Cannibal

Cannibals are predators who convert the bodies of the slain into raw power. They taste memory, strength, and resilience in flesh and shape those essences to bolster themselves and their allies. Equal parts survivalist, ritualist, and predator, the Cannibal is a class that trades social taboo for hard, tangible advantages — temporary fortitude, borrowed traits, and the uncanny sense that their appetite is an engine of power.

Class Features

Hit Die d10
Primary Ability Strength, Constitution
Saving Throws Strength, Constitution

Proficiencies

Armor Light armor, Medium armor, Shields
Weapons Simple weapons, Martial weapons
Tools Cook's utensils, Herbalism kit
Skills Choose 2 from: Athletics, Survival, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Deception

Starting Equipment

• A martial weapon and a light crossbow with 20 bolts OR two martial weapons
• An explorer's pack OR a dungeoneer's pack
• Cook's utensils and a healer's kit

Class Resources

Hunger Points 5 (After a long rest. Maximum increases by +1 at 6th level and +1 again at 14th level (so 5 → 6 → 7).)

Class Abilities

Martial Abilities

Resource Hunger Points
Quick-Feast
Action 1 Hunger Point Level 1

A hasty consumption that trades full benefit for speed.

Prerequisites:

Must be adjacent to a corpse or the corpse's remains

Healing Effect
Duration: Instantaneous (temporary HP lasts 1 minute)
Calming Cut
Bonus Action 1 Hunger Point Level 2

After you eat a creature that was an enemy, you can spend 1 Hunger Point to calm nearby frightened or enraged allies (remove frightened or charmed status and grant advantage on next saving throw).

Buff Effect
Conditions: Removes frightened or charmed from one ally in 30 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Siphon Vitality
Action 1 Hunger Point Level 1

Spend 1 Hunger Point after the Feast to grant yourself temp HP equal to half the creature's Hit Dice × your level tier (DM adjudicates).

Prerequisites:

You must have consumed some of the creature's flesh within the last minute

Healing Effect
Duration: Temporary HP lasts 1 hour
Rite: Memory Shred
Action 1 Hunger Point Level 2

Invoke to extract a fragment of memory; costs 1 Hunger Point. Learning the memory gives advantage on a single relevant check.

Prerequisites:

Must have eaten a humanoid corpse

Utility Effect
Duration: One advantage on one roll within 10 minutes
Rite: Iron Stomach
Action 1 Hunger Point Level 3

Invoke to cleanse poisons/diseases from the eaten flesh and transfer a lesser resistance to an ally (costs 1 Hunger Point).

Buff Effect
Conditions: Grant resistance to one nonmagical poison or disease effect to one ally
Duration: 1 hour
Voracious Strike
Reaction 1 Hunger Point Level 5

Spend 1 Hunger Point on a melee hit to deal extra necrotic damage equal to your Cannibal level and heal for half that amount.

Damage Effect
Damage: N/A (flat necrotic) necrotic (Equals Cannibal level)
Duration: Instantaneous
Feastward
Action 2 Hunger Points Level 6

After a Feast you may spend 2 Hunger Points to create a 10-foot-radius aura of savagery. Allies inside gain temporary HP at the start of their turns equal to 1 + your Constitution modifier. Enemies take psychic damage equal to your proficiency bonus if they start their turn in the aura (Con save halves).

Prerequisites:

You must have feasted within the last minute

Aura Effect
Saving Throw: Constitution
Damage: N/A psychic (Equals proficiency bonus)
Conditions: Allies gain temp HP each turn
Duration: 1 minute
Digestive Sacrifice
Action 3 Hunger Points Level 9

You may burn 3 Hunger Points to infuse a single weapon you touch with devouring energy for 1 minute. It deals additional necrotic damage equal to 1d8 + your Con mod on a hit. If you defeat a creature with that weapon, you immediately regain all spent Hunger Points (to your maximum).

Buff Effect
Damage: 1d8 necrotic
Duration: 1 minute
Rite: Shared Sustenance
Action 1 Hunger Point Level 3

Prepare a small portion as an action (costs 1 Hunger Point). An ally who eats the portion can, once within the next minute, reroll one failed attack roll or saving throw.

