MCDM
Content Warning
This class contains a subclass called the Hellspeaker, which has themes of mental manipulation and mind control. In addition, the Sanguine Knight subclass contains effects that manipulate another creature’s blood. Lastly, illriggers are typically evil-aligned characters—and even those who aren’t still serve evil creatures with dark agendas.
The archdevils who rule the Seven Cities of Hell scheme endlessly. Each eternally plots to bring the others to heel—to ascend to the Throne of Hell, unite the Seven Cities and every infernal being living there, and lead an inexhaustible army of devils across the timescape until all worlds burn.
These archdevils’ elite operatives are the illriggers. Knights, assassins, mages, and terror-commandos of Hell, illriggers command the battlefield, disrupt enemy factions, and carry out their archdevil’s infernal will.
The Order of Desolation
Millennia ago, the rulers of Hell did something remarkable: they cooperated. Together, they created the Order of Desolation—knights sworn to serve Hell first, their patron archdevil second.
Those accepted into the Order of Desolation become comrades with every other illrigger, regardless of which archdevil they serve. Each archdevil has grand temples, underground fanes, secret societies, and sinister cults, all with leaders fanatically devoted to the archdevil who grants them their power. But the Order of Desolation stands above the petty political squabbles dividing the Seven Cities.
Members of the Order of Desolation, also known as the Desolate, are expected to be intelligent, resourceful, tactical, and manipulative. The order was founded to give the archdevils capable agents who could act independently across the timescape, free from the direct control of their patron.
An illrigger has many powerful abilities granted by their archdevil, but more precious is their patron’s trust. Each illrigger is expected to sow discord, pain, strife, deceit, and fear without instruction or supervision. It’s not unusual, therefore, for a Desolate to first rely on other order members—regardless of which archdevil they serve—before turning to an institution devoted to their own archdevil.
Creating an Illrigger
To create an illrigger, consult the following subsections, which give you hit points, proficiencies, and starting equipment. Then look at the Illrigger table to see which features you get at each level. The descriptions of those features appear in the “Class Features” section.
Quick Build
You can make an illrigger quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Strength (if you want to focus on melee weapons), Dexterity (if you want to focus on archery or finesse weapons), or Charisma (if you plan to choose the Architect of Ruin subclass). Your second highest ability score should be Constitution. Then, choose the soldier or outlander background from the core rules, or any background that gives proficiency in skills such as Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per illrigger level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per illrigger level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Persuasion, Religion, Stealth
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) two martial weapons or (b) one martial weapon and a shield
- (a) chain shirt or (b) leather armor, a longbow, and 20 arrows
- (a) a priest’s pack or (b) a dungeoneer’s pack
- five javelins
Alternatively, you can forgo this starting equipment and the equipment granted by your background, instead starting with 5d4 × 10 gp.
Multiclassing and the Illrigger
If your group uses the optional rule on multiclassing in the core rules, here’s what you need to know if you choose illrigger as one of your classes.
Ability Score Minimum. As a multiclass character, you must have at least a Charisma score of 13 and a Strength or Dexterity score of 13 to take a level in this class, or to take a level in another class if you are already an illrigger.
Proficiencies Gained. If illrigger isn’t your initial class, here are the proficiencies you gain when you take your first level as an illrigger: light armor, medium armor, shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons.
Spell Slots. If you multiclass and choose the Architect of Ruin subclass, you determine your available spell slots by adding half your illrigger levels (rounded down) and otherwise following the guidelines in the core rules.
