1985 Games
Caption
Waxwork Rogues have a long history on Obojima of dealing with the dangerous and the arcane. They’re known for having an array of tools and tricks to delve into the most perilous places— and almost always return with treasures and tales. To a Waxwork Rogue, any challenge can be solved with a bit of wax, a pinch of smarts, and a whole lot of magic.
The Waxwork Rogue offers a blend of arcane manipulation and roguish cunning, making them far more than just skilled thieves. Their abilities stem from an arcane heritage deeply tied to witchcraft. Waxwork Rogues learn unique enchantments that allow them to craft magical candles with diverse effects—from healing allies and detecting spirits to conjuring flammable wax barriers or wielding a whip of pure flame. This versatility allows them to serve as infiltrators, investigators, and even battlefield controllers, always adapting to challenges with their peculiar brand of wax-and-fire magic.
In the Beginning
The Courier Brigade was created to carry packages between villages and guard merchant wagons through treacherous areas. But there are some areas on Obojima that are rife with the arcane, spirit dangers, and uncanny occurrences.
Legend says that it was Lydia Starwright, Courier Brigade First Class, who—against all advice—sought out the aid of a powerful witch who was rumored to live within a hut of melted wax deep within the Land of Hot Water. It was there, in that melted hut, that the witch taught Lydia the arcane practices known only to certain spirits of the island, the ability to enchant wax and fire in wondrous ways. This knowledge transformed Lydia into the first Waxwork Rogue.
Lydia brought back this knowledge to the Courier Brigade and formed the Waxworks Division, a dedicated group of arcane Rogues who volunteered for the most perilous assignments and deliveries of the Courier Brigade.
In the present day, Waxwork Rogues have transcended the ranks of the Courier Brigade, and their skills are practiced across the island.
Level 3: Conjure Flame
You know the Dancing Lights cantrip (the lights appear as floating candles) and the Produce Flame cantrip. Your spellcasting ability for these spells is Intelligence or Charisma (choose when you gain this feature).
Level 3: Wax Enchantments
You have the ability to pull and manipulate magic from the Spirit Realm. You learn wax enchantments that are fueled by a special resource called Wick Points.
Enchantments. You learn four enchantments of your choice from the “Enchantment Options” section below. You learn two additional enchantments of your choice when you reach Rogue levels 9, 13, and 17. Each time you learn new enchantments, you can also replace one enchantment you know with a different one.
Wick Points. You have 3 Wick Points. Your maximum number of Wick Points increases by 1 whenever you gain a Rogue level. When you expend a Wick Point, it is unavailable until you finish a Short or Long Rest, at the end of which you regain all your expended points.
Level 9: Burn Cycle
You can ignite your weapons in a flash of white-hot flames when you successfully catch an enemy off guard. When you use your Sneak Attack on your turn, you can expend Wick Points in place of Sneak Attack dice whenever you use a Cunning Strike effect. You must expend 1 Wick Point per Sneak Attack die you would normally have to forgo. When you expend Wick Points in this way, you can also change the damage type of your Sneak Attack damage to Fire for that attack.
Level 13: Advanced Enchantments
Some of your enchantments become more potent; refer to the enhanced effects below. If you haven’t learned any of the following enchantments, you learn one of them as part of this feature.
Blooming Light. The effects of Blooming Light last for 8 hours, instead of 1 hour.
Bocha Glue Wax. The DC for the Strength (Athletics) check to break the bond early increases to 20.
Burning Delay. You can now delay the effects of the specified enchantments by 1 round, 3 rounds, 1 minute, 10 minutes, or 1 hour.
Candle Pop. Candle Pop affects the target and each creature within 5 feet of it.
Delicacy. The creature regains 1d12 Hit Points instead of 1d6, and you can have up to four candles with this enchantment at a time instead of two.
Iron Seal. The DC for the Strength (Athletics) check to break the seal increases to 20.
Maker’s Mark. Maker’s Mark now deals Bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 plus your Dexterity modifier, plus an extra 1d10 Fire damage.
Shielding Seal. You can have up to 3 Shielding Seals active at a time instead of 1.
Waxlings. As a Magic action, you can create two Waxlings simultaneously by spending 3 Wick Points instead of 2.
Level 17: Spirit Flame
You learn to craft a special candle made of pink wax. As a Bonus Action, you can ignite this candle, which burns for 1 minute. While the burning candle is on your person, you gain the following benefits:
- The Wick Point cost of your enchantments is reduced by 1.
- You have Immunity to Fire damage.
- Spirits have Disadvantage on attack rolls against you.
- The candle can’t be extinguished by nonmagical means.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Enchantment Options
The enchantments are presented in alphabetical order.
Blooming Light. As a Magic action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to ignite a dark green candle, which burns in a similar hue for 1 hour. While lit, the candle sheds Dim Light in a 10-foot radius. Creatures in the candle’s light are hidden from Divination magic and can’t be targeted by such magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors.
Bocha Glue Wax. Bocha glue is a delicate mixture of the finest waxes available and a collection of ingredients known only to the Waxwork Rogues. When enchanted properly, it can temporarily hold any two objects together. As a Magic action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to create an adhesive bond between two objects using just a small amount of bocha glue. The two objects remain bound for 24 hours, after which the enchantment fades and they separate. A creature within reach of the objects can take a Utilize action to make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check, breaking the bond early on a success.
Burning Delay. You can spend 3 additional Wick Points to simultaneously activate Burning Delay when you use one of the following enchantments: Candle Pop, Fish Fat Candle, or Detonate. When you do so, you delay that enchantment’s activation by 1 round, 1 minute, or 10 minutes (your choice).
