Homebrew Animated Armor Species Details

Disclaimer: this is not my idea or creation. This is an edited version of Sheperd_of_Souls content posted for personal use.

Living Metal

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 just like a person in a full suit of armor. They can be molded or cast to fit a certain race, being anything from small enough to comfortably fit a gnome to large enough to completely cover an orc. Their weight and size, as well as their design and material, are up to their creator. While metal is most often used, anarmors composed entirely of stone or animal skins are not uncommon. Magic is often used to bring the armor to life and keep it from falling apart.

Though they may not have any sensory organs whatsoever, magic ensures that they can perceive what is around them. They can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste just as well as a human can. They can speak as well, magic guiding their artificial consciousness. Their armor acts as their skin, and any damage inflicted upon their plating is taken as damage to what would be their physical form. Should they sustain enough damage, the spell holding their parts together will dissipate, leaving them to fall apart completely.

 

Dormacy

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maximum lifespan of an animated armor is unknown, as a powerful enough spell could potentially keep one alive forever, but none have been known to keep their magic for more than 1,500 years.

Unlike other creatures blessed with long life, anarmors don't actively pursue goals outside of what they were created to do; if a particularly animated armor was created to protect a castle, it will stay in the castle, silently waiting for an intruder. That said, they can leave their posts or occupations if they wish, but most are not given a good enough reason to, remaining dormant until someone finds them. Unless they are doing their job constantly, they will become as still as a statue, waking only when a certain stimulus triggers a response.

When they do awake, animated armors often find that they are in a world far different than the one they know. To them, time passed by without them, leaving them lost in a strange and mysterious future. A time gap as small as fifty years can be enough to confuse an anarmor, but if they are intelligent enough, they will catch on to present-time customs fairly quickly, Still, some refuse to change their ways, speaking in forgotten tongues or using overly-wordy and poetic speech.

 

Reawakening and Rebirth

Anarmors usually fall dormant at the post given to them by their creator, waiting for something to bring them back into consciousness. If their creator happens to die before or after they enter this state, their purpose will no longer be explicitly defined. When they regain consciousness, most anarmors stick to their prior orders, carrying out their tasks without complaint. But some, rather than do a task that is now impossible, pointless or both, defy their creator's magical programming and seek out a new purpose. Others forget their purpose altogether, wandering around aimlessly until someone decides to claim them. Many times, an adventurer will stumble upon a long-forgotten animated armor and convince it to join them on their travels. Others are reactivated only to find that the thing they were meant to protect has been destroyed somehow, and seek vengeance. In this way, anarmors can be anything from loyal companions and protectors to destructive avengers and mercenaries.

 

Ghosts in Armor

Generally, people see animated armors as threats. The thought of a walking, talking suit of armor terrifies them, though not to the same capacity as a tiefling. They are often likened to ghosts in armor, and many villages have their own tales of menacing suits of armor that move of their own volition. Because of this, anarmors that waltz into unsuspecting towns are usually avoided completely, the only words spoken of them being whispers. Those who know better than this see wandering anarmors as potential companions, workers, or servants. Some are ambitious or crazy enough to try and capture them by force, often to no avail. Taverns and whorehouses usually look the other way, since being intangible except for one's armor don't give the ladies or the barkeeps much to work with.

That said, an anarmor will usually try to avoid being discovered, unless a quirk in their personality programming says otherwise. They'll use cloaks, scarves, and bandages to cover the gaps in their armor and blend in. They'll stay away from crowded places, speaking only when spoken to and never causing too much of a scene. Some spend their time in taverns, never ordering any food or drink, hoping that the patrons will be too drunk to notice how empty they are on the inside. On the rare occasion that an animated armor is welcomed or even worshipped by the people of a village, some merely serve the community as a guard or sentry, while others take a more commanding role, like a war chief or even a deity.

 

Animated Armor Traits

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Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Antimagic Susceptibility

You are incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field unless you succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster's spell save DC. If targeted by dispel magic, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster's spell save DC or fall unconscious for 30 seconds.

Construct

You are a suit of armor made of a variety of durable materials. Your creature type is Construct. Spells like cure wounds don't affect you as you are a construct and spells like crown of madness or dominate person you are immune to due to them specifically targeting humanoids. You are immune to poison damage, being poisoned and diseases. You do not need to eat or breathe, and any food you do attempt to eat falls through your space where your head would be at the bottom of your armor. 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.

Languages

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

False Appearance

While the armor remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal suit of armor.

Mendable

When the mending spell is cast on you and you have 0 hit points you become stable. Alternatively, as part of the casting of mending the caster may expand any number of spell slots(minimum 1) causing you to regain a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + their spellcasting ability modifier. When you do this using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.

Soul Transfer

You can transfer your consciousness into another suit of armor over the course of a short or long rest. During that time you or another creature performs an hour-long ritual. Over the course of that hour, you must remain within 5 feet of the armor or the ritual fails. This change may alter your subrace accordingly, based on the desired armors type. If you are not proficient in the armor you transfer yourself into you receive all the detriments that someone normally would by wearing a set of armor they are not proficient in as well as an addition -2 to your Armor Class.

 If you use your Soul Transfer trait to transfer yourself to another piece of armor then the formula for calculating your Armor Class becomes that of the armor you transfer yourself to. You are also affected by any other additional properties of the armor such as a Strength requirement, a disadvantage on Stealth checks, a bonus to your Armor Class or even a curse.