The Illrigger
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Seals | Seal Damage | Interdict Boons | Infernal Conduit Dice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Baleful Interdict, Forked Tongue | 3 | 1d6 | — | — |
| 2nd | +2 | Combat Mastery, Interdiction | 3 | 1d6 | 1 | — |
| 3rd | +2 | Diabolic Contract, Invoke Hell | 4 | 1d6 | 1 | — |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 1d6 | 1 | — |
| 5th | +3 | Extra Attack | 4 | 2d6 | 1 | — |
| 6th | +3 | Infernal Conduit | 4 | 2d6 | 1 | 3 |
| 7th | +3 | Diabolic Contract feature | 5 | 2d6 | 2 | 4 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 2d6 | 2 | 4 |
| 9th | +4 | Forked Tongue improvement | 5 | 2d6 | 2 | 5 |
| 10th | +4 | Blood Price | 5 | 2d6 | 2 | 5 |
| 11th | +4 | Diabolic Contract feature, Infernal Conduit improvement, Terrorizing Force | 5 | 3d6 | 2 | 6 |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 3d6 | 2 | 6 |
| 13th | +5 | — | 6 | 3d6 | 3 | 7 |
| 14th | +5 | Superior Interdict | 6 | 3d6 | 3 | 7 |
| 15th | +5 | Diabolic Contract feature | 6 | 3d6 | 3 | 8 |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 6 | 3d6 | 3 | 8 |
| 17th | +6 | Infernal Majesty | 6 | 3d6 | 3 | 9 |
| 18th | +6 | — | 7 | 3d6 | 4 | 9 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 7 | 3d6 | 4 | 10 |
| 20th | +6 | Master of Hell | 7 | 4d6 | 4 | 10 |
Class Features
As an illrigger, you gain the following class features.
Level 1: Baleful Interdict
You gain the ability to censure creatures with the power of Hell. Once on your turn, you can place a magical seal on a creature within 30 feet of you. You can either place this seal when you hit that target with a weapon attack (no action required), or you can use a bonus action to place this seal on a target you can see within range. This seal lasts for 1 minute or until burned (see “Burning Seals” below). A creature with one or more of your seals is referred to as an interdicted creature. Seals you place are invisible to other creatures, and when you can see an interdicted creature, the seals appear to you as glowing glyphs on the creature’s body.
You can only place a limited number of seals before resting, and you regain all seals when you finish a short or long rest. The number of seals you can place increases as you gain illrigger levels, as indicated in the Seals column of the Illrigger table.
If an interdicted creature dies, you can use a bonus action on your turn to move all seals placed on them to a new creature you can see within 30 feet of them. Each seal’s duration continues to elapse when an interdicted creature dies and when that seal is moved to a new creature.
Burning Seals. When an interdicted creature you can see within 30 feet of you takes damage from any source other than a seal burned by an illrigger, you can burn any number of seals you placed on them to deal 1d6 fire or necrotic damage (your choice) to that creature per seal burned. You deal this damage immediately after the triggering damage. Burning a seal doesn’t require an action from you, but you can’t do so while incapacitated. Once a seal is burned, it immediately vanishes.
Once you reach 5th level in this class, your connection to your archdevil strengthens. Each burned seal deals an extra 1d6 damage, for a total of 2d6. The damage of each seal increases again by 1d6 when you reach 11th level (for a total of 3d6) and 20th level (for a total of 4d6) in this class, as indicated in the Seal Damage column of the Illrigger table.
Interdict Save. Class features you gain later can add additional effects to your Baleful Interdict and require your target to make a saving throw to resist them. The saving throw DC for these effects uses your interdict save DC, which is calculated as follows:
Level 1: Forked Tongue
You can instinctively speak, read, and write Infernal.
In addition, you can speak two other languages of your choice, but you can’t read or write them. When you finish a long rest, you can draw on your archdevil’s knowledge to replace one of these two languages. When you do, choose another language whose name you know; you magically forget the previous language and gain this new one instead. Once you replace a language in this way, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Starting at 9th level, this feature grants you another language, for a total of three (in addition to Infernal). Furthermore, you gain advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made to ascertain the intentions or sincerity of creatures.
Level 2: Combat Mastery
Your archdevil grants you uncanny skill in a certain form of combat. Choose one of the following illrigger combat masteries:
Bravado. While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
Brutal. When you hit a creature who is no more than one size larger than you with an attack you make with a melee weapon you are wielding with two hands, you can move the target 5 feet horizontally. If you choose, you can then spend your movement to move into the space they left.
Inexorable. You gain a +1 bonus to saving throws for each hostile creature within 5 feet of you, to a maximum bonus of +5.
Lies. You can choose one type of melee weapon, such as a battleaxe, greatsword, or spear. When you attack with that type of weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. You can choose a new weapon type, which replaces your previous choice, when you finish a long rest.
Lissome. When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can spend your movement to move 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
Unfettered. When you use your Baleful Interdict to place or burn a seal, its range is 60 feet instead of 30 feet. When you gain the Infernal Conduit feature at 6th level, its range is 30 feet instead of touch.
In addition, making a ranged attack while within 5 feet of a hostile creature does not impose disadvantage on the attack roll.
