The Ritualist

An elven maiden paints a complex symbol on the back of her

hand. As she completes the final line, the symbol glows and
lightning sparks between her fingertips.
A man kneels among a circle of candles and runes, bowing
as he chants an ancient prayer to a long-forgotten god. The
ritual draws divine power to him, protecting him from evil.
A halfling girl hides behind a boulder and chuckles as she
watches a greedy goblin snatch the bag of coins she trapped—
earning it a fire bolt to the face.
Ritualists are masters of the arcane and occult, but in a
different way than most spellcasters. They take advantage of
sigils, ancient runes made by powerful beings to use as
shortcuts in their own magic-weaving. Ritualists uncover
these sigils in ancient tomes and deep dungeons, and by
learning their exact shape and implementation, they don't
need any permission to access the power of greater beings.
Leeching Greater Magic
When a being has extraordinary power but ordinary patience,
they will often resort to creating sigils as a way of saving time.
Sigils are drawn symbols which are mystically linked to a
more sprawling set of traditional runes, allowing one to invoke
the power of that larger runic circle with a single mark. Gods,
devils, ancient dragons, powerful wizards, and other such
beings will create sigils to give to their followers, quickly
enchant or trap their lairs, and do other menial tasks. For all
their practicality, sigils have one glaring weakness—security.
Anyone with the right arcane knowledge can activate a sigil's
magic, whether they have permission or not.
Ritualists take full advantage of this flaw. They dedicate
their lives to hunting down sigils, finding them in the furthest
corners of dusty libraries, the depths of ancient tombs, and
branded on the bodies of powerful monsters they slay. Once
they learn a sigil, they can draw it onto themselves and gain its
benefits. Sigil-makers know that sigils are inherently insecure
and rarely put very potent magic into sigils, but many ritualists
continue to hunt for the few truly powerful sigils that are
hidden away, closely guarded.
Steady and Precise
The careful copying of runes and keen attention to detail
required for harnessing sigils translates well into the art of
ritual spellcasting. Ritualists will often come across many
religious, occult, and arcane rituals in their pursuit of sigils,
and make sure to learn and memorize them. Rituals can't be
cast on the fly like sigils can, but they do offer greater power
and variety at the cost of speed.
Despite their vast knowledge of magic, ritualists are often
unable to cast spells like a wizard can, unless they pursue
some alternate form of magical education. Sigils and rituals
do little to exercise a ritualist's magical stamina, making it
difficult for them to pull forth magic and cast spells in the heat
of the moment without the help of a sigil.
The Ritualist
Level Proficiency Bonus Features Sigils Known Prepared Sigils Spell Level
1st +2 Sigil Spellcasting 4 2 –
2nd +2 Ritual Spellbook, Obscure Rituals 5 2 1st
3rd +2 Specialization 6 3 2nd
4th +2 Ability Score Improvement 7 3 2nd
5th +3 Potent Sigils 8 4 3rd
6th +3 Obscure Rituals Improvement, Arcane Literacy 9 4 3rd
7th +3 Specialization Feature 10 5 4th
8th +3 Ability Score Improvement 11 5 4th
9th +4 Arcane Identification 12 6 5th
10th +4 Invigorate Ritual 13 6 5th
11th +4 Obscure Rituals Improvement, Specialization Feature 14 6 5th
12th +4 Ability Score Improvement 15 7 5th
13th +5 Quick Rituals 16 7 5th
14th +5 Runes of Power (1st Level) 17 7 5th
15th +5 Specialization Feature 18 8 5th
16th +5 Obscure Rituals Improvement 19 8 5th
17th +6 Runes of Power (2nd Level) 20 9 5th
18th +6 Ritual Detachment 21 9 5th
19th +6 Ability Score Improvement 22 10 5th
20th +6 Runes of Power (3rd Level) 22 10 5th

Class Features
As a Ritualist, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per ritualist level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution
modifier per ritualist level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light
crossbows
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, History, Insight,
Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Religion
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the
equipment granted by your background:
(a) a quarterstaff or (b) two daggers
(a) a scholar's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
A spellbook
Sigil Spellcasting
You have studied in depth mystical runes and sigils which can
supply you with consistent, reliable magic power when you
draw them onto your body or equipment.
Spellbook
At 1st level, you have a spellbook containing all of the sigils
you know.
