FORBIDDEN 
LIST OF SPELLS 
Caliban’s Crawling Claw
Conjure Shadow

SPELLS  Contaminate
Corpse Trap
Corrupt Beast
DELVE INTO THE DARK ARTS 
Dark Omens
 
Desecrate
  Disarm Senses
For as many heroic paladins there are that Dominate Thrall
do battle on the plains of day, for as many Face of Darkness
wizards that build towering cities and bards Gather Blood
that bring joy and laughter--for all the good Halting Heart
that magic can achieve, there will always be Hands of the Grave
a dark shadow of its evil nature. If magic in Inflict Terrible Wounds
the hands of good people can create Intoxicating Touch
wonders, the opposite must also be true: Lesser Phylactery
magic can also enable the evil to create Lunar Madness
nightmares beyond imagination. Nightmare Terrain
The spells in this collection are considered Parasitic Curse
“forbidden”--be it because they are banned Puppet Strings
from practice in any wizard’s academy or Ray of Rotting
mage’s guild worth its salt, or because the Shadow Step
details of their performance are hidden Snakechange
away in dark tomes like the Necronomicon Snare of Barbs
or the Book of Vile Darkness. That does not Spying Skull
necessarily damn any caster who uses Unholy Weapon
them to a life of evil--after all, sometimes a
horrific crime deserves an equally horrific
punishment--but it is worth considering the
effect casting such grotesque spells with
any regularity has on the mind of a magic
user.

 
   
SPELL DESCRIPTIONS
CALIBAN’S CRAWLING CLAW  3rd-level conjuration
2nd-level necromancy (ritual)
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​Self
Components: ​V, S, M (a silver dagger)
Duration: ​Instantaneous
With one sweeping motion, you sever your
hand, which drops to the ground and
animates as a crawling claw. The wound on
your wrist closes instantly.
The crawling claw acts independently of
you, but it obeys your commands. It can
receive commands telepathically over any
distance, so long as its on the same plane
of existence as you. In combat, it rolls its
own initiative and acts on its own turn. The
claw can attack and take other actions as
normal, as well as manipulating objects,
such as opening doors, turning locks, and
fetching items. The crawling claw can
activate magic items, but if they require
attunement in order to be used, you must be
attuned to them. If the crawling claw is
holding an item, it can still walk, but it loses
its climbing speed.
Additionally, when you cast a spell with a
range of touch, the crawling claw can
deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell.
The claw must use its reaction to deliver the
spell when you cast it. If the spell requires
an attack roll, you use your attack modifier
for the roll.
The claw lasts until it is placed next to
your wrist, where it can be reattached as a
bonus action, leaving only a faint scar. If the
claw drops to 0 hit points, it becomes
inanimate and can take no actions, except
to be reattached to your wrist.
CONJURE SHADOW 
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a chunk of charcoal)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 hour
You summon shadows to do your bidding
within range. Choose up to four Small or
Medium creatures you can see within range;
the shadows of those creatures detach from
their bodies and become living shadows
under your control.
A summoned shadow disappears when it
drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.
The summoned creatures are friendly to
you, but not necessarily to your
companions. Roll initiative for the
summoned creatures as a group, which has
its own turns. They obey any verbal
commands that you issue to them (no action
required by you). If you don’t issue any
commands to them, they will converge on
the nearest creature and use their action to
attack.
The DM has the shadow’s statistics, which
are as normal save for one change: the
shadow’s Strength Drain action still deals
damage, but causes no reduction in a
target’s Strength score. If a creature is killed
by the shadow’s Strength Drain, it becomes
a shadow 1d4 hours later, but is not under
your control.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the
number of shadows you can create
increases by one for every slot level above
3rd.
CONTAMINATE  If you choose no condition, the undead lies
3rd-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Components:​ V, S
Duration: ​10 minutes
You contaminate a creature you can see
within range with an infectious disease that
wracks the body. The target must succeed
on a Constitution saving throw or be
poisoned for the duration. Additionally, if a
creature starts its turn within 5 feet of a
creature poisoned by this spell, it must also
succeed on a Constitution saving throw or
become poisoned.
