Homebrew Gloomforged Species Details

 

The silence was broken by the sound of bellows, pumping loudly with a rasping wheeze that echoed over the quite, shrouded landscape. The Shadar-Kai smith lowered his shadowed goggles as the glow of the forge began to grow brighter and brighter, chasing back the shadows to the edge of the dilapidated building. On the worktable nearby lay the partially assembled pieces of a strange humanoid figure carved out of metal and adorned with porcelain detailing. Only the core remained; once inserted the lifeless husk would be complete, able to move and think and act. But this final missing piece had been left until last for a very important reason - the smith would have to snuff out a thinking, feeling being to finish it. 

On the table nearby sat an ornate silver sword, it's blade smooth and unmarked, the handle almost shining now in the reflected light of the forge. The smith edged toward it, part of him deeply regretting the action he must now take to finish his great work. Donning a pair of thick heavy gloves, but knowing they would likely have no impact on the pain he was about to experience, the smith gingerly reached out and snatched up the sword. At once that familiar voice, so soft and gentle, burst to life in his mind.

"Please you don't need to do this! There must be another way, another enchanted item you could use! Why does it have to be me? Why does..."

As he dropped the sword into the large crucible the voice was suddenly silenced, but in his mind he knew it was screaming as it's form was melted down. As the molten metal flowed down the channels and into the mould the smith knew he would wear this sin for the rest of his days. But as the metal cooled and the core was revealed this moment of grief and regret began to waver in the face of excitement and anticipation. Lowering the core gently into the chest of the construct, the smith watched on in amazement as the magic suddenly burst to life, tendrils of the weave wrapping around the form, pulling it together slowly. To his surprise the magic seemed to be carving out sections of the porcelain he had spent weeks polishing, spiralling patterns etching their way across the surface. The metal too seemed to warp and flow under the powerful expression of magic, the form of the construct shifting and taking on a more organic appearance. Suddenly a soft red glow emanated from the eye sockets and as the construct slowly rose to a sitting position it turned and regarded it's maker silently. In the glow of the eyes and the unchanging expression of it's face the smith began to feel a silent judgement from this creature, that it knew what had been done to make it.

—Chronicles of the Shadowfell VII

 

Gloomforged are unique amongst constructs, not originating from a single world, design or inventor but instead being the product of sentient cursed or magic items being melted down as part of the process of creating a construct. The magic from the enchanted items coalesces in the core of the body, melting channels through the metal or wood and creating complex spiral patterns that mark a Gloomforged from other constructs. The magical energy creates an temperature differential across the body which often manifests as mist slowly emanating from the internal cavity or core.

Product of Enchantment

Gloomforged are almost always unique designs as the cost of a sentient magic item in their creation is a costly price to pay. Appearing with artistic elements rather purely functional, Gloomforged also often appear slightly different to the intended design, their bodies magically taking on more organic shapes as the magic flows through their core upon first activation.

Being made of inorganic materials sustained by magic, Gloomforged are very durable, allowing them to function for hundreds of years. The magic that powers them though is finite and eventually they will begin to slow and fall into a state of inactivity, able to be reawakened with a sacrifice of an enchanted item to recharge their core.

Despite being made of inorganic materials, the nature of their core and connection to the weave allows Gloomforged to receive the same benefits of resting, healing magic, and the Medicine skill as other humanoids.

Gloomforged Personality

Due to the destruction of a sentient magic item required as part of their construction, Gloomforged retain elements of the personality that died to create them. Those that were forged from an chaotically aligned item might find themselves occasionally freacting unexpectedly when they would otherwise be thoughtful.

 

Quirks

Gloomforged often display an odd personality trait or two as a result of the fragmented residual personality from the item destroyed in their creation. The Gloomforged Quirks table contains example quirks.

Gloomforged Quirks

Gloomforged Names

Given the unique origins of each Gloomforged, there are no set names or patterns of naming associated with. Some might be named after the sentient magic item used to create them while others may be assigned numbers or named in the language of their creator.

Gloomforged Traits

Your Gloomforged character has the following traits. A few of the traits give you a choice; consider how your choice reflects the purpose for which your character was built.

Enchanted Core

You immediately attune to magical items, ignoring attunement requirements like class and race, and instantly gaining any benefits. In addition, when attuning for the first time to a cursed item you must roll a d100, on a roll higher than 50 you ignore all effects of the curse.

Ability Score Increase

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Size

Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:

Size modifier = 2d6

Height = 5 feet + 10 inches + your size modifier in inches

Weight in pounds = 270 + (4 × your size modifier)

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Constructed Resilience

You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits:

• You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Sentry’s Rest

When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.

Soul's Echo

The echoes of those who once wielded the sentient magic item used in your construction are kept within your core. When you take a long rest you can draw upon these echoes to grant yourself two proficiencies - each one a weapon or tool of your choosing from the Player’s Handbook. These echoes last until your next long rest, the fragments of personality and memory fading back into the core that sustains you.