Keeper

Standing not quite alone in the centre

of a gloomy woodland glade, a human
parts the mists surrounding them with
the head of their sceptre, demanding the
knowledge of the forest spirits for the
third and final time. The command takes
hold, and the human falls perfectly still
as their mind is seized by a vision.
Suspecting vulnerability, a powerful
beast spirit steps into the glade, eager
to make the interloper regret their
brazen attitude, but before it can strike,
a formless shroud of shock-white frost
coalesces into the shape of a knight bearing
a sword and shield, ready to defend its master.
Hand grasped tightly around the leash
locked to their companion's neck, a tiefling
makes slow, confident strides towards their
foe, the hellhound bound to them growling all the
while, spitting sparks and cinders from the gaps
between its jagged teeth. The dog's spine arches,
and it howls, loud and angry. The tiefling barks an
order as their body is filled with infernal vigor,
burning spirits crawling underneath their skin. In
an instant, the leash is dropped, their companion
blitzing towards the nearest enemy with hate in its
eyes, its master close behind.
Islands of calm in an ocean of chaos, two partners
dance to a symphony only they can hear, the violence
surrounding them seeming all the quieter for the bond
they share. A whirling stormcloud bound into
humanoid shape by scorched rags and bandages
envelops their genasi companion, and a crack of
lightning strikes the ground at their feet. Where two
figures once stood, a blue-skinned giant clutching a
thunderbolt readies themselves for battle, veins
pulsing with electric blue light, and the dance continues.
Keepers and their companions are a living gate
between the magical and the mundane, defined by their
bond to each other and the covenant they form. Wielding
esoteric magic, they exert their will on the world by
commanding the tiny unseen spirits and connections that
permeate the multiverse, drawing on that power to summon
otherworldly beings, bind the wills of others, discover hidden
secrets, and make their voices heard.
Modest Magic
Seven gods live in every grain of rice. A thousand more live in
every meal, and a thousand thousand more than that in every
home. Such is the wisdom of a keeper. Where many
spellcasters call forth their power from within or channel
energy from a higher being, keepers engross themselves in
the spirits of place near and dear to wherever they might be,
forming relationships with them—whether their bond be
gentle, domineering, or outright hostile—and calling on them
for strength.

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 In this way, keepers captivate the world's attention, and in
turn, its power. They must be careful, however, to avoid the
opposite. A keeper can earn much favour from spirits by
making bold declarations of their nature and intent, and lose
it just as quickly by breaking their promises. As such, keepers
are wise enough to say what they mean, at least while the
universe is listening. After all, life is a challenge when the
whole world is against you, but when all creation is on your
side, you couldn't ask for a more powerful ally.
Open the Gate
All things must come to dust. Each and every mortal will one
day suffer the ravages of time, be withered by age, injury,
sickness, or malice. Even immortals must fall in the end,
coming to nothing, or simply fading, forgotten. Spirits, less
grounded in reality, know this truth all too well. Rarely, these
spirit-beings might even slip from the world entirely, falling
between the cracks as they lose their grip on the objects and
places which anchor them.
Rather than vanish, however, a number of these beings find
a semblance of life in the form of a covenant, a compact
sealed with a mortal, binding the pair together, sharing the
lives they possess with one another. In this way, the spirit acts
as a gate to the magical world, allowing their mortal partner
to immerse themselves in things unearthly and occult, while
the mortal acts as a gate to the mundane, the material,
through which the spirit might flee the jaws of oblivion.
Creating a Keeper
As you create your keeper, you must ask yourself two
questions above all others: what is your companion, and what
are they to you? Did you find and care for a newborn creature
or egg, only to be surprised when it later declared itself your
companion? Were you in danger, and saved by forming a bond
with your companion, or did you hunt, tame, and bring a
spirit being to heel, forcing it to serve you?
Your companion's nature has great effect on your bond. Are
they a celestial spirit who came to you in a moment of need,
in return for your aid spreading their influence? Did you trick
a fiend into your service, wielding its true name like a leash?
Or did you bargain with a fey, earning its teachings in
exchange for some strange sacrifice you would later regret?
Perhaps you even created your companion, raising them
from death or hosting a spirit within a body of your own
construction.
Consider also your magical abilities. Your bond is the
source of your power, but how develop your mystical
knowledge? Were you taught by your family, following ages
old tradition, or did your companion tutor you in the
workings of your new powers? Perhaps you still don't truly
understand the rules, simply figuring them out as you
plunge ever deeper into the occult.
Quick Build
You can make a keeper quickly by following these
suggestions. First, make Strength or Dexterity your highest
ability score if you plan to focus on martial combat, or
Charisma if you'd rather prioritize your occult talents.
Second, choose the hermit or sage background. Third, follow
the guide to creating your companion detailed at the end of
the class description.
Class Features
As a keeper, you gain the following class features
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per keeper level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution
modiier per keeper level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armour: Light armour, medium armour, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Arcana, History,
Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Perception, Performance,
Persuasion, and Religion
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the
equipment granted by your background:
(a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial
weapons
(a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) three daggers
(a) leather armour or (b) scale mail
(a) an explorer's pack or (b) a priest's pack
An esoteric implement
Alternatively, you can start with 5d4 x 10 gp and spend it
on items from Chapter 5 of the Player's Handbook.
Multiclassing
Prerequisites. The prerequisite for multiclassing
as a keeper is a Strength or Dexterity score of 13
and a Charisma score of 13.
Proficiencies. When you multiclass into keeper,
you gain proficiency in light armour, medium
armour, shields, simple weapons, and martial
weapons. When determining your total spell slots,
you add one half of your keeper levels (rounded
down) to the total.