CORPSE TRAP  bones, and is activated by the same
4th-level necromancy
Time: ​1 minute
Range: ​10 feet
Components:​ V, S, M (a drop of blood, a
piece of flesh, and a pinch of bone dust)
Duration: ​24 hours
You plant the seed of undeath in a corpse,
which lies in wait until it can strike. Choose
a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or
Small humanoid within range. Your spell
imbues the target with a foul mimicry of life,
raising it as an undead creature. The target
becomes a skeleton if you chose bones or a
zombie if you chose a corpse (the DM has
the creature’s game statistics).
The undead does not move or reassemble
its body until a certain condition is met,
which you determine when the spell is cast.
You can choose for the undead to activate
when a nearby object is touched, a door is
closed, or some other similar condition.
Once this condition is met, the undead rises
and attacks any creature it can see but you.
dormant until a creature makes an
Intelligence (Investigation) check to inspect
the body, at which point it attacks the
inspecting creature.
The undead lasts until it is reduced to 0 hit
points. If the undead is active but not dead
after the spell’s duration ends, you lose
control of it, and it becomes hostile to you. If
the condition hasn’t been met within the
spell’s duration, the corpse fails to
reanimate.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you
animate two additional undead for each slot
level above 4th. Each of the creatures must
come from a different corpse or pile of
condition.
CORRUPT BEAST 
4th-level transmutation
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​30 feet
Components: ​V, S
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 hour
You fill a beast within range with dark
energy, causing it to grow and become
monstrous. Choose one Small or Medium
beast you can see within range; if the beast
is hostile to you, it can make a Wisdom
saving throw to resist the spell’s effects. On
a failed save, or if the beast does not resist,
it undergoes the following changes:
● The beast’s size category increases by
one (from Small to Medium, or from
Medium to Large). If there is a giant
version of the chosen beast, you may
use the statistics for that version
 instead, so long as it has a CR of 2 or
less.
● The beast’s creature type becomes
“monstrosity”.
● The beast becomes immune to being
charmed or frightened.
The corrupted beast is under your control
for the duration. It obeys your verbal
commands, and in combat, it acts on your
turn each round.
Once the duration ends, you lose control
of the beast, which becomes hostile to you
and your companions. You can cast this
spell again to reassert control of up to three
beasts transformed by this spell for another
hour, instead of creating a new corrupted
beast.
The beast returns to its normal form when
it is reduced to 0 hit points, after 24 hours,
or if subjected to the ​remove curse s​ pell.
At Higher Levels. W ​ hen you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you
can transform one additional beast for each
slot level above 4th.
DARK OMENS  If the area is under the effects of a ​hallow
2nd-level illusion
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​30 feet
Components: ​V
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
You fill a creature’s mind with feelings of
paranoia and impending misfortune. The
target must succeed on a Wisdom saving
throw or become frightened of you for the
duration. A creature frightened in this way
moves cautiously, as if danger is around
every corner, and can only move up to half
its speed on its turn. A frightened creature
can repeat its saving throw at the end of
each of its turns, ending the effect on itself
on a success.
At Higher Levels.​ When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you
can target one additional creature for each
slot level above 2nd. The creatures must be
within 30 feet of each other when you target
them.
DESECRATE 
5th-level necromancy
Time: ​24 hours
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​V, S, M (herbs, oils, and
incense worth at least 1,000gp, which the
spell consumes)
Duration: ​Until dispelled
You touch a point and disrupt any holy
energy in the area around it. The area can
have a radius up to 60 feet, and the spell
fails if the radius includes an area already
under the effect of a ​desecrate s​ pell. The
affected area is subject to the following
effects.
spell, those effects end immediately, as the
divine energy in the area disperses.
Additionally, dead bodies in the
desecrated area become restless; dead
bodies interred in the area rise as undead
within 1d4 days of dying (or entering the
area if already dead). These undead are
hostile to all creatures save for other
undead.
Finally, holy power is weaker in
desecrated areas. Creatures in the
desecrated area have advantage on saving
throws made to resist being turned.
If a ​hallow s​ pell is cast in the desecrated
area, it has no effect of its own except to
negate the effects of this spell.
DISARM SENSES  under the control of any other spell, it must
3rd-level transmutation
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a sewing needle
and a spool of thread)
Duration: ​1 minute
You deprive a creature within range of their
senses. The target must succeed on a
Wisdom saving throw or suffer two of the
following effects of your choice.
