Corpse Florist

Necromancer Subclass

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Some necromancers arrive at the realization that necromancy is the gateway to new life flourishing in the rot and waste of the recently dead. Perhaps unsurprisingly, horticulture is their main inspiration. Instead of animating corpses normally, corpse florists plant seeds of the corpse flower in recently deceased bodies, which rapidly sprout and send creeping vines to every joint and muscle group. Within minutes, the corpse rises under the florist’s control, but as a blossoming plant instead of a mindless undead. A corpse florist travels with their shambling garden wherever they go, planting new corpse flowers and revitalizing the earth whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Corpse Florist Spells

When you choose this ambition at 3rd level, you learn additional spells as noted in the table below. Each of these spells counts as a necromancer spell for you, but doesn’t count against the number of necromancer spells you know.

Garden of the Grave

Also at 3rd level, you cultivate corpse flowers, necromantic plants that root in corpses. When you perform your Animate Thralls ritual following a long rest, you can choose to plant corpse flowers in any of your thralls, causing each such thrall to have the following changes:

• The thrall is a Plant instead of an Undead, but counts as Undead for the purpose of your necromancer class features.
• Whenever you take a short or long rest, the thrall takes root in the ground and regains hit points equal to 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier.

Charnel Entangle

At 3rd level, weeds and brambles sprout at your touch. When you hit with a Charnel Touch attack and expend 5 or more points, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be restrained by weeds until the end of your next turn.

Rotten Seed

Beginning at 6th level, you can plant your budding corpse flowers in the living as well as the dead. You can use your bonus action to toss a seed at a hostile creature that isn’t Undead that you can see within 15 feet of you, which must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a corpse flower seedling sprouts and burrows into the creature’s flesh. At the start of each of the creature’s turns, it takes 1d8 necrotic damage and you gain temporary hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt.

The seedling withers after 1 minute, when the target dies, or when you use this feature again.

When you reach 11th level, the damage increases to 1d10, and at 17th level, the damage increases to 1d12.

Death in Bloom

At 10th level, you can sow the seeds of undeath in your foes. Once on each of your turns when a hostile Humanoid under the effect of your Rotten Seed feature dies, you can animate that creature’s corpse as a skeleton or zombie (your choice) under your control. This Undead counts as one of your thralls and gains the benefit of your Garden of the Grave feature.

Lichdom: Botanical Lich

At 20th level, you have reached the pinnacle of necromancy and transformed yourself into a lich. Your body becomes a fertile garden of flowers that bloom from every inch of your skin, and exotic flowers bloom in your wake. You gain the following features in addition to the Lichdom feature:

Flowering Phylactery. Your phylactery has also changed with your transformation. Your soul has been transferred into thirteen immortal flowers of different types located in places important to you. Each one has a specific weakness, which you will need to discuss with your GM, and your regeneration is only stopped when all thirteen flowers are destroyed. When you drop to 0 hit points, you regenerate in the soil at your nearest phylactery flower.

Petal Stride. As you move, flowers sprout from the ground around you in a 30-foot radius. You can use a bonus action on your turn to step into a flower and teleport to any other flower you can see within 30 feet, magically planting your body at the origin and sprouting at the destination. When you do so, you can choose any number of friendly Plants within 30 feet of you and cause them to teleport in a similar manner to flowers you can see within range.

Regeneration. At the start of each of your turns, you regain 10 hit points. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points or you are in darkness.

Find 12 more nature-themed subclasses in Book of Extinction!