You died. But it was incomplete.
Something is binding your soul to your mortal remains; maybe its saying goodbye to a distant lover, perhaps getting revenge on a hated foe, or simply seeing the sun rise at your favorite spot one last time. Whatever it may be, something is preventing you from moving on. Your need to accomplish this task is so powerful and encompassing that it tied your soul to your decaying body. Animated through will alone, you persist... for now.
You have become an undead, similar to a Revenant *(although not necessarily driven by vengeance), your will to finish a task is binding your soul and corpse. The strength of your will delays natural decomposition, but if your corpse ever becomes completely destroyed, or your maximum hit points reach 0, your soul must move on. If you can achieve your goal, your will is met, and your soul is free.
You gain the properties defined in the stat block below upon your death and taking this feat:
ANIMATED WILL
Undead, size and alignment it had in life
Armor Class the amor class it had in life
Hit Points the hit points it had in life at creation, decreases over time
Speed Walking speed it had in life while retaining two legs, fly 20 ft. (hover)
Damage Vulnerabilities Psychic
Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Force, Radiant
Damage Immunities Poison
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Stunned
Senses blindsight 20 ft.
Languages the languages it knew in life, Telepathy 120 ft.
Turn Immunity. The animated will is immune to effects that turn undead.
Undead Nature. The animated will doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Corpse Walking. The animated will cannot rest or regain HP through traditional means. It has disadvantage on persuasion checks and advantage on intimidation checks.
Wear and Tear. Accumulated damage slowly breaks down the animated will's corpse. For all non-psychic damage dealt to the corpse, its max HP is reduced by half the amount of damage received (rounded down). This reduced HP can be restored by receiving either a lesser restoration or greater restoration within 1 hour of receiving the damage, otherwise it becomes permanent and irreversible by any means.
Critical Injuries. The animated will's corpse is particularly susceptible to critical injuries. If the animated will receive a critical strike (not from a spell), the attacker rolls an additional time (same roll and modifiers as for the original attack) and, on a hit, they sever one of the will's limbs or head (randomly). This extra roll does no additional damage and causes no other effects.
Falling Apart. When the animated will loses its head or a limb, its max HP is reduced by 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, or all, according to the number of remaining Limbs and Head, calculated as 1/(1+H+L). The head or limb can be reattached, and the associated reduced HP can be restored, by receiving greater restoration within 1 hour of the loss, otherwise they become permanent and irreversible by any means. This restoration would also restore any max HP lost to Wear and Tear within the last hour.
Unending Will. By concentrating for ten minutes, the animated will rebinds its soul to its corpse - damaging the corpse in the process - and gains the following effects: max HP permanently and irreversibly reduced by 2; restore full use of any racial, class, or other features normally restored upon resting; and restore HP up to half of your current max HP. This feature is used automatically after 1 hour if the animated will has 0 HP while still having non-zero max HP.
Force of Will. The animated will overcomes physical limitations through sheer force of will. It can cast spells without verbal or somatic components and gains a 20-foot fly (hover) speed, 20 feet of blindsight, and 120 feet of Telepathy.
Bound Soul. The animated will is immune to traditional resurrection effects other than a wish spell, which would restore the original creature to life.
Actions
The animated will has access to all actions, bonus actions, and features it had in life. Features from its life that could restore HP can no longer heal the animated will.
*Unlike a revenant, the strong will that binds you to your remains leaves you particularly susceptible to physic damage, while distancing you from the damage your corpse receives from other damage sources. Since necrotic damage accelerates the rate at which your corpse decays, but your damage is reduced from non-psychic types, necrotic damage is net normal.
Creator's note: The goal behind this feat was to provide an alternative option for a player whose character died besides rolling a new character. Animated wills are meant to be somewhat short-lived, and potentially good for finishing a campaign near its end after a player death, for a new player temporarily joining a long-running campaign, or for making a character in a one-shot. I was aiming to have the character be balanced with other characters at the same level, but different and interesting -- if the balance missed the mark, a DM should be able to fine tune by adjusting how often the player can use Force of Will and the amount of permanent HP loss, if any, it causes.
Previous Versions
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8/3/2024 7:57:27 PM
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8/5/2024 5:10:59 PM
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