Investigator A collage of diagrams, maps, and small items litters the wall, pinned with nails and connected by a spiderweb of colorful strings. An elf stands nearby, contemplating the mystery splayed out in front of her and readying her crossbow for work. A half-orc wearing a wide-brimmed hat leafs through a thick tome, double-checking the preparations: a sturdy net trap, holy symbols on the doors, cloves of garlic, and several dozen wooden stakes. The preparations made, the half-orc slinks into the shadows and readies himself for the bloodshed. Hastily tracing symbols in chalk, a human wearing a long coat whirls about in a wide arc, completing a rough magic circle in mere seconds. A monstrously fat demon, blood dripping with its drool, lunges at him, but instead impacts off an invisible magical barrier, a cylinder raised from the circle’s edge. The fiend howls with rage, and the inquisitor breathes a sigh of relief. Supernatural detectives and monster slayers, investigators are always on the hunt for malevolent outsiders. Whenever evil seeps into the world—be it fiends, undead, or strange abominations from beyond the stars—investigators will be the first to locate them and banish their foul corruption from the mortal plane. Paranormal Investigators There are forces more ancient than time, foes more sinister than the foulest men, and beings more titanic than gods. The world stands at a precipice of woe and terror, being threatened nightly by dark agents and hordes of monsters. At risk to their own lives and sanities, investigators penetrate the evil that creeps in the shadows and banish it from the world. Their battles are never-ending, for victory only delays doomsday another night. Investigators track supernatural threats ranging from incorporeal spirits, to nefarious vampires and lycanthropes, to incursions of demons and devils. Often in their investigations, they often uncover secret cults and maligned individuals who bring these supernatural threats to bear. It is always their goal to impede these evildoers by any means necessary, resorting to trickery, guile, magic, and bloodshed when necessary. To an investigator, no tactic is unthinkable when the world is at stake. Exorcists and Occultists Even as they strive to contain its influence from the world at large, investigators dabble in forbidden magic to give themselves an edge against supernatural threats. Prepared investigators keep a well-stocked grimoire of magical secrets, containing rituals, incantations, notes on monsters’ powers and weaknesses, recipes for poisons, and arcane diagrams—everything needed to confront their foes on an even footing. Even so, an investigator’s occupation is perilous. A grimoire might spell out a vampire’s fear of sunlight and aversion to silver, but it does little to hinder their fangs. Creating an Investigator As you build your investigator, consider what sort of supernatural threat first drove you to investigating and combating the occult. Did one of your family members strike a bargain with a fiend? Were you kidnapped by a cabal of vampires or a pack of lycanthropes? Did you stumble across evidence of an eldritch abomination, such as a Great Old One? The type of creature you first did battle with likely shaped your tools and methods later on. Did you apprentice under a seasoned monster hunter, learning the ropes of tracking a threat, uncovering its weaknesses, and setting a trap for it? Or did you strike out on your own, compiling your own grimoire from hard-earned research? Perhaps you learned everything about monster hunting from someone else’s grimoire, a masterwork containing an abridged library of occult knowledge and a lifetime of experience. It’s even possible that you signed a contract with a minor fiend and turned to supernatural investigation in a last-ditch effort to save your soul. Antiquarian Festooned with magical trinkets from every corner of the globe, antiquarians have a tool for every occasion: silver arrowheads for lycanthropes, heartwood stakes for vampires, blessed relics for fiends, and so on. As they expand their collections from piles of trinkets to veritable museums, they become adept historians and arcanists, familiar with the story of every magic item their care, as well how to use them in dire situations. ARTIFACT HISTORIAN Starting when you choose this specialty at 3rd level, you add the spell identify to your grimoire and never require material components to cast it. TRINKETS By 3rd level, you’ve collected a number of magical trinkets to help you collect and unravel profound arcane secrets. You can use the following trinkets: Hateful Arrowhead. You can cast the spell scorching ray or ray of enfeeblement once without using a spell slot or spell components. Mirrored Prism. You can cast the spell blur or mirror image , targeting yourself only, once without using a spell slot or spell components. Razortooth Bandages. You can cast the spell cure wounds or inflict wounds once without using a spell slot or spell components. This spell is cast as if using a spell slot of the level shown in the Ritual Level column of the Investigator table. RELICS By 6th level, you’ve secured a handful of priceless relics with rare and delicate enchantments. You can use one of the following relics, and regain the ability to use this feature when you finish a short or long rest. Antediluvian Dynamo. You can cast the spell fireball or lightning bolt once without using a spell slot or spell components. Lich’s Deathmask. You can cast the spell counterspell or dispel magic once without using a spell slot or spell components. Mortal Coil. You can cast the spell animate dead or revivify once without using a spell slot or spell components. Casting animate dead using this trinket causes all undead servants created by previous castings of the spell to revert to lifeless corpses. MAGIC ITEM COLLECTION Starting at 10th level, you maintain a vault of magic items, secured in an extradimensional space with an