Homebrew Dullahan Species Details

Dullahans, the stitched, thinking dead, cobbles, the remade... These creatures are a new experience for most folk in the world, and we are often unsure what to call them. This race of people, if you can call them that, are as confused as we are. For simplicity I will call them the stitched for now. The stitched are the bodies of humanoids, often composed of many different corpses, that have been recombined and reanimated through magic that is yet to be understood. Some point to new gods, others to mad wizards. The stitched don't seem to know where they come from, unless they are purposefully concealing the truth. Whatever the case, early experiments have shown that they do not suffer adverse affects from divine protections against the undead, meaning that they are either truly alive, or such a complex form of necromantic creature that they no longer function as regular undead. They do not appear to be hostile or threatening by nature, though they can certainly be... unsettling. Each individual is unique. Some appear without emotion, while others glut themselves on food and drink, savoring all kinds of pleasant sensations. They need to eat and sleep, but they can receive wounds that should be fatal and yet be slow to even notice them. Sometimes individuals can recall fragmentary memories from the lives of those they are composed of, but seem themselves to be a new person, rather than a bound soul. Has a new soul been created for them? Or are they simply the sum of many parts? It seems no matter the question, there are no easy answers to questions about this new people. I will continue to research the stitched further, and send updates as I find more useful information regarding their nature and purpose.

-Rasten Rook, Archmage of Wickspire.

Dullahan Traits

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Darkvision

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 color in Darkness, only shades of gray.

Ability score increase

Your constitution increases by 2 and 1 other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Death Defied

Death doesn't claim you the same way it claims other souls. You do not need to breathe, and your body continues to function and remain conscious despite being at 0 hit-points until you accumulate a second failed death-save. You still make death saves during your turn, and any damage you receive still causes a failed death save, though melee attacks do not automatically crit until you lose consciousness. Once you have been stabilized for a round, you regain 1 hit point.

Fragmenting Flesh

You can remove certain body parts and control them independently from the rest of your body. Your eyes and the site of the separation give off a faint mist as you do this.

You can, as an action, remove one of your hands. The hand becomes a crawling-claw. The claw takes it's own turns on your initiative, though you still direct it, and you experience everything that it does while it is separated from you. If the hand is killed, you can replace it with a hand from another dead humanoid by taking an hour to attach it by performing a ritual and sewing it on.

You may also remove your head.  You take all damage your disembodied head takes, and if it dies, so does your body. While severed, your body gains 30 ft blindsight, your head has +4 to stealth checks, and can hover five feet off of the ground. When casting a spell, you can choose whether it originates from either your head or body.

You can reattach your head or one of your crawling claws as a bonus action.