Homebrew Arisen Species Details

Arisen are the forsaken undead of all of the known Mortal Races in Terrania. Any Mortal Humanoid can be Arisen, however once an Arisen is born the complexities of their previous race wash away in favour of them being "Arisen" before they are anything else. The Arisen are a type of Cursed Undead, typically born of some kind of malformed pact with the Abyss, a brush with forsaken magics or indeed through some other series of seemingly meaningless or arbitrary events. Perhaps a loved one begged for you to be returned to life and some malicious force answered? Perhaps a ritual took place in a tomb you were buried in which awoke you through some dark magic? The means matter little to an Arisen once they are spawned, as the mystery will almost never be truly answered.

The Trials of (Un)life

The Arisen are becoming more of a common sight in Terrania, but this has done little to improve attitudes towards the forsaken corpse-folk. Worldwide sentiments towards the undead are broadly negative with very few fragmented societies showing any sort of overt acceptance towards any type of undead. The stereotypes of flesh-eating, blood drinking undead who survive only on the suffering of other Humanoids, however false when applied to the Arisen, sadly prevail and as such any Arisen who are discovered to be what they truly are are typically attacked or killed on sight. The Arisen, in response, have learned how to obfuscate themselves from Mortal society by slowing down their decaying processes and masking their trademark scent with various mundane items to allow them to more easily assimilate into Mortal society. Some particularly unlucky Arisen do not have this choice, bearing mortal wounds of a level of decay which nothing short of magic can cover, however (while they are playable), the likelihood is that your playable Arisen is able to mask themselves relatively well.

The Slow Death

Arisen each bear a curse which forces them to walk the Earth eternally as corpses. While each curse is different for each Arisen they all typically follow a similar pattern. They each retain their sentience and at least some, if not all, of their Mortal memories and as such many recently re-born Arisen spend many months if not years convinced they are still alive as they were before. As time progresses and their bodies gradually begin to decay and waste away these memories fade also as their existence as an Undead becomes more normal. Many Arisen give in to the madness of their now meaningless, seemingly endless lives and turn feral, little more than zombies who wander whatever territory they have found for themselves mindlessly attacking and killing Mortals where others instead find some purpose, some reason to carry on, and dedicate their unlife to it in the hope of adding meaning to this new existence. It is widely believed that all Arisen will one day give in to the slow death of madness, however it is unknown whether or not this is true.

The Endless Journey

Arisen are technically ageless beings, measuring time only in the gradual degradation of their bodies and minds and routinely, through the proper maintenance, living for hundreds of years. As such the Arisen must move constantly to stay ahead of the suspicion as to their seemingly ageless forms and as such are stereotyped as loners, drifters and wanderers. They cannot risk becoming attached to people and places and cannot conceive of settling down and trying to forge out a "normal life", those who do are always eventually uncovered and uprooted or worse yet, killed. They make great adventurers due to their wandering nature and typically see adventuring parties as small moments of joy and connection in an otherwise meaningless, endless life.

Variety is the Spice of Death

The Arisen can come from any Mortal race native to the Material Plane and as such have a great diversity among them with regards to their appearance. Sadly however once being awoken as an Arisen the being loses all of the traits that truly "made" them part of that race besides their physical appearance (which again only lasts as long as they can maintain it). While they do gain other benefits and drawbacks to their forms they are truly only their old selves in appearance only. Because of this Arisen can take on any name, be from anywhere an have knowledge of theoretically anything that their Mortal self could have known. Most Arisen are able to "pass" as their Mortal selves with some work, however they tend to be slightly paler, gaunter and cold to the touch before the decay sets in. Some unfortunate Arisen begin to bloat, or decay rather quickly, however most are able to pass as Mortals easily enough with only some assistance from mundane items and constant upkeep.

 

Arisen Traits

Your Arisen character has these common traits shared among all Arisen:

Obfuscation

You have proficiency with a Disguise Kit and automatically pass checks made with it to take on your mortal appearance. You can craft a believable disguise that can last as long as you have the tools to maintain it (makeup, perfumes etc). This disguise is non-magical and, if put up to enough close scrutiny, can be seen through by particularly watchful eyes.

Undead Resilience

Your creature type is Undead
You are Immune to being Poisoned and all Diseases
You are Resistant to Poison Damage
You do not need to eat, drink or breathe to survive and only need to rest for six hours a day in a semi-unconscious state to get a long rest
Healing magics of all kinds are only half as effective on you.

Darkvision

You have 60ft of Darkvision

A Grim Advantage

You have advantage on Stealth checks when attempting to disguise yourself as a corpse

Terrifying Presence

You have advantage on Intimidation checks against most Mortal Humanoids besides Necromancers and others who are greatly familiar and comfortable with the Undead

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Strength score increases by 1. Arisen are notoriously hardy and deceptively strong even as their bodies decay and this is mirrored here.

Age

Arisen can live indefinitely and often simply refer themselves as the age they were when they died so as not to draw attention to the fact that they (particularly if they were once Human) can be hundreds of years old. They only "age" through the gradual decay of their bodies and minds and as such can, with good upkeep, simply live for centuries.

Alignment

Arisen tend towards no alignment, however are known to sometimes suffer from a despondent nihilism when faced with their reality, often slipping into indifferent neutrality as a result.

Size

Most arisen are from Human and Elven stock and as such are Medium. Arisen of all strokes exist and while "small" category Arisen do exist they are fairly uncommon (read: not playable).

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Typically this language is associated with the race your Arisen was in life.