Homebrew Revenant Species Details

   A soul can become a revenant if they had sufficient magical power upon their demise, or if a large amount of wild magic was present at their final resting place. A revenant's life is one of rage, sorrow, and regret, and as such none seek out this afterlife. A revenant's physical form is not their body, but an object that they always carry and that serves as an anchor for their soul. If this object is lost or destroyed, then the revenant's soul is forever lost and shattered, unable to be returned or resurrected. Revenant bodies are physical shells and can interact with the world around them,but they will still take damage and must rest in order to replenish the energy that sustains them. To a revenant, time is no obstacle and distance no limit, as long as the fire in their soul burns, they will pursue their goal until time itself withers into ash. Unlike most undead, revenants are never servants and almost never created by intentional means, as any soul willing to accept it's death cannot have the rage needed to break the rules of death. A revenant will roam of it's own accord, and if one is after you, it's best to make peace with your end now.

My Soul Weeps

   Revenants are not emotionless like other undead, but instead they're prone to lose themselves in the emotions they felt upon death. This means that revenants are typically volatile and don't share a consistent temperament. One revenant may be a walking hurricane of rage and destruction, another may howl into the night in sorrow, yet another may party nonstop to make up for "lost time," while one may simply spend it's time with it's love.

Death Knows No Shape

As a revenant's body is a physical manifestation of their souls rage and pain, revenants typically look like decayed perversions of their original selves. A revenant can look as simple as a skeleton or as monstrous as an aberration depending on it's emotional state and specific traits. A revenant's form cannot change at will, as a soul cannot control it's emotions. If a revenant feels a strong enough pull to a certain memory, it can return to its original form or some variation of it, which ever satisfies the emotion felt. Revenant bodies aren't typically solid and tend to weigh as much as their tether.

What a Lonely World

   As a form of undead, Revenants already deal with distrustful and tense relations with living races, but this is compounded by their volatile and wild temperament. Revenants trend towards seclusion, as they are beings of determination and others aren't able to deal with all of the emotional turmoil. Even other undead avoid revenants as they find an emotional undead to be even more unnatural than them.

Death Cannot Stop Me

   Revenants are focused on righting whatever caused their soul's grief. When not resting, a revenant will endeavor to complete it's goal, whether that be tracking down it's killer or repairing it's broken family. Revenants will keep this goal in mind whenever they undergo a task, and they'll refuse a task if it directly contradicts it's goals. Once a revenant's soul is at peace, it's then freed from it's mortal plain and can finally move on to the afterlife.

 

Revenant Traits

The will to break free of death comes with some perks.

Deathly Bodies

Your soul's resilience has been fortified, boosting your constitution and one more stat

Tethered

When your hp hit's 0, your physical body shatters, leaving your tether behind and vulnerable. If your tether is destroyed, then your soul is destroyed along with it. While in your tethered state, you must charge energy in order to revive. You can wait half an hour to res with full hp but no spell slots and disadvantage on all magical abilities for 1 hour, or you can wait for a short rest to resurrect with full hp and spell slots.

Immortality

Revenants aren't affected by times march, nor any harm that relies on the subject to be living. Revenants are immune to poison, disease, and do not need to eat, drink, or breath. Revenants must rest in proportion to the magical energy they expend. A revenant fighter might only need the equivalent of on long rest per week, while a magic caster would need a short rest per night if all spell slots are expended. 

Magical remains

Revenants gain some magical ability from their recreation, but it's not a significant boon in power. Revenants gain two cantrips and 1 1st level spell that do not count to class totals nor prepared spells. Con is the modifier for these spells and one must rest before cast the spell again

Alignment

Revenants are never lawful, as their very existence stems from breaking the laws of nature

Darkvision

Your soul recreate's it's sight with it's power, but removes the dark's hold on you to better complete it's goal

Spectral Hover

As your soul animates your physical shell, it's not tethered by gravity. You can hover, but it's speed is 20ft and you cannot ascend more then 1 foot

Languages

You can speak, read, and write the languages you knew in life.