The Keeper
—Spell Slots per Spell Level—
Proficiency
Level Bonus Features 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
1st +2 Bound Companion, Occultist's Seal, Gate of Rest — — — — —
2nd +2 Awakened Sight, Spellcasting 2 — — — —
3rd +2 Gate of Battle, Spirit Covenant 3 ─ — — —
4th +2 Ability Score Improvement 3 ─ — — —
5th +3 Spirit Covenant feature 4 2 — — —
6th +3 Awakened Sight improvement, Practitioner's Font 4 2 — — —
7th +3 Spirit Covenant feature 4 3 — — —
8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 4 3 — — —
9th +4 — 4 3 2 — —
10th +4 Gate of Travel 4 3 2 — —
11th +4 Spirit Covenant feature 4 3 3 — —
12th +4 Ability Score Improvement 4 3 3 — —
13th +5 — 4 3 3 1 —
14th +5 Witch Gate (5th level) 4 3 3 1 —
15th +5 Retribution 4 3 3 2 —
16th +5 Ability Score Improvement 4 3 3 2 —
17th +6 Witch Gate (6th level) 4 3 3 3 1
18th +6 Spirit Covenant feature 4 3 3 3 1
19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 4 3 3 3 2
20th +6 Witch Gate (7th level), World Gate 4 3 3 3 2

Bound Companion Occultist's Seal

You have completed a ritual, binding yourself and a spirit
together through a occult compact.
You decide your bound companion's statistics using the
guide detailed at the end of the class description.
If your bound companion is ever slain, the connection
between you is tested. You take necrotic damage equal to
twice your character level. This damage can't be reduced or
prevented in any way, and reduces your hit point maximum by
an amount equal to the damage taken (to a minimum of 1)
which lasts until you finish a long rest.
If you finish a long rest while your bound companion is
slain, your bond inevitably draws you back together. At the
end of the long rest, your companion reforms near to you,
having gained the benefits of a long rest, in a manner
appropriate to its nature. A fire spirit could be reborn in a
bonfire, while a ghost might simply arrive with a cold wind.
The binding placed upon your companion grounds it in
reality, tying it to the material world. This more physical
presence grants it a number of benefits.
Your companion obeys your commands as best it can. It
takes its turn on your initiative, and you determine its actions,
decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or
absent, your companion acts on its own.
Your companion's anchoring in this world is fledgling. As a
result, it can't attack until you reach 3rd level in this class.
Your companion has features and game statistics
determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your
proficiency bonus rather than its own.
Your companion gains no benefit from armour or weapons,
whether or not it is physically capable of using them. Your
companion has a natural armour class of 12 + your
proficiency bonus.

3
 For each keeper level after 1st, your companion gains an
additional Hit Die and increases its hit points accordingly.
Your companion's Hit Dice are d8s, regardless of its size.
When your companion is reduced to 0 hit points, it makes
death saving throws as a player character would.
Your companion's level is equal to your keeper level for the
purpose of spells and features like polymorph and true
polymorph.
Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement feature
from this class, your companion's abilities also improve. Your
companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2,
or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As
normal, your companion can't increase an ability score above
20 using this feature unless its description specifies
otherwise.
You decide your companion's alignment and ideal. At your
option, you can pick from or roll on the the tables below to
determine its traits and flaws. Its bond is always "I must
protect my keeper. We are greater together than alone."
d4 Trait
My keeper is mortal, and mortals are frail. It's my
___1___
job to keep them safe.
2 I show affection by making threats.
3 I hoard any valuables I can find.
My keeper is the only family I've ever known. I
4
trust them absolutely.
d4 Flaw
___1___
Dogs bark while I'm near, and cats never trust
me.
2 I'm jealous of anyone too close to my keeper.
3
I'm loathe to explain what's obvious to a spirit
being like myself.
4 Flaw? What flaws?
Gate of Rest
Your companion can retreat to a pocket dimension, a private
domain of your creation. As an action, you can temporarily
dismiss your companion. It disappears into this domain,
where it awaits your call. As an action while it is temporarily
dismissed, you can cause your companion to reappear in any
unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.
Your companion leaves this domain if you die, and can't
return unless you are resurrected.
Awakened Sight
When you reach 2nd level, your eyes open, ripples of magic
and intent now visible to your sight. When you make an
Arcana, Investigation, Perception, or Survival check, you can
add half your Charisma modifier (rounded up, minimum of 1)
to the result.
Starting at 6th level, you instead add your Charisma
modifier (minimum of 1).
4
Spellcasting
By 2nd level, you've earned the attention of the world around
you, and established yourself as a force of change. See
Chapter 10 of the Player's Handbook for the general rules of
spellcasting and the end of this document for the Keeper
spell list.
Preparing and Casting Spells
The Keeper table shows how many spell slots you have to
cast your spells. To cast one of your keeper spells of 1st level
or higher, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher.
You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long
rest.
You prepare the list of keeper spells that are available for
you to cast, choosing from the keeper spell list. When you do
so, choose a number of keeper spells equal to your Charisma
modifier + your keeper level (minimum of one spell). The
spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
For example, if you are a 5th-level keeper, you have four
1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a Charisma of 14,
your list of prepared spells can include seven spells of 1st or
2nd-level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level
spell command, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level
slot. Casting the spell doesn't remove it from your list of
prepared spells.
You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish
a long rest. Preparing a new list of keeper spells requires
time spent bonding with the spirits surrounding you: at least
1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your keeper spells,
since their power comes from your ability to command the
world around you. You use your Charisma whenever a spell
refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your
Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a
keeper spell you cast and when making an attack roll with
one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus +
your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = 8 + your proficiency bonus +
your Charisma modifier
Variant: Gate of Disguise
If you'd rather your companion blend in than hide,
your Dungeon Master might allow this variant
feature, which replaces the Gate of Rest feature.
Gate of Disguise. Choose a Small or smaller
beast. Your companion can use its action to
polymorph into that beast, or back into its true
form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any
equipment it carries is absorbed or carried by the
new form (its choice). While polymorphed, its size
and speed are replaced by those of the new form,
and it can't attack. It otherwise retains its statistics.
