Homebrew Hollow Species Details

 

A bell tolls within a distant land, a lament for the souls of the lost.

There wasn't much left of who he was, or of who he had been. There wasn't much left of anything for him, really, except for the hungering desperation that drove him forward, day after exhausting day, night after restless night - a hope to change the fate to which he was bound, full knowing that it simply was not possible. But stopping was not part of the bargain. The restless undead was to march ever onwards, until no more. Doomed to be forever lost.

And so, the bell tolls on.

— Anon

 Hailing from a demi-plane hidden in the depths of the multiverse, Hollows originate quite differently from most races, in the sense that they are not born of parents, but are instead spontaneously constructed from the powdered ashes of the deceased. This ash, in turn, typically comes from the material plane, having made its way to the Demi-Plane of Ash by the means of the cremation of the hollow's previous human remains, that freed the spirit that animates the hollow from its mortal coils. However, not all souls make their way to the Demi-Plane of Ash - most are unquiet souls that can find no peace in the ever-silence of the plane until it can finish a task that it had failed to complete in a previous life. This, however, is an impossibility: for the unquiet soul, in passing over to the demi-plane, loses all sense of its previous identity, memory or form - and yet is still compelled to seek to finish a task it has no knowledge of, and will continue to do so until the end of time.

The Great Array of Undead

Hollows can take on a variety of forms, having come from a wide variety of backgrounds and races, with those being able to reanimate often being the rare few that are able to retain a glimmer of their past selves in the obscuring fog and half-light of the demi-plane. As such, those Hollows that do reanimate will often take on a shape similar, if not quite the same as that of their original race. A Hollow may be a picture-perfect representation of their original selves, albeit with empty eye sockets & mouths with pooling shadows inside, perhaps with flaky ash-grey skin, or might otherwise only bear a vague resemblance to their original forms, preferring to take crumbling yet fluid shapes made from ashes and grey sand that blur the original definitions of their mortal bodies.

A Hungering Drive

Hollows have one overarching impulse that at times can become so all-consuming as to override any other whim or moral that might stand in its way: the drive to complete the one task that they were unable to complete in life, and which they now seek to finalize in undeath. It is this factor that motivates most of the important actions and decisions of a Hollow, which can see said Hollow breaking all ties to allies, forming new ones with enemies, and even causing it to slaughter those that it may have considered friends - for a Hollow recognizes no-one when faced with a hope release from an eternity of torment. This fact notwithstanding, a Hollow might display personal personality or overarching racial personality traits from its previous self, its soul having retained a fragment of its prior memories, or otherwise might gain new ones as a child would as it navigates a world it has no memory of, and yet has an instinctive understanding of.

Maledictions made flesh

Provided that a Hollow is capable of concealing its true appearance and nature from those surrounding it, it should be able to get by in most common social situations, albeit often garnering a reputation as mysterious yet single-minded & goal-driven individual. Should its true nature be made apparent to those around it, whether by misfortune or design, those that see the Hollow for what it truly is will typically shun it, calling it an aberration or deeming it to be an unholy monster - barring shops and homes to prevent it from accessing vital supplies and basic necessities, generally responding to the Hollow's presence with outright fear born of superstition. However, there is a chance that more open-minded or studious individuals may give the Hollow greater benefit of doubt, having either previously studied the race or simply being more trusting.

 

Tasks Everlasting

There occasionally comes the case in which the task that the Hollow failed to complete involved guarding a specific location, object or secret that was breached or stolen prior to their death, and to which the Hollow may have attempted to make amends for during their mortal lives. In these cases, it is much more likely that the Hollow will remain on the material (or other) plane so as to continue the task as it was left off, potentially killing off the perpetrators that had dared to cause it to fail its task the first time round. As such, the Hollow is liable to guard the given location, object or secret for as long as possible, sometimes even doing so until its soul eventually fades away into oblivion.

Ambitionless End-Seekers

Hollows that are found to be 'adventuring' usually do not do so for any personal gain in the form of wealth, social status or power, but rather as a means towards an end long overdue, and thus are typically devoid of any positive emotions or ambitions, instead maintaining an impassive facade in the face of other adventurers. Should a Hollow seek to acquire any specific item, material wealth or position of power, it would typically be so as to complete their unfinished action, regardless of the cost.

Death in Undeath

Should a Hollow's form ever be destroyed on any plane, its soul will simply make its way back to the Demi-Plane of Ash, there to rematerialise amongst the endless ashen fields and dark forests of long-dead trees that surround the Bell of Perdition located at the centre of the plane, shaping itself a new body from the very fabric of the demi-plane itself. Having re-formed, the Hollow will then attempt once more to complete its task, making its way back to the plane where its task remains still unfinished.

Hollow Names

A Hollow typically does not have a name, such detail being deemed insignificant to its view of the grand scheme of things. However, a Hollow might acquiesce to bearing a name for the ease of communication between it and other members of this party, though this may boil down to as little as a simple nickname that others call it by. Then again, there are the slightly more rare occasions in which the Hollow has remembered its name from its previous life, although this may be slightly altered by the memory loss caused by the death of the individual. In these cases, it is more likely that the Hollow will demand for this name to be used when referring to it, as if it were trying to grasp at the few fragments of its previous life.

 

Hollow Traits

It’s hard to make generalizations about Hollows, but your hollow character has these traits.

Ability Score Increase

 Your Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity and Wisdom scores each increase by 1, whilst your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age

Hollows have no concept of age, having already died. Their appearance does not change, though a telltale sign of a Hollow's age can be the level at which its personality has developed, though this is only a sure indicator for those Hollows that lost all sense of self when they died.

Alignment

 Hollows tend toward no particular alignment. The best and the worst are found among them. However, a Hollow is more likely to stray towards true neutrality due to its driving impulse lending it to consider all as allies or enemies to the completion of its task.

Size

Hollows vary extremely in height and build, from under 4 feet to over 8 feet tall. Depending on your position in that range, you may be either classed as Small or Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, one language of the race your Hollow is intended to be originally from (e.g. a Dragonborn's Hollow might speak Draconic) and one extra language of your choice. Hollows will often attempt to learn the languages of those they interact with, provided that the individual Hollow considers that it would be useful in completing its task for it to do so.

Undead Nature

You do not need to eat, sleep or drink, but must still complete long or short rests to regain abilities tied to such features.

Fluid Form

Hollows, being self-made constructs of flexible nature, are usually capable of altering their shape and density at will, allowing them to take the shape of any being, should they so desire it. As a Hollow, you are thus able to cast the spell Become Shadow for a maximum of 3 times between short rests, or partially alter your physical shape and appearance. Changes to appearance do not alter any traits such as ash-grey and/or crumbling skin or empty eye sockets. Changes that display a greater level of detail or a vastly different shape than the Hollow's true form must be identical to that of a creature encountered previously by the Hollow. Note that you cannot gain any new abilities using this feature, but can gain a movement speed equal to that of the copied organism.