Buff Effect
Conditions: One reroll within 1 minute
Duration: 1 minute
Bloodletting Lash
Action 2 Hunger Points Level 7

As an action, spend 2 Hunger Points to send tendrils of devoured essence at an enemy within 60 feet. The target takes 2d6 necrotic and must make a Constitution save (DC = 8 + Prof + Con mod) or be slowed (speed halved) until the end of its next turn.

Damage Effect
Saving Throw: Constitution
Damage: 2d6 necrotic (Increases to 4d6 at level 11)
Conditions: Slowed (speed halved) on fail
Duration: 1 round
Eternal Hunger
Action 3 Hunger Points Level 10

When you consume a creature of a supernatural origin (fiend, celestials, aberration, fey) and spend 3 Hunger Points, you can siphon a single arcane/mystic trait from that being (DM adjudicates an appropriate minor trait — e.g., a once-per-day spell-like effect). The trait lasts for a number of hours equal to your Cannibal level.

Prerequisites:

The consumed creature must be of supernatural origin

Utility Effect
Duration: Hours equal to Cannibal level
Feast of the Fallen (Mass Feast)
10 minutes 4 Hunger Points Level 14

You may spend 4 Hunger Points and 10 minutes to perform a mass ritual on up to six recently dead creatures to create a grisly banquet. Allies who partake regain 2d8 hit points and gain advantage on one ability check or attack roll of their choice made within the next minute.

Prerequisites:

Must have 6 corpses present (can be of mixed CR)

Healing Effect
Duration: Instantaneous (benefit lasts 1 minute)

Transformations

Feral Hunger
Concentration, up to 1 minute 2 Hunger Points Level 3

You become more beast than man for a short time. You grow an inhuman maw and claws; you gain +2 to Strength, +1 to Constitution, advantage on Athletics checks, and your bite and unarmed strikes deal 1d6 extra slashing damage. You cannot cast spells or use complex rites while transformed.

Changes:

+2 Strength, +1 Constitution, Advantage on Athletics, Bite/unarmed +1d6 slashing damage

Special Actions:

Pounce: On the first round you move at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and hit, that creature must make a Strength save or be knocked prone.

Limitations:

Cannot cast spells or perform elaborate rites, Transformation ends if you are rendered unconscious

Corpse-Gorged Skin
10 minutes 3 Hunger Points Level 9

You graft shreds of eaten flesh to yourself. Your skin hardens into a grisly carapace: you gain temporary resistance to nonmagical slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning equal to half your Cannibal level (minimum resistance value determined by DM). You also radiate a nauseating scent; creatures that start adjacent to you must make a Constitution save or be nauseated (disadvantage on attack rolls) for 1 round.

Changes:

Resistance to nonmagical physical damage, Enemies adjacent may be nauseated

Limitations:

Nauseating scent affects allies within 5 feet (they can hold their breath to avoid), and wearing fine clothing/armor may be ruined

Devourer's Ascendance
1 minute 4 Hunger Points Level 15

A partial version of your 20th-level apotheosis available once per long rest at 15th level: for 1 minute you gain resistance to nonmagical physical damage, your bite deals 2d8 + Con mod and counts as magical, and you gain 3 temporary Hunger Points to spend during the transformation.

Changes:

Resistance to nonmagical physical damage, Bite 2d8 + Con

Special Actions:

Soul Rend (once per use): On a hit, expend 2 Hunger Points to force the target to make a Charisma save or lose 1 point of a chosen saving throw modifier for 1 minute.

Limitations:

After transformation ends you suffer 1 level of exhaustion unless you spend 2 Hunger Points to stave it off

Auras

Aura of Scent
10-foot radius Level 1

You give off the smell of blood and flesh. Allies within 10 feet gain advantage on survival checks to track creatures the Cannibal has recently sensed. Enemies within 10 feet who rely on scent have disadvantage on stealth checks and take a -1 penalty to Wisdom (Perception) checks related to quiet movement.

Effect:

Track advantage for allies; penalty for scent-reliant enemies

Feastward (Described Above)
10-foot radius 2 Hunger Points Level 6

An aura that grants temporary HP to allies and psychic damage to enemies after a Feast. See martial ability 'Feastward' for full mechanical detail.

