Homebrew Awakened Zombie Species Details

Connection to Life and Death:

Awakened zombies retain their intelligence and memories of life, but their personalities become darker and grim. Despite having their full memories of life, their state between life and death drives a lot of the awakened away from connections that they had in life, instead perceiving them as memories of a different person that they happen to have in their head. This combined with their changing appearances causes them to leave their old lives behind and try to find answers on where they belong in this world.

Changing Forms:

While awakened zombies don’t actually age, their life spans are similar to what they would have been in life. Instead of aging, however, their forms slowly degrade and rot. A 70-year-old human zombie may be nothing more than a shambling mess of hanging flesh and bones, while a newly created zombie may look exactly as they did when they were alive, save for the paler skin and rapidly whitening hair. When zombified, a zombie’s hair will turn completely white in a matter of days.

They are essentially immortal as long as they have the ability to feed. Awakened Zombies can however be eradicated by means of destroying their entire physical body, if any limb or bone or organ is left, the zombie maintains consciousness and awareness and will actively seek out ways to rebuild itself by any means possible. The zombie experiences a massively decreased constitution until every appendage and organ has been replaced by some means. The replacement body in and of itself cannot retain consciousness, if the last remaining fragment of the original zombie is finally destroyed, then they are dead. If a replacement part is of once-living origin the replacement has a chance to be adopted as permanently part of the zombie (and therefore may retain consciousness if the rest of the zombie is destroyed). The chance of this is slim and works like a regular living person getting a medical transplant. In the same way the zombie’s body can also reject a replacement, causing the zombie a poison-damage-like effect and they must seek out a new limb. The chance of replacement rejection is determined by a constitution saving throw every time a new body part is introduced

The Need to Feed:

When someone is zombified their bodies become maintained through the necromantic forces that brought it back to life, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need to eat. Instead of maintaining its body and providing energy zombies need to feed on the brains of recently killed intelligent creatures in order to keep their intelligence high. If a zombie does not feed on a full brain once per week (1 whole brain, 2 half brains, 4 quarter brains, etc.) then they must make an Intelligence saving throw or risk becoming a degraded zombie.

Zombie Names:

Awakened zombies either retain the name that they had in life or take a suitable pseudonym for their race. Their goal is to blend into the general population the best that they can or else be hunted as a denizen of evil.

 

Subraces. 

If an enlightened zombie doesn't feed on the equivalent of a full brain of an intelligent creature once per week, it must make an Intelligence saving throw that, if failed, will cause them to become a degraded zombie. Degraded zombies must make a death-saving throw once per day while degraded. On 3 failed death saving throws the zombie becomes permanently degraded and cannot be restored. If allowed to feed while degraded a zombie can attempt an Intelligence saving throw. On success the zombie becomes instantly restored and becomes 'enlightened' once more. If a zombie is permanently degraded it cannot become enlightened.

Subrace: Enlightened

Either you're newly created or have taken good care of yourself. You maintain much of your living characteristics and form, except for being cold to the touch, having a lack of a pulse and becoming paler by the moment.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score is increased by 1.
Unhindered Movement. Your base walking speed is the same as the base walking speed of your former race, typically 30 feet.
Unhindered Language. You can speak Common plus one additional language.

Subrace: Degraded

You've let your mind and body rot and have become degraded. Because of this, you're in the later stages of life. Whether you were forced into this situation, lost the will to live, or through carelessness, you're on the way out and you, and everyone around you, knows it.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score decreases by 2.
Slam Attack. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes, which deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit.
Degraded Language. You can't speak but you can understand Common or Undercommon.
Hindered Movement. Your base movement speed is 20 feet.

 

Awakened Zombie Traits

Awakened zombies are undead creatures formed from dark magic but have managed to retain their intellect from when they were alive.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2 and Strength increases by 1.

Age

You were reborn, be it through dark magic or some other means, you do not age, but you do rot, as all corpses do. Awakened zombies cannot die from most natural causes but continue to rot over time and, unless they seek out dark magic, will rot until they are nothing but a sentient skeleton.

See: Changing Forms.

Alignment

Zombies can have the essence of evil and undeath in them if they were brought from the dead by means of dark magic. They are typically an evil alignment, but their awakened nature gives them a chance to choose their own path in “unlife”. Many awakened undead cling to the alignment they held in life. For others, death changes them significantly, and they adopt a new worldview in light of what their death has taught them. They do tend to drift towards chaotic the longer that they've been turned.

Size

Zombies can vary in height and weight vastly. Your size is Medium to Small depending on your race in life.

Speed

Your base walking speed is dependent on your subrace.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

Undead

You need not sleep, eat, drink, or breathe, and you cannot be compelled to do so. You can ingest food and drink if you wish. You do not age, and any spell or effect that would cause you to age has no effect. You are immune to most diseases. You gain resistance to poison damage and the poisoned condition, and you are immune to the effects of spells that would put you to sleep. You are healed by Necrotic damage, and are vulnerable to Radiant damage, and have disadvantage to saves vs radiant attacks.

Undead Nature

Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You appear inert to all observers though you do not dream in this state. You are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.

Falling Apart

You spend another 2 hours each day (depending on your state of degradation), stitching and bandaging your gashes, wounds and rotting flesh or seeking out replacements for lost body parts. Your experience at such gives you proficiency with the Medicine skill, but you roll with disadvantage when using your skill on living creatures

Deathly Visage

Your undead appearance can be unnerving. You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Poison Immunity

You are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.

Undead Resistance

You are resistant to necrotic damage.

Languages

You can speak Common plus one additional language.