Homebrew False-One Species Details

 

 

Undeath, at its very core is an unnatural phenomenon usually brought about by arcane manipulation in the form of Necromancy, the practice and study of Death itself.  It’s most common instance would be cast from its shunned practitioners the Necromancers, to reanimate the dead into servile husks of their former selves. 

But it need not be the only method of bringing the dead back to un-life;

Men and women of malice forge dark pacts with their dying breaths’, reuniting their twisted souls back into their cold dead bodies and becoming Wights; creatures born of vain, selfish desires that hunger for the very life force of the living. 

On the other hand; a person wronged or delivered of great injustice can have their very soul claw its way back into its corpse, its muscles twitching back to life and its eyes burning with balefire and revenge.  These manifestations of retribution are known as Revenants.

Even Ghosts of the long deceased are often tethered to places that were once important to them in life, and through sheer force of will and obsessive determination they remain there, poised to direct their anger at any interloper that dares tread nearby.

 

Indeed there are a number of ways that cause the deceased to linger on, but in each example it’s usually a very rare occurrence, and outside the involvement of necromantic interference, it’s even rarer.

But for a myriad of differing reasoning’s and circumstantial stimuli, a person that should be dead lingers on in this mortal world, their dead heart lying limply in their chest while their cold veins thicken with congealed blood, no breath escapes their empty lungs, and still they twitch back into a half-life, a reanimated corpse with a living soul possessed of great intent.

They are the False-Ones, creatures that are often dubbed as Wights by the common-folk, but catalogued as Pseudo-Wights by the arcane academics that care to differentiate between the two creatures.

 

Every reason held by each instance of this resurrection is potentially numberless in scope; some instances of resurrection have necromantic involvement while others occur without any instance or dealing with corruptive forces.  Some instances of resurrection are likened to a Revenant’s determination or a Ghost’s emotional tether to the corporeal world, but the effect remains the same.  The dead come back to life, or specifically “un-life”, and in these instances there are sometimes those who reanimate with incredible comprehension of self and memories of who they once were.  Some even carrying complete recollection, with little change to their personality or sense of identity.

Most of these instances of complete restoration are a one in a billion chance, most instances of resurrection are not so lucky.  Many will have fragmented memories or broken personalities, becoming merely shallow facsimiles of who they once were.

Some live in denial of their un-death, unable to see their withered skin and failing features; and others see only desire, a single-minded purpose that drives them forward like a moth to a flame, their need to complete this task or goal is absolute, nothing else matters, and they cannot rest peacefully until they see their desires come to completion.

And to completion they will foster forward; for the living dead need not pause for breath, nor bite of bread, nor nights rest.  They are relentless in their pace and their commitment to their goals is as sure as the obsession of any madman.  It almost begs the question; what would be the more appropriate mercy?  To cut down the creature and grant rest from its suffering early, or do we let the creature linger on in the hopes it will find completion of its final goal? 

 

From the notes of Mathias Keamanor –Arcana Scholastica Institute

 

<False-One – False-Person – Pseudo-Wight–The Former Ones> 

The False Ones are undead beings with greater sentience and independence than most undead.  Capable of thought, speech, and learning; these creatures are commonly driven by a purpose, a need or desire which brought their soul back from the precipice of Death and reanimated their corpse back into un-life.  Their reasons for returning are varied and colourful; some carrying similar back stories akin to revenants while others may have been brought back forcefully as necromantic experiments gone wrong, or bound to certain individuals as willing or unwilling servants.

 

False-One Traits

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Ability Score Increase:

 Your Constitution Score increases by 2 and your Strength Score increases by 1.

 

Age:

The False-One is a deathless undead, and will continue to exist until destroyed and lain to rest.

 

Alignment:

The alignment for any of these creatures is as diverse as they were in life, having regained a semblance of consciousness after their resurrection; no restriction is really applicable in this sense.

 

Darksight:

Your long dead eyes see through the night as if it was a dull sunrise.  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 colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

 

Size:

As you once were in life, so too shall you be in death.

 

Speed:

As you once were in life, so too shall you be in death.

 

Languages:

As you once were in life, so too shall you be in death.

 

As you once were in life, so too shall you be in death:

Your Size, Speed and any Racial Languages you once knew in life will depend on whether your character was a Human, Dwarf, Elf or whatever you were when alive.  No other racial characteristics from your previous life are carried over into your new undying form.

 

Undead:

As a member of the living impaired, there are some things you might want to take note of, below is a concise list of generalities you need be aware of, much of this information is already available to a degree in the Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook but I have collated some of it here for your convenience.

• You are no longer required to eat, drink or breathe though you may imitate such actions if you desire to.
• As an Undead you are immune to poison effects and conditions.
• As an Undead you are affected by spells and effects which directly affect undead (e.g. Turn Undead – pg.59 Dungeons & Dragons Players-handbook Fifth Edition.)
• Consequently as an Undead, spells such as “Cure Wounds” cannot be used to heal you as per their description. (Cure-Wounds - Pg.230 Dungeons & Dragons Players-handbook Fifth Edition.)
• False-Ones are Independent Undead, much like Wights; and thus necromantic spells which affect lesser undead constructs such as skeletons or zombies do not hold any effect upon them.

 

Undying Resolve:

Your body may be dead and cadaverous but your pace and stance is unrelenting, shrugging off stress, labour and duress that would stop the heart of any mortal.  You have proficiency with Constitution saving throws; if you gain proficiency again due to a class benefit the proficiency is not doubled.

 

Undead Fortitude:

If damage reduces the False-One to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken; unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, the False-One drops to 1 hit point instead.