Homebrew Ethereal Undead Species Details

“In life, Karn Gardenoak was a silent giant of a man, who would frequently be seen on the ramparts of the Old Wolfstone Castle, peering out into the darkness with his piercing blue eyes. In death, the guardian of Wolfstone had not changed. He still was silent, his figure still massive, and he continued to watch the walls of the broken citadel. The only difference was his body was now flickering and transparent, as if he was made from the thick fog that surrounded the castle, and 10 orcish arrows now adorned his chest, covering his breastplate with shimmering silver blood.”

--- Unknown

Dreary Appearance

Ethereal undead are flickering remnants of their past lives, appearing as they did before death. However, they are now transparent, and most colour has faded away from their form. Some have a tint to their form, which can vary in hue. This happens for multiple reasons, From pure white for those who died peacefully to red for those dying in a fire, green if poisoned, blue if water was their ending, or yellow if stuck by lightning itself.

Ethereal undead are very different from most physical undead: the difference to the lich is that they didn't ask to become undead, at least not directly. Mummies also had a mission to fulfill, but their corpses were preserved by some means. Zombies lose their will and are forced to submit to other beings. Ethereal undead died and lost their body, but the will to fulfill their last pendant was so intense that death could not take their spirit: Ethereal undead are coming to terms with death and rejecting it to get a second chance.

Most ethereal undead have an appearance that tends to reflect how they died. For example, an ethereal undead that had drowned in their previous life may be dripping with glowing water droplets that disappear as soon as they hit the ground. An ethereal undead that died in battle may still have the wounds they sustained in life---open and flowing with silver blood. An ethereal undead that died while sleeping will keep their eyes closed but will see perfectly.

Similarly, if the ethereal undead is more transfixed by guilt or regret at its previous life, it is instead wrapped in ethereal chains. This is because their own mental state controls the image of an ethereal undead, and such transduction with death or regret manifests in its image on the Material Plane.

Ethereal undead can be completely free of regret or transfixed by their death. Still, it would mean that the only thing tying it to the Material Plane is the ethereal undead's willpower, which makes its bond to the Material Plane weaker than the other two types of ethereal undead. These kinds of ethereal undead tend to disappear soon after being formed.

History

Ethereal undead were the souls of deceased sentient creatures bound to haunt a specific area, object, or creature that held significance to them when they were alive. Often, this state of existence was because of a soul having been horrendously evil in life, their deaths being tremendously emotional, being denied a proper burial, or because they had unfinished business.

Reminiscent Past

An ethereal undead's behavior is typically similar to the personality they had in life. But in some cases, their personalities were altered by the process of death. Some seek meaning in their undeath, while some know why they are still bound to the material plane. Ethereal undead come in all beliefs and attitudes, but most of the time, their beliefs change to a little less humorous version of themselves when they become undead.

There is often a chance that an undead may forget who they are if the reanimation process happens to enable that, but most have a will and reason to come back for one reason or another.

Ethereal Undead Names

Ethereal undead often take the name they had before their death. However, some take on the name of the goal they are trying to achieve in their new unlife.

Ethereal Undead Traits

Death is less permanent than you think.

Ability Score Increase

One of your ability scores increases by 2, and one other increases by 1.

Age

A ghost can "live" for a very long time as they can remain on the Material Plane as long as their willpower allows them, though they usually pass on after they fulfill a goal they could not accomplish in life.

Size

Ghosts have no weight and are as tall as they were in life. Your size can either be Small or Medium.

Speed

Your speed is 30 feet. You can hover 6 feet over the ground, but can't fly. If you end your turn more than 6 feet over the ground, you start falling.

Ethereal Sight

You can see into the Ethereal Plane, all out to a range of 30 feet. As well, 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 color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Undead Nature

• Your creature type is undead.

• You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe.

• You do not need to sleep. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours doing light activity or nothing rather than sleeping.

• You are immune to being poisoned and you are immune to poison damage.

• You are immune to necrotic damage but vulnerable to radiant damage.

Ethereal Form

Thanks to your ethereal form, certain advantages and limitations have been granted to you. You may now move through any creature as you please or any object as if it were difficult terrain, taking 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside a creature or object. Interacting with objects can lead to difficult situations for a ghost. Even pulling a lever or catching a ball can be troublesome since your form is only slightly able to stop, pull or push things before phasing through it. You might be able to stop a ball midair, but not to hold it for more than a few seconds as the ball splashes against your hand, crushing it like water or ectoplasm and sliding down your form, unless you really concentrate.

Mundane Tasks like that can require you to roll any kind of ability check. If your DM decides you have to roll such an ability check, you roll them.

Incorporeal Fortitude

You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. Weapons just slide through you, only ripping small parts of your ethereal form with them as if they were hitting some kind of slime or thick air.

Pull of the Ethereal

When you drop to 0 hit points you are pulled towards the afterlife. When this happens your death saving throws become wisdom saving throws with a DC of 12. On three successes you immediately regain one hit point, and the DC for the death saving throws increase by 5. On three failures you are permanently pulled into the afterlife, and you cannot be revived with anything short of a resurrection spell. On a long rest, the DC resets to 12.

Languages

You can write, read and speak Common and one other language of choice.