Mortal Reminder

Mortal Reminder is a passive feature unique to The Great Old One Warlock subclass that Frightens creatures upon a critical hit.^{[See: Bugs]}

Description

When you land a Critical Hit against a creature, that creature and any nearby enemies must succeed a  Wisdom Saving Throw or become  Frightened until the end of their next turn.

Details

UID

ClarifiedMortality

Condition: Frightened (Mortal Reminder)

 Frightened

Duration: 1 turn

 WIS Save

• Cannot move. Frightened entities also have  Disadvantage on  Ability Checks and  Attack Rolls.

How to learn

Classes:

• Class level 1: The Great Old One

Used by creatures:

• Cursed Imp, Kree Derryck, Viconia DeVir

Notes

• The Wisdom save uses the character's spellcasting ability modifier of the last class they took a first level in. This may not be Charisma if they multiclassed from warlock to another class.
• The Wisdom saving throw for Mortal Reminder applies to all enemies within a 3 m (10 ft) radius of the critically hit target.
• This passive is also triggered from some unexpected critical hit sources:
  • Actions and consumables with hidden attack rolls against enemies in the effect radius can trigger it. Namely,  Horde Breaker,  Ice Knife, and the elemental arrows ( Acid,  Fire, Ice,  Lightning, and  Roaring Thunder). A single use of them can potentially trigger Mortal Reminder multiple times if there are multiple hidden critical hits rolled.

Bugs

• Contrary to the description from the in-game tooltip, there is no requirement that a creature be the target of a critical hit. For example, when an object is struck on the ground, the  Diamondsbane passive from an adamantine weapon triggers Mortal Reminder.
  • As Mortal Reminder triggers on each critical hit, and destructable objects can be dropped without using action resources, this bug can be used to greater effect with a character who has  Extra Attack and items which give bonuses to Spell Save DC. In addition, while the  Dual Wielder feat,  Two-Weapon Fighting style, and  Fast Hands do not specifically assist with exploiting this bug, they allow preservation of attack ability while attempting to do so.
  • As  Battle Acuity also triggers on dealing weapon damage to objects as well as creatures, the  Helmet of Arcane Acuity pairs well with this (bugged) feat.
• This feature ignores effects that grant either  Advantage or  Disadvantage on saving throws against being  Frightened, such as  Countercharm or the  Shield of the Undevout.