Sigils
Sigils are ancient runes of power which draw magic from
otherworldly sources. You know a number of sigils based on
your ritualist level. A sigils can either be one cantrip from the
ritualist spell list, or a special sigil called an esoteric sigil. A
list of available esoteric sigils can be found at the end of the
class description.
You learn new sigils as you level up, according to the
ritualist class table.
Preparing Sigils
You have a number of sigils that you can place on your body at
once, according to the prepared sigils column on the ritualist
class table.
You can change your prepared sigils when you finish a long
rest. Preparing a new set of sigils requires time spent drawing
the sigils onto your body: at least 1 minute for each sigil on
your list.
Components
Casting a cantrip as a sigil does not require any material
components, unless those components are consumed.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your ritualist spells
and sigils, since you learn them through dedicated study and
memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell or
esoteric sigil refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you
use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw
DC for a ritualist spell you cast and when making an attack
roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your
Intelligence modifier
Spell Attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your
Intelligence modifier
Tome of Lore
As a researcher of esoteric powers, you own a reference
manual on a particular topic that you have compiled. Choose
one of the following topics for your tome: Arcana, History,
Nature, or Religion. You are proficient in the skill associated
with the tome.
There are three types of tomes of lore, with different levels
of specificity. Choose the topic you want, and discuss with
your DM which of these categories it falls into.
General. Contains surface-level encyclopedic knowledge on
a very general topic. Works for every ability check for the skill
you chose. Possible topics are Arcana, History, Nature, and
Religion.
Specialized. Focuses on a certain topic that still isn't
extremely narrow, striking a balance between breadth and
depth. Possible topics include a certain monster type (such as
abberations or dragons), a historical era, the ecology of some
type of environment (such as mountains or swamps), a god
and the various organizations and traditions associated with
them, etc.
Specific. Focuses on a very narrow topic, going into great
depth at the expense of general utility. Possible topics include
a specific monster (such as displacer beasts or red dragons), a
historical figure, a narrow family of animals (such as felines), a
particular cult to one god, etc.
While you have your tome of lore, when you fail a skill
check to recall knowledge about the topic of your tome, you
may spend 1 minute referencing it to find an answer. If the DC
for recalling the information is equal to or less than automatic
success value listed in the table below for your tome type, you
find the information in your tome.
Tome Type Automatic Success
General 8 + your Intelligence modifier
Specialized 11 + your Intelligence modifier
Specific 14 + your Intelligence modifier
Ritual Spellbook
Starting at 2nd level, you can copy more advanced spells into
your spellbook and recreate them as rituals.
Choose three 1st-level spells that have the ritual tag from
any class's spell list (the three needn't be from the same list).
You may also choose from any spells on the ritualist spell list,
following the rules of your Obscure Rituals feature. The spells
are in your spellbook, and you can cast the chosen spells as
rituals. You can't cast the spells except as rituals, unless you've
learned them by some other means.
Each time you gain a ritualist level, you can add one ritual
spell of your choice to your spellbook. The level of the spell
must be equal to or less than the spell level list on the ritualist
class table.
On your adventures, you can add other ritual spells to your
spellbook. When you find such a spell, you can add it to the
book if the spell's level is equal to or less than the spell level
listed on the ritualist class table, and if you can spare the time
to transcribe the spell. For each level of the spell, the
transcription process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp for the
rare inks needed to inscribe it.
Obscure Rituals
Your exceptional skill in rituals allows you to cast spells
through rituals that ordinary spellcasters can't. Spells on the
ritualist spell list can be cast as rituals by you, and are
available to add to your spellbook whenever you gain new
spells. These spells have the following restrictions, which
ordinary ritual spells do not have:
If a ritualist spell has a duration longer than instantaneous,
you must wait until the spell has finished its duration or
otherwise ended before you cast that same spell again as a
ritual. If you attempt to cast it again, the first use of the
spell will end immediately.
A single creature, object, or area cannot be targeted by the
effects of more than 1 ritualist spell at a time; for example,
if you have cast shield of faith on a creature as a ritual, you
may not also cast longstrider on them. If you cast a second
ritualist spell on a creature before a spell they already have
on them ends, the first spell is nullified and ends
immediately.
You may only have two ritualist spells active at one time,
even if they don't require concentration. A ritual counts as
active if the duration has not ended, or if it has not ended
early by some other means. If you cast a ritualist spell as a
ritual while you have already reached your maximum, the
oldest active ritual you have cast ends. Your maximum
increases to 3 at 6th level, 4 at 11th level, and 5 at 16th
level.
