Hierophant

Hierophants are a strange new kind of being which has emerged in the monstrous world since the conjunction of all realms. Born of mortal frame, hierophants are reincarnated radiant spirits and carry the innate magic of one of the radiant realms. Metaphysical and mortal fabrics interleaved in this new shape creates a strange, and powerful symbiosis, gifting hierophants with strange radiant magics that suffuse everything they do.

Metaphysical Symbiosis

After the membrane separating the radiant realms from the mortal realm shattered, it left behind a new kind of reality where spirit and flesh intermingled freely. This was a foundational moment for so much of the monstrous world, and has produced a strange new hybrid being known as a hierophant.

The first hierophants emerged in the lost era, before the invention of the Spinning Cage. First, strange spiritual ecologies began to take shape. Soon afterward, new species of beast and plant emerged. Finally, the first of the mortal hierophants began to emerge. Each of these things represented a melange of radiant and physical form, places and entities chosen by some quirk of radiant magic.

The Luminous Chosen

Today, hierophants are a part of day-to-day Oshanalian life. Indeed, these people, born with strange mystic powers, have grown to be quite an influence on their parent cultures across the twilight world. Many regard hierophants with a reverent, or at least respectful, eye. A perception has spread that hierophants are little gods, chosen by the radiant courts as predestined princes and emperors.

For their part, hierophants are usually prone to accepting this mythos and attempting to act in service of it. Hierophants carry with them a profound sense of purpose and commonly drive to build or accomplish exalted feats which will distinguish them forever from their peers. It is common to see elder hierophants at a seat of power; it is also common that these hierophants of significant sway will seek to establish entire dynasties while they live — which is a considerable amount of. time.

Excellence and Majesty

The core benefit of being a spiritual hybrid is the casual nature of the magic hierophants wield. They subconsciously command radiance, weaving it into their every action to great effect. As a result, they tend to lead literally blessed lives: success comes easily for hierophants by virtue of their radiant spirit.

It’s because of this casual excellence and ease of majesty that hierophants tend to step into the halls of legend merely through their day to day. They absolutely tend to rise to positions of leadership and influence, though not all hierophants deserve such lofty status: hierophant tyrants are just as common as hierophant heroes.

Creating a Hierophant

When creating your hierophant, consider your relationship to your metaphysical self. What drives you? Do you believe you were chosen, or do you believe you were born a hierophant? Do you thrive in your radiant nature, exalting in it, or do you seek to hide it in order to live as other mortals do? Do you know your family? Are they spirits, or are they mortal?

Quick Build

Make your hierophant quickly by following these suggestions: Pick Wisdom as your highest ability score, and select the Folk Hero background.

Class Features

Hit Points

• Hit Dice: 1d8 per hierophant level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per hierophant level after 1st.

Proficiencies

• Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields.
• Weapons: Simple weapons
• Tools: None
• Saving Throws: Charisma, Wisdom
• Skills: Choose two from Arcana, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Persuasion, and Religion.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
• (a) a mace or (b) a warhammer (if proficient)
• (a) scale mail, (b) leather armor, or (c) chain mail (if proficient)
• A shield and an explorer’s pack

Unlock Ability (Radiance)

At 1st level, you unlock a new ability: Radiance (RAD). The spiritual fabric of your being thrums with the luminous substance of one of the bygone radiant realms. This spiritual essence is interwoven with your mortal frame, and you've begun to harness it.

Radiance Points

Unlocking Radiance changes the fabric of your being, granting you a second track of points alongside your hit points.

• Radiance Dice: 1d8 per hierophant level
• Radiance Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Radiance modifier
• Radiance Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Radiance modifier per hierophant level after 1st.

Radiant Ability

You use your Radiance whenever a hierophant feature refers to your radiant ability. In addition, you use your Radiance modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a hierophant feature or when using Radiance when making attacks.

• Radiant save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Radiance modifier
• Radiant attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Radiance modifier

Using Radiance

Radiance points are the method through which all hierophants access the powers of their grander self. Whenever you use radiant skills, or starmarks, you spend radiance points as part of their cost of activation.