Your companion's disguise resembles it in some
way. For example, a monstrous horned wolf might
take the form of an unusually ferocious dog.

Ritual Casting
You can cast a keeper spell as a ritual if that spell has the
ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use an esoteric implement (detailed at the end of this
document) as a spellcasting focus for your keeper spells.
Gate of Battle
Starting at 3rd level, your companion has grown in power,
further grounding itself, and can now attack.
Choose one or two of the following damage types: acid,
bludgeoning, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, piercing,
poison, psychic, radiant, slashing, or thunder. When a feature
uses your companion's damage type, you use one of those
damage types (your choice).
Your companion has two natural weapons, which it is
proficient with and can use to make melee weapon attacks.
These weapons might take the shape of claws, powerful
muscles, conjured weapons, or elemental blasts. Your
companion can add its Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence,
Wisdom, or Charisma modifier to their attack and damage
rolls, and they deal 1d6 of your companion's damage type on
a hit. In addition, one of these natural weapons gains a
benefit from the options on the Companion Attacks table.
Companion Attacks
Attack Benefit
Impact
The weapon pushes the target up to 5 feet
away from your companion on a hit.
Reach The weapon gains the reach property.
///Ranged///
The weapon can be used to make ranged
weapon attacks (range 20/60).
Spirit Covenant
At 3rd level, you define the seal binding you and your
companion together, and the gateway you form between the
mortal world and the spiritual. Choose the Covenant of the
Legion, Covenant of the Vessel, or the Covenant of Unity.
Your choice grants you features at 3rd level, and then again
5th, 7th, 11th, and 18th level.
Covenant Spells
Each covenant has a list of associated spells. You gain
access to these spells at the levels specified in the covenant
description. Once you gain access to a covenant spell, you
always have it prepared. Covenant spells don't count against
the number of spells you can prepare each day.
If you gain a covenant spell that doesn't appear on the
keeper spell list, the spell is nonetheless a keeper spell for
you.
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.
Practitioner's Font
Starting at 6th level, your companion's attacks count as
magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and
immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage, and ignore
resistance to damage of your companion's damage type.
Additionally, during a short rest, you can call on the bond
between you and your companion, summoning it even from
death. At the end of the short rest, your companion reforms
near to you with half its maximum hit points, having gained
the benefits of a short rest, and can immediately spend Hit
Dice to recover hit points.
Once you call on your companion with this feature, you
can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
5
Gate of Travel
Beginning at 10th level, you can ride the bond between you
and your companion like a wave. As a bonus action while
your companion is within 120 feet of you, you can teleport to
an unoccupied space within 5 feet of it, or teleport it to an
unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. Alternatively, you can
both teleport, swapping places. You don't need to see your
companion to teleport using this feature.
You can use this feature twice. You regain all expended
uses of it when you finish a short or long rest.
Witch Gate
By 14th level, your companion is a gate to the magical world,
and you are the key. You gain one 5th-level spell slot, which
you can use to cast your keeper spells.
At higher levels, you gain additional spell slots: one 6th
level spell slot at 17th level, and one 7th level spell slot at
20th level. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish
a long rest.
Retribution
Starting at 15th level, when you or your companion is
reduced to 0 hit points, the other can retaliate in fury,
demanding aid from nearby spirits. If they do so, the
retaliator immediately regains hit points equal to your keeper
level + your Charisma modifier, and for 1 minute, the first
creature it hits with an attack on each of its turns takes an
extra 2d8 damage of your companion's damage type.
Once you or your companion uses this feature, it can't be
used again until you finish a long rest.
World Gate
By 20th level, you are a gate to the material world, and your
companion is the key. While your companion is alive, you do
not age. Additionally, if you die while your companion still
lives, the connection between you returns you to the world of
the living; if your companion finishes a long rest while you
are dead, you can return to life, reforming your body near to
your companion, having gained the benefits of a long rest.
You can reform your body as a younger version of yourself, if
you wish.
If a spell, such as raise dead, has the sole effect of restoring
you to life, the caster can cast the spell on your companion as
though it were your corpse.
Spirit Covenants
The bond between keeper and companion is a gateway
between two worlds, and the powers that flow through that
gate are defined by the covenant that opens it. Each covenant
is a symbol of a relationship, and like any relationship, it can
take many forms. Some keepers see their companions as
pets, much like a familiar, while others consider them like
family—equals in a mutual partnership. More rarely, a keeper
acts as apprentice, their companion acting as master and
teacher.
Covenant of the Legion
Keepers of this covenant command such a presence that
their will is enough to overwhelm the spirits of the world
around them. When these legionnaires walk, the wind is at
their back, their way is clear, and their pace is swift as they
follow their path to victory, their most loyal companion and
follower always by their side. They speak with the voice of a
conqueror, and the universe listens.
"Hear me! I claim this place and name it mine! Let all who
would oppose me speak now, or fall silent forevermore!"
Covenant Spells
You gain covenant spells at the keeper levels listed.
Covenant of The Legion Spells
Keeper Level Spell
3rd command
5th silence
9th spirit guardians
13th freedom of movement
14th dominate person
Hearthkeeper
When you reach 3rd level, you learn to speak with the
spiritual denizens of an area. You can spend 10 minutes
entreating or ordering these spirits, burning simple offerings,
or otherwise commanding the attention of the world around
you.
If you do so, you learn one fact of your choice about any of
the following subjects as they relate to the area within 1 mile
of you:
Frequently visited buildings and places of business
Historically significant events
Powerful aberrations, celestials, fey, fiends, elementals, or
undead
Safe sources of food, water, and places to rest
Mortals and spirits experience life in fundamentally
different ways. In offering their wisdom, the spirits' advice
may be cryptic, spoken like a prophecy, or conveyed through
potentially disturbing dreams and visions.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you
finish a long rest.
