Homebrew Animated Marionette Species Details

Marionettes are puppets suspended on strings or wires controlled by a puppeteer called a marionettist. Marionettes are usually not alive, but you are an interesting exception. You are made of wood, a once living material with years of history embedded in its fibers. The wood was harvested and delicately carved and painted by an artist to create a creature such as you, a non-living thing that could be made to walk and dance to bring smiles and laughter to your audience. Somehow you've awoken again, still a wooden puppet but very much alive. Your strings have been cut but you don't need them anymore.

Animated Marionette Traits

Being a wooden marionette, you have some inherent traits.

Wooden Nature

You are made of wood, which gives you both advantages and disadvantages:

You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe.
You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep. You can still take a short or long rest to recover your health and magic, but you spend those hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.
You are vulnerable to fire and slashing damage.
Healing your wounds by magical means may cause new growths to form. Each time you are healed using magic, roll a d10. If you roll a 10, a new sprout has started to grow where your wound once was. This sprout can be painlessly trimmed away, left alone to wilt, or nourished with water and sunlight.

Made to Perform

You were made to perform. You have proficiency in Performance.

Nimbleness

You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan. You're not sure how you awoke knowing these languages. Perhaps it's something in the wood you were made from.

Age

Marionettes don't age in the traditional sense, though they can get worn down and broken. A marionette is practically immortal as long as it is well-maintained and not going off on perilous adventures.

Size

Large marionettes are unwieldy. Your size is Tiny.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 20 feet.