Radiant Limits

At 1st level, a hierophant may only spend 1 radiance point per turn. This increases by +1 at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, and 17th level (until it reaches 9 per turn).

Recovering Radiance

Your radiance returns in a similar way to hit points. When you take a short rest, you may spend some of your radiance dice and recover what you roll. When you take a long rest, you recover all of your radiance and all of your radiance dice.

Radiant Skills

Radiance also grants access to 3 skills. These skills represent your advancing command of your internal radiance, and as you grow in proficiency with them, you unlock new radiant skill features.

At 1st level, you may select one Radiant skill which you are proficient in.

Radiance (Glory)

Hierophants are living vessels for the ancient lights of the bygone radiant realms. Everything they do is thundering, loud, and glorious with unfettered light. Glory represents the ability of a hierophant to direct and master this luminance, turning it into a powerful and malleable tool.

Coruscation

You effuse and direct your internal radiance with a successful Glory check. What you're able to do as part of your coruscation depends on your proficiency level with the Glory skill.

• Proficiency 0. As an action, you may make a Radiance (Glory) check, DC 10. If successful, you may spend 1 radiance in order to cast the light spell.
• Proficiency 2. As an action, you may make a Radiance (Glory) check, DC 12, while touching a willing target. If successful, you may give that target 1 temporary hit point for every point of radiance spent. While these temporary hit points remain, your target glows as if the subject of a light spell.
• Proficiency 3. You may use coruscation to grant temporary hit points or cast light as a bonus action instead of a regular action.
• Proficiency 4. As a reaction, you may make a Radiance (Glory) check, DC 15. If successful, you may increase your AC by 1 per point of radiance spent. This bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn. While this bonus remains, your target glows as if the subject of a light spell.
• Proficiency 5. You may use coruscation to grant temporary hit points to any targets you choose within 60'. You must spend radiance on individual targets separately.
• Proficiency 6. Whenever you use coruscation on a target, you may also give yourself the same benefit at no extra radiance cost.

Radiance (Majesty)

You are a being of strange symbiotic alchemies, a supernatural admixture of light and flesh. This powerful inborn magic suffuses everything you do, subtly eradicating imperfections and pushing you to levels of excellence far beyond those of other mortals.

The Majesty skill is a reflection of your powerful dynastic inheritance, representing your ability to interweave the ambient radiance into everything you do.

Sovereignty

By expressing your radiant sovereignty, you may augment and push your mind and body past mortal limits. At higher levels of proficiency, your presence itself begins to suffuse those around you with your incredible magical might.

• Proficiency 0. Whenever you make a skill check, you may use your reaction to make a Radiance (Majesty) check, DC 10. If successful, you may spend 1 radiance in order to add 1d4 to that skill check.
• Proficiency 2. Whenever using sovereignty to add a die to a skill check, you make that roll with advantage.
• Proficiency 3. You may now use your sovereignty on saving throws, ability checks, and attack rolls.
• Proficiency 3. You may use sovereignty as part of a free action, instead of a reaction.
• Proficiency 4. You may use sovereignty on a target you choose within 60' of you. This automatically fails on unwilling targets.
• Proficiency 5. Add your radiance modifier to your sovereignty bonus.
• Proficiency 6. All targets you choose within 60' of you receive your sovereignty bonus.

Radiance (Suspire)

Radiance is a tangible, lifegiving substance to hierophants. They don't merely bathe in it, they breathe it. Their metaphysical self processes and stores it in a process called suspiration.

Suspiration

You may inhale or exhale radiance with a successful Suspire check. What you're able to do as part of this suspiration depends on your proficiency level with the Suspire skill.