​Earless. ​The target’s ears disappear for
the duration, rendering them deafened.
​Eyeless. T​ he target’s eyes disappear for
the duration, rendering them blinded.
​Mouthless. T​ he target’s mouth
disappears for the duration, rendering them
mute. The creature cannot speak or cast
spells that require a verbal component.
A creature affected by this spell can
repeat its saving throw at the end of each of
its turns, ending the effect on itself on a
success.
At Higher Levels. W ​ hen you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you
can target one additional creature for each
slot level above 3rd. The creatures must be
within 60 feet of each other when you cast
the spell.
DOMINATE THRALL  spell, wreathing yourself in a horrifying
2nd-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Components: ​V, S
Duration: ​Special
You utter dark ravings and attempt to
dominate an undead creature you can see
within range. If the undead creature is not
succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or come
under your control for 1 hour. An undead
controlled by you obeys your verbal
commands, acting on its own initiative count
in combat. If the undead is delivered no
commands, it takes no actions on its turn.
If the undead is under the control of a
spell, make an ability check using your
spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the
spell’s level. On a successful check, you
assert control of the undead as normal. This
control lasts for the remaining duration of
the original spell that animated or controlled
the undead.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you
automatically take control of an undead
creature if the animating spell’s level is
equal to or less than the level of the spell
slot you used.
FACE OF DARKNESS 
1st-level illusion
Time: ​1 reaction
Range: ​Self
Components: ​V, S
Duration: ​Instantaneous
When a creature targets you with an attack
roll, you can use your reaction to cast this
illusion of rot and gore that startles the
creature. The attacker has disadvantage on
the attack roll.
GATHER BLOOD 
1st-level necromancy (ritual)
Time: ​10 minutes
Range: ​30 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a series of glass
phials, bottles, or other empty containers)
Duration: ​Instantaneous
You perform a meticulous ritual to collect
and filter blood from your surroundings.
Choose any number of recently deceased
corpses within range; over the course of the
spell’s casting time, you draw any remaining
blood from the corpses and transfer them
into the containers used as this spell’s
material components. In place of any of
these corpses, you may choose a blood
splatter or pool on a surface such as a wall
or floor.
In the process of transferring to your
containers, the blood is filtered of any dirt,
disease, or foreign poisons, and separates
into different containers for each creature,
provided there are enough containers to do
so. You can gather up to a gallon of blood
each time you cast this spell.
HALTING HEART 
5th-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​30 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (an iron spike)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
You flood a creature with necrotic energy,
attempting to briefly stop its heart. Choose a
creature you can see within range. The
target must make a Constitution saving
throw. On a failed save, the target takes
5d10 necrotic damage and is stunned until
the end of its next turn. On a successful
save, the target takes half as much damage
and isn’t stunned. A creature with multiple
hearts has advantage on this saving throw,
and a creature with no heart automatically
succeeds.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the
damage increases by 1d10 for each slot
level above 5th.
HANDS OF THE GRAVE 
2nd-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​90 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a piece of stone
from a graveyard or mausoleum)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
Grasping, clawing hands burst from the
ground in a 20-foot radius starting from a
point you can see within range. When a
creature starts its turn in this area, it must
succeed on a Strength saving throw or take
2d6 slashing damage and be restrained by
the hands for the spell’s duration. A
restrained creature takes an additional 2d6
slashing damage at the beginning of each of
its turns, and can use its action to make a
Strength check against your spell save DC.
On a success, it frees itself.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, it
deals an additional 1d6 slashing damage
(both initial and repeated) for each slot level
above 2nd.
INFLICT TERRIBLE WOUNDS 
4th-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​V, S
Duration: ​Instantaneous
You touch a creature within range and open
festering, bleeding wounds all over its body.
Make a melee spell attack against a
creature you can reach. On a hit, the target
takes 5d8 necrotic damage.
Additionally, a target hit by this spell loses
blood at an alarming rate. The target loses 4
(1d8) hit points at the beginning of each of
its turns. Any creature can use its action to
perform a Wisdom (Medicine) check on the
creature to staunch the bleeding, ending the
effect. The difficulty of this check is equal to
your spell save DC. This effect ends
automatically if the creature receives
magical healing.
