3 | Brimstone Seed | 1 | 2 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Increase | 1 | 2 |
| 9th | +4 | Dark Path | 2 | 2 |
| 10th | +4 | Breathless, Diabolic Blood | 2 | 3 |
| 11th | +4 | Expanded Mind | 2 | 3 |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Increase, Dark Path | 2 | 3 |
| 13th | +5 | Scion of Evil | 3 | 3 |
| 14th | +5 | Diabolic Essence | 3 | 4 |
| 15th | +5 | Dark path | 3 | 4 |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Soul Increased | 3 | 4 |
| 17th | +6 | Unbound Soul | 4 | 4 |
| 18th | +6 | Dark Path | 4 | 5 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Increase | 4 | 5 |
| 20th | +6 | Master of Evil | 4 | 5 |
TABLE: DIABOLIST MAGIC
| LEVEL | NECROMANTIC TOUCH |
DIABOLO POINTS |
MANIFESTATIONS KNOWN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1d8 | 3 | 2 |
| 2nd | 1d8 | 4 | 2 |
| 3nd | 1d8 | 5 | 3 |
| 4th | 1d8 | 6 | 3 |
| 5th | 2d8 | 8 | 4 |
| 6th | 2d8 | 9 | 4 |
| 7th | 2d8 | 10 | 5 |
| 8th | 2d8 | 11 | 5 |
| 9th | 3d8 | 13 | 5 |
| 10th | 3d8 | 14 | 6 |
| 11th | 3d8 | 15 | 6 |
| 12th | 3d8 | 16 | 7 |
| 13th | 4d8 | 18 | 7 |
| 14th | 4d8 | 19 | 8 |
| 15th | 4d8 | 20 | 8 |
| 16th | 4d8 | 21 | 9 |
| 17th | 5d8 | 23 | 9 |
| 18th | 5d8 | 24 | 10 |
| 19th | 5d8 | 25 | 10 |
| 20th | 5d8 | 26 | 10 |
Starting at 1st level you begin summoning creatures from outside the Material Plane only briefly and for very specific tasks, doing so by drawing on the measure of power garnered through the fell pacts you’ve made.
Diaboli Points. You receive a number of diaboli points determined by your diabolist level. These are expended to power your manifestations and summon thralls. Expended diaboli points are restored at the end of a short or long rest. You are able to cast the find familiar spell as an action by expending 1 diaboli point.
You also learn 2 Manifestations powered by expending diaboli points. The number of Manifestations you know are listed in the Manifestations Known column of the Diabolist Magic table. Whenever you gain a diabolist level you may swap one Manifestation you know for a new Manifestation.
The full list of Manifestations with descriptions can be found here.
Also at 1st level you can bring forth energy antithetical to life but revitalizing to the forces of evil. You can use an action to make a melee spell attack, dealing 1d8 necrotic damage to a living creature on a hit. If you kill a creature using Necromantic Touch you gain a number of necro hit points equal to the damage dealt with the killing blow. Whenever you take damage you reduce your necro hit points first then your regular hit points. Necro hit points stack and you may gain a maximum number of necro hit points equal to double your diabolist level. When you target your thrall with this feature instead of dealing damage it regains a number of hit points equal to the necrotic damage it would take.
At 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level the necrotic damage increases by 1d8.
Also at 1st level you either learn how to don armor for your defense or how to extend your powers around yourself to fray attacks. Choose one of the following.
You gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, and shields.
While you are not wearing any armor or using a shield your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier.
Also at 1st level you learn three cantrips of your choice from the cleric and wizard spell lists or the evil or vile schools of magic (page @@). You learn one additional cantrip at 5th level, 10th level, 15th level, and 20th level.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your diabolist spells, since you draw your spells from a dark connection in your soul with things from the beyond. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a diabolist spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
You may use either an arcane focus or a divine focus as a spellcasting focus for your diabolist spells.
Beginning at 2nd level your corporeal form becomes more durable against the powers wielded by the creatures you force to do your bidding. Choose one of the following.
Toxins struggle to take hold in your body. You gain resistance to poison damage, immunity to ongoing poison damage, and advantage on saving throws made against poison.
Flames are able to harm you but you won’t ignite. You gain resistance to fire damage and immunity to ongoing fire damage.
Also at 2nd level you channel more unholy power into your strikes, adding your Charisma modifier (whichever is higher) to your Necromantic Touch.
You may choose not to add an ability score modifier to the damage of your Necromantic Touch to instead inflict a condition, forcing a creature hit by it to make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save the target is blinded or deafened for a number of rounds equal to your diabolist level. The creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. You may attempt to inflict a condition a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, after which you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Also at 2nd level you are able to cast any ritual spell as a ritual so long as the spell level is equal to or less than half your diabolist level. You may only cast a number of ritual spells equal to your proficiency bonus before requiring a long rest to cast more ritual spells.
