A new 5e Class
Deep within the shadows of a thick jungle, an elf crouches, peering through the undergrowth toward an ancient, forgotten ruin. Outside the crumbled entrance, a demonic creature stands guard. As she nocks an arrow, it begins to swirl with colour and flies true, sending the demon back to the Abyss.
In a back alley, magical energies crackle in front of a wizard, and a window into the elemental plane of fire shows beings of pure flame and fury. From the shadows, a human extends her hand, and the portal suddenly slams shut, throwing the surprised wizard back against the wall behind him.
As the full moon glows above, a dwarf lets out a roar, staring down a hoard of demons. His body shifts, turning into a mighty beast, and he charges into combat wielding hammer, shield, and fangs.
The Planar Guardians are the remnant of the forces who once fought to banish the demon and devil races from the material plane. They are those who stand on the front line of an invisible battlefield between the material plane and those beyond.
Mystical Protectors
In aeons gone bye, great wars raged between the mortals who dwell in the material plane and those great beings from the planes beyond. It was during this time that the Planar Guardians were blessed with unique abilities that would assist in the containment and banishment of the demons, elementals and other aberrations who would seek to destroy the material plane.
Half warrior, and half scholar, the Planar Guardians gain their power through intent study of the magical energy that binds everything together. To a Planar Guardian, Divine and Arcane are simply two sides of the same object, all of which must be carefully controlled and contained to protect against the dangers that lurk in the planes beyond our own.
A Life of Seeking
Whilst some Planar Guardians may choose to dwell in the cities, particularly in those where a Sanctum is built, the majority feel the call to wander the world, seeking out the possibility of incursions from the other planes. Deep, ancient caverns, or long-forgotten ruins are often places that can hold secrets from the Aeons past when demons ruled the material plane, and it is only through exploring these and returning any dangerous artefacts to a Sanctum that the world can continue to be protected by preventing such items from falling into the wrong hands.
Many Planar Guardians present as simple mercenaries or adventurers. The society itself – while not specifically secret – does not openly announce its presence, so as to maintain a certain level of clandestineness. Most Lunar Guardians will only reveal their true nature when it is absolutely necessary, instead choosing to allow people to believe they are simple warriors.
Creating a Planar Guardian
In creating your Planar Guardian, consider how they came to know of the existence of the order in the first place. Do they come from a family who have been a part of the organisation for generations? Do they have some kind of contact with the outer planes, whether by genetics, or life experience?
To become a Planar Guardian, one must have been invited and accepted into the order for training and education in the ways of the Cosmos.
Quick Build
You can make a Guardian quickly by following these suggestions. First, Strength or Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Intelligence. Second, choose the sage background.
The Planar Guardian Table
Class Features
As a guardian, you gain the following class features
Hit Points
Hit Dice 1d10 per guardian level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per guardian level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: All armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose Two from Athletics, Acrobatics, Arcana, History, Religion, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, Survival.
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background.
- (a) A martial weapon and shield or (b) any two weapons;
- An arcane focus or holy symbol;
- (a) Leather armour or (b) Chain shirt;
- A book on planar knowledge.
Extraplanar Familiarity
Your training as a Planar Guardian is not just martial, but involves significant amounts of study of the planes and the beings that exist in them. You have advantage on checks to recall lore or details about the planes, and extraplanar beings.
In addition, you know how to speak and write one language from Primordial, Celestial, Infernal or Abyssal.
Extraplanar Resolve
You have spent your training steeling yourself against the idea of facing demons, devils, elementals and other beings from the outer planes. You have advantage on saving throws against charm or fear effects against beings that are not natively from the material plane.
Fighting Style
At 2nd level, you adopt a style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.
Archery
You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.
Defense
While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
Great Weapon Fighting
When you roll a 1 or a 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
Protection
When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.
Two-Weapon Fighting
When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Spellcasting
By second level, you have learned to attune yourself to the magical energy that flows through the world around you, and to harness this energy to cast spells. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting, and the Planar Guardians Spell List for the spells you are able to cast.
Preparing and Casting Spells
The Planar Guardian table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your Planar Guardian spells. To cast one of your Planar Guardian spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a spell slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
At 2nd Level, you know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the Planar Guardian spell list.
The Spells Known column of the Planar Guardians table shows when you learn more Planar Guardian spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.
Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the Planar Guardian spells you know and replace it with another spell from the Planar Guardian spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your Planar Guardian spells, since their power derives from your study and attunement to the magical energies surrounding you. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Planar Guardian spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spellcasting Focus
You can use either a Holy Symbol or an Arcane Focus as a spellcasting focus for your Planar Guardian spells.
Aurora
(Starweapon) As a bonus action, you can channel the spirit of Jidal into your weapon. Your weapon swirls with coloured lights, and the next time you hit an enemy with an attack, the weapon deals an extra 1d8 of force damage. You can use a bonus action to end the Aurora at your choice.
The amount of force damage rolled with this feature increases as your level increases, 2d8 at 5th level, 3d8 at 11th level, and 4d8 at 17th level.
You can deal damage with this ability a number of times up to your Intelligence modifier. You regain all expended uses of this ability when you complete a long rest.
Darkvision
Starting at 3rd level, you have familiarised yourself with operating in the shadows. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of gray.
Order Selection
Also at 3rd level, you are initiated into one of the three orders within the Planar Guardians: the Order of Saarus, the Order of Darmir, or the Order of Ila. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 20th level.
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.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Espial
At 6th level, your awareness of the magical energies used for teleportation and portals becomes almost preternatural. You are instantly aware of any teleportation or portal within 60 feet of you that is not blocked by total cover. Your awareness includes attempts to teleport into the area, and a creature cannot surprise you when you detect its arrival using this feature.
