(I'm currently testing this out for a one shot and want to see how it would work thematically. It's not done yet and I'll most likely add more but I need to see if I formatted this correctly.)
Some beings enter the world screaming their first breath; you entered in silence, forged for a purpose rather than born to a life. Created by a divine power to serve its will, you once carried out commands without hesitation or identity of your own. Now severed from the purpose that defined you, you walk the world as a free being for the first time—haunted by instinct, memory, and the shape of a destiny you no longer obey.
- Skill Proficiencies:
- Insight
- Arcana
- Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher’s Tools
- Languages: Celestial, Deep Speech, or another ancient/divine language appropriate to the campaign.
- Equipment:
-
A fragment of your original divine seal or sigil
-
Calligrapher’s tools
-
Ceremonial garment or armor piece from your prior station
-
A name you chose yourself (not given) inscribed onto a token
-
A pouch containing 10 gp in obsolete or celestial coinage
-
You were not born but created—fashioned as a tool of divine will rather than a living being. Whether wrought from star-steel, forgotten prayers, or fragments of collected souls, you began existence with a singular purpose: to serve. You carried out that mandate without hesitation, not because you were loyal, but because you had no concept of choice.
| d6 | Origin of Creation |
|---|---|
| 1 | You were forged from condensed memories of the recently dead. |
| 2 | A god sculpted you from moonlit metal and bound you with purpose. |
| 3 | You were once an idea or prophecy made manifest into flesh. |
| 4 | A divine ritual reclaimed a forgotten soul and rebuilt it into you. |
| 5 | You were a fragment of a god split off during their own death. |
| 6 | You were created as one of many prototypes—but the only one that survived. |
Your creation ties you to the boundary between life and death.
You instinctively sense when a creature stands near death or when a soul lingers nearby. Within 60 feet, you can determine whether a creature is
- dying
- dead
- soulless
- undead
- or bound by another power
You can also sense the direction (but not identity) of lingering spirits or echoes. This sense is intuitive, not magical, and does not reveal hit points or creature alignment.
Additionally, when you perform rites for the dead or assist a soul's passing, you gain advantage on checks to interact with spirits, clergy of death, or entities tied to memory or the afterlife.
This ability does not allow communication with spirits unless another effect does so.
Suggested Characteristics
| d6 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I speak softly, as if purpose might overhear me. |
| 2 | I study emotions like a language I never learned. |
| 3 | I do not kill lightly; endings deserve dignity. |
| 4 | I mistrust what I desire—I was never meant to want. |
| 5 | I imitate emotional reactions to seem normal. |
| 6 | Silence makes me feel closer to what I once was. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Redemption. My freedom must mean more than survival. |
| 2 | Order. Death should be clean and meaningful, not chaotic. |
| 3 | Identity. I am more than the function I was made for. |
| 4 | Mercy. Life is precious because it ends. |
| 5 | Defiance. No god will write my ending again. |
| 6 | Memory. To forget is a second death. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I carry a soul I could not shepherd properly. |
| 2 | Someone treated me as a person for the first time—I owe them everything. |
| 3 | My original divine artifact calls me home. |
| 4 | The god who forged me wants me back. |
| 5 | I must understand why mortality chooses suffering. |
| 6 | I fear becoming a weapon again. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I freeze when forced to make choices. |
| 2 | I confuse control with safety. |
| 3 | Violence feels too natural. |
| 4 | I avoid forming bonds—I might outlive them. |
| 5 | I still crave purpose, even if it harms me. |
| 6 | I believe my life has no value without function. |
You carry the burden of unfinished stories.
When a creature dies in your presence, you may capture its final thought or emotional impulse. You can speak or convey that message to a chosen creature at any time, but once delivered, the echo fades forever.
This is not speech with the dead—just their last unspoken note.
Examples:
- “Tell her I forgave her.”
- “Burn it before they find it."
- “Run.”
This can force agonizing moral choices.
Whenever a creature dies within 10 feet of you, you may choose to bear the final emotional impression or unspoken intent of that creature. This manifests not as spoken language but as a feeling, urge, or fragmented thought—fear, regret, longing, forgiveness, anger, relief, or a singular directive.
You may convey this echo to any creature at any later time. Delivering it can be verbal, emotional, symbolic, or conveyed through touch or dreamlike intuition. Once delivered, the echo fades forever.
This effect does not grant the ability to speak with the dead, identify killers, or reveal secrets with supernatural clarity—it reflects emotion, not information. It may influence behavior but cannot compel it.
If multiple creatures die, you can carry only one echo at a time; gaining a new one erases the previous echo.
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