Homebrew Draugr Species Details

 

Drauger                                                                                                                                                                                 

“Why did I not die? More miserable than man ever was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest? Death snatches away many blooming children, the only hopes of their doting parents: how many brides and youthful lovers have been one day in the bloom of health and hope, and the next a prey for worms and the decay of the tomb! Of what materials was I made, that I could thus resist so many shocks, which, like the turning of the wheel, continually renewed the torture? But I was doomed to live.”

- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

As these tired souls continue wander the lands, many dread the idea of them seeing them as quite literal dead weight. The reanimated apparitions although can hold their own when given proper motivation.  

Bare Boned and Daunting

The physical appearance of the Draugr intimidates those who encounter in. Standing at the height of an average human, that being around 5 to 6 foot, the Draugr finds itself weighing less than a human, yet having greater strength than one. With these beings being down to the brittle bones of their body, it is hard to understand where they find their strength from. It is possible for the Draugr to have flesh and other working organs, but these fade quickly after their reanimation. Usually one will find the Draugr equipped with heavy armor as to proportion its weight. The bones of a Draugr can vary anywhere from eggshell white to a faded yellow. There can also often be apparent stains of smudge or previous flesh on the bones. This in often cases leads to a distinct aroma of death on the Draugr.

Muddled and Relentless

The Draugr are reanimated suddenly and without warning, leaving them with consuming feelings of ambiguity and incoordination. When brought back, they find that the languages they can speak are that of common and infernal. The reason being, when they are reanimated the most common source is a tiefling, who often does so for either reasons of buffering troops or sentimentality. The Draugr often times do not remember their previous lives and will spend most of their time as undead searching for a sense of identity and purpose. The term lazy bones was coined because of these creatures and their lack of dynamics. This often leads to the Draugr forming a hive mentality and they can be easily persuaded to act one way or another. Their true nature is one of neutral, until a dominating figure enters the picture. The Draugr can be motivated, but the art is in finding how or what motivates them. Once they are started on a path, they may as well follow it to their redeath. 

Ambiguous Dwelling

One could say home is what the Draugr are truly looking for. There isn't many places you couldn't find a Draugr. They often tend sleep under rock and other sediment, but really comfortability is not an issue when it comes to their sleeping habits. The city allies often home litters of different Draugr, making it hard to differentiate Draugr and other dead creatures. On occasion the Draugr will form in packs and establish a home as one entity, but this takes the effort of a leader being a motivated Draugr or some other leader from another race. 

Unanswered Questions

When a Draugr decides to take action it is often because they have come to some sort of conclusion to the questions they have. They will believe they know how to fill the gap in their knowledge as to what their identity is and where they can find answers as to their purpose. Other than this, the Draugr do have a sense of self-preservation. They believe that they must remain undead at least until they can grasp onto some sort of identity. Before that they feel unready to move on. One may emphasize the tragedy in this, but a Draugr would not see it this way. The Draugr would see their ambiguity as simply a work they have to complete, which, in this manner, makes the term "lazy bones" ironic. One of the truest mysteries of the Draugr is whether they were ambiguous in their previous life, or just in their reanimation.

Draugr Traits

The reanimation of Draugr by a common sorce leave them with these inclusive traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your strength increases by 2 and your constitution increases by 1.

Alignment

The Draugr tend to neutral evil because of the Tieflings that bring about their undeath. Eventually Draugr will devolve into true neutral when left unfettered.

Ghastly Appearance

You have proficiency in Intimidation.

Language

You can speak common and infernal. 

Necrotic Resistance

You have resistance to Necrotic Damage.

Sleeps Like a Rock

The Draugr does not feel comfortability in the same way as humans, thus they are able to sleep in the roughest places.

Age

The Draugr will not have a natural death, but they still can meet redeath through more circumstantial situations. 

Dark Vision

Accustomed to dwelling in darker places and making most movement during the night, the Draugr have become accustomed to the darkness.