Homebrew Sentient Swarm Species Details
Sentient swarms are rare in most realms. They are typically the result of interactions between natural swarms and magic. Are you an ant colony awakened by a curious druid? Or perhaps you are a swarm of flesh wasps that feasted upon the remains of a powerful wizard and found themselves driven by a new purpose after their meal.
Whatever your origin, you are you and you’re here to...what exactly? Unlike other awakened creatures, swarms tend to be a little less certain about their new purpose. Are you one thing? Many things? The drive each of your insect parts felt to protect the colony has an uncertain place now that there is an awakened consciousness calling the shots unifying them. Do you want to grow and divide to reproduce? Or do you still crave being part of something bigger than yourself?
This consciousness thing is going to be a challenge to figure out. Better get started now.
Sentient Swarm Traits
Being made of thousands of tiny organisms has its benefits, here are yours.Constitution Score Increase
All swarms benefit from being made up of interchangeable parts, and you can't be stabbed through the heart if you don't have one. As a result, you are a bit more resilient than the typical creature and gain a +1 bonus to constitution.
Ability Score Increase
Some swarms are fast, others strong. A few emit pheromones to influence those around them. Think about your origin and how that impacts your abilities as a swarm. You gain a +2 bonus to an ability score of your choice.
Grasping Digits
Sometimes the whole is the sum of its parts. Each insect that makes up your body can cling to surfaces, and so can you. You can move across most walls and ceilings at your walking speed. This ability may not work on especially slick or unnaturally smooth surfaces at the DMs discretion.
Sleep Rhythms
The insects that make you up can take turns sleeping, so you need less rest than most. When you take a long rest, you must spend 4 hours in an inactive and motionless state as you focus on the repair and reproduction of the colony. During this time you can see and hear as normal.
Flexible Form
Being made of thousands upon thousands of insects makes you incredibly flexible. You have to be careful not to spread out too thin or break apart; remaining dense and whole is an important to holding on to your sentience or perhaps protecting a hive or queen at your core. Your flexibility grants you the ability to shift and adjust your size and shape to fit into, and out of, many different situations.
Darkvision
In addition to having literally thousands of eyes, you insectile nature grants you the ability to see well in the dark. You have Darkvision.
Ageless?
Each insect in a sentient swarm holds a piece of the colony's memories and personality. As each insect dies and is replaced, a swarm's memories fade over time. This cycle of replacement means you only retain memories for a few decades. Learned skills may be retained as instinct over generations, but the memory of having learned them will fade. In effect, once you reach a certain age you stay that age forever. A particularly ancient swarm may have a sense of a long life or a familiarity with long forgotten people and places, but true recall of experiences in the far past will be out of their grasp. Spells and effects that cause aging do not effect you.
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