Ritualist Specialty
Starting at 3rd level, you focus your ritualist practice into a
more specialized field, either rune carving or trap laying. Your
choice grants features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 11th, and
15th level.
Ability Score Increase
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.
Potent Sigils
Starting at 5th level, when you cast a ritualist cantrip that
deals damage, add your Intelligence modifier to the damage.
Arcane Literacy
At 6th level, you have enough experience reading all sorts of
magical texts to read most mystical cyphers easily. You may
use any spell scroll, regardless of whether the spell is on the
ritualist spell list. However, you may not copy spells from spell
scrolls that are not on the ritualist spell list.
Arcane Identification
Beginning at 9th level, you are able to understand the rituals
and spells that others use at a glance. Detect magic and
identify are added to your spellbook, if you do not have the
already. You may cast detect magic at-will.
Also, you have advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) and
Intelligence (Religion) checks to identify the nature of spells,
rituals, and magic items.
Invigorate Ritual
Starting at 10th level, you learn advanced techniques to
siphon more power into your rituals. By spending extra time
on a ritual, you can increase the level of the spell. The spell
level increases by 1 for each additional 5 minutes you spend
on the ritual, and cannot go above your maximum spell level
as shown on the ritualist class table.
Quick Rituals
Starting at 13th level, you are able to work through rituals
more quickly and efficiently. The additional time needed to
cast a ritual spell is shortened from 10 minutes to 5 minutes
for you.
Runes of Power
Staring at 14th level, you begin to discover secret sigils which
hold greater power than most. Choose one 1st level spell from
the wizard spell list. That spell becomes a sigil for you, and
does not count against your total number of sigils known.
While you have this sigil prepared, you may cast that spell at
1st level at-will.
At 17th level, you may gain another sigil like this for a 2nd
level spell. At 20th level, you gain another for a 3rd level spell.
Ritual Detachment
Starting at 18th level, you are able to detach your obscure
rituals from yourself, letting them persist without your
concentration or management. When you cast a ritualist spell
with a duration of 8 hours or more as a ritual, you may spend
1 additional hour to detach it from yourself. This spell no
longer counts against the number of active rituals you can
sustain at a time. Also, you may cast another copy of this spell
before the duration of the detached spell ends, although
subsequent castings still count against your number of active
rituals.
Once you use this ability, you cannot do it again until you
finish a long rest.
 The trap loses its magic 24 hours after it is laid. You or
Ritual Specialties another trap layer ritualist can extend the lifespan of a trap by
spending 10 minutes maintaining it, which involves cleaning
Trap Layer the area, redrawing any runes that have worn off, and
Trap layers focus their studies on creating magical circuits checking for mechanical issues. A creature who is not a trap
which activate when certain conditions are met. layer ritualist can attempt to maintain a trap by making an
Intelligence (Arcana) check, with a DC equal to 10 + the level
Create Trap of the spell. If they succeed, the trap is maintained, and if they
Starting at 3rd level, you know the basics of laying magical fail, the trap breaks and becomes inert. If they score an 8 or
traps, and can create them if given the space, time and lower, the trap activates. If a trap has not been maintained in
materials. the last 24 hours, it becomes inert.
Creating a trap takes 30 minutes per level of the spell put After you lay a trap, you must finish a long rest before you
into it, plus any consumed material components. A trap using can lay another.
a cantrip is easy to make, and costs 10 minutes. You can Trap Expert
choose any cantrip or ritualist spell you know or any spell
from the trap layer spell table below to turn into a trap. The At 7th level, your understanding of traps helps you spot and
spell will be cast at its lowest level. You gain access to more disarm traps laid by other people. You have advantage on
spells as your ritualist level increases. Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks
to spot traps. You also have advantage on Intelligence
Ritualist
Level Spells
(Arcana) checks to identify and disarm magical traps.
3rd
Alarm, Entangle, Faerie Fire, Grease, Magic Advanced Triggers
Missile
Beginning at 11th level, you gain more fine control over your
5th
Darkness, Gust of Wind, Hold Person, Silence, trap's triggers.
Web Instead of a touch-based trigger, you can make a trap
7th Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Fear, Fireball, Slow activated by a command word. The command word must be
said within 30 feet of the trigger to activate.
