Homebrew Dullahan Species Details

A quite unique creature, the dullahan are an undead being that isn’t as attached to their head as one would think. Dullahan can go days without their heads and if their heads are destroyed they can claim a new one. Bizarre.

-Excerpt from “A Bard’s Guide to Survival”

 

While most dullahan are in servitude to a great litch or other supernatural being, some have broken their bonds to their former masters. The dullahan that have broken their bonds are able to live without their heads for a few days and even bond to a new head if theirs is destroyed.

 

Once a Slave, Never Again

Having escaped a life of servitude a free dullahan will never willing go back to a life of that nature. Dullahan tend to live secluded lives or seek to destroy those that enslave others. While they retain all their memories they had in servitude, they lose any former powers that bond granted.

 

Life Long Forgotten

The dullahan where once living but through whatever dark power their past from that life is long forgotten. Any one race could become a dullahan but the most common are humans and elves. Whatever they had when living becomes erased and replaced with their new form until all that remains is their headless shell. A dullahan can only free their bonds by discovering whom killed them but as they lose their former memories they will likely fall into servitude of their killers.

 

Protect Your Head

While dullahan can function without their heads doing so for prolonged time will cause them to be cursed to walk the world in search for their head but can never finding it as they have lost their spiritual link to it. If their original head is destroyed they can link themselves to a new one so long as the head is fresh and their time headless has not reached its limit.

Dullahan Names

Dullahan take on a new name after separating from their bondage. A dullahan will tend to name himself or herself after someone they killed during their servitude.

Dullahan Traits

Your dullahan character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increases

You can choose three ability scores and increase them each by 1. 

Age

Dullahan are undead creatures and as such do not age. However, they do appear as old as they where before they died. 

Alignment

Even though they have broken their servitude from their litch masters, many dullahan retain alignment that lean towards Evil. 

Size

As dullahan are created from fallen humans, elves, and orcs you retain the size of their origins. Your size is Medium. 

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. 

Undead Fortitude

As a creature of undeath you gain immunity to poison damage and resistance to necrotic damage. 

Headless

You can see normally so long as your head is within 30 feet of you. Furthermore, you can choose to change your sight line to where your head is. A dullahan can go without their heads for 10 + Constitution modifier days before they lose all consciousness. When out of range of your head you have Blindsight 30ft and Disadvantage on all checks that require sight, smell or sound. Furthermore, you also have Disadvantage on all attack checks and saving throws. If your head becomes destroyed or lost you can take the head of another medium sized humanoid and attune to it. You must spend a long rest to become attuned to the new head, once attuned you lose attunement with your previous head. 

Heritage

You may choose what race you where before turning into a dullahan. 

Languages.

You retain your ability to read, speak, and write in Common and one other language of your choice.