The stories of the grimkyn provide power because such tales explain the rules grimkyn are bound to. Those who know them gain some measure of advantage in dealing with the grimkyn and thereby avoiding a terrible fate. However, what is less known is that the reverse is also true: the very act of speaking the stories of the grimkyn can enforce their rules on others.
For most this power is beyond them, for a very rare few, the knowledge of the tales and the ability to tell them in just the right way can bring their strange and terrible magic to life. Some use this power as a way to warn others against the true danger of the grimkyn. Others see themselves as the
grimkyn’s vanguard, seeking out those the Defiers desire to punish and acting as a beacon to summon them.
Some very few mad souls regard the Defiers as gods to be worshipped, with their stories serving as sermons. These storytellers often disappear mysteriously, and it is whispered in hushed tones that they suffered the same fate who drew the grimkyn’s attention.
Scary Stories
At 3rd level, you have learned the tales of the grimkyn and how to tell them in such a way to call upon their power. By reciting these tales aloud, you can force enemies to confront their own sins and become burdened by them.
As an action, you can begin telling these tales by spending a Bardic Inspiration die. Every living enemy creature within 30 feet of you that can hear you becomes enthralled by the tale and must make a saving throw against your spell save DC.. Creatures who fail the saving throw are affected by the tale so long as you continue to tell it, up to 1 minute. Telling a tale counts as concentrating on a spell, and you must make concentration checks as normal.
- Mischief visited on the works of men. You begin to speak of the gremlins and their voracious need to cause mischief. The words affect not creatures but instead technology, causing it to malfunction and break down. Any mechanical device, worn or carried by a creature that fails a Charisma saving throw begins to malfunction: it no longer functions, attacks with mechanical weapons have disadvantage, and item is no longer powered. While reciting this tale, you have vulnerability to slashing damage caused by house cats, all nearby house cats who hear this tale become hostile to you, and the tale immediately ends if you are damaged by a house cat.
- Uneven tempo of the weak-willed. You begin to sing a discordant, strangely tempoed tune, a tale of those with weak wills, who lack conviction or are easily distracted, and how they all come to ruin in the end. This tale distracts anyone who hears it, forcing them to stop what they are doing to try and make sense of the song. Effected creatures must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they become incapacitated. An affected creature may repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
- Apple offered to the jealous heart. You begin to tell a tale of the most perfect desire, an object so wondrous and beautiful that someone’s life would be complete if only they owned it. As you do so, you hold your hand out to one creature, and they can’t help but see a vision of that object in your hand. After using this ability and at the start of each of your turns, you may select a single humanoid with and Intelligence of 6 or higher within range. It must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, you take control of it for the duration of the tale. It obeys your verbal commands. If the target takes damage or receives a suicidal command, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. Only a single creature can be affected by this ability at any one time. Any creature that succeeds on its saving throw or that you no longer control becomes immune to this ability for 24 hours.
- Tolling bell for the restless dead. You speak of respecting the dead and the terrible injustice that the use of necromancy brings. As you do so, everyone in range can hear the ringing of a cracked brass bell, and even the dead begin to feel the weight of years upon them. Living and undead creatures in range must make a Charisma saving throw. Those that fail lose any resistance or immunity to necrotic damage. Those that fail by five or more also receive vulnerability to necrotic damage.
A Terrible Curse
At 6th level, you’ve learned to call into being a form of the Defiers’ powerful sorcery, arcana. These terrible curses use strange and mysterious magic, but when properly invoked, they can cause those affected terrible agony and debilitation. You may use this feature twice per long rest; however, you may not use the same ability of this feature more than once per long rest.
- Ill omens. When an enemy dares to raise a hand against the grimkyn, those enemies suffer terrible luck. Blades fail to pierce, bullets glance off the smallest obstructions, and even the mightiest blow blunders. When an enemy attacks you or a friendly creature within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction to cause enemies within 60 feet to subtract your proficiency bonus from attack and damage rolls until the start of your next turn.
- Labyrinth. It is often folly to trust the ground below you when facing the grimkyn, as even the smallest misstep can cause the terrain to turn and twist, reality itself seeming to warp to impede enemies. When an enemy moves within 30 feet of you, you can use your reaction to cause enemies that begin their turn within 60 feet of you to halve their movement speed until the start of your next turn.
- Shroud. When faced with the grimkyn, many choose the safety of guns and other ranged weapons. However, trusting in these to protect them can be foolish, as the Defiers can spawn a choking darkness none but the grimkyn themselves can see through. When an enemy successfully hits you or an ally within 15 feet of you with a ranged attack, you may use this arcana as a reaction. All creatures within 60 feet of you become heavily obscured. When you use this ability, you may pick a number of friendly creatures up to your proficiency bonus. Those creatures ignore the obscured effect on themselves and others.
- Sacrifice. Most grimkyn prey on the weak of heart, many of them cowards or weaklings. However, sometimes the grimkyn must face powerful champions, those unafraid of confrontation despite their terrible powers. But even these stout-hearted men and women must be wary, as cutting down one terrible monster can only serve to empower another. When a friendly creature is reduced to 0 hit points within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction to choose another friendly creature within 60 feet of you. That creature immediately either heals hit points or gains a number of temporary hit points equal to the damage of the attack that reduced the initial creature to 0 hit points.
Aspect of the Damned
At 14th level, you’ve managed to learn how to manifest an aspect of each Defier, an ability you can use to bring their powers to bear. Each of the Defiers boasts a terrible presence, some reflection of their original sin that brought the wrath of Aumantor down upon them. By calling forth this sin, you can reshape reality to reflect that Defier for a short time.
- The Child. An uncontrollable tantrum overtakes you, a terrible rage directed at any who would try to deny you your desires. As a reaction, you may cause a successful melee attack made by yourself or an ally within 60 feet of you that uses Strength to automatically become a critical hit. That attack causes an additional 1d10 weapon damage.
- The Dreamer. You can manifest one of the Dreamer’s phantasms, a disruptive shade, as an action. It can’t attack, but its very presence creates chaos. The phantasm is friendly to you and follows all orders you give to it. It disappears after 1 minute.
- The Heretic. During your turn, you can choose as an action an enemy creature you can see that cast a spell during its last turn. You may cast that same spell as an action, using Charisma as your spellcasting attribute. The spell’s level is the same as it was when the target creature originally cast it. In addition, until the start of your next turn, you have immunity to the prone and blinded conditions and have advantage on saving throws against spells.
- The King of Nothing. As an action, the area around you becomes a desolate landscape. Flesh shrivels, metal corrodes, and wood rots. For the next minute, each enemy creature that begins its turn or moves within 30 feet of you must make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC
or take 3d6 points of necrotic damage and be unable to gain hit points until the start of its next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and can regain hit points normally. - The Wanderer. You can use the twisted paths mastered by the Wanderer to move yourself or an ally. As an action or reaction, choose yourself or a friendly creature within 60 feet of you. That creature can immediately teleport up to 30 feet away from its original position to an unoccupied space.