At Higher Levels. W ​ hen you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, it
deals an additional 1d8 damage initially for
each slot level above 4th.
INTOXICATING TOUCH  and must make death saving throws as
2nd-level transmutation
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​V, S
Duration: ​1 hour
You touch a creature and fill its blood with
toxins, making it feel as if it were drunk. The
target must succeed on a Constitution
saving throw or be poisoned for the
duration. A creature poisoned in this way
has slurred speech and wobbles
precariously as it moves.
LESSER PHYLACTERY  throw or be frightened for the duration. A
7th-level necromancy
Time: ​1 hour
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​V, S, M (a reliquary and a
gem worth at least 1,000gp, which the spell
consumes)
Duration: ​24 hours
You carve intricate symbols into the gem
that serves as this spell’s material
component and store a fragment of your
soul inside, hardening you against death.
For the duration, when you are reduced to 0
hit points, you make no death saving
throws. Instead, you become stable as your
soul retreats to the phylactery, and you do
not wake up until the duration ends, even if
you receive healing. You cannot be killed
while you are stable in this way except by
the ​disintegrate s​ pell.
At the end of the duration, if you are
unconscious and stabilized in this way, you
wake up with 1 hit point and the gem
shatters. If the gem is shattered early, or if
you are made the target of a ​dispel magic
spell or similar effect, you become unstable,
normal.
LUNAR MADNESS 
4th-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​120 feet
Components:​ V, S, M (a fragment of
moonstone)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
You shine maddening moonlight on a
20-foot radius area centered on a spot you
can see within range. Any creature in that
area must succeed on a Wisdom saving
frightened creature babbles madly and
spends its movement speed running in
random directions. A target can repeat its
saving throw at the end of each of its turns,
ending the effect on itself on a success.
If the target is a shapechanger, it has
disadvantage on this saving throw. If the
creature fails its saving throw, it is forced to
revert to its natural shape, and cannot
transform while it is frightened by this spell.
NIGHTMARE TERRAIN  Constitution saving throw or have a parasite
6th-level illusion
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​30 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a drop of blood and
an onyx crystal)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
You attempt to trap a creature in an illusory
nightmare dimension. One creature you can
see within range must make an Intelligence
saving throw. The target succeeds
automatically if it is immune to being
charmed. On a successful save, the target
takes 5d10 psychic damage, and the spell
ends. On a failed save, the target takes
5d10 psychic damage, and perceives the
world around it as a nightmarish collage of
moaning faces, spires of flesh and bone,
and horrible creatures beyond description.
For the duration, the target can see and
hear nothing but you, itself, and the horrors
created by this illusion. If the target is
damaged by something other than you, it
perceives this damage as originating from
its horrible surroundings, and takes an
additional 2d10 psychic damage on top of
whatever damage the effect deals. When
the target takes damage in this way, it can
repeat its saving throw, ending the illusion
on a success.
PARASITIC CURSE 
3rd-level necromancy
Time: ​1 bonus action
Range: ​60 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a petrified leech)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
Choose a creature you can see within
range. The target must succeed on a
placed inside its body. Until the spell ends,
the creature takes 2d6 necrotic damage at
the beginning of each of its turns, and you
gain temporary hit points equal to half the
amount of damage dealt. These temporary
hit points can stack with each other, but not
with other sources of temporary hit points.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the
damage it deals increases by 1d6 for every
two slot levels above 3rd.
PUPPET STRINGS 
3rd-level enchantment
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a spool of thread)
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
You attach a set of spectral puppet strings
to a creature within range, compelling it to
move at your whim. The target must
succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be
charmed by you for the duration. At the
beginning of a charmed creature’s turn, you
choose where it moves, which it does in a
stilted manner, like a marionette being
manipulated by its strings.
If the target takes damage, or if its
spectral puppet strings are attacked by a
magic weapon, it can repeat its saving
throw, ending the effect on itself on a
success.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you
can designate one additional creature for
each slot level above 3rd. Each creature
must be within 60 feet of each other when
the spell is cast.
RAY OF ROTTING  Components: ​V, S, M (a snake tooth)
2nd-level necromancy
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Components: ​V, S, M (a ball of mold)
Duration: ​Instantaneous
You fire a ray of black energy that withers
and rots anything it touches. Make a spell
attack roll against the target. On a hit, the
spell deals 3d10 necrotic damage.