Sworn Protector
By 3rd level, your companion is your faithful servant and
protector. When a creature your companion can see attacks
you, your companion can use its reaction to move up to its
speed towards the attacker, imposing disadvantage on the
attack roll if it ends this movement within 5 feet of the
attacker.
March of the Legion
Beginning at 5th level, your companion can attack twice,
instead of once, whenever it takes the Attack action on its
turn.
Unseen Serfdom
At 7th level, you gain access to the unseen servant spell. You
always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the
number of spells you can prepare each day.
Additionally, when you cast unseen servant, you can create
a number of additional servants equal to half your keeper
level. When you cast unseen servant in this way, each servant
has a Strength score equal to the number of unseen servants
under your command (maximum Strength score of 12), and
you can mentally command any or all of the servants when
you use your bonus action to command a servant, issuing the
same command to each one.
Once you cast unseen servant in this way, you can't do so
again until you finish a long rest.
Oathbound Guardian
Starting at 11th level, your companion is your devoted
guardian. When you use your Sworn Protector feature, your
companion can make a melee attack against the attacker as
part of the same reaction.
Additionally, while your companion is within 5 feet of a
hostile creature, that creature has disadvantage on any attack
roll targeting you.
Demesne
By 18th level, you can perform a ritual to claim ownership of
a location no larger than 500 feet on a side, such as a section
of forest, a manor, a castle, or other area, establishing it as
your demesne. To perform the ritual, you must spend at least
24 consecutive hours within the area without resting, falling
unconscious, or being reduced to 0 hit points. During the
ritual, any creature within 1 mile of you is made aware of your
claim and the consequences of the ritual. If you successfully
complete the ritual, you claim the area as your demesne.
Within your demesne, you can shape reality to your will.
You can use your action to manipulate an area you can see
within your demesne no larger than a 20-foot cube,
destroying solid structures, raising or depressing land,
changing the weather and temperature, manifesting sounds
or smells, or altering the material of a structure or surface -
such as changing a stone wall to one of wood, ice, or flesh. If
you manipulate an area to cause harm, each hostile creature
within the area must make a Charisma saving throw against
your keeper spell save DC. A creature takes 4d8 damage of a
type of your choice on a failed save, or half as much damage
on a successful one.
If you claim another demesne, your lose ownership of your
former demesne, and any changes you made within are
slowly undone over the course of a week. Anything created by
this feature vanishes when it leaves your demesne, and any
changes made to an object are rapidly undone if it leaves your
demesne.
Covenant of the Vessel
Every keeper treads a measure in the world of the mystical.
Some, however, go further, truly joining with the magical
world. Called vessels, these keepers cut away fragments of
their self, the bedrock of their identity, and fill the gaps with
spirits kin to their companion. These vessels are imbued with
wild, electrifying power, but must remain vigilant, or risk
losing themselves to the spirits they invite within.
"Hungry spirits, rattlin' around inside you; something wild, to
run faster, hit harder... It's enough to make you feel hollow."
Covenant Spells
You gain covenant spells at the keeper levels listed.
Covenant of The Vessel Spells
Keeper Level Spell
3rd expeditious retreat
5th alter self
9th haste
13th shadow of moil
14th spirit feastKS
Spells marked with KS can be found at the end of this
document.
7
 Burning the Candle
At 3rd level, the spirits invited within change you, making you
restless, agitated, and just a little inhuman. You cannot sleep,
magically or otherwise, and no longer need to, though you
can still be knocked unconscious. To gain the benefits of a
long rest, you can spend all 8 hours doing light activity, such
as pacing and keeping watch.
Spirit Riding
Starting at 3rd level, your will is steeled, strong enough to
withstand assault from within.
While within 60 feet of you, your companion can use its
action to beckon spirits of its nature to enter your body,
imbuing you with a portion of their strength through a
practice called riding. These spirits remain for 10 minutes.
Your Spirit Riding ends early if you die or if you dismiss it (no
action required). Your companion can't use this feature while
you're Spirit Riding.
While Spirit Riding, you gain the following benefits:
Whenever you hit a creature with a weapon attack on your
turn, you can push the creature up to 5 feet away from you
and immediately move up to half your speed to an
unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target.
Immediately after you take damage, you gain temporary
hit points equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of
1).
You cannot be frightened. If you are frightened when you
begin Spirit Riding, the effect is suspended while you are
Spirit Riding.
You ignore the effects of any levels of exhaustion.
The first time you use this ability, you suffer no adverse
effect. Each time you use this feature again before you finish
a short or long rest, you suffer one level of exhaustion.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once,
whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Hollowed Heart
By 7th level, your harrowed spirit can consume fragments of
the dead. By spending 1 minute within 5 feet of a creature's
corpse, you can learn what skill and tool proficiencies the
creature possessed, what languages it spoke, and its type.
When you use this feature, you can also choose to harvest
fragments of its spirit. If you do so, you gain proficiency in
two skills or tools of your choice, chosen from those the
creature possessed in life, which remain until you harvest
fragments of another creature's spirit. You can replace one or
both of these selections with languages the creature spoke. If
the creature did not speak a language, you can instead
communicate with and be understood by any of its kind.
Soul Frenzy
Starting at 11th level, the spirits within you scream at the
slightest provocation. When you hit a creature with a weapon
attack while Spirit Riding, you can roll one of the weapon's
damage dice one additional time and add it to the damage of
the attack if that creature has damaged you or your
companion since the end of your last turn.
8
Spirit Vault
Starting at 18th level, your body is animated by the spirits
held within. You ignore the effects of the first five levels of
exhaustion. In addition, while Spirit Riding, having 0 hit
points doesn't knock you unconscious. You still must make
death saving throws, and you suffer the normal effects of
taking damage while at 0 hit points.