Additionally, you can use your action to expand your consciousness and detect any planar portals within one mile of your current location.
Steadfast Resolve
At 10th level, your Extraplanar Resolve emanates from you to a distance of 10 feet. Any friendly creatures within this range gain advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened by beings who are not natively from the material plane.
In addition, you can add your Intelligence modifier to saving throws to prevent yourself from being banished by magical means.
Expulsion
At 14th level, when you deal damage to a creature using your Aurora ability, you can use a bonus action to attempt to banish the creature to another plane of existence.
The target must succeed on a Charisma save vs your Spell Save DC or be banished. If the creature is a Celestial, Fiend or Elemental, they have disadvantage on the save. If they fail the save, the opponent is banished. If the target is native to a different plane of existence than the one you’re on, it vanishes, returning to its home plane, and is unable to successfully travel via the planes for 2d6 days as the effect of the banishment remains. If the target is native to the plane you’re on, it is banished to a random plane for one minute, at which point it reappears in the space it left, or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
True Sight
At 15th level, your senses have been honed to the darkness. As an action, you channel magic into your eyes, which glow softly golden. For the next minute, you have truesight, can notice secret doors hidden by magic, and can see into the Ethereal Plane, all out to a range of 120 feet.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1 use). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Interdiction
At 18th level you gain the ability to close gates and portals to prevent planar travel. You have two effects, and you choose the effect to create when you use this feature:
Prohibition: As a reaction, you can attempt to prevent the casting of any teleport or planar travel spell within 120 feet of you that you can see. This includes efforts to teleport or travel in, as well as out. You use this ability as if casting Counterspell at 5th level. If the spell you are attempting to counter is 6th level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. In addition, if the Prohibition succeeds, the creature attempting to travel takes 2d6 force damage as the rift magic closes around them.
Occlusion: As an action, you can attempt to close an open rift or portal between two planes, or between two locations on the same plane, as long as you are with 120 feet of it, and can see the rift or portal. Permanent teleportation circles are not affected. When you use this ability, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC is 15, or 10 + the spell’s level, whichever is higher (your DM may set a DC higher or lower at their discretion).
Orders
Representing the three remaining moons of Kelara, are the Planar Guardian Orders. These are:
- The Order of Saarus (Silver Knights)
- The Order of Darmir (Blood Knights)
- The Order of Ila (Shadow Knights)
At level three, you choose which order you will become a part of, and this choice grants you specific benefits as you advance in levels. The Order of Darmir is detailed below.
Order of Darmir
Additional Spells
Starting at 3rd level, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Order of Darmir Spells table. The spell counts as a Planar Guardian spell for you, but it doesn’t count against the number of Planar Guardian spells you know.
Blood Mark
At 3rd level, you gain the ability to trace the blood of a creature that you have wounded. When you damage a creature with a weapon attack, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a failed save, you always know this target’s location until the creature is reduced to 0 hit points, or you use this ability on a different creature. You only know the target’s location while on the same plane of existence, but if they travel to another plane, you know which plane they have travelled to. The creature cannot be come hidden from you, and gains no benefit from becoming invisible against you. The creature remains marked until you use a bonus action to release the connection, or the creature is reduced to 0 hit points.
Once you have successfully marked a creature, you cannot mark another until you have completed a long rest.
Blood Step
At 7th level, you gain the ability to mystically escape danger. When you take damage from an attacker, you can use your reaction to vanish in a mist of blood spraying from the wound, teleporting 60 feet in any direction to a location that you can see. You appear in the location at the beginning of your next turn.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short rest.
Blood Renewal
At 11th level, you have become attuned to the blood spilled in battle with your enemies. Once per turn, when you damage a creature with a weapon attack, you can use a bonus action to draw the life energy spilled to yourself, granting half the damage dealt in temporary hit points. The temporary hit points last for one minute.
Blood Knight
At 20th level your presence becomes that of the Blood Moon, Darmir. You can use your action to gain the following benefits for one hour:
- You have resistance to Piercing, Bludgeoning, and Slashing damage from nonmagical weapons;
- Charming Presence: Any hostile creature starting its turn within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a failed save, the creature is charmed. This ability has no effect on creatures that are immune to being charmed.
- Regeneration: You regain 10 hit points at the beginning of each turn;
- Blood Aura: When you use your Blood Renewal ability, you can also grant the temporary hit points to a number of allies equal to your Intelligence modifier within 30 feet that you can see;
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
Planar Guardians Spell List
Level 1
Bane
Bless
Command
Compelled Duel
Detect Evil and Good
Detect Magic
Faerie Fire
Fog Cloud
Guiding Bolt
Heroism
Protection from Evil and Good
Sanctuary
Shield of Faith
Level 2
Aid
Augury
Branding Smite
Darkness
Detect Thoughts
Gentle Repose
Invisibility
Levitate
Magic Weapon
Moonbeam
See Invisibility
Silence
Spiritual Weapon
Level 3
Beacon of Hope
Blink
Clairvoyance
Counterspell
Crusader’s Mantle
Daylight
Dispel Magic
Elemental Weapon
Fly
Glyph of Warding
Magic Circle
Nondetection
Protection from Energy
Spirit Guardians
Level 4
Arcane Eye
Aura of Life
Banishment
Compuslion
Death Ward
Dimension Door
Divination
Guardian of Faith
Greater Invisibility
Locate Creature
Private Sanctum
Resilient Sphere
Level 5
Circle of Power
Contact other Plane
Creation
Destructive Wave
Dispel Evil and Good
Hallow
Hold Monster
Planar Binding
Teleportation Circle
Wall of Force
Please note the above material is still in review and subject to change following feedback from playtesting and revision.