Candle Pop. As a Bonus Action, you can spend 2 Wick Points to ignite a misshapen yellow candle and hurl it at a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your Cunning Strike DC or be partially encased in wax, causing the target to have the Restrained condition. At the end of each of its turns, the Restrained target repeats the save, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Consuming Flame (Prerequisite: Level 9+ Rogue). When you see an enemy within 60 feet of you casting a spell, you can take a Reaction and spend 3 Wick Points to momentarily ignite a thin white candle and cast Counterspell, using your Cunning Strike DC. If the spell is successfully countered and was level 3 or lower, you can spend an additional 2 Wick Points to store the spell inside your candle.
While holding the candle, you can reignite it to cast the spell stored inside, using the spell’s normal casting time. The spell uses the slot level, spell save DC, spell attack modifier, and spellcasting ability of the original caster, but is otherwise treated as if you cast the spell. Once the spell is cast, the candle is sundered and becomes unusable. A spell can be stored inside a candle for up to 24 hours, after which the spell fades and can no longer be used.
Delicacy. As a Magic action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to imbue the tart flavor of a Pyramid Melon and the healing properties of a river spirit into a candle. As a Bonus Action, a creature can consume the candle to regain 1d6 Hit Points and receive enough nourishment to sustain it for one day. A candle holds this enchantment for 24 hours, after which its benefits end. You can have no more than two candles with this enchantment at a time.
Detonate (Prerequisite: Level 9+ Rogue). As a Magic action, you can spend 3 or more Wick Points to ignite a dark black candle and throw it at a point you can see within 60 feet of you. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius Sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Cunning Strike DC, as a brilliant eruption of flame sweeps out from it. For 3 Wick Points, a target takes 2d6 Fire damage and 2d8 Thunder damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. You can increase this enchantment’s Fire damage by 1d6 for each additional Wick Point you spend. Flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried start burning.
Fish Fat Candle. As a Magic action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to ignite an oily brick of blubber-infused candle wax and throw it at a point you can see on the ground within 60 feet of you. One round after the candle lands, it emits a cloud of colorful smoke that creates a Heavily Obscured area in a 20-foot radius centered on that point. The candle continues to spew smoke for 1 minute, creating a visible trail in the sky that can be seen from up to 10 miles away.
Flooding Abundance. As a Magic action, you can spend 2 Wick Points to ignite a tea light candle and throw it into an unoccupied space you can see on the ground within 60 feet of you. The candle melts rapidly, bubbling and boiling with an overwhelming amount of wax, which flows over and fills a 15-foot Square centered on the candle. The wax remains for 1 minute, and its area is Difficult Terrain. It is flammable, and a 5-foot Square of wax exposed to fire burns away in 3 rounds, dealing 2d6 Fire damage to any creature that starts its turn in the fire.
Iron Seal. As a Magic action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to melt and press the wax seal of iron onto a door or an object with a lid. Once imbued with your seal, the object becomes magically held shut and can’t be opened unless a creature takes a Utilize action to make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check, breaking the seal on a success. The Iron Seal lasts until it is broken or dispelled (as if it were a level 1 spell). You can take a Magic action to touch one of your Iron Seals and end its effects early.
Lost Wax Carving. Using a lost form of wax carving, you can spend 2 Wick Points to craft a detailed replica of an object over the course of 10 minutes, producing the effects of the Duplicate spell. The object you duplicate must be no larger than a 1-foot Cube.
Maker’s Mark. Once on each of your turns, when you make an attack roll with a one-handed weapon as part of the Attack action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to make an Unarmed Strike with your free hand as part of the same action, using one of your signet rings. This Unarmed Strike deals Bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 plus your Dexterity modifier, plus an extra 1d6 Fire damage. This attack can benefit from your Sneak Attack, provided you haven’t already used it this turn.
Shielding Seal. As a Magic action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to melt and press the wax seal of shielding onto a willing creature or an object, protecting it from incoming damage. The target gains 5 Temporary Hit Points, which last for 24 hours. You can grant an additional 5 Temporary Hit Points for each additional Wick Point spent, to a maximum of 15 Temporary Hit Points. You can have only one Shielding Seal active at a time. Creating a Shielding Seal while another seal of the same type is already active ends the effects of the initial one early.
Spark Shower. As a Bonus Action, you can spend 1 Wick Point to bring your free hand to your mouth, igniting your next breath. Your exhale creates a dazzling shower of sparks aimed at a creature within 5 feet of you. You have Advantage on the next attack roll you make with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike against the target this turn, and the target can’t make Opportunity Attacks until the end of the turn.
Waxlings. As a Magic action, you can spend 2 Wick Points to temporarily pull and trap a minor spirit within a candle, creating a Waxling. You cast the Find Familiar spell with the following changes:
- In place of a normal familiar, you imbue life into the candle, causing it to grow appendages and eyes.
- Your Waxling familiar uses the statistics of a Rat.
- You can command the familiar to take a Magic action to touch a flammable object. The object starts burning if it isn’t being worn or carried.
- The familiar sheds Bright Light in a 5-foot radius and Dim Light for an additional 10 feet.
- You can’t temporarily dismiss the familiar.
- The familiar is dismissed permanently after 1 hour or when it is reduced to 0 Hit Points.
- You can have more than one of these familiars at a time.
Wick Whip. As a Bonus Action, you can spend 3 Wick Points to ignite a 10-foot length of candlewick that has soaked in the stomach acid of a dragon frog. The flames burn at an intense heat that warps the air around them, shedding Bright Light in a 15-foot radius and Dim Light for an additional 15 feet. The candlewick burns for 1 minute, during which you can use it as a Melee weapon you’re proficient with. It deals 3d4 Fire damage on a hit (add your ability modifier to the damage roll as normal), and it has the Finesse, Light, and Reach properties.