elaborate locking mechanism. You can produce one of these items, and change your selection each day when you finish a long rest. The item is your choice of the following: a carpet of flying , a cloak of the bat , a flame tongue , gauntlets of ogre power , an instant fortress , a ring of regeneration , a ring of telekinesis , a sun blade , or a wand of wonder . PHYLACTERY By 14th level, you’ve secured the crown jewel of your collection: a lich’s phylactery. Though the original owner’s soul has been expelled from this accursed artifact, it retains many of its unique properties. This magic item is always attuned to you and doesn’t count against your total number of attuned magic items. It has 5 charges, and regains 1d4 + 1 expended charges daily at dawn. You can expend one or more of these charges to use the following abilities: 1 Charge : You can cast the spell false life as a second level spell without expending spell slots or spell components. 1 Charge : You can use your bonus action to regain an expended use of your Trinkets. 2 Charges : As a reaction when you drop to 0 hit points, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. 3 Charges : Make a melee spell attack against creature within your reach. On a hit, the target takes 5d6 necrotic damage and you regain hit points equal to the total amount of necrotic damage dealt. Archivist Though most investigators fill their grimoires with hard-won knowledge borne from encounters with the supernatural threats, some prefer to do bookkeeping instead. Such archivists accrue knowledge, not trinkets, by spending untold hours digging through disparate tomes of occult knowledge and compiling them into encyclopedic texts on the supernatural. Through their research, archivists become academic masters of the arcane, and priceless reservoirs of obscure knowledge. TRINKET Starting when you choose this specialization at 3rd level, you’ve collected a powerful trinket to enhance your ritual magic: Archaic Scroll. You can perform a ritual spell with your Rushed Incantation feature without expending one of the feature’s uses. THESIS Also at 3rd level, you gain access to certain spells associated with your thesis. Pick one of the following subject areas for your thesis: Corpus, Ignis, Mortis, or Regis. You gain a list of associated thesis spells. Once you gain access to a thesis spell, it is added to your grimoire. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the investigator ritual list, the spell is nonetheless an investigator spell for you. You can use your action and expend a use of your Rushed Incantation feature to cast one of your thesis spells. Corpus Investigator Level Spells 1st jump, longstrider 2nd alter self, heat metal 3rd gaseous form, meld into stone Ignis Investigator Level Spells 1st burning hands, shatter 2nd gust of wind, scorching ray 3rd call lightning, wind wall Mortis Investigator Level Spells 1st bane, false life 2nd blindness/deafness, darkness 3rd revivify, vampiric touch Regis Investigator Level Spells 1st charm person, hideous laughter 2nd enthrall, suggestion 3rd dispel magic, hypnotic pattern ERUDITE SPELL By 6th level, you’ve mastered the difficult theory behind arcane propagation. When you cast a spell which forces a creature to make a saving throw to resist its effects, you can give one target of the spell disadvantage on its first saving throw against the spell. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. ENCYCLOPEDIC EXPERTISE Starting at 10th level, you can identify any arcane effect from memory. Whenever you witness a spell being cast or investigate a magical effect, you can always identify the spell that was cast, the magic item responsible, or the monster which produced the effect. However, this ability fails to identify spells, magic items, and monsters which are utterly unique or are otherwise not recorded in arcane texts. EIDETIC MEMORY At 14th level, you can effortlessly duplicate spells you see in the world. You can copy any ritual spell you see being cast into your grimoire. Moreover, you can precisely copy the exact motions of a spell’s casting to duplicate its effect. When you see a spell of 5th level or lower being cast, you can use your action and spend 1 use of your Rushed Incantation feature as an action to cast the spell yourself without spending a spell slot. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action, must not have expensive spell components, and must have taken place within the last minute to use this ability. Once you duplicate a spell in this way, you can’t duplicate it again until you finish a long rest. Detective Prowling at the edge of darkness, detectives chase down clues and pull on threads to unravel conspiracies which bring darkness into the world. Sometimes, this requires that you infiltrate a cult’s secret meetings, other times it calls on you to reconstruct a man’s last moments at a murder scene, but no matter what the mystery, you know that there is always an explanation. INVESTIGATOR'S HUNCH Starting when you choose this specialization at 3rd level, you can unravel even the toughest of mysteries. If you spend at least 10 minutes combing through documents and arranging clues, you can make an Intelligence check with advantage. TRINKETS By 3rd level, you’ve collected a number of magical trinkets to aid you in tracking supernatural creatures and unraveling mysteries. You can use the following trinkets: Glass Medallion. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell invisibility, targeting yourself only, once without using a spell slot or spell components. Fogstone Periapt. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell misty step once without using a spell slot or spell components. Skeleton’s Key. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell knock once without using a spell slot or spell components. PREDICTIVE INTUITION By 6th level, you can turn your skills at reconstructing events towards anticipating the next likely moment of a fight. As a bonus action, you can examine the movements of a creature you can see within 30 feet. You can choose to add 1d4 to your next attack roll targeting that creature before the start of your next turn, or you can choose to subtract 1d4 from the creature’s next attack roll against you before the start of your next turn. INTERROGATOR'S INSTINCT At 10th level, you are so accustomed to uncovering the truth that you can sense the intents behind someone’s voice. You can tell if a creature that you can hear speaking is charmed, possessed, or otherwise enchanted to speak against their will, and you have advantage on any ability check you make to determine if you hear a lie. POWER OF DEDUCTION Starting at 14th level, you can use your action to examine a creature you can see within 30 feet, taking note of innumerable details and making a lengthy string of logical deductions. For the next minute, you have advantage on Intelligence and Charisma checks you make to interact with this creature, and you have advantage on attack rolls against them. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Exterminator An exterminator suffers no monster to live. Trained in the art of slaying aberrations, fiends, and undead, you stand against evil where others falter, and draw your blade before others recognize a threat. Grand schemes and plots are less important than retribution against those monsters which stalk the night, and your thirst for such retribution is unquenchable. There is always another werewolf to be slain, another vampire to be staked, another demon to be banished; people rarely thank you, but you find satisfaction enough in your work. BONUS PROFICIENCIES Starting when you choose this specialization at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons and medium armor. TRINKETS By 3rd level, you’ve collected a number of magical trinkets to aid you in the elimination of monsters and other fiendish threats. You can use the following trinkets: Consecrated Whetstone. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell magic weapon once without using a spell slot or spell components. Gilded Dragon Scale. As a bonus action, you gain resistance to one damage type of your choice for a minute. Wyverntooth Necklace. When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can use your bonus action to activate this trinket, dealing an additional 2d6 acid damage to the creature. MONSTER SLAYER Beginning at 6th level, when you use the Attack action, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of once) and regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest. SILVERED EDGE Starting at 10th level, whenever you deal damage to a creature with a weapon attack, it can’t regain hit points until the start of your next turn. Additionally, when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, it can’t be raised as an undead creature nor be returned to life for 7 days. KILLER INSTINCT Starting at 14th level, you can use your Exploit Weakness feature twice on your turn, but can’t use it against the same target more than once. Inquisitor The church has long been the first line of defense against the tide of impending darkness. Yet, the clergy’s stubborn devotion to righteousness impedes them where it counts: you must sometimes be willing to do evil to counter evil. That’s where the inquisition comes in. As a righteous inquisitor of the faith, you are tasked with rooting out heresy, exorcising demons, and stamping out any sign of the occult, and are offered clemency for any action you take in the defense of the greater good. You may investigate anyone or anything you deem to be in line with the forces of evil, for you alone are a holy blade in the dark, the arbiter of your church. BONUS PROFICIENCIES Starting when you choose this specialization at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor. EXORCIST'S DOCTRINES Also at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Religion skill and add double your proficiency bonus to checks you make with it. TRINKETS By 3rd level, you’ve collected a number of magical trinkets to help you banish restless spirits and foul demonic forces. You can use the following trinkets: Alabaster Balm. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell lesser restoration once without using a spell slot or spell components. Hallowed Chalice. As a bonus action, you can utter a prayer and produce a volume of holy water from this cup sufficient to fill one flask. After 24 hours, this holy water becomes ordinary water. You can use this trinket 5 times before its power is expended. Reliquary of Doubt. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell detect thoughts once without using a spell slot or spell components. When casting the spell in this way, it can only detect thoughts which are associated with negative emotions, such as guilt, apprehension, regret, or melancholy. DIVINE STRIKE At 6th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d6 radiant damage to the target. ROTE PIETY Starting at 10th level, you command a mastery of divine magic seldom seen among the clergy. You can use your Opportunistic Piety feature three times, and regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest. EXCOMMUNICATION By 14th level, as an action, you can emblazon a creature you can see within 60 feet with a mark of religious condemnation. The target must succeed on your choice of a Constitution or Wisdom saving throw or be marked for the next minute. While marked, the creature can’t regain hit points or have advantage on any attack roll or ability check. Additionally, whenever the creature takes an action, it takes 2d6 radiant damage as the mark burns with radiant light. