Homebrew Dollkin Species Details

The Temple of Sleep & Awakening

A doll begins their life when they awake from the Temple of Sleep, a huge spiraling complex in the center of Blackhill. The ceilings are painted black, blue, and purple, and twinkle with magically luminous stars made from silver and gold. The inner wall of the temple has built-in bunk beds, three beds high. Each bed is numbered sequentially, top to bottom, starting with 1 at the front entrance. Sleeping dolls lay in roughly half of the beds.

There are many superstitions and urban legends about particular numbers. Some are thought to be lucky or unlucky. Prime numbers and numbers with repeating ones digits are revered. Nines are believed to be unlucky and symbolize death, being that the last doll is number 999,999,999. The doll sleeping in bed #1, named Kev, has many legends about him. Some say when they awaken the Great Weaver will return, or that Kev is themself an aspect of the Great Weaver.

Since anyone is free to enter the temple, Kev became highly popular. But there are always some bad apples… After he was assaulted with black ink, Kev was removed from the temple by order of the overlord, and is now kept safely in a chamber of the castle.

It cannot be determined when any particular doll will awake in any way. In fact, from the outside these sleeping dolls appear to be dead. They do not turn in their sleep, or breathe, nor are they even warm. When a doll does awake, though, they usually climb down and wander the halls, observing the temple, admiring its ceiling and the ornamentation with curiosity. Eventually they will be greeted by a temple monk. The monk will then examine the embroidered lettering on their foot’s sole and tell them their name. Next, the monk will guide them to the top floor to begin their studies.
Before the Last War, a gleaming tower stood in the central courtyard of the temple, where newly awakened dolls were taught language and other skills. Now the tower is in ruin, and under constant repair. The dolls currently have lessons in the stoa and top floor.

Community

Dollkin do not have biological sex or gender (at least not genders humans would recognize), nor do they procreate. Once the last one dies—that’s it. Attempts have been made to sew new dolls, but none have succeeded.

Without the ability to reproduce, dollkin value keeping each other alive, especially those in the Temple of Sleep, above all else. In Blackhill they accomplish this with strict laws and deferring to authority. In Midgloom, dolls protect one another by dividing resources evenly among themselves while prioritizing military strength and agricultural production.

Spirituality

The vast majority of dolls believe in the Great Weaver, their creator-god. Each day they go to church to pray and make offerings to the Weaver, hoping that one day they will return. In Blackhill, no non-orthodox denominations are allowed. Being a part of one is considered heresy and punishable by law.

The church is hierarchical, with followers and at the bottom, then priests, paladins, the one high priest, and then finally the Great Weaver at the top. Each church may have any number of priests in their employ, and organize themselves however they wish. Religious paladins are themselves priests, but they do not have churches. They have headquarters, where they strategize and pray. They take orders from the high priest, but can and do make their own initiatives. The high priest is the most powerful doll in the Glade, more so than any overlord.

Relationships

As beings without biological sex, dolls do not have typical relationships. But they do feel love. There is no concept of marriage in doll culture, but when two or more dolls love each other, they will move in together and call each other “partners.”

Friendships are also very important to dolls. Friends give each other gifts like stones with poems or images carved on to them, symbolizing a friendship that stands the test of time.
Dolls also keep pets. Snakes are extremely common pets, as they moderate pest population in farms. Hunting rats are also fairly common. Rabbits are usually kept as mounts or work animals. Lastly, domestic quails and giant mice (called “chucks”) are kept as farm animals.

Death

It is unknown how long a doll can live for, as none have met a natural end. In present times, any doll could be up to a few thousand years old (counting from when they awoke). Knowing the end is near, every doll maintains a will. It is their most precious possession.

There is no word for what the dolls feel when another doll dies. Sadness, anger, and hopelessness just scratch the surface. After a doll dies, the sole of their foot, which has their embroidered name, is removed and gifted to someone that was special to the deceased doll.

Dollkin Traits

Sewn millennia ago by the Great Weaver, your kind have turned the Glade into a home.

Creature Type

Humanoid

Size

Small or Medium, chosen at creation. On average, tiny dolls are around 21 in tall and weigh 18 oz, and wee dolls are around 13½ in tall and weigh 9 oz.

If you choose "small," you can randomly set your height and weight in this way:

1. Size modifier = 2d12
2. Height in inches = 8 + your size modifier
3. Weight in ounces = 5 + your size modifier

If you choose "medium," you can randomly set your height and weight in this way:

1. Size modifier = 2d8
2. Height in inches = 4.5 + your size modifier
3. Weight in ounces = your size modifier

Speed

25 feet

Stuffed with Fluff

Your fabric body can stuffed with your choice of stuffing such as feathers, thin wood shavings called "excelsior," cotton, sand, wool, etc. This stuffing grants you these bonuses:

• You take no damage from falling. However, be mindful of any fragile items you may be carrying!
• You can be healed with any spell that restores HP, weaver's tools, and the Mending Cantrip.
• Though you do not have organs, you do have a mouth. You still have to eat and drink to live, but food and drink turn to stuffing when consumed. Stuffing is nutritious for you, and can replace a day's food and water, but it cannot be your own stuffing. Around 28 hours later, the extra stuffing disappears from inside your body.
• You have resistance to non-magical Bludgeoning damage.
• You can wear armor that was made for a creature one Size Category smaller than you without penalties.

Pouch

You have a pouch or pocket sewn onto your body. With the use of your Use an Object action, you can stow something away that is at maximum two Size Categories smaller than yourself without it affecting your Carrying Capacity. Anything carried in your pocket is protected from falls.

Lifespan

So far as you know, an awakened stuffed doll has never met an end that wasn't unnatural.