Homebrew Awakened Undead Species Details

THE MISTS CLING TO THE TALL, CHARRED PINES of the valeheart woods like clawed spectral fingers, as the billowing breeze breathing through the trees gives this maisma a sinister semblance of life. At once menacing and warding against outside visitors to this deathly realm, the locals know well of the evil nature of this fo rest, and how willing the very air of t his place is to choke the life out of those foolish mortals that venture inside.

Nevertheless, a gnarled dwarf by the name of Blidwenn gazes into the opaque vapor streaming from the trees, his eyes more accustomed to the dim light of this place than the pure sunshine found in more wholesome lands. Brading a few errant strands of beard, Blidwenn continues his vigil for well on an hour, tracing the elusive forms in the mist for any sign of living movement. Clasping his braid in a ruddy, calloused hand, the dwarf lets loose a sigh and slowly raises to hsi feet.

His sharp dwarven eyes snap open and he pauses instantly mid-motion. Movement in the mists, shadows, a shape emerging from the woods. His vision traces the outline of a lean, solitary figure, set bone white against the grey fog. With slow, creaking footsteps, the creature emerges from the fog and advances on the steadfast dwarf.

"That you, Clacks?" Blidwenn rumbles, his hammer suddenly finding itself in his large hands, "You see anything in there?"

"Indeed, friend," the approaching skeleton replies dryly, holding aloft a faint purple gem, "The master's old phylactery wasn't nearly as well defended as he would have us think."

Death comes for all things in a near-infinite variety of ways. So, too, are there many reasons that the dead might return from the grave. Directly-applied necromancy, cursed lands, and unfinished business are but a few, and all leave the newly-undead soul with a mere semblance of the life it had before. All undead carry the physical or emotional scars of what ended their mortal lives, though some may be far more subtle than others.

Dead and Reborn

Typically having no lands to call their own, undead with an awakened sense of self are typically perpetual foreigners, wanderers in a land and often a time not their own. Compounding matters, most mortal cultures carry within them an instinctual fear of death and the dead, and many associate necromancy specifically with dark tidings. This forms a wall of (often well-earned) prejudice and hatred that sentient undead find themselves up against, and many undead choose to hide their necrotic natures behind clothes, masks, and ungent perfumes when journeying into civilization.

Depending on composition, humanoid undead typically range a wide gamut from 20 to 300 pounds, and many possess empty eyes, a colored flame-like magical animus in their sockets, or harrowed, surprisingly mortal eyes burning with an inner fire. Hair (if they have it at all) is usually lank, dark, and wrought with grime and grave-dirt that no amount of cleansing will fully remove.

Service and Freedom

Undeath is effectively immortality, a strong reason why many mortal spellcasters of a certain moral bent consider it a viable alternative to actually dying. Still, it is not immortality without price -- senses and emotions dull, food and drink no longer have taste, and often an undead state comes along subservience of will and unthinking service to a master who likely does not have the world's best intentions at heart.

Some undead are born into freedom, while others earn it or have it thrust upon them. Regardless, all undead that have freedom greatly cherish it, as the reminders of what could easily happen were they not fortunate enough to possess free will abound throughout history. Many consider it their sacred duty to free other mindless undead, or simply to dispatch them wherever they may be found. The reasoning is straightforward enough: a final rest awarded to all mortals is greatly preferential to eternal slavery to the likes of a short-sighted, megalomaniacal wizard.

Fallen Home, Forgotten Past

For many awakened undead, the past is a distant homeland to which they may never return, holding names and faces now partially-forgotten, and loves and lives as dead as they are. The anguish of this loss is enough to drive many mad, but others use this rage and pain as a source of power and drive, carrying them further on the road to whatever dark destiny awaits.

Frequently, entire countries, customs, and cultures the undead may be familiar with no longer exist, and the sentient dead behaves or speaks in an antiquated fashion because of this. It may be even more difficult than usual for such undead to relate to more modern mortals, and typically these undead leverage what companions they may have to bridge this epoch-long communication gap.

Undead Names

Many undead that awaken into sentience prefer to keep the names they held in their mortal lives. For others, however, their mortal names are forgotten or have lost meaning. These undead often adopt nicknames given to them by their former masters or present companions, and hold them to be as true as any other creature's birth name.

Examples of names given in this fashion may be seen below:

Names: Rattlebones, Spore, Rotface, Raven, Bane, Carver, Drudge, Rook, Mort, Pale, Minion, Crumble, Shade

 

Awakened Undead Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Ability Score Increase

You Constitution score increases by 1.

Dead Immortality

You do not age. Given time, the necromantic energies that sustain you will heal most wounds you take at approximately the same rate as a mortal, and your hit dice function as normal.

Past Life

Choose another living race besides this one. Before your death, you were a member of this race and appear as an undead version of it. Your size, height, and movement speed are the same as a typical member of that race. You do not retain special movement speeds from this race (such as swimming or flying), and, though you may choose to have formerly been a member of a subrace of a particular race, you derive no benefits from doing so.

Undead

Raised from the dead as a being of undeath, you count as an undead creature for all spells and abilities that affect the undead. You are immune to disease and treat exhaustion as if it was one level less. You do not need to eat or breathe, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish. Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.

Darkvision

Through the necromantic energy animating you, you are able to perceive with greater clarity that which lurks in darkness. 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 grey.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one language available to the race you chose for your Past Life.

Subrace

Three types of awakened undead are available to you. Choose Skeleton, Revenant, or Ghost, listed in the following section.