Level 2: Interdiction
You can infuse your seals with hellish magical power, enhancing their effects.
Interdict Boons Known. You learn one interdict boon of your choice from the “Interdict Boons” section at the end of the class’s description. As you gain levels in this class, you gain additional boons of your choice, as shown in the Interdict Boons column of the Illrigger table. Each new boon must be of a level you can learn. When you reach 7th level, for example, you learn one new boon of 2nd or 7th level.
Whenever you gain an illrigger level, you can choose a boon you know and replace it with another boon you can learn.
Using Interdict Boons. Some boons allow you to expend unplaced seals to fuel abilities, while others empower all your seals or grant you benefits against interdicted creatures.
The boons that grant passive (or “always on”) benefits, such as the 2nd-level Swift Retribution boon, are marked with a “Passive” tag. You don’t need to expend a seal or take an action to benefit from the passive boons you know. All other boons, such as the 2nd-level Abating Seal boon, must be activated on a turn (for example, by expending a seal). You can activate only one non-passive boon per turn, regardless of how many you know.
Burn vs. Expend
Burning a seal is part of the main gameplay loop of this class. The illrigger places a seal by using a bonus action or hitting a creature with an attack, then burns the seal for additional damage (as described in the Baleful Interdict class feature). Many interdict boons activate when you burn a seal; these burned seals deal the normal damage to the interdicted creature in addition to any effects granted by the boon.
Other interdict boons instead require you to expend a seal. In this case, the illrigger expends an unplaced seal from their pool of available seals. This may require using an action, bonus action, or reaction, but not always (such as in the case of the Hellspeaker’s Charm Enemy feature, where you can expend seals to increase the number of targets).
Each active interdict boon details if any kind of action is required to expend the seal and activate the boon’s benefit. Part of the illrigger’s resource management is maximizing efficiency between burned seals (and their extra damage) and expended seals (and their unique effects).
Level 3: Diabolic Contract
You sign a diabolic contract with an archdevil who welcomes you into the Order of Desolation. Each of these subclasses is detailed after the class’s description. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.
Level 3: Invoke Hell
Your diabolic connection allows you to channel infernal energy to empower magical effects. Your chosen diabolic contract grants you two Invoke Hell options and describes how to use each.
When you use your Invoke Hell, you choose which option to use. You must then finish a short or long rest to use your Invoke Hell again.
Some Invoke Hell effects require a saving throw. When you use such an effect, the DC equals your interdict save DC.
Level 4: 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.
Level 5: Extra Attack
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Level 6: Infernal Conduit
You can strengthen your allies at the cost of yourself—or drain your enemy’s life force for your own gain. You have a pool of Infernal Conduit dice, which are d10s. The number of Infernal Conduit dice in your pool increase as you gain illrigger levels, as shown in the Infernal Conduit Dice column of the Illrigger table.
As an action, you can touch another creature and spend one or more dice from your pool. The target must make a Constitution saving throw against your interdict save DC. A creature can willingly fail this saving throw. Roll the spent dice and choose one of the following effects:
Invigorate. On a failed save, the target regains hit points equal to the total you rolled, and you take necrotic damage equal to that total. On a successful save, the target regains half as many hit points, and you take necrotic damage equal to that total. Save or fail, this necrotic damage can’t be reduced in any way, and if this damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you fall unconscious and are stabilized.
Devour. On a failed save, the target takes necrotic damage equal to the total you rolled, and you regain hit points equal to that total. On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage, and you regain hit points equal to the damage the target took. Save or fail, or if the target chose to fail their saving throw against this effect, the necrotic damage can’t be reduced in any way. When you reach 11th level in this class, the target also gains a level of exhaustion on a failed save against this effect. This level of exhaustion can be reduced as normal, and a creature can’t suffer more than three levels of exhaustion combined from all illriggers’ Infernal Conduit features.
You regain any spent Infernal Conduit dice when you finish a long rest.
Level 10: Blood Price
You can strengthen your defenses at the cost of your vitality. Whenever you fail a saving throw, you can spend one of your Hit Dice, rolling it and adding the number rolled to the result of the save.
Level 11: Terrorizing Force
Your attacks are empowered with devastating might. When you gain this feature, choose a damage type: cold, fire, necrotic, or poison. When you hit with a weapon attack, you deal an extra 1d8 damage of the chosen type. You can choose a different damage type when you finish a long rest.