• Proficiency 0. You may spend an action and make a Radiance (Suspire) check, DC 10. If successful, you may spend one of your radiance dice, rolling it and gaining that much radiance.
• Proficiency 2. As an action, you may make a Radiance (Suspire) check, DC 10. If successful, you may spend Radiance points to restore your own health. For each radiance point spent, you regain 1 hit point.
• Proficiency 3. You may heal others in the same way you heal yourself. Touch a target of your choice and spend radiance, and make a Radiance (Suspire) check, DC 12. If successful, you may restore 1 hit point to your target for each point spent.
• Proficiency 3. You may harm others with your suspiration, exhaling radiance at a nearby target. Make a touch attack with your radiance ability, if you succeed you deal 1 point of radiant damage for each point of radiance spent.
• Proficiency 4. You may use suspiration as a bonus action instead of a regular action.
• Proficiency 5. Any healing or harm you do with suspiration also heals or harms any target you choose within 5' of your target. If damaging, your radiant damage only applies to targets with an AC lower than your touch attack.
• Proficiency 6. For every point of radiance spent healing or harming a target, you may roll 1d4 to determine how much you heal or how much radiant damage you deal.

Starmarks

When a hierophant progresses to level 5, their heavenly and mortal forms begin to interlock into one another in visible lattices of calcified radiance. These lattices are known as starmarks, so called because they appear on the hierophant’s body in patterned pinpoints of light, and they signify not only a strengthening of the hierophant’s destiny, but development of distinct and powerful radiant magics.

Hierophants obtain starmarks at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level. Each time a starmark is chosen, the hierophant becomes a slightly more radiant being, leaving behind some of their mortal essence to flake away like bits of a castaway husk.

Each starmark has its own legend, and grants some kind of radiant magic. Whenever a starmark requires the expenditure of radiance, this radiance is part of the hierophant’s normal radiance per turn limit.

New Feat: Starmarked

You are a starmarked being, touched by the radiance of the bygone realms.

• You unlock the Radiance ability, with a beginning score of 6.
• You gain 1d8-2 (average 3) points of radiance. You may spend no more than 1 point of radiance per round.
• You gain 1d8 radiance dice. You may spend during a short rest to recover spent radiance points.
• You recover all spent radiance points and radiance dice on a long rest.
• Pick one of the radiant skills: Glory, Majesty, or Suspire. You are proficient in that skill.
• Efforts to resist your radiant magics are done so against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Radiance modifier.

Glorious Starmarks

Mark of the Falling Star

Anointed with a line of crossed stars across your chest, you hold the comets that plummet from the heavens at your fingertips, and bring them to bear where you wish.

• Increase your Glory proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Glory, you become proficient.
• Increase your Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• As a bonus action, you may lay an unwelcome omen upon a target you can see within 120ft. This omen endures while you concentrate on it.
• As part of your attack, you may call a thrumming bolt of starlight from the heavens to strike the target of your unwelcome omen. Spend anywhere from 1 to 9 points of radiance and make a ranged Glory attack. On a hit, you deal 1d10 radiant damage per point of radiance spent.

Mark of the Coruscating Nimbus

Your shoulders and collarbone are alight with spiraling contours of glowing pinpoints. They draw constellations which resemble spiral galaxies on the surfaces around you.

• Increase your Glory proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Glory, you become proficient.
• Increase your Strength score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• As a bonus action, you envelope yourself with a howling aura of radiance. You spend 3 points of radiance to create the aura, which lasts until the beginning of your next turn. This aura gives you the following bonuses:
• Reduce all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons by 2.
• You may use your Glory proficiency in place of all Strength-based checks, including melee attacks.
• Add radiance damage equal to your Glory proficiency to all successful melee attacks.

Mark of the Incandescent Hand

Your digits are lit with constellations of starlight, woven across the backs of your hands and corded in loops around your wrists.

• Increase your Glory proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Glory, you become proficient.
• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Your hands become as hard as iron. You deal 1d4 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage on a successful unarmed strike.
• You may spend radiance in order to amplify the damage of your unarmed attacks. For each point of radiance spent augmenting an attack, increase its damage by 1d4. In the event of a critical hit, each point spend in this way adds 2d4 damage instead.
• While wearing light or no armor, you add your Radiance modifier to your AC.

Suspirant Starmarks

Mark of the Ancestral Hearth

Glistening upon your chest and torso, a winding whorl of glittering constellations connect your collarbone to your abdomen.