Additionally, when your Spirit Riding ends, you can open
the vault within your soul and release a hurricane of hungry
spirits. Each creature within 30 feet of you must make a
Constitution saving throw against your keeper spell save DC.
A target takes 8d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half
as much damage on a successful one. A target killed by this
damage is devoured whole. You regain hit points equal to
your Charisma modifier for each creature devoured in this
way. If your Spirit Riding ended early because you died and
the spirits devour a creature, you are returned to life with 1
hit point.
Once you open the vault, you can't open it again until you
finish a long rest.
Covenant of Unity
The bond between Keeper and companion typically implies a
measure of servitude on the companion's part. This is not
always the case. For some, the bond is much more intimate,
and the line between the two halves is blurred. These merged
beings, often called unions or fusions, embody the
relationship between each partner, their mind and body
shaped by the interplay between their halves.
"I'm not two people, fighting together. Everything they care
about? Their love, their hate? I'm that, and so much more."
Covenant Spells
You gain covenant spells at the keeper levels listed.
Covenant of Unity Spells
Keeper Level Spell
3rd bless
5th aid
9th dreamscapeKS
13th aura of life
14th ties that bindKS
Spells marked with KS can be found at the end of this
document.
Unity
At 3rd level, your power over connections grants you the
ability to become one with your companion. You can use your
action while touching your companion to unify with it,
merging into a single creature. Your bodies join together, but
you retain your class features and other statistics. Your
companion becomes a part of your body; it is incapacitated,
has a speed of 0, and cannot be targeted by any attack, spell,
or harmful effect.
 While unified, you have resistance to all damage, and each
time you take damage, your companion takes the same
amount of damage. In addition, whenever you make an ability
check, you can make the check using your companion's
statistics, rather than your own.
For the duration, you gain the benefit of your companion's
traits, including its senses and speeds. If your companion has
a flying speed, you can't use it while unified until you reach
9th level in this class. If your companion is larger than you,
you grow to its size — from Small to Medium, for example.
Additionally, you manifest your companion's natural
weapons. You are proficient with them, and you can add your
Strength or Dexterity modifier to their attack and damage
rolls. When you use the Attack action with these natural
weapons on your turn, you can make one attack with them as
a bonus action.
Your unification lasts for a number of hours equal to half
your keeper level. You and your companion then revert to your
separate forms, appearing in the nearest unoccupied spaces
within 5 feet of you, unless you expend another use of this
feature. It ends early if you or your companion choose to end
it (no action required), are reduced to 0 hit points, or die.
You can use this feature twice. You regain all expended
uses of it when you finish a long rest. Beginning at 11th level,
you can use this feature three times between rests.
Kindred Spirits
Starting at 3rd level, while you and your companion are on
the same plane of existence, you can each communicate with
the other telepathically. You don't need to see each other to
communicate in this way.
Equilibrium
Beginning at 5th level, you and your companion can deal an
extra 1d6 damage of your companion's damage type to one
creature you hit with an attack on each of your turns. While
unified, you can deal this extra damage twice on your turn.
When you reach 11th level in this class, this extra damage
increases to 2d6.
Harmony
At 7th level, you gain the ability to strengthen the connection
between yourself and another creature. As an action, you can
force a creature you can see within 60 feet of you to make a
Wisdom saving throw, which it can choose to fail. If the
creature you choose has an Intelligence of 1, it is unaffected.
On a failed save, the target is charmed by you for 1 minute.
While charmed, you and the target can communicate
telepathically, can sense each other's emotional state, and
have advantage on all Wisdom and Charisma checks made to
interact with each other. You and the target don't need to
share a language to understand each other.
On a successful save, or if you or your allies do anything
harmful to the target, you can't use this feature on that
creature again until you finish a long rest.
The effect ends early if you or your companions do
anything harmful to the target, or if you use the feature again.
Me, Myself, and I
The union between keeper and companion is often
a being in its own right, possessing its own distinct
personality. At your option, you can pick from or
roll on the following table to create a quirk for your
union.
d6 Quirk
///1/// You actually were born yesterday.
Your halves are almost irreconcilable,
2
making you dangerously self-destructive.
3
You only exist while your halves are unified.
You wish they spent more time that way.
4 You delight in playing matchmaker.
You have difficulty understanding the
5
concept of 'personal space'.
6 Two hearts means twice as much passion!
Synthesis
Starting at 11th level, when you or your companion unify, you
can expend one spell slot to renew yourselves in your new
form. Roll 2d8, plus 2d8 for each slot level higher than 1st.
You restore hit points equal to the total, which you can divide
as you choose between you and your companion.
Fusion
At 18th level, you become a master of bonds. You can use
your Unity feature an unlimited number of times.
Additionally, your mastery over connections allows you to
truly join with another being. As an action while you aren't
unified, you can fuse with a willing creature you touch,
becoming a single creature. When you fuse with a creature,
you add your hit point maximums and current hit points
together, using a shared pool.
While fused, you and the creature retain your class features
and proficiencies, in addition to gaining the proficiencies of
the other. In combat, you each roll your own initiatives and
act on your own turns. You use the higher of your ACs,
speeds, ability scores, and sizes, any spell or effect that
targets one of you targets both of you, and if either of you
succeed on a saving throw, you both succeed.
The fusion lasts for 10 minutes. It ends early if you or the
creature dies or chooses to end it (no action required), if the
pool of hit points is reduced to 0, or if you unify with your
companion. You and the creature then revert to your separate
forms, appearing in the nearest unoccupied spaces within 5
feet of you and dividing the remaining hit points in the shared
pool between you and the creature as you choose.
Once you fuse with another creature, you can't use this
feature again until you finish a long rest.
9

Creating a Companion
You use the rules presented here when creating your
companion.
