THE BINDER CLASS The classic magic class that binds itself to vestiges—beings trapped beyond life, death, and undeath, summoned by drawing their mystic seals—is now updated and expanded for fifth edition. Includes four distinct subclasses along with details of 45 vestiges, more than a dozen of which appear for the first time in vestige form herein! Nearly 100 pages of richly detailed lore and magically granted abilities drawing on source material from every D&D edition and incorporating elements and history from the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Ravnica, Theros, the Inner and Outer Planes, and the Far Realm! Individual vestiges magically grant a wide array of powers: martial, skill-based, spell-like, sensory, resistance, immunity, and more! The class lets you swap out one set of powers for another each day when your pact with a vestige expires and you summon and bind a new one, allowing for incredible versatility and modular game mechanics. by Christopher M. Cevasco Bibliography The following Dragon articles also provided inspiration: • Cordell, Bruce R. "Gontal: Dominions of Nehu." Dragon 375 The material herein draws significant inspiration from (May 2009). the following third-edition (v.3.5) sources: • Cordell, Bruce R. and Ed Greenwood. "Gontal." Dragon 366 • Elder Evils (2007) (Aug 2008). • tome of magic (2006) • Greenwood, Ed. "The Enchanting Incantatrix." Dragon 90 (Oct Along with the core fifth- and third-edition sourcebooks, 1984). the following books provided additional inspiration: • Walker, Jason M. "Magic with an Evil Bite." Dragon 184 (Aug 1992). • Al-Qadim: Land of Fate (1992) • Winter, Jon. "The Ecology of the Neogi." Dragon 214 (Feb 1995). • Al-Qadim: Ruined Kingdoms (1994) • Baldur's gate: Descent into Avernus (2019) Art Credits • Deities and Demigods (1980) • Eberron: Rising from the last war (2019) ON THE COVER: • Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008) Divination by Russian artist Sergey Solomko (1867 - 1928) • Guildmasters' guide to ravnica (2018) Illustration on page 48 modifies a public domain image by • Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018) OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay. • Mythic Odysseys of Theros (2020) Apart from images obtained through DMs Guild Creator Resource • Secrets of Sarlona (2007) artpacks, all other illustrations and artworks herein are in the • Serpent Kingdoms (2004) public domain or alterations thereof. • Sword Coast adventurer's guide (2015) • Tales from the Yawning Portal (2017) The page backgrounds are from Cole Twogood's old paper resource • Volo's Guide to Monsters (2016) available at DMs Guild. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica, Theros, and all other Wizards of the Coast product names and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. SampleThis work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such materialfile is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Christopher M. Cevasco and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Ka'jz'zxl, Life from Death ........................................55 Contents Karsus, Hubris in the Blood ..................................57 Kyuss, the Worm that Walks................................. 58 Leraje, the Green Herald ........................................60 Foreword .............................................................................2 Malphas, the Turnfeather....................................... 61 Binder ...................................................................................3 Marchosias, King of Killers ...................................63 Vestigial Powers ............................................................3 Naberius, the Grinning Hound ............................64 Seals and Summoning ...............................................3 Nehushta, Ghost in the Machine ........................65 Bound Together ............................................................4 Orthos, Sovereign of the Howling Dark ...........67 Creating a Binder .........................................................5 Paimon, the Dancer ..................................................68 Binders as Adventurers .........................................5 Pandorym, Annihilation Stayed .........................70 Attitude Toward Vestiges ......................................5 Ronove, the Iron Maiden ........................................72 Quick Build ................................................................6 Savnok, Theran Instigator .....................................73 Optional Rule: Multiclassing ..............................6 Sertrous, Vanguard of Will ....................................75 Class Features ................................................................6 Shax, Sea Sister ..........................................................77 Binder Archetypes .....................................................10 Tenebrous, the Shadow that Was .......................78 Anima Mage ............................................................10 The Lost One ...............................................................80 Knight of the Sacred Seal ...................................12 Velshox, Tyrant of the Sun .....................................81 Soul Slayer ................................................................14 Void, the Mourned God ...........................................83 Tenebrous Apostate............................................... 15 Yog-Sothoth, the Key and the Gate .....................85 Zagan, Duchess of Disappointment................... 86 Vestige Descriptions ....................................................18 Acererak, the Devourer........................................... 20 Nonplayer Characters ................................................89 Agares, Truth Betrayed............................................ 22 Scion of Dantalion ....................................................89 Alaertha, Interstitial Nightstar ............................23 Tenebrous Apostate.................................................. 90 Amon, the Void Before the Altar .........................25 Vanguard Mage........................................................... 91 Andras, the Gray Knight .........................................26 Witch-Blade of Pandorym...................................... 92 Andromalius, the Repentant Rogue ...................27 Atropus, the World Born Dead .............................29 Foreword Aym, Queen of Avarice............................................ 30 The binder class made its first appearance in Balam, the Bitter Angel ...........................................32 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS third edition (v.3.5) as a Buer, Grandmother Huntress ...............................33 practitioner of pact magic detailed in Tome of Chupoclops, Harbinger of Forever .....................34 Magic (2006) along with five related so-called Dahlver-Nar, the Tortured One ............................35 prestige classes and details of thirty-two ves- Dantalion, the Star Emperor ................................36 tiges. Drawing heavily upon that guide, the binder class presented herein is fully integra- Dune-Brood, Nephilim of Dust............................. 37 ted with fifth edition rules and mechanics and Eligor, Dragon's Slayer ............................................39 includes four subclass archetypes inspired by Eurynome, Mother of the Material ...................40 the earlier prestige classes. Father Llymic, Glacial Thought ...........................42 Nearly all of the original vestiges are inclu- Focalor, Prince of Tears ..........................................44 ded herein and have been updated, expanded, Gith, She Who Awaits ..............................................45 and reconciled with fifth-edition lore. Details of Haagenti, Mother of Minotaurs ..........................46 more than a dozen new vestiges have also been added, drawing upon legendary entities from Halphax, the Angel in the Angle .........................48 Sampleacross all D&D editions fileand incorporating lore Haures, the Dreaming Duke .................................50 from the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Ravnica, il-Lashtavar, the Darkness that Dreams ...........51 Theros, the Inner and Outer Planes, and the Ipos, Prince of Fools ..................................................53 Far Realm! Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. sess that key, having learned the vestiges' indi- vidual seals and the special rituals by which they might be called forth from the void. By drawing the seal and speaking the proper words, a binder summons these entities, strikes bar- gains with them, and binds them to service. Vestigial Powers Binders are practitioners of a specialized form of Pact Magic—distinct from but related to the type of magic used by warlocks. A binder gains supernatural powers by bargaining with the souls of remote entities called vestiges— remnants of once-living beings that have become trapped beyond the normal boundaries of life and death. Vestiges dwell in regions that are wholly unreachable, the very manner of their existence incomprehensible to mortals and gods alike. Distant as they are from reality, most vestiges are driven toward