• Increase your Suspire proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Suspire, you become proficient.
• Increase your Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• You gain advantage on History checks. In addition, you may use your Radiance modifier in place of Intelligence, when making History checks.
• Whenever you roll initiative, if you have no radiance points left, you regain 1d8 + your Suspire proficiency.
• As an action, you may listen to the eternal whispers of your bygone ancestors. Spend a radiance die to recover radiance, adding half your level rounded up. You may do this once per short rest.

Mark of the Gossamer Dream

You bear a single glowing star upon your brow. It blooms with a dreamlike luminous fog whenever someone near you is dreaming.

• Increase your Suspire proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Suspire, you become proficient.
• Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• As a free action, you may spend 1 radiance to summon a dreamforged version of any melee weapon, ranged weapon, or shield, with which you are proficient. This dreamforged item evaporates into a drifting wisp of softly glowing fog at the beginning of your next turn.
• When you make a successful attack with a dreamforged weapon, you may spend your reaction and spend radiance. For each point of radiance you spend, add a number of radiant damage to the attack. In the event of a critical hit, double this damage.
• Whenever you hold a dreamforged shield, you may reduce damage you take from all attacks. For every 4 points of radiance spent, ignore 1 damage from all attacks made against you until the beginning of your next turn (when the shield fades).

Mark of the Hungering Maw

Across your neck and behind your jaw, elaborate designs of starlight pinpoints create a jagged, knifelike constellation. When you open your mouth, light pours forth.

• Increase your Suspire proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Suspire, you become proficient.
• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• After dealing damage to a target, you may use your reaction to drink in the dissipating life from your foe. For every 3 radiance you spend, you regain a number of hit points equal to half your level, rounded up.
• You are forever marked as a cosmic predator. You gain advantage on Perception checks made against anyone you’ve met in battle within the last day.

Majestic Starmarks

Mark of the Impregnable Mandate

Rising at your temples and across your brow, stars glimmer dimly, twinkling in sync with thoughts from your innermost subconscious.

• Increase your Majesty proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Majesty, you become proficient.
• Increase your Intelligence score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• As a reaction, you may spend 1 point of radiance to gain advantage on a check made to resist fear or charm effects.
• As a reaction, you may spend 1 point of radiance to inflict disadvantage on someone attempting to resist your fear or charm effects.
• You may apply your Majesty proficiency to Persuasion checks, and saving throws made to resist fear or charm effects.

Mark of the Harmonious Orchestra

Across your shoulders and down your back, intricate constellations of light depict a complex design: dozens of swirling galaxies, orbiting one another in a perfect, eternal synchronicity.

• Increase your Majesty proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Majesty, you become proficient.
• Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Your radiance suffuses those around you, strengthening them and galvanizing their resolve. You may spend radiance as a free action to give any of your allies bonuses.
• You may grant 1d4 to an attack, ability check, or saving throw for 1 point of radiance.
• You may grant +1 to an ability check per point of radiance spent.
• You may grant advantage on an attack, ability check, or saving throw for 1 point of radiance.

Mark of the Sacred Dominion

Your legs are marked with clouds of starlight that grow denser as they descend, until they pool at your ankles and heels, where your body touches the ground beneath you.

• Increase your Majesty proficiency by 2. If you are not already proficient in Majesty, you become proficient.
• Increase your Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• You may use your move action to awaken the spirits within the world around you. Choose one effect from the following list. At initiative 20, that effect takes place.
• You spend 3 radiance, and the spirits grow mischievous, cluttering around and entangling one target of your choice within 120ft. For one turn, the target moves as though on difficult terrain, and cannot use its reaction.
• You spend 5 radiance, and emit a sudden burst of radiance. Any creature within 5ft of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw vs. your Majesty DC, or be knocked prone.
• You spend 1-4 radiance, and the world conspires with you for advantage. Pick a target within 60ft. Unless this target succeeds at a Strength saving throw vs. your Majesty DC, you may move them 5ft per point of radiance spent in a direction of your choosing.