Homebrew Astral Parasite Species Details

Astral Parasites are predatory entities that drift unseen through the Astral Plane, hunting not flesh but souls. When one finds a suitable victim, it burrows into the host’s astral body, embedding itself deep within the spirit where no blade or spell can easily reach. The host feels nothing at first—no pain, no presence, no warning. The parasite masks itself perfectly, wrapping its essence around the host’s own until the two are indistinguishable even to divine senses.

While dormant, the parasite feeds in whispers. It siphons fragments of will, memory, and emotion, growing stronger as the host unknowingly draws upon its power. Sudden surges of supernatural ability, unexplainable resilience, or visions of distant stars are not gifts but side effects of being used. By the time the host begins to sense that something is wrong—missing time, thoughts that do not feel their own, reflections that linger too long—the parasite has already rooted itself too deeply to be removed without destroying what remains of the soul.

In time, the feeding reaches its end. The host’s astral body is consumed from within, hollowed out and discarded like a shed skin. What walks the world afterward may still speak in the host’s voice and wear their memories like a costume, but the original spirit is gone, devoured utterly. The parasite now inhabits the body alone, anchored to the Material Plane by stolen flesh, continuing its existence behind a face that once belonged to someone else.

Astral Parasite Traits

This species largely revolves around its ability to bestow power upon a target, and to invade both living and dead hosts that are between large and small in size. to facilitate this, the parasites themselves are small and stealthy although have a slow walking speed.