Level 14: Superior Interdict
Damage from your seals ignores any damage resistances the target has.
In addition, you can use a bonus action to regain a seal if you have none remaining. Once you regain a seal in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
Level 17: Infernal Majesty
Your archdevil bestows on you the ability to don a measure of their power. As a bonus action, you channel the might of Hell, gaining the following benefits for 10 minutes:
- You gain resistance to fire, cold, and necrotic damage.
- Wings appear on your back, granting you a flight speed of 60 feet.
- When you use your Blood Price, you can cause an enemy you can see within 10 feet of you to take damage equal to the number rolled on your Hit Die.
- When you hit with a weapon attack, your Terrorizing Force deals an extra 2d8 damage instead of 1d8.
For the duration, if you die, you can choose to have your body disappear in a burst of flame, leaving behind only your equipment. If you do, your body reforms 1d6 days later somewhere in Hell. Once your body reforms, you return to life and regain all of your hit points.
Once you channel your Infernal Majesty, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Level 20: Master of Hell
You learn to tear open a rift to Hell and wreak its fury on your enemies. As an action, you can summon a hellstorm centered on a point you can see within 150 feet of you. Choose one of the following effects, which fills a 50-foot-radius sphere centered on that point:
Inferno. Hellfire rains down on your foes. Each enemy in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 5d10 fire damage plus 5d10 necrotic damage, and they burn for 1 minute. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and does not burn. A creature burning in this way must repeat this saving throw at the end of their turn, taking 1d10 fire damage plus 1d10 necrotic damage on a failed save, or ending the effect on themself on a successful one. This hellfire can’t be extinguished by nonmagical means.
Pestilence. A foul miasma swirls around your foes. Each enemy in that area must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 5d10 poison damage plus 5d10 necrotic damage and becomes poisoned for 1 minute. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and does not become poisoned.
Darkness. A bitter storm assails your foes. Each enemy in that area must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 10d10 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Additionally, the storm’s gloom persists for 1 minute, and each enemy within that area is blinded for the duration or until they leave the area.
Once you summon a hellstorm, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Interdict Boons
Your Interdiction feature grants you access to interdict boons, which are detailed below. Some boons specify a minimum illrigger level; the boons in the “7th-Level Interdict Boons” section and the “13th-Level Interdict Boons” section can’t be learned until you are at least that level.
2nd-Level Interdict Boons
You can choose from these boons when you gain the Interdiction feature at 2nd level, or whenever you gain a new boon.
Abating Seal
When a creature you can see damages you or an ally within 30 feet of you, you can expend a seal as a reaction to reduce the damage taken by the target by an amount equal to 1d10 + half of your illrigger level (rounded down).
Bedevil
When you burn a seal on an interdicted creature, you can activate this boon (no action required). The target must subtract a number equal to your proficiency bonus from the result of the next saving throw they make before the end of their next turn.
Soul Eater
When you burn a seal on an interdicted creature, you can activate this boon (no action required) to gain temporary hit points equal to your illrigger level.
Styx’s Apathy
When you burn a seal on an interdicted creature, you can use your reaction to flood the target with an otherworldly chill. Until the end of the target’s next turn, they can’t take reactions.
Swift Retribution (Passive)
When an interdicted creature provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can make that attack without using your reaction, provided you’re not incapacitated. Once you benefit from this boon, you can’t do so again until the start of your next turn.
7th-Level Interdict Boons
When you reach 7th level, the following interdict boons are added to your list of Interdiction options.
Acheron’s Chain
When you use a bonus action to place or move a seal on a Large or smaller creature, you can activate this boon (no action required). You conjure infernal chains to grasp the target, forcing them to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you can either pull the creature 10 feet toward you or cause them to be grappled until the end of your next turn (escape DC equal to your interdict save DC).
Conflagrant Channel
You can expend a seal as a bonus action to teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.
Eyes of the Gate
As an action, you can expend one or more seals to attempt to bind your awareness to a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw; they can willingly fail this save. On a failed save, you are bound to the target’s awareness for a number of hours equal to the number of seals you expended, or until you use this boon on another creature. For the duration, while the target is within 300 feet of you, you can use an action to see and hear through their senses, gaining the benefit of any special senses the target possesses, and you continue to do so until you use your action to return to your normal senses. While perceiving through the target’s senses, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.
