Way of the Specter

Source: Hexbound

Witches of the Way of the Specter go through harrowing training to acquire their abilities. After years of rigorous schooling and instruction of both their minds and bodies, a covenant ceremony takes place with their mentor in which the pupils experience death itself. The disciples effectively die, sent to the plane where spirits lie for a short moment, before being brought back to life by witch healers. Many witches in training do not survive this ceremony — or, at least, not entirely. They come back as empty husks, devoid of emotion and personality, part of their soul forever lost among the spirits. Those who do take this ultimate risk and make it back gain the key to this specific art of witchcraft: they can use their body itself to channel spirits. Their expertise lies in weakening their foes with attacks charged with spiritual energy, summoning spirits with each blow and driving them into the body of their target to siphon the target's life energy.

Witchmark:

A tell-tale sign of a witch following this tradition is their unusual witchmark. Rather than resembling a tattoo or a specific marking, the witchmark

of these witches is their hands themselves. They twist and change due to the prolonged contact with spirits. You can roll on the table below to select how your hands look or use it as inspiration to come up with your own:

d6	Witchmark
1	Your hands are covered with burn marks. When you summon spirits to them, they are encircled in bright blue flames. As you gain levels in this class, the scars creep up towards your shoulders — and so do the flames.
2	The tips of your fingers are inky black. When you summon spirits to them, a dark liquid flows from your fingertips. As you gain levels in this class, the inky blackness rises to your elbows and reaches the sides of your neck.
3	Your hands are clear, as if they were made of glass or ice. When you summon spirits, they crack, encircling them in tiny shards of glass. As you gain levels in this class, your hands turn to bright colors, like stained glass.
4	Your hands become almost transparent in places, as if they were perpetually shifting between the Material and Ethereal Plane. When you summon spirits, a mist gathers around them. As you gain levels in this class, a faint mist constantly wafts around your hands.
5	Your nails grow disproportionately quickly and curve downwards. When you summon spirits, they acquire an unnatural sheen, as if made of metal, appearing golden, silver, or iron-black. As you gain levels in this class, your nails turn more and more into sharp talons.
6	Your hands are marked by the runes used during the ritual that you undertook to become a witch. When you summon spirits, the runes glow brightly. As you gain levels in this class, a string of runes rises from your hands to your arms, forming the script of the covenant you agreed to.

Siphoned Life

By injecting spirits into the body of a foe, you siphon out their energy to replenish your own. Whenever you use Weakening Blows to give a creature a level of exhaustion, you are healed for an amount equal to the damage roll of that attack. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier. You regain all uses of this ability after a long rest.