Homebrew Eleti Species Details

Intelligent Skeletons

Eleti appear as little more than humanoid skeletons with living eyes set within the sockets of their barren skulls. No flesh clings to their bones and only magic holds their joints together. They can magically speak and sense the world around them much like the living do. An eletum is born when their "parent" channels a portion of their soul into one of their own bones over the course of a year, they then place this bone into the deceased skeleton of another humanoid that becomes their "child". This process is uncomfortable, but not overly painful for the parent. Eleti are naturally genderless, but their interactions with the living lead many to choose a gender identity for themselves. Eleti prefer to wear thick clothing, with veils, masks, or hoods to obscure their true nature.

Travelling the World

Eleti tend not to gather. They fear destruction if attention is drawn to them. Requiring no food and feeling no discomfort in extreme environments, the rare eleti settlements are found in the inhospitable cold or deep in the desert. When travelling the lands, eleti use caution, stealth, and disguises to avoid detection. Few living creatures can look past their undead faces and see any good inside.

Eleti are split into three informal factions based on their outlook towards the living: seekers, judges, and slayers. Seekers strive to help the living and earn their trust and respect in order to appease their sense of longing and separation. Judges seek to destroy those they perceive as unworthy or unjust in order to differentiate themselves from the common skeletons raised by necromancers. Slayers see the living as their eternal enemies and operate as serial killers or necromancer warlords. 

Eleti Names

Eleti usually go by only one name given to them by their parent, usually borrowed from the names of the humanoid peoples from the lands around them.

Creator's Note

The Eleti are adapted from the Legends & Lairs: Mythic Races - Character Race Compendium by Fantasy Flight Games, published under the terms of the Open Game License. The book is an amazing collection of nearly 30 incredibly unique races for D&D 3e. This is my 5e interpretation of this race.

Eleti Traits

Eleti have the following traits:

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and either your Intelligence or Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Eleti are "born" with the intelligence of a young child, and require less than a decade to reach maturity. Eleti do not grow old in any noticeable away and do not expire from age.

Alignment

Eleti tend toward no particular alignment. They typically have the same alignment as their parent.

Size

As eleti can appropriate the skeleton of any humanoid race, they can be anywhere from 3 feet to over 6 feet tall. Strangely, they weigh over double the weight of the bones that make them up. It is unknown where this extra weight comes from. Your size is Medium or Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Undead Nature

You are treated as undead for all abilities and spells that care about creature type. As an undead creature, you are immune to the poisoned condition and disease, and magic can't put you to sleep. You don't require air, food, drink, or sleep to survive.

Undead Resistances

You are resistant to piercing damage and immune to cold and poison damage.

Stealthy

You are proficient in the Stealth skill.

Languages

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