Homebrew Animated Armor Species Details

Animated Armor is a blanket term used for a wide variety of suits that house the soul of a dead person or creature. In wars fought long ago, it is said that many knights chose to willingly bind their souls to their armor in order to fight more efficiently, sacrificing their physical bodies that still laid within their suits. Despite the original suits of animated armor containing willing hosts, the profane methods used to bind the soul of someone entombed in a suit have been discovered and used by unsavory actors various times since then on unwilling victims. Powerful mages have been known to bind suits to their will, forcing the people held within the suits to look on through eyes that have long since rotted away as they are unable to control their actions. Any suits that are not bound to someone else's will retain their personality and a semblance of their memory, depending on the quality of their transfer.

Animated Armor Traits

Being a living suit affects you in many ways

Armoured Shell

You cannot wear any additional armor, but your starting AC is 18

Trapped Soul

You can communicate with any spirits that are usually incapable of speech. You are also immune to poison.

Magical Resistance

Once per long rest, you may half the damage of one magical or elemental attack dealt to you. In addition, you take 1d4 less damage from fire attacks.

Agonizing Vengeance

If you ever fail your death saves and are about to die, you may choose to channel the last of your energy to pull your suit back together for one final attack. You may do one turn as normal, and at the end of your turn, your excess soul energy will spill out in a 20 foot radial explosion, dealing 1d20 damage to everyone within for every 4 levels of your character. If you choose to do this, you cannot be revived.

Armoured Might

You gain +4 to strength, at the cost of -2 dexterity

Undead Nature

You do not need to eat, drink, or sleep. You also do not feel cold or heat. In fact you don't feel anything. You must stand in an idle state for 5 hours to allow your energy to regather itself in order to achieve a long rest