Homebrew Dullahan Species Details

[The image used here is an edited image of Tanaka from Black Butler found on Pinterest]

Headless One

All dullahan share one major trait, their aversion to keeping their heads fixed on their shoulders. Keeping their head attached to their body is a largely uncomfortable experience, akin to having a stone in your boot, meaning it's not common for one to stay hidden for long periods of time. Removing one's head is not as unpleasant an experience as you might think and in fact, is more of a relief to dullahan than an inconvenience.

It's not uncommon for them to have head holsters or simply a place to store their head for a short time like a jar or box, for ease of travel or simply for comfort.

Dullahans are few and far between and often met with much fear, so a dullahan revealing themself to others is a major showing of trust, comfort or a sign of a good bond. If two dullahan meet they usually can clock the habits and mannerisms of the other, such as itching or rubbing their neck, a love of or vast knowledge of horses or an aversion to directly touching gold.

Breaking from Fey Origins

Created by the Fey courts to enact their bidding Dullahans are dark beings feared across the forgotten realms for their menacing nature, powerful abilities and gruesome appearance. Some have broken away from their master's control in one way or another and found love with mortals, populating the sword coast with many free and morally diverse dullahan roaming the lands in search of adventure, a purpose beyond serving a master, or a new head after they lost their first one in a bet.

But along with being born one, many are cursed to be this way by fey as punishment, with many dullahan searching for a cure to their headlessness and simply wishing to live a regular life once more.

Mimicry & Deception

Dullahans are similar to changelings, in how they blend in with their surroundings with a deceptive outward appearance. This stems from their nature as reapers, preying on humanoids. It's a way to easily blend into a normal environment to get close to their prey. Though many no longer follow these practices or are simply descended from dullahan this trait still holds true with dullahan having no unanimous physical outward trait to identify them, instead when they are born or created they take on the appearance of another or one similar to a parent, but unlike changelings, they have no way of changing this appearance, other than replacing their head.

Dullahan Names

Dullahan are often given their names by those they serve under or simply take on names from the cultures they choose to surround themselves in. They have also been known to take on the names of those they have killed or stolen the head of.

Dullahan Appearance

Dullahans can have an outward appearance of any of the other humanoid races from humans and elves, to tieflings and gnomes. The distinct difference between them is that their head can come off, leaving a stump, empty hole or an ethereal mist where the head once was. As well as this they have a generally more gloomy and offputting aura surrounding them.

If the dullahan is particularly long-lived and has lost its head a few times, there is a good chance that its current head is of a different-looking race or gender than its body's, especially if its outward appearance is that of a more unique race.

Dullahan Traits

A headless horror created by wicked fey creatures

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma increases by 2 and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Size

Dullahans vary widely in height and build, from barely 4 feet to well over 6 feet tall. With them able to resemble any number of races your size is medium or small

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

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 color in Darkness, only shades of gray.

Headless Horror

You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan. Dullahan, being descended from the fey can innately read, write, speak and understand in their tongue.

Head Liberation

Like all dullahan your head is not fixed to your body by anything but a weak magical attraction. You are incapable of being killed via decapitation, though enemies do not roll at a disadvantage to decapitate you. Your head and body share hitpoints, if your head is destroyed you do not die immediately. But if you cannot find a replacement head within a day your body will fall unconscious (a replacement head can be the head of another person or an inanimate object that you attune to, it is up to the GM to decide what counts as a replacement head)

While your head is removed both your head and body can act independently of one another, through share initiatives. And you always know the direction your head/body is in adjacent to you, unless it is on another plane from you. You can perceive through your body despite its lack of any sensory organs, but it cannot speak. You can cast spells from either your head or body but not both, and verbal/somatic components can be done even while separate from one another. (Whether or not self-targeting spells such as Disguise Self work on both the head and body while separate is up to the choice of the GM)

Dark Steed

At 3rd level, you can cast the Find Steed spell as an action with no cost, and you regain the ability to do so after a long rest. The summoned steed is a fey and can understand Sylvan.

The steed has a shadowy and dark aura surrounding it and is uncomfortable to look at.

Baneful Whip

You gain proficiency in whips.

Deceptive Apperances

Your outward appearance is that of another race be that human, elf, teifling, gnome or any other humanoid race. This is usually a result of your parentage or an intentional product of your creation. You choose this race during character creation.