Soulbound Dead

    Soulbound Dead. Much to the disapproval of the holy orders of the land, even after the Ethereal wall was breached many people continued the tradition of binding their loved ones’ souls to their dead bodies. Then, wizards found that if a soul-bound corpse was animated using spells such as Awaken Soul Bound, the resultant hybrid undead would retain some of its cognizance gained from life. Additionally, these soulbound quasi-undead retained some of the personality traits of their former selves, and none of their emotional or psychological attachments. This latter trait caused much distress among their former families, because the newly created creature would not recognize their loved ones as someone they knew. The magic-using community discovered that when a spellcaster lost control of an animated soul-bound dead, the creature did not become a typical flesh-hungry zombie or skeleton, but rather behaved like its former living nature, even making its own decisions as though “alive”.

    Entrepreneurial necromancers began offering coin to people for the rights to their bodies after they died in order to create “Bonded Ones” of the soul-bound dead, a practice which was violently opposed by the holy temples of the land for hundreds of years, but ultimately gained begrudging acceptance in many kingdoms of the world largely due to the widespread use of the soul-binding ritual that so many kingdoms had come to rely upon during the Age of the Ethereal Wall. Some religions still see the act of raising a soul-bound undead as evil, however in most cases they are unable to oppose the practice to any meaningful effect due to its widespread practice and legality of the art. Still, most soul-bound undead are found in the homes and halls of magical institutions and are rarely seen overtly outside that context.

    Creating Soulbound Dead. A ritual of soul binding is a 24-hour ritual that requires a willing subject and materials costing 100 gold which are consumed in the ritual (a candle imbued with powdered onyx which is burned at the beginning of the ritual and a pearl that is crushed at the feet of the subject at the end). Any 5 level caster may perform the ritual, which binds the subject’s soul to his body on the event of the character’s death. Spells or effects that destroy one’s soul also obliterate the enchantment of soul-binding. Conducting a soul-binding ritual on an unwilling subject still consumes the materials, but otherwise has no effect. A detect magic spell will only show magic on the individual if they are viewing the subject ethereally. Once the ritual is completed, there is no other actions needed until the subject dies. Once the subject dies, the spell caster may cast Awaken Soul Bound to create the Soul Bound Undead or Bonded One, although the spell does not imbue the soul-bound corpse with the same evil taint normally inflicted through the casting of the spell. The animated Bonded One functions as a zombie or skeleton per the animate dead spell but can receive complex commands and is capable of cognitive thought. The master of a Spell-bound undead may free their Bonded One as a bonus action. Additionally, a 14 level Necromancer can command Bonded Ones whose intelligence score is low enough.

 

Skill Proficiencies: Soulbound dead gain no new skills, and while they retain their racial skill proficiency have no recollection of how they learned their existing proficiencies. 

Tool Proficiencies: Soulbound dead gain no new tool proficiencies with this background. 

Languages: Soulbound dead gain no additional languages as a result of being soulbound dead. 

Equipment: As a soulbound dead, you have what equipment your master gave you, or what you have been able to scrounge up as a free-willed soulbound. Soulbound dead automatically stabilize when reduced to zero hit points. 

Suggested Characteristics

    Bonded Ones and Society Heavy restrictions were placed on the public use of Soulbound undead, typically restricting how the Bonded Ones could be displayed in public. This led most necromancers to either disguise their Bonded Ones as living people through illusion magic or dressing them in garb and prosthetics to make them appear to be automatons or golems.

    Free Soul-bound Dead. Soul-bonded dead retain much of their intelligence, even though their body moves and responds more like a zombie than their living counterpart. If a Bonded One’s master ever dies or fails to retain control, the soul bound becomes an intelligent free undead, typically with the same alignment it had in life. Soul bound are subject to the command of a necromancer’s command undead powers though, so free soul-bound undead go to great lengths to hide their nature and avoid re-entering servitude. Alternatively, they flee society to live as hermits in the wilds. Some free soul-bound will even go so far as to learn magic in order to use illusions to disguise their true undead nature.

    Shadows of the Past. While most soulbound dead have no recollection of their past, some are haunted with dreams of their past life. Key events, people, faces, and names might appear to them as strange dreams, but even when told these connections are real, most soulbound either dismiss them as dreams, or fail to grasp the significance of the dreams outside of the superficial. Even more rare, a soulbound dead might recover their old personality, resulting typically in insanity as their current persona is crowded into the same brain with the new persona. Of the rare soulbound who suffers a convergence of thought, most go insane and become a danger to themselves and those around them. For this reason, soulbound who exhibit signs of independence are typically put down. 

Appearance. As a soulbound dead, your appearance can vary wildly. The one commonality is that you do not bleed. 

d6	Personality Trait
1	I will find others of my kind and protect them from those who would destroy them. (Good)
2	I am plagued by dreams of a life I do not remember and places I've never been.
3	Because so many people see me as evil, I always look for the best in those around me. I will not allow them to be right! (Good)
4	The darkness inside me is always trying to surface, and why should I resist it? (Evil)
5	I can't help but find the humor in everything around me, even my own death (not that I remember it). (Chaotic)
6	For as long as I can remember, I have always been dark and brooding, even though I am actually a nice guy!

d4	Ideal
1	I want to see my kind become more accepted in the world.
2	I always seek to protect life, for it is fleeting and I would not wish to see anyone suffer as I have.
3	All will join me in my dark glory. (Evil)
4	I protect the weak, even if they are afraid of what I am.

d4	Bond
1	I dream of a dark past I cannot escape. I wish to be redeemed but I don't know how.
2	I am well known and hunted by an organization bend on destroying all soulbound dead.
3	I am an escaped slave, now intent on remaining free.
4	I love animals and plan to keep a menagerie someday of the wonderful creatures I encounter in my adventures.

d4	Flaw
1	I am a hoarder and I don't know why. I simply love to hold on to everything.
2	I keep finding maggots in my hair, I have no idea what they are eating or why they keep showing up!
3	The magic that created me is manifested whenever I am injured, and flesh wounds don't heal normally although I feel no pain. This causes others to fear I am a true undead.
4	My outlook tends to always be negative.

Contacts

People who you believe are complete strangers seem to know you. It might be only in one particular area of the world, but there are those who approach you, calling you by a different name and swearing they are old acquaintances. Enemies you didn't know you had might try to kill you. Allies unknown may offer assistance when least expected. If you are a free soulbound dead, you are also hunted by the Knights of Lumaris, who see all soulbound dead as abominations no better than other undead. 

d1	Contact
1	In my home town (if I should ever find it), people who remember me offer assistance though none was requested. I do not remember these kind strangers but their looks of sad wistfulness as they help me tells me all I need to know.