Your companion is a Small or Medium creature (your
choice) with a base walking speed of 30 feet. If mounted, it
continues to act independently, not as a controlled mount.
You generate your companion's abilty scores using the
following numbers: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8. You assign each
of these numbers to an ability score of your choice.
Your companion can be one of many creature types. Select
one of the following types: aberration, beast, celestial,
construct, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, giant, monstrosity,
ooze, plant, or undead.
Your companion is proficient in Charisma saving throws.
Additionally, choose one ability score other than Charisma.
Your companion gains proficiency in saving throws using the
chosen ability.
Your companion is proficient in two skills of your choice,
and can speak the languages you know.
Finally, select two traits from the list below to give your
companion a feeling uniquely its own. Choose carefully. Once
created, your companion's features cannot be changed.
10
Building Azra
Delilah is an aspiring Keeper, and seeks a powerful
companion. She comes across the spirit of a feral,
animalistic demon, bargains and bonds with it, and
the two become a sychronized pair.
The spirit is not subtle, and so Delilah's player
decides her companion is a Medium creature.
Her companion is ferocious, and so Delilah's
player prioritizes its physical statistics in creating
it. It is a predator spirit, however, and so she
considers its Wisdom, too.
In the end, her companion's ability scores and
modifiers look like this: Strength 15 (+2), Dexterity
13 (+1), Constitution 14 (+2), Intelligence 8 (-1),
Wisdom 12 (+1), Charisma 10 (+0).
Delilah's companion is demonic, and so,
naturally, is a Fiend.
Delilah's player decides to give her companion
proficiency in Constitution saving throws, in
addition to Charisma, to represent its thick hide.
She also decides to give it proficiency in the
Perception and Survival skills, to represent its
hunting talent.
Delilah's player selects the traits Keen Senses,
selecting hearing and smell, and Resistance,
selecting fire, for her companion.
All these traits combined style her companion as
a wild demonic beast, kin to hellhounds. She
names it Azra, and begins to plan the nuances of
her and her companion's partnership.
Companion Traits Keeper Spell List
The following list shows options for your companion's traits. The following spells are presented in alphabetical order.
Aerial 1st Level 3rd Level
Your companion has a flying speed equal to its walking speed.
Your companion can't use its flying speed while mounted or Alarm Animate Dead
while grappling another creature until you reach 9th level in Animal Friendship Clairvoyance
this class. Bane Conjure Animals
Bless Dispel Magic
Amorphous Cause Fear DreamscapeKS
Your companion can move through small holes, narrow Charm Person Glyph of Warding
openings, and cracks small as 1-inch wide without squeezing. Command Magic Circle
Amphibious Compelled Duel Nondetection
Your companion can breathe air and water, and has a Cure Wounds Phantom Steed
swimming speed equal to its walking speed. Comprehend Sending
Languages Speak With Dead
Blindsense Detect Evil and Good Speak With Plants
Your companion has blindsight with a range of 30 feet. Detect Magic Summon DragonkinKS
False Appearance Disguise Self Summon Lesser
Choose an object or kind of surface, such as a puddle, loose Healing Word Demons
sand, uneven stone, a plant, or a statue. While your Heroism Tongues
companion remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from Practitioner's RitesKS
that object or surface. Purify Food and Drink 4th Level
Sanctuary Arcane Eye
Keen Senses Speak With Animals Banishment
Your companion has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) Unseen Servant Charm Monster
checks relying on two of the following senses of your choice: Conjure Minor
hearing, sight, or smell. Vengeful SpiritKS
Elementals
Lurker 2nd Level Conjure Woodland
Your companion has darkvision with a range of 60 feet. Aid Beings
Additionally, your companion can attempt to hide even when Animal Messenger Dimension Door
it is only lightly obscured by dim light. Arcane Lock Locate Creature
Augury Mordenkainen's
Resistance Faithful Hound
Calm Emotions
Your companion has resistance to one of the following Summon Greater
damage types (your choice): acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, Enhance Ability
necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder. Enthrall Demon
Gentle Repose Wake PlantlifeKS
Swarm Invisibility
Your companion can occupy another creature's space and Knock 5th Level
vice versa, and can move through any opening large enough Lesser Restoration Animate Objects
for a Tiny creature. Locate Animals or Commune With Nature
Plants Conjure Elemental
Swift
Your companion's base walking speed is 50 feet. Locate Object Contact Other Plane
Nystul's Magic Aura Danse Macabre
Teleporter PossessionKS Dispel Evil and Good
As an action, your companion can teleport, along with any See Invisibility Geas
equipment it is wearing or carrying, to an unoccupied space it SkinchangeKS Hallow
can see within 30 feet of itself. Skywrite Infernal Calling
Planar Binding
Towering
Your companion is Large instead of Small or Medium. Scrying
Teleportation Circle
Wall Crawler
Your companion can climb difficult surfaces, including upside
down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

11
 6
. th Level 7th Level
Arcane Gate Conjure Celestial
Conjure Fey
Conjure UndeadKS
Divine Word
House of LifeKS
Create Undead Plane Shift
Forbiddance Symbol
Planar Ally Teleport
Soul Cage
.
True Seeing
.
New Spells
This section presents new spell options for the Keeper to use.
Practitioner's Rites
1st-level conjuration (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (Chalk and a handful of edible food,
which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous
You invoke a rite, entreating a boon from nearby spirits.
When you cast the spell, choose one of the following rites, the
target of which must be within 10 feet of you throughout the
casting.
Rite of Elegy. You speak the name of a dead humanoid,
and imbue a creature or object precious to it in life—such as a
loved one or treasured belonging—with nostalgia. If the dead
humanoid became an undead with unfinished business, such
as a ghost, spectre, or poltergeist, and is within 1 mile of you,
it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or spend its turns
moving as close to the target as it can for 1 hour or until it
takes damage.
