Cult Master¶
Medium humanoid, any alignment
Armor Class 15 (studded leather) Hit Points 105 (14d8 + 42) Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 (-1) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 12 (+1) | 12 (+1) | 18 (+4) |
Saving Throws Wis +4, Cha +7 Skills Arcana +4, Deception +7, Persuasion +7, Religion +4 Damage Resistances necrotic Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Common plus one patron tongue (Abyssal, Infernal, Deep Speech, or Undercommon) Challenge 5 (1,800 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Dark Devotion. The Cult Master has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Sacrificial Rites. As an action, the Cult Master can sacrifice a willing Cultist to regain an expended spell slot of 3rd level or lower, or to gain temporary HP equal to the Cultist's current HP. Also, as a reaction during a Cult Master's turn, a Cultist may volunteer and sacrifice himself.
Innate Spellcasting. The Cult Master's spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). He casts the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: chill touch, eldritch blast (three beams; +7 to hit, range 120 ft., 1d10 + 4 force damage per beam), mage hand, minor illusion
- 3/day each (cast at 3rd level): command, hellish rebuke, hex, invisibility, misty step, counterspell, dispel magic, fear
- 1/day each (cast at 3rd level): fireball, wall of fire
Actions¶
Multiattack. The Cult Master casts eldritch blast or casts one spell of 1st level or higher from his innate list.
Eldritch Blast (Cantrip). Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., one or more targets. The Cult Master fires three beams; each beam does 9 (1d10 + 4) force damage on a hit and can be directed at the same target or a different one.
Ritual Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) necrotic damage.
Reactions¶
Fiendish Rebuke (1/short rest). When the Cult Master takes damage from a creature within 30 feet that he can see, he can use his reaction to force the attacker to make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. Failure: 3d10 fire damage. Success: half damage.
Description¶
The Cult Master is a spellcaster bound to a patron: a demon lord, a lich-thing, an aberration, a devil. His authority in the cult comes from the pact and from what he has been permitted to do with it. He accepts sacrifices, teaches rites, and hosts services beneath a face the settlement above has learned to trust.
Design notes¶
CR 5 warlock-archetype spellcaster; the cult's leader at Faction CR 4. Uses innate spellcasting to condense pact magic into a stat-block-friendly rotation: at-will cantrips (eldritch blast with three beams as the damage engine), a 3/day rotation of upcast 3rd-level spells for utility and control, and 1/day fireball and wall of fire for the boss-tier moments. Roughly matches the Warlock of the Fiend archetype at a lower tier.
Sacrificial Rites is the identity feature. Cultist (SRD, CR 1/8, 7 HP) is the intended sacrifice; the reaction option lets a Cultist volunteer without costing the Cult Master's action, so the boss can burn several cultists per encounter. Trading Cultist HP for a spell slot at low levels rarely matters mid-combat; trading it for temp HP equal to the Cultist's current HP does — a Cult Fanatic-tier sacrifice (33 HP) is a real defensive burst.
Fiendish Rebuke gives a once-per-encounter reactive damage burst without becoming a repeat-round threat that stacks with Sacrificial Rites.