Homebrew Sentient Metal Species Details

“So...” Finn said. “You were an accident.”

“No,” Mercury corrected him. “Evolution was an accident. Driders were an accident. You were an accident... I was a discovery.”

Many believe sentient items are inanimate and rely on other creatures to do virtually anything. While this may be true for the popular legendary sword or wizard stuck in their creation, sentient metals are as capable of anything as most humanoid races are.

Living Metal

Sentient Metals are born in places where rich metal deposits and strong magical forces coexist. It takes eons to imbue these deposits with enough magical energy for it to awaken. They then usually spend a very long time scouring through the underdark in search of a departed soul. Very rarely soul and host are combined by outside forces, like a powerful celestial being granting a second chance, or a Djinn who plays a trick on someone who wished for immortality. Then sometimes a highly skilled Artificer can create Sentient Metal if they undergo a very time consuming procedure at a place of high magic and volcanic activity with a piece of pristine metal.

While Sentient Metals can draw nutrients from normal food, a typical metal ingot provides way more energy for them.

 

Sentient Metal Personality

Sentient Metals are in most cases either freshly departed souls who were intersected on their way to their afterlife, or brought back on purpose for a reason. In either case, they are confronted with a second chance at life.

The typical Sentient Metal retains the personality of their former self, however the new life, as well as their new... shape... definitely leaves a dent in most minds. Some might develop a crude sense of humor, others might be frustrated all day at how difficult some everyday tasks have become. Other than that, they do not differ much in terms of personality from whoever they used to be in their previous lives.

Sentient metals lack any body shape. No matter what their race was before, they now are faced with a life as a shapeless blob of metal.

Quirks

Sentient Metals usually display an odd personality trait or two, given how they are faced with a second chance at life. The Sentient Metal Quirks table contains example quirks.

Sentient Metal Quirks

Sentient Metal Names

Sentient Metals usually retain the names they had in their former lives. Some may want to adapt a name based on the type of metal they are made from.

Sentient Metal Names: Adamantium, Cobalt, Copper, Electrum, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Mithral, Nickel, Platinum, Silver, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Zinc

Sentient Metal Traits

Your sentient metal character has the following traits. A few of the traits give you a choice; consider how your choice reflects the circumstance of their creation.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 3, your Strength Score decreases by -1 and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Age

Sentient Metals don't age physically and therefore can not die of old age. You are immune to magical aging effects.

Alignment

Sentient Metals usually retain the alignment of their former lives, although many of them tend toward Chaotic alignments due to their new form leaving a heavy impact on their usual lifestyle.

Size

Typical Sentient Metals range from blobs of 1 foot diameter to blobs of 2 feet diameter. Your size is Tiny.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 10 feet.

Senses

You have Blindsight out to 120ft. You are blind beyond that. Your magical nature allows you to discern color. Additionally, you can not be fooled by invisible ink or illusions that are within that range.

Living Metal

You have a body made of durable, magical metal, represented by the following benefits:

• You are immune to being poisoned, and poison damage.
• You don’t need to drink, or breathe. You still need to eat though. You do that by engulfing food and digesting it in rapid speeds.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Untiring Magic

You do not need to sleep and therefore do not gain exhaustion from not taking Rests. You still need to eat the equivalent of a medium sized humanoid being's food intake in order to not suffer exhaustion. If you do not eat for 24 hours, you gain exhaustion as normal.

Tiny Formless Blob

Your body is a hard to hit tiny, formless blob of liquid metal, which is reflected by the following features:

• Your Armor Class increases by +2.
• You can not use heavy items or attune to magical weapons or armors that are heavy.
• Donning an armor takes an action for you, no matter the armor type. When you do so, you magically animate the armor, with your own body either laying dormant inside it, sticking to the interior, or magically hovering slightly above the armor piece where a humanoid's head would usually be. While using an armor in this way that you lack proficiency with, you can not benefit from your innate burrowing or swimming speed. It takes a Bonus Action to doff a piece of armor. You also automatically doff any armor pieces when you become incapacitated, or when you die.
• Removing armor from you while you are not incapacitated takes a successful Strength Check contested by your Constitution Saving Throw.

Second Chance

You gain two skill proficiencies of your choice.

Languages

You can understand and read Common and one other language of your choice. You have telepathy out to 120ft. You can only talk to other creatures through Telepathy.