Rite of Fertility. One willing creature you touch is imbued
with life. Any attempts the affected creature makes to
conceive a child within the next 24 hours are successful. If
the creature is pregnant, the pregnancy cannot fail or be
terminated without the creature's consent, and any disease
affecting the creature will not harm their offspring.
Rite of Warding. One homestead or small building is
sheltered by a protective blessing until you leave the building
or fall unconscious. As part of casting the spell, you touch a
number of thresholds, such as doors, windows, or other
entryways. For the duration, each threshold has resistance to
all damage, and any fey, fiend, or undead that attempts to
enter must succeed on a Charisma saving throw be unable to
willingly pass through until the end of its next turn. On a
successful save, the creature is immune to this effect for 24
hours.
Rite of Wild Sanctuary. One animal you touch with an
Intelligence of 6 or lower is shepherded by gentle spirits. The
animal has a +10 bonus to all checks made to evade capture
and will be led to the nearest source of enough food, water,
and shelter to sustain them until they find a safe habitat to
live in.
12
Vengeful Spirit
1st-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
You beckon a spirit to your side, feeding it a vengeful rage.
The spirit rushes towards a creature or object within range,
seeking to destroy it. Make a melee spell attack against the
target. On a hit, the target takes 3d8 necrotic damage. Hit or
miss, the spirit then vanishes.
If the target has attacked you or targeted you with a
harmful spell since the end of your last turn, the spirit's lust
for vengeance is set aflame. If the attack hit, the spirit hounds
the target a moment longer, preventing it from taking
reactions until the start of its next turn.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell
slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for
each slot level above 1st.
Possession
2nd-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You enter a trance, your mind eclipsing the spirit of a willing
creature within range. While in the trance, you possess the
target. The target is incapacitated and loses control of its
body, but remains dreamily aware of its surroundings. Your
body falls into a catatonic state; you are unaware of your
body's surroundings, and it can't take actions or move.
Once you possess a creature's body, you control it. Your
game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the creature,
though you retain your alignment and your Intelligence,
Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your
skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining
those of the creature. You retain the benefit of your own class
features. If the target has any class levels, you can't use any of
its class features.
You must make a Constitution saving throw to maintain
your concentration on this spell whenever your body or the
target's body takes damage. The spell ends early if the target
is no longer willing.
At Higher Levels: If you cast this spell using a spell slot of
3rd level or higher, the duration is 8 hours, and the spell
doesn't require concentration. You can end the spell early at
any time (no action required).
Skinchange
2nd-level transmutation (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (blood, hide, or other remains taken
from the desired beast, applied to the target as the spell is
cast)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You invite a willing creature into the guise of a mundane
animal. A creature you touch transforms into a beast with a
challenge rating of 1/4 or lower. This spell has no effect on a
creature with 0 hit points.
While in this form, the target's game statistics are replaced
by the statistics of the beast, but it retains its hit points,
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. The target
retains its alignment and personality, though its mannerisms
may be slightly affected by the nature of the beast.
The creature is limited in the actions it can perform by the
nature of its new form, and it can't speak, cast spells, or take
any other action that requires hands or speech.
The target's gear melds into the new form. The creature
can't activate, use, wield, or otherwise benefit from any of its
equipment.
The spell ends early if the target is reduced to 0 hit points,
or if they end the spell on their turn (no action required).
Dreamscape
3rd-level illusion (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (30-foot radius)
Components: V, S
Duration: 8 hours
You share yourself, and allow others the same opportunity.
For the duration of the spell, you and any creature of your
choice within range can use their action to enter a shared
dreamscape, entering a meditative trance or falling asleep
(target's choice).
The appearance of the dreamscape is up to you; you and
any creature of your choice can shape the environment of the
dreamscape, creating landscapes, objects, and other images,
such as showing past memories. The dreamscape relies on
the creativity of its residents, and cannot create something
that has not been seen or imagined by a creature within the
dreamscape. A creature within the dreamscape can leave at
any time, waking from their trance or sleep.
Regardless of its contents, the dreamscape soothes the
soul with its catharsis. A creature that spends at least 4 hours
of a long rest within the dreamscape recovers an additional
level of exhaustion at the end of the rest.
Summon Dragonkin
3rd-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, M (a gemstone worth at least 100 gp)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You call draconic spirits into the shape of a drake spirit,
which appears in an unoccupied space you can see within
range. The drake spirit disappears when it drops to 0 hit
points or when the spell ends. When you summon the drake,
it is imbued with the nature of a certain kind of dragon. It
gains a climbing speed, a burrowing speed, or a swimming
speed of 20 feet. Additionally, choose acid, cold, fire, lightning,
or poison. The drake gains resistance to the chosen damage
type, and its bite deals an extra 1d6 damage of that type when
it hits.
The drake is friendly to you and your companions. Roll
initiative for the drake, which has its own turns. It obeys any
verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by
you). If you don't issue any commands to the drake, it defends
itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell
slot of 4th level or higher, the drake spirit gains 10 temporary
hit points for each slot level above 3rd. If you use a spell slot
of 5th level or higher, the duration is concentration, up to 24
hours.
Drake Spirit
Large dragon, unaligned
Armour Class 15 (natural armour)
Hit Points 42 (5d10 + 15)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 5 (-3) 10 (+0) 13 (+1)
Skills Perception +4
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages understands Draconic but can't speak
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Actions
Multiattack. The drake makes two attacks: one with
its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
target. Hit: 6 (1d8+3) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) slashing damage.
 Wake Plantlife
4th-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours
You briefly instill a semblance of life within a Huge or smaller
plant you can see within range, transforming it into an
awakened tree (MM 317), though it has an Intelligence and
Charisma score of 1, and it can't speak. The target grows
until it is Huge, if it was smaller. If the target already had an
Intelligence score, it is unaffected.
