Awakened Stuffling

A rag-doll’s button eyes open for the first time.  Her cloth arms reach out to embrace the child who whispered the spell of life into her cotton-stuffed ears.  Though she may be days, years, or even centuries old, today is the first day of her life.

Awakened stufflings are toy stuffed animals or humanoids brought to life.  They are playful, whimsical beings and the loyalest of companions.  Far more than their materiality, stufflings derive their magic and vitality from the arcane power of a child’s love.

A Panoply of Abilities and Personalities

Due to each stuffling’s unique origin, awakened stufflings display a wide array of different personalities and abilities.  Stufflings average 12 inches tall and weight about one pound.  They may be built to resemble humanoids, animals, or entirely unique creations.  Their subraces are as numerous as the stars.  Unlike other races, stufflings do not have standard sets of racial and sub-racial characteristics.  Instead, awakened stufflings take the racial traits of the “real” race they most resemble, albeit with the features and limitations of being a one-pound stuffed animal (see “Stuffling Traits”).  For example, a dinosaur stuffling might take the racial traits of a dragonborn.

A stuffling’s personalities and ideals are often similar to the animancer (usually a magically-gifted child) who created them.  Stufflings can be brave or fearful, outgoing or reserved.  While they have free will, stufflings tend to be loyal companions of the animancer who awakened them.  Stufflings tend to be neutral good.

Animantic Orgin

As a stuffling, you were built (or stitched) by a toymaker, but you were created (awakened, animated) by an “animancer”.  Animancers are humanoids (usually children) who can magically imbue life into stuffed animals.  Some animancers were born with their powers.  Others were gifted animancy by Santa Claus, the god of toymakers, animancy, celebration, and stufflings.

Stuffling Traits

While a stuffling may have the superior darkvision of a drow elf, or the luck of a halfling, all awakened stufflings share a few common characteristics:

Age

You are immortal unless destroyed (see “dis-animation and destruction”).  Upon your destruction or expiration, you ascend to Santa’s Bag: an idyllic heaven. 

Tiny Legs

Your speed is 10.  If you can fly, your flying speed is also 10.

Immunity to poison, no need for food or air

As a stuffling, you are completely immune to poison damage.  You also do not need to eat, drink, or breathe, although you can do all three.

Innate Featherfall

You are immune to fall damage.

Personhood

For spellcasting purposes, you count as a person (as opposed to an animal or construct).

Flammable

You are incredibly vulnerable to fire damage.  Taking fire damage, you must make a DC 10 constitution saving throw on your next turn.  A pass means the fire has died out.  A failure means you take 1d6 fire damage and must make another saving throw next turn.  You or your allies can use an action in an attempt to extinguish you.

If you cast a fire spell, or attempt to manipulate fire in any way,  you must roll a d8.  If the roll is a 1, you accidentally set yourself on fire.

Absorbent

If you are splashed with or fall into water, you must make a DC 12 dexterity saving throw.  If you fail, your weight triples and you are encumbered (but you are now immune to fire damage). 

The Curse of Andy’s Coming

The moment a stuffling is seen by a humanoid (except animancers), they enter a state of paralysis in which they appear to be a regular stuffed animal.  The curse ends one minute after the humanoid averts their gaze.  The curse can be overcome by a DC 18 wisdom saving throw.

Thousands of years ago, the god Andrew came to the material plane and gazed upon the first awakened stuffilings.  He hated them.  He hated them so much that he banned animancy and vowed to destroy them.  From time-to-time, Andrew will possess a human and use their eyes to look for stufflings.  Due to this, animancy continues in secret.  In order to protect stufflings and animancers, all stuffings are created with the curse of Andy’s Coming.  Animancers are briefed by Santa and know of this curse.  

Dis-animation and destruction

Unlike humanoids, awakened stufflings cannot die.  As a stuffling, you can be either “disanimated” or “destroyed”.

If you fall below zero hit points, and fail your death saves, you are “disanimated”.  A disanimated stuffling becomes a regular stuffed animal.  Their soul goes to a purgatory plane called “the Island of Dis-animated toys”.  A stuffling can be re-animated if:

1. Their physical damage is repaired (re-stiched).
2. They are returned to their home toybox.
3. They are re-animated by their animancer.

If you fall below -100% of your total permanent hit points, you are destroyed.  A destroyed stuffling is beyond repair and cannot be re-animated.  A destroyed stuffling’s soul goes to a heaven plane called “Santa’s Bag”.

If a de-animated stuffling is not re-animated within 40 days, they “expire” and their soul moves on to Santa’s bag.