Effect:

Allies gain temp HP each turn; enemies take psychic damage at the start of their turns

Activation:

Activated by spending 2 Hunger Points after a Feast

Class Features

Unrelenting Hunger (Level 1)

You are driven by a supernatural appetite. You gain a resource called Hunger Points. You start with 5 Hunger Points. Hunger Points fuel many Cannibal abilities; spending them is often part of activating a feature. You may spend Hunger Points only as described by class features. While conscious you can spend Hunger Points as a bonus action unless the feature states otherwise.

Feast (Eating a Corpse) (Level 1)

When you consume a creature's flesh, you gain immediate benefits depending on the size and nature of the eaten creature. As an action you can eat a corpse that is unattended and within reach. You must finish a short ritual (1 minute) to take full effect unless you use the quick-feast option (an action) which halves some benefits. Eating a corpse grants 1d6 + your Constitution modifier temporary hit points per CR the corpse had (minimum 1d6). Additionally, if the creature had a type (humanoid, beast, monstrosity, fiend, undead, etc.), you gain a small thematic boon for 1 minute (see the Cannibal table). Eating an enemy slain by you within the last minute grants you 1 Hunger Point (up to your maximum). Eating a corpse created more than 24 hours ago has a disease/poison risk (see Digestive Risk).

Flesh Sense (Level 1)

You can taste residual life in flesh. You gain advantage on Survival checks to find recently dead creatures and can detect the nearest corpse within 60 feet as long as you are not more than 1 mile away from a normal population (a hamlet, hunters, etc.). When you examine a corpse you can learn the creature's last action and the type of damage that most severely wounded it (requires an action).

Savage Bite (Level 1)

You gain a natural unarmed attack: a bite. It deals 1d6 piercing damage + Strength mod. At 5th level bite damage increases to 1d8, and at 11th level to 1d10. The bite can be used to initiate a Feast (you can bite and begin consumption if the target is at 0 HP).

Rite of Flesh (Level 2)

You learn rites—short rituals written in gory shorthand—that alter how you consume. You know two rites at 2nd level and learn more as you level (see class table). Each rite can be invoked when you Feast to gain an extra effect (e.g., siphon vigor into an ally, analyze memories within the flesh, grant temp skill proficiency). A rite usually costs 1 Hunger Point to use.

Digestive Fortitude (Level 6)

Your stomach and will harden. You gain advantage on saving throws against disease and poison. If you would gain a disease from consuming a corpse, you instead make a Constitution saving throw (DC determined by DM) — on a success you suffer no disease and instead gain 1 temporary Hunger Point.

Voracious Strike (Level 5)

When you hit with a melee weapon attack, you may spend 1 Hunger Point to deal extra necrotic damage equal to your Cannibal level (damage type: necrotic) and heal for half that amount as part of the same attack. You may do this a number of times per long rest equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum once) if you have no Hunger Points remaining.

Resource Cost: 1 Hunger Point

Corpse-Infused Strikes (Level 11)

If you Feast on a slain creature within the last minute, your next 1 minute of melee attacks gain a bonus to damage equal to your proficiency bonus. If the consumed creature was of a particular type (beast, humanoid, fiend, undead), one attack per turn can impose a small condition tied to that type (prone from heavy beast meat, frightened from fiend meat, etc.).

Predator's Resilience (Level 14)

When you drop to 0 hit points but are not killed outright, you may expend 2 Hunger Points to instead be reduced to 1 hit point and immediately begin a Feast on a creature you have just slain within the last minute (you do not need to consume the corpse fully). Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.

Resource Cost: 2 Hunger Points

Devourer's Apotheosis (Level 20)

At 20th level you can become a living maw for 1 minute (once per long rest). For the duration you gain resistance to all nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, your bite deals 2d12 damage and counts as magical, you regain 5 hit points at the start of each of your turns while there is a corpse within 30 feet, and you may feast as a bonus action taking only one action instead of the usual ritual. You also gain an additional 5 Hunger Points for the duration (these cannot exceed the temporary maximum).

Resource Cost: 5 Hunger Points

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