Homebrew Awakened Undead Species Details

The Start of Something New

After the Calamity of Gendrick’s Tower, all the undead under his control began to run a rampage in the province once formally known as Halmerin. After a month of total destruction in that area, Lysethia, a great and powerful archmage came to the province and began to cast a spell that freed undead from the mindless hunger they were entrapped in, bringing them back to sentience, creating the first population of Awoken Undead. She taught many of her apprentice this spell and they finished freeing the minds of as many undead that where in the province, and the spell was written down and shared for any mage that was powerful enough to cast it. When Lysethia was asked what compelled her to do this, she simply stated that, “even those we fear and hate deserve a chance to a second chance.” 

Now over 600 years later, most of the undead that were created from the Calamity of Gendrick’s Tower are gone, but more have been created, whether by a mage who wanted to free a skeleton who they have grown attached to, brought back by a loved one who couldn’t bear to be alone, by being able to pay for the services themself after death, or freed by a local court mage who brought justice to a criminal necromancer. 

You may have many memories of your past life, or none at all, but some features of your past self still remain, whether they be traits of your old race, like horns or bone structure, or scars from your past death, whether physical or mental. You may wake up at night with dreams filled with places that might familiar, or seeing half of a face, or hearing a life that makes you cry for no reason you can understand, or you might have no connection to the past life of this body, unsure if your soul truly ever belong to this body. Moreover, you might still be skilled in the same things you were once good at, or you could have found your talents lie in something completely new that this body would never have attempted before. 

Dead, But Reborn

Because of your now more undead visage, it isn’t uncommon for people to react with uneasiness around you, nor some of the more superstitious folk to downright run for cover when they see you, so it isn’t uncommon for an Awoken Undead to wear a lot more concealing clothing, even to the point of wearing masks, veils, and extremely strong perfumes, at least when they are going to a social place they might not know how people will react to their form, but others may take this reaction in stride.

Moreover, depending on how decomposed your body is, of you still have a physical one, your character may weigh anywhere from 30 to 300 pounds. Where your eyes were, you might just have empty sockets a flame-like glow of whatever color you choose, or eyes that seem very much normal but with a glossy look or a flaming glow to them. If there is still hair on your head, it is most likely dark, lank, and completely covered in grime from being buried, no matter how often you attempt to clean it.

Being undead, you are now practically immortal, and if never putting yourself in harms way would mean you would have an extremely long life, however, it is not without its drawbacks. You can no longer taste food or drink, nor do you need it to survive. The wind at your back doesn’t feel the same, nor does music on your ears. Emotions have somewhat dulled since being brought back to life. Moreover, the reason you were brought back was probably for a life of subservience, which means that you could have left scars to the land or to the people you were not even aware you caused. 

Breaking Free

Some Awoken Undead are brought back and immediately freed, while others are thrust back into freedom suddenly, and have to adjust to the newfound liberty in their life, but every Awoken Undead greatly admires their freedom and cherishes more than any other person could ever understand, knowing it could possibly be taken away at any moment. For many Awoken, they have a sense to other undead they meet that has not been freed, whether it is to free them whenever they have the chance to, or to destroy them as swiftly as possible, with their reasoning be straightforward enough: an eternity of rest and peace is much more preferred to an eternity of servitude to short-sided, cruel, megalomaniacs  that necromancers tend to be.

Undead Names

Many undead who regain sentience choose to keep their names from their mortal lives. For others, they might have forgotten their old names or possibly they believe they have lost the meaning the once had. The new name they chose might be a nickname given to them by their former masters, or even their newfound friends, seeing these new names as true as their past names.

Examples names are: Bane, Raven, Rattlebones, Spore, Rotface, Bishop, Carver, Dredge, Rook, Mort, Pale, Minion, Crumble, Shade

Awakened Undead Traits

You are an undead that has had sentience brought back to them through magical means, and you now have freedom to experience any adventures you desire.

Ability Score Increase.

Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Dead Immortality.

You do not age. Given time, the necromantic magic that sustains you will heal most wounds you take at approximately the same rates 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 of that race (such as swimming or flying), and, though you may choose to have been formerly a member of a subrace of a particular race, you derive no benefits for 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; and 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 the 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 gray.

Languages

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