Bonecall
In a village whose graveyard eventually filled with the graves of beloved animals, a grieving child asked the local hedge-witch to let her dog find her one last time. The witch obliged, fashioning a collar from the dog's own leather and a sliver of bone, and in the morning the dog walked through the door again, silent and shimmering. The collar passed between hands for generations, always finding its way to someone who had buried something they could not let go.
Appearance
A small leather collar, one tarnished bone charm riveted to the buckle.
Mechanics
Call back a beloved creature that died within the past year as a loyal, incorporeal companion.
Return
Over the course of 1 minute, you can speak the name of a Beast or Monstrosity with a CR of 2 or lower that died no more than one year ago and whose remains you can touch. That creature returns as a spectral companion occupying its original form. It has the statistics of its living stat block except it has 0 Constitution (its hit points equal 5 + your proficiency bonus), immunity to poison and necrotic damage, resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks, and it does not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. It understands commands spoken to it in any language and acts on your initiative, taking the Dodge action unless you use a bonus action to direct it to Move, Attack, Help, or Dash. If it drops to 0 hit points, it dissipates. You may call it forth again using this property the next dawn, provided you still hold the collar. Only one companion may exist at a time.
DM Notes
Balance consideration: the spectral companion is deliberately fragile, with hit points scaling only off proficiency bonus, meaning it will rarely survive sustained combat. Its primary value is the Help action, which provides meaningful but not dominant advantage on attacks. The CR 2 ceiling keeps summoned creatures from being combat powerhouses. DMs should note that calling the companion requires touching the actual remains, which creates interesting roleplay constraints: the player must find or carry the remains, and a companion destroyed in an inaccessible location cannot be recalled until the collar moves on. The once-per-dawn reset means a dissipated companion is gone until morning, which rewards players who protect rather than sacrifice their companion. Be prepared for emotionally resonant moments: players may wish to use this on named animals from the campaign, which is strongly encouraged.
Generated with: Level 5 · Bard · Pet cemetery · Heroic · Rare