The tree is friendly to you and your companions. Roll
initiative for the tree, which has its own turns. While the tree
is within 1 mile of you, you can telepathically communicate
with it. The tree obeys any commands you issue to it (no
action required by you). If you don't issue any commands to
the tree, it defends itself from hostile creatures but otherwise
takes no actions. If the tree is reduced to 0 hit points, the
spell ends.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell
slot of 5th level or higher, you can target one additional plant
for every two slot levels above 4th.
Spirit Feast
5th-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature
you can see within 60 feet of you dies
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
You rush towards a dying creature and gorge yourself on its
spirit. As part of casting the spell, you can move up to your
speed. If you end this movement within 5 feet of the target,
you devour its spirit. You regain 40 hit points, and the target
can't be resurrected by any means short of a wish spell.
Ties That Bind
5th-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (60-foot radius)
Components: V
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
You radiate kinship in an aura with a 60-foot radius,
reminding your allies of their support for each other. Until the
spell ends, the aura moves, centered on you. While in the
aura, each friendly creature in the aura (including you) can't
be charmed, and deals extra damage the first time it hits with
an attack on each of its turns. This damage equals 1d6 + the
number of allies affected by this spell, to a maximum of 10.
14
Conjure Undead
6th-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You channel necrotic power, summoning an incorporeal
undead of challenge rating 5 or lower, such as a ghost or a
wraith. The undead appears in an unoccupied space you can
see within range, and disappears when it drops to 0 hit points
or when the spell ends.
The undead is friendly to you and your companions for the
duration. Roll initiative for the undead, which has its own
turns. It obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no
action required by you). If you don't issue any commands to
the undead, it defends itself from hostile creatures but
otherwise takes no actions.
If your concentration is broken, the undead creature
doesn't disappear. Instead, you lose control of the undead, it
becomes hostile toward you and your companions, and it
might attack. An uncontrolled undead can't be dismissed by
you, and it disappears 1 hour after you summoned it.
The DM has the undead creature's statistics.
House of Life
7th-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S, M (50 pounds of flesh and two cupped
handfuls of blood taken from a humanoid or beast, which
are consumed by the spell, and an esoteric implement,
which is buried within the house's chest as the spell is cast)
Duration: Instantaneous
You shape, structure, and bind a house of life, which appears
in an unoccupied space you can see within range. The house
has the same statistics as a Flesh Golem (MM 169), though it
lacks the Berserk trait.
The house is friendly to you and your companions. Roll
initiative for the house, which has its own turns. It obeys any
verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by
you). If you don't issue any commands to the house, it defends
itself from hostile creatures but otherwise takes no actions.
If a willing creature dies within 60 feet of the house, you
can use your reaction to cage its soul within the house. The
soul remains within the house until the house is destroyed, or
until it chooses to leave. A soul within the house can control
it. Its game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the
house, though it retains its alignment and its Intelligence,
Wisdom, and Charisma scores. It also retains all of its skill
and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of
the house, and it retains the benefits of its own class features.
The house collapes into a puddle of flesh when it is
reduced to 0 hit points, or after 24 hours. To maintain the
house's form for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on
the house again before the current 24-hour period ends.
When you cast this spell to maintain a house's form, it has a
casting time of 1 minute, and you can ignore the spell's
material components.
 Credits
Created By: u/NotTheSmoooze. You can find more
of my work here, and support me here
With the Help & Support of: AurThEx,
u/BunnygeonMaster, u/Cometdance,
u/GenuineBelieverer, Izzy | Inkfore, u/layhnet,
u/Leuku, Onin, PMGD, u/VampireBagel_, as well as
my loving boyfriend, who refused to be credited as
anything but.
To everyone who helped create this class, with
all the sincerity in my heart; thank you so much.
The Keeper wouldn't exist as it does without you.
With Illustrations by:
Jason Nyugen
Damian Handzlik
Sandara Tang
Chris Rahn
Alena Aenami
Anna Podedworna
Created Using: GM Binder
Keeper Class Symbol: Game Icons

New Items
This section presents options for the keeper's esoteric New Simple Weapon
implement, alongside a handful of items the DM may choose Item Damage Cost Weight Properties
to add to their world. Ritual 1d4 Finesse, light,
5gp 1 lb.
Knife piercing special
Esosteric Implements
Item Cost Weight
Ritual Knife. You can roll the ritual knife's damage die one
Chalice 10gp 3 lbs. additional time and add it to the damage of a weapon attack
Lantern 2gp 8 lbs.
against a prone or restrained target.
Ring 5gp 0.3 lbs. Sovereign Concord, +1, +2, or +3
Ritual Knife 5gp 1 lbs. Wondrous Item, uncommon (+1), rare (+2), very rare (+3)
Sceptre 10gp 4 lbs. Once, these concord scrolls were sworn by knights in
protection of their liege, the magic infused into the contract
Standard 2gp 10 lbs. empowering the signee even as it bound them. The magic,
Talisman 5gp 1 lbs. now dimmed, no longer possesses the grip over the signee's
will it once did; its boon, however, remains.
Esoteric Implement. A keeper's implement says a great As an action, you can present this concord to another,
deal about the persona they project to the world. A keeper offering its power. If the creature accepts the concord, it gains
with a chalice might hoard power, saving their strength for a a bonus to the attack and damage rolls of its weapon or spell
crucial moment, while a keeper with a sceptre might be the attacks (your choice). The bonus is determined by its rarity. If
opposite, bold, brilliant, dramatic, readily making proud the creature already has a bonus to its weapon or spell
claims and challenges. attacks from a magic item, use whichever bonus is higher.
A keeper can use an esoteric implement as a spellcasting This bonus lasts until the concord is destroyed, its power is
focus, as described in chapter 10 of the Player's Handbook. used again, or the signee attacks the creature that presented
To use the implement in this way, the caster must hold it in the concord to them.
hand or wear it visibly.

15