The evil pacts you’ve made with lesser creatures have their limitations and eventually you find their gifts lacking, leaving your lust for power to drive you to find darker entities to make your allies. At 3rd level you choose to focus your studies on either the summoning of ephemeral undead and demons, corporeal unlife and devils, or oozes and things from Beyond which defy understanding.
As your diabolist level increases you learn to summon more potent creatures determined by your Dark Path.
Starting at 3rd level you learn to summon lesser creatures to do your bidding. At first these thralls are undead creatures as all diabolists dabble in necromancy, but inevitably acquaintances are made with daemons, demons, and devils.
Summoning a thrall takes an entire turn during which you do not take any movement or other actions (including reactions) and expend diaboli points equal to the amount listed for the creature. If you take damage while summoning a thrall, a concentration check is required or the thrall dies in transition. You summon a thrall that appears in an unoccupied space that you can see within range. Once summoned a thrall remains on the Material Plane until it has taken an amount of damage equal to its hit points, you dismiss it as a reaction, or the thrall travels more than 500 feet from you. If a thrall suffers a critical hit you must succeed on a concentration check to maintain your connection to it or you lose control of the creature (at the Narrator’s discretion it may attack an ally, but never you). A thrall is friendly to you but not necessarily your companions—the holier the ally the less like it is to be friendly. Roll initiative for your thrall which has its own turn. It obeys any verbal (or telepathic) command that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to it, the thrall defends itself from hostile creatures, but otherwise takes no actions.
A thrall with Innate Spellcasting can cast a number of spells equal to the diaboli points you spent to summon it, but afterward you must expend a number of diaboli points equal to half a spell’s level (minimum 1) to have a thrall use its Innate Spellcasting.
As you gain levels in this class you’ll be able to conjure stronger thralls, but at first you are only able to summon a cacodaemon, jawmaw, skeleton, or zombie. Summoning one of these basic thralls requires 2 diaboli points. You may only have one summoned thrall at a time, and you cannot have both a familiar and a thrall at the same time.
Also at 3rd level the familiar you summon is undead. It gains darkvision 60 feet, resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks, immunity to necrotic and poison damage, and immunity to the charmed, fatigued, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, rattled, and strife conditions.
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Starting at 5th level you gain telepathy to a range of 30 feet and when using telepathy with your thrall the range increases to 60 feet. In addition, you gain darkvision 60 feet (or if you already have darkvision its range increases by 30 feet) and you are able to see through magical darkness.
At 6th level your acumen with the tools of your trade make the work of summoning through normal means much easier. Whenever you cast a conjure spell (such as conjure animals) using rapid summoning, you can make a DC 15 ceremonial relics check as part of the casting. On a success you reduce the time to cast the spell by 1 action (minimum 2 actions).
At 7th level you learn to conjure a creature to serve as your mount. You can expend 2 diaboli points to cast find steed.
In addition, at 11th level you can expend 12 diaboli points to summon a nightmare as your thrall.
Starting at 10th level your body becomes even more infused with the fell powers you channel. You no longer need to breathe. You gain advantage on saving throws against spells and effects that come from dangerous gasses.
Also at 10th level you gain immunity to poison.
Beginning at 11th level the range of your telepathy increases to 60 feet, or 120 feet if communicating with your thrall. The range of your darkvision increases to 120 feet.
Starting at 13th level you gain advantage on saving throws against undead. You also gain advantage on saving throws made against either fiends (if a Demonist or Infernalist) or aberrations and oozes (if Voidfallen).
At 14th level gaining mastery over unholy and unnatural powers deadens their effects on you. You gain resistance to necrotic damage.
Beginning at 17th level the range of your telepathy increases to 120 feet. As long as your thrall is on the same plane of existence you can communicate with it using your telepathy.
At 20th level you gain immunity to necrotic damage. You also learn the true name of your most powerful thrall: either a chain devil (if Infernalist), cloaker (if Voidborn), hezrou (if Demonist), or a skeletal tyrannosaurus rex or vengeful ghost (if Psychopomp). You may spend 100 gold in materials throughout an hour-long ritual to summon this thrall, or you may expend 10 diaboli points to summon it.
Once per month you can perform a ritual requiring 500 gold and 1d4 + 1 hours to summon a more powerful thrall of the type associated with your archetype, but this may be met with a celestial response by the powers of good (at the Narrator’s discretion).
In addition, for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus you do not take energy damage from an environmental effect of a plane that is not your own (usually the Material Plane). You can expend 1 diaboli point to increase the duration of this feature to a number of minutes equal to your proficiency bonus. Afterward it can be extended by 1 hour per additional spent diaboli point.
When you gain access to a new diabolical gift, choose one of the following. Some gifts have requirements, such as minimum diabolist level or another gift. You must meet those requirements before you choose that gift.
The full list of Diabolical Gifts with descriptions can be found here.
When you gain access to a new fiendish mastery, choose one of the following. Some masteries have requirements, such as minimum diabolist level or another mastery. You must meet those requirements before you choose that mastery.
The full list of Fiendish Masteries with descriptions can be found here.