Additionally, for the duration, you can place seals, burn them, and use interdict boons as if you were in the creature’s space, but doing so makes the creature aware of this bond. An aware creature can use their action to repeat the saving throw, ending the effects of this boon on a success.
Shadow Shroud
You can expend a seal as a bonus action to weave a mantle of semisolid shadows around yourself or a creature you touch. The target gains a +2 bonus to AC for 1 minute.
Unleash Hell
When you burn one or more seals on an interdicted creature, you can use your reaction to unleash an explosion of hellish energy around them. Each creature of your choice within 5 feet of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes the same amount and type of damage as the seals dealt to the interdicted creature. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage.
Vengeful Shot
When a creature makes a ranged attack against you or an ally you can see within 30 feet of you, you can expend a seal as a reaction to make a ranged weapon attack against the attacker. If your attack hits, it deals extra damage equal to half your illrigger level (rounded down).
13th-Level Interdict Boons
When you reach 13th level, the following interdict boons are added to your list of Interdiction options.
Dis’s Onslaught (Passive)
Each time you use a bonus action to place or move a seal, you can make one weapon attack as part of the same bonus action.
Flash of Brimstone
When you place or move a seal, you can activate this boon (no action required) to magically teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of the target.
Hellish Frenzy
When you start your turn within 30 feet of an interdicted creature, you can expend a seal to become frenzied by the power of Hell until the start of your next turn. While frenzied, your movement speed is doubled, you have a +2 bonus to your AC, and you can make an extra weapon attack when you take the Attack action.
Hellsight
You can expend a seal as an action to gain truesight out to 60 feet for 1 hour.
Impaling Shot
When you hit an interdicted creature with a ranged weapon attack, you can expend a seal as a bonus action to create a weak point in their defenses. Until the end of your next turn, the creature takes a penalty to AC equal to your proficiency bonus.
Iron Gaol
As an action, you can touch a creature and expend four seals to attempt to send that creature to Hell. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be pulled through a rift into the prisons of your archfiend’s infernal city.
If the target is native to Hell, or if their level or challenge rating is 4 or lower, they remain there and must find their own way out. Otherwise, the target remains in the prison for 1 minute, after which they reappear in the space they left or in the nearest unoccupied space available; this target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect early on a success.
Last Word
When you are reduced to 0 hit points and have unplaced seals remaining, the hellfire in you refuses to die. You can expend up to 3 seals and release an explosion around you (no action required). Roll 3d6 per seal expended. Each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes fire damage equal to the total you rolled. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage. If this explosion damages at least one creature, you regain a number of hit points equal to the total you rolled.
Soul’s Doom
When you use a bonus action to place or move a seal, you can scorch the seals into the target’s soul. For 1 minute, whenever that interdicted creature takes damage, they take extra damage equal to your proficiency bonus.
Diabolic Contracts
Those who walk the path of Hell may gain the powers of an illrigger purely through their own devotion. No oath is necessary, no mentor—a fledgling illrigger might not even be aware the Order of Desolation exists. But true acceptance as a Desolate means swearing an oath to a specific ruler of Hell. This usually requires a senior member of the order to perform an elaborate ritual, but a dedicated illrigger might attract the attention of an archdevil by doing deeds of great treachery on their own.
At some point on the illrigger’s journey, be it through ritual or deed, they find themself face-to-face with one of the rulers of the Seven Cities. When they do, a contract must be signed in blood—usually the knight’s own. This binds the itinerant knight to the Order of Desolation and adds their name to the Lists of Hell.
Though this experience can be intimidating, the rulers of Hell are usually easy masters and ask little from their chosen. The busy rulers of the Seven Cities pay little heed to the daily lives of their illriggers. Even breaches of precepts are overlooked; as long as the knight sows discord and opposes the Celestial Host, they successfully advance Hell’s agenda.
| Name | Source | Publisher | Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architect of Ruin | The Illrigger Revised | MCDM | 5e |
| Hellspeaker | The Illrigger Revised | MCDM | 5e |
| Painkiller | The Illrigger Revised | MCDM | 5e |
| Sanguine Knight | The Illrigger Revised | MCDM | 5e |
| Shadowmaster | The Illrigger Revised | MCDM | 5e |