If the target is a creature, its body withers
and grows frail, granting it disadvantage on
Constitution saving throws for 1 minute. If
the target is an object, its decomposition
accelerates: food grows mold, bodies decay
and become unrecognizable, and iron rusts.
This spell does not alter the time limit on
spells like ​revivify ​or ​raise dead.
At Higher Levels. W ​ hen you cast this spell
with a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the
damage increases by 1d10 for each slot
level above 2nd.
SHADOW STEP 
4th-level conjuration
Time: ​1 bonus action
Range: ​Self
Components: ​V
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
You teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied
shadow or area of darkness you can see.
On each of your turns before the spell ends,
you can use your bonus action to teleport in
this way again.
SNAKECHANGE 
2nd-level transmutation
Time: ​1 action
Range: ​60 feet
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 minute
Choose a nonmagical object held by a
creature you can see within range. You
transform that object into a poisonous
snake, which immediately attacks the
creature holding it. The DM has the snake’s
statistics. The creature can then use their
reaction to drop the snake, if they choose.
For the spell’s duration, the snake is
hostile to the creature that initially held it,
using its turn to move towards and attack
that creature. When the spell ends, the
snake reverts into its normal object form.
The spell ends early if the snake is reduced
to 0 hit points.
SNARE OF BARBS 
2nd-level abjuration
Time: ​1 minute
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​S, M (25 feet of barbed wire,
which the spell consumes)
Duration: ​8 hours
While you cast this spell, you use the
barbed wire to create a circle with a 5-foot
radius on a flat surface within your reach.
When you finish casting, the wire
disappears to become a magical trap.
The trap is nearly invisible and requires a
successful Intelligence (Investigation) check
against your spell save DC to be found.
The trap triggers when a Small creature or
larger moves into the area protected by the
spell. The triggering creature must succeed
on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone and
be hoisted into the air until it hangs upside
down 3 feet above the protected surface,
where it is restrained. A creature restrained
in this way takes 2d4 piercing damage at
the beginning of each of its turns as the
barbs tighten around the creature.
The restrained creature can make a
Dexterity saving throw with disadvantage at
the end of each of its turns and ends the
restrained effect on a success. Alternatively,
another creature that can reach the
restrained creature can use an action to
make an Intelligence (Arcana) check
against your spell save DC. On a success,
the restrained effect also ends. On a failure,
the creature also takes 2d4 piercing
damage as their hands are pierced by
enchanted barbs.
SPYING SKULL 
3rd-level divination
Time: ​10 minutes
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​V, M (the intact skull of a
Medium or smaller creature)
Duration: ​24 hours
You place a magical sensor inside the skull
that serves as this spell’s material
component. For the duration, you can use
your action to inhabit the skull, seeing
through its eye-holes and hearing from
where its ears once were. You must be
within 1 mile of the skull in order to inhabit it
in this way. Additionally, while inhabiting the
skull, if the skull has an intact jaw, you can
speak through the skull using your own
voice.
A creature with truesight or the ability to
see through illusions sees a gentle glow
around this skull.
At Higher Levels. ​When you cast this spell
using certain spell slots, you can inhabit the
skull enchanted by the spell from further
distances; from 100 miles with a 5th-level
slot; from any distance on the same plane
with a 7th-level slot; and from any distance
on any plane with a 9th-level slot.
UNHOLY WEAPON 
5th-level evocation
Time: ​1 bonus action
Range: ​Touch
Components: ​V, S
Duration: ​Concentration, up to 1 hour
You imbue a weapon you touch with unholy
power. Until the spell ends, the weapon
burns with hellish flames that cast bright
light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for 30
feet beyond that. In addition, weapon
attacks made with it deal an extra 2d8
necrotic damage on a hit. If the weapon isn’t
already a magic weapon, it becomes one for
the duration.
As a bonus action on your turn, you can
dismiss this spell and cause the weapon to
emit a blast of unholy fire. Each creature of
your choice that you can see within 30 feet
of you must make a Constitution saving
throw, taking 3d8 necrotic damage and 3d8
fire damage on a failed save, or half as
much damage on a successful one.