9th
Banishment, Black Tentacles, Confusion, Ice
Storm, Resilient Sphere
You can also make a trap that activates on a time. When you
set the trap, choose a time within the next 24 hours when it
11th
Cloudkill, Contagion, Flame Strike, Hold will activate. Once you pick a time, you cannot change it.
Monster, Insect Plague Additionally, when you set up a trap with a touch-based
trigger, you may choose up to 5 individuals to exclude from the
When you create a trap, you place it on a wall, floor, or other trap. A creature excluded from a trap can touch and handle
flat surface at least 5 feet by 5 feet in size which you can easily the trigger without setting off the trap. They might still
reach. If the surface is already enchanted in any way, the trap activate the trap if they fail a check to disarm or maintain it.
will not work. You also place a trigger, which can be a
maximum of a 10 foot cube in size and must be within 30 feet Sturdy Traps
of the trap. You can put it on a flat surface or a solid object, Starting at 15th level, your traps no longer have to be
such as a doorknob. The trigger can be put in the same space maintained in order to stay active. They only become inert if
as the trap. they are triggered or disarmed.
The trap is subtle, but it can be found with a successful
Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.
A detect magic or find traps spell automatically reveals your
trap.
It can be disarmed with a successful Intelligence (Arcana)
check against your spell save DC. When disarming your own
traps, the DC is equal to 10 + the level of the spell, and you
have advantage on the roll. A failed attempt to disarm triggers
the trap. A dispel magic spell against your spell save DC can
also disarm the trap, and a failure will not trigger it.
The trap activates when a creature physically interacts with
the trigger in some way, such as stepping on it, grabbing it, or
picking it up. When activated, the spell put into the trap is
cast. If it targets one creature, it will target the creature who
touched the trigger. The point of origin will be the trap (not
the trigger). If the spell has a direction it should be cast in, you
must choose the direction when you lay the trap. The spell
uses your spell attack modifier and spell save DC. After the
spell is finished, the trap becomes inert. An inert trap cannot
activate again.
Esoteric Sigils
These sigils are not associated with a single cantrip. Instead
of a cantrip, you may choose a esoteric sigil when you gain a
new sigil.
Detection Ward
As an action, you may make yourself and all items on your
person undetectable by spells and magical effects, such as
detect magic, that detect magical auras. This requires
concentration, has no set duration, and may be ended at will.
Personal Alarm
You automatically succeed on all Wisdom (Perception) checks
to notice when an object on your person is touched or being
stolen.
Sigil of the Bloodhound
While you wear this sigil, you are proficient in the
Investigation skill, and add double your proficiency bonus to
all Intelligence (Investigation) checks.
Sigil of the Lich
As a bonus action, you may change your creature type to
undead, or change it from undead back to your original
creature type.
Sigil of the Night Hunter
You have darkvision up to 120 feet.
Sigil of Protection
You can cast mage armor on yourself at will, without
expending a spell slot or material components.
A Lot More Will Be Added Soon

Art Credit
Cover image by Alexei Konev on ArtStation
Magic circle graphic by Namidragon on Deviantart
Other images currently unknown (will add credit
once artists are found)
Cantrips (0 Level) 1st Level 5th Level
Acid Splash Detect Evil and Good Control Winds
Blade Ward Disguise Self Dream
Booming Blade Expeditious Retreat Hallow
Chill Touch Fog Cloud Rary's Telepathic Bond
Control Flames Longstrider Seeming
Create Bonfire Protection from Evil and Teleportation Circle
Dancing Lights Good
Fire Bolt Shield of Faith
Friends Silent Image
Frostbite
Green-Flame Blade 2nd Level
Guidance Alter Self
Gust Arcane Lock
Infestation Barkskin
Light Calm Emotions
Lightning Lure Continual Flame
Mage Hand Darkvision
Magic Stone Levitate
Mending Protection from Poison
Message Warding Bond
Minor Illusion
3rd Level
Mold Earth
Poison Spray Daylight
Prestidigitation Magic Circle
Produce Flame Nondetection
Ray of Frost Plant Growth
Resistance Protection from Energy
Shape Water Tongues
Shocking Grasp 4th Level
Spare the Dying
Banishment
Sword Burst
Control Water
Thaumaturgy
Death Ward
Thorn Whip
Fabricate
Thunderclap
Freedom of Movement
Toll the Dead
Hallucinatory Terrain
True Strike
Mordenkainen's Private
Sanctum
Stoneskin