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest. Investigator features Expertise At 1st level, choose two of your skill proficiencies; your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies. At 6th level, you can choose two more of your proficiencies to gain this benefit. Ritualist You maintain a grimoire brimming with magical rituals, your most potent tools to defeat supernatural threats. GRIMOIRE At 1st level, you have a grimoire containing four 1st-level spells of your choice that have the ritual tag from any class’s spell list (the spells needn’t be from the same list). You can’t cast spells in your grimoire except as rituals, unless you’ve learned them by some other means. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can add an additional ritual spell from the Investigator Rituals list to your grimoire at no cost. The Ritual Level column on the Investigator table shows the maximum spell level you can add to your grimoire. Additionally, whenever you find a ritual spell on your adventures, you can add it to your grimoire if it is on the Investigator Rituals list of a level you can add to your grimoire. For each level of the spell, the transcription process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp for the rare inks needed to inscribe it. BONUS RITUALS As an investigator, you can treat specific spells as if they had the ritual tag, allowing you to add them to your grimoire and cast them as rituals. These spells are listed on the Investigator Rituals table to the right. SPELLCASTING ABILITY Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your ritual spells, since you master your spells through deduction and cunning. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, when you cast an investigator ritual or a spell offered to you by a feature in this class, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC and making an attack roll. Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier Myths and Legends At 2nd level, you are extremely adept at uncovering knowledge which pertains to eldritch threats and forgotten legends. You have advantage on Intelligence checks related to researching creatures, spells, and other ancient or secret lore. Rushed Incantation Beginning at 2nd level, you can hastily perform any ritual spell in your grimoire that has a casting time of 1 action, completing the ritual as a bonus action. If the ritual requires spell components worth 100 gp or less, you cast it without using spell components. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum once), and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. As you gain higher levels in this class, you can use this feature additional times. You can use it once more at 5th level (Intelligence modifier + 1), 9th level (Intelligence modifier + 2), 13th level (Intelligence modifier + 3), and 17th level (Intelligence modifier + 4). Occult Specialization At 3rd level, you choose a specialization, an area of expertise in handling eldritch threats. Your specialization choices are detailed at the end of the class description. Your specialization choice grants you features at 3rd level and then again at 6th, 10th, and 14th level. Investigators of all stripes share the broad goal of combating the occult, but their methods vary wildly. Some emphasize cutting down monsters and banishing demons, while others believe that uncovering secrets and compiling critical information is the surest method for eliminating supernatural threats. When an investigator gains enough experience, they can steer their approach, including their specific techniques they employ and the trinkets they carry, into an occult specialization, a school of thought for handling eldritch threats. Antiquarian - Festooned with powerful magical trinkets of all shapes and sizes Archivist - A scholar which collects scraps of ancient lore Detective - Chases down clues and unravels crimes with their impressive intellect Exterminator - Hunts down vampires, lycanthropes, and beasts which stalk the night Inquisitor - An agent of the church that performs exorcisms and roots out heresy Medium - Foretells events of the future using a magical connection to the dead Occultist - A magician borrowing spells from wizards and warlocks Spy - Infiltrates with perfect disguises and unmatched charm TRINKETS Investigators of each specialization also collect a number of supernatural trinkets. Once you use one of your trinkets, you can’t this feature again until you finish a short or long rest. As you gain higher levels in this class, you can use your trinkets additional times: You can use them once more at 5th level (2 uses), 11th level (3 uses), and 17th level (4 uses). Ability Score Improvement 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. Exploit Weakness Most supernatural creatures have some form of weakness, a gap in their armor that allows them to be defeated. Starting at 5th level, once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, it is treated as if it has vulnerability to the weapon’s damage. Vulnerability from this feature only doubles your weapon damage dice and your ability modifier; do not double additional sources of damage, such as spells and other class features. Additionally, the attack, as well as all other attacks made against the creature until the start of your next turn, are considered magical for the purposes of bypassing damage resistance and immunity. Opportunistic Piety By 7th level, you always keep a wide array of holy symbols and blessed items on your person, even if you aren’t particularly pious. When you use your Opportunistic Piety, you choose which effect to create from the list below. You must then finish a short or long rest to use your Opportunistic Piety again. Banish. You cast the spell banishment without using a spell slot. If the target is a fey, fiend, or undead and fails its saving throw against this spell, it also takes radiant damage equal to your level. Miracle Healing. As an action, divine light from your hands knit the wounds of a willing creature you touch. That creature regains a number of hit points equal to twice your investigator level. This ability has no effect on undead or constructs. Warding. As an action, you trace a holy symbol on a creature within 5 feet of