Homebrew Animated Armor Species Details

Animated armors are full sets of armor that can move and speak on their own, their various pieces of plating seemingly unburdened by gravity. While they have no physical presence inside them, they function like a person in a full suit of armor. They can be molded or cast to fit many races, and can be anything from small enough to comfortably fit a gnome to large enough to completely cover a half-orc. Their weight and size, as well as their design and material, are up to their creator. While metal is most often used, anarmors utilizing elements of leather, stone, or animal skins are not unheard of. Magic is used to bring the armor to life, either by using a spell to program it or by placing the soul of a living or formerly living being inside of it.

Though they may not have any sensory organs whatsoever, magic ensures that anarmors can perceive what is around them. They can see, hear, and feel things, though not always to the extent that other races can, even if they were once a living being. They can also communicate by means of magic. Magic guides their artificial consciousnesses, translating their thoughts into sounds that can be perceived by other creatures. Their armor acts as their skin, and any damage inflicted upon their plating is felt as damage to what would be their physical form if they were a living being. Should they sustain enough damage, the spell holding their parts together will dissipate, leaving them to fall apart completely.

Magical means, in any form they take, can be used to bring anarmors back together, even if it is only one piece at a time. At low health, animated armors often find that whole limbs will disconnect from their bodies, but certain spells can undo the damage and mend their armored exteriors as if they were composed of flesh. The gaps between their plating have no physical presence; if a certain anarmor is designed with a horizontal gap separating its torso from its waist, slashing through it without touching the plating will cause no damage whatsoever. Only striking the material the armor is composed of will cause physical harm to an animated armor.

To hide the fact that they are living suits of armor as opposed to warriors simply wearing suits of armor, anarmors will use cloaks, scarves, or bandages to cover the gaps between their plating. Some anarmors have arcane lights that are fixed in the space inside their helmets. These projections are meant to resemble eyes, and shift and move according to what expression the anarmor might be making. Though they serve no function other than making it look like they have eyes, these lights are often enough to keep the average person from getting too suspicious.

Animated Armor Traits

Your Animated Armor character has the following traits. A few of the traits give you a choice; consider how your choice reflects the purpose for which your character was built.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Age

Since animated armors are essentially timeless, age is only a factor in terms of appearance, not maturity. This does not make an anarmor completely immune to the effects of aging, however. When considering an anarmor’s age, consider the physical age of the armor, the age of the consciousness taking control of the armor, whether the consciousness was created or implanted, and how long the armor and the consciousness have been bonded. A normal suit of armor may grow old, rust, and eventually disintegrate over several decades. However, due to their magical nature, anarmors can survive in the same suit of armor for several centuries without experiencing such effects. The maximum lifespan of an animated armor is unknown, but none have been known to keep their magic for more than 500 years.

Alignment

Animated armors generally hold to the will of their of the soul used for the creation. Because of this, anarmors can be any alligment.

Size

Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:

Size modifier = 2d6

Height = 5 feet + 10 inches + your size modifier in inches

Weight in pounds = 270 + (4 × your size modifier)

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Constructed Resilience

You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits:

• You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Sentry’s Rest

When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal. During this time you are making repairs to your armor body, and ensuring your soul remains connected to your body.

Armored Protection

Your body is your armor and has built-in defensive layers,

• You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
• While you live, your armor can’t be removed from your body against your will.

Specialized Design

You gain proficiency in smith tools, and tinkers tools

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.