you, warding it from harm. For the next minute, aberrations, celestials, fey, fiends, and undead which touch the target creature or hit it with a melee attack take 1d12 radiant damage. Supernatural Resolve At 9th level, you gain an extreme resilience to the attacks and effects of the creatures you regularly investigate. You can’t be possessed or charmed, and you gain resistance to both psychic and necrotic damage. Finisher Beginning at 11th level, you know exactly how to bring a monster down. When you take the Attack action and hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can deal an extra 2d8 damage to the creature. If the creature has less than half its hit points remaining, you can instead deal an extra 4d8 damage to the creature. Enigma Arcane At 13th level, you uncover a magical secret connected to a wellspring of potent magic. You can cast one of the following spells once without expending a spell slot: mirage arcane , plane shift , reverse gravity , sequester , or teleport . You must finish a long rest before you can do so again. At 15th level, you can also cast one of the following spells without expending a spell slot: antimagic field , glibness , maze , or mind blan k. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again. At 17th level, you can also cast one of the following spells without expending a spell slot: astral projection , gate , or weird . You must finish a long rest before you can do so again. Exorcist Beginning at 18th level, you can cast the spell protection from evil and good without using a spell slot or spell components. Spellbinder By 20th level, many rituals you perform have become second nature to you. Select five ritual spells in your grimoire with a casting time of 1 action. You can cast these spells as a bonus action without using a use of Rushed Incantation, and you can do so without your grimoire on hand. If the ritual requires spell components worth 100 gp or less, you cast it without using spell components. Investigator overview QUICK BUILD Follow these suggestions to build an investigator quickly: Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Dexterity or Strength. Choose any background. Then, select the rituals clue, comprehend languages, detect magic, and transient bulwark to add to your grimoire. CLASS FEATURES As an investigator, you have the following class features. HIT POINTS Hit Dice: 1d8 per investigator level Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per investigator level after 1st PROFICIENCIES Armor: Light armor Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, heavy crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords Tools: One gaming set Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence Skills: Choose three from Arcana, Athletics, Deception, History, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth, Sleight of Hand, and Religion EQUIPMENT You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background: • Leather armor • A dagger and (a) a longsword or (b) rapier • (a) a heavy crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) a hand crossbow and 20 bolts • (a) dungeoneer’s pack or (b) one kit you’re proficient with • A grimoire and a material component pouch Medium As conduits between the living and dead, mediums offer an essential glimpse past the veil of mortality. Using their auguries, seances, and divinations, mediums can retrieve morsels of information from the afterlife to settle debts with the living or and assist ongoing investigations. This information, however cryptic, can point an interested party toward clues or evidence which only the deceased might be able to provide. FORTELLING Starting when you choose this specialization at 3rd level, you can receive glimpses of the future. When you finish a long rest, roll two d20s and record the number rolled. You can replace any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see with this foretold roll. You must choose to do so before the roll, and you can replace a roll in this way only once per turn. As an action, you can use a use of your Rushed Incantation ability to make an additional fortelling roll. You can have up to 3 foretold rolls at one time. Each foretelling roll can be used only once. When you finish a long rest, you lose any unused foretelling rolls. TRINKETS By 3rd level, you’ve collected a number of objects which help you attune to the afterlife. You can use the following trinkets: Dead Ringer. As an action, you can ring this bell to cast the spell speak with dead once without using a spell slot or spell components. When you cast this spell using this trinket, you can ask only one question of the corpse. Heptagonal Spectacles. As a bonus action, you can cast the spell see invisibility once without using a spell slot or spell components. Lucent Mirror. You can use your bonus action to activate this trinket, causing you to phase partially into the Ethereal Plane for up to 1 minute. For the duration, you can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, but you take 1d10 force damage if you end your movement inside a creature or object. Additionally, you have resistance to all damage. This effect ends early after you take damage. FOREWARNING PRESENCE By 6th level, the spirits of the dead guide your hand when you would falter. You can reroll an attack roll or ability check you make, and must use the new roll. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. WHISPERS FROM BEYOND Starting at 10th level, you can open your perceptions to receive a hint from beyond the pale. The GM answers with a one-word hint pertaining to your best course of action, a fruitful line of inquiry, or some other useful direction. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest. THIRD EYE By 14th level, your connection to the afterlife allows you to see all. You can use your bonus action to cast the spell true seeing without using a spell slot or spell components. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.