Undead
Death is not always the end. Some souls refuse to pass into the beyond, clinging to the mortal realm through dark magic, unfinished business, or terrible curses. These are the undead, beings who have crossed the threshold between life and death yet remain bound to the world of the living. Whether through necromantic rituals, tragic circumstances, or their own desperate will to persist, they exist in a state between worlds.
Special: If you wish to play an undead character the rules are slightly changed from the base living races. Players who wish to play an undead character should identify which race their character was in their "past life". Players will choose one trait from their chosen race, one trait from their chosen undead variant, and one flaw from their chosen undead variant. Undeads also have augmented rules for social encounters and death.
Reanimated
The Reanimated are the most common and recognizable of the undead. Their bodies, once claimed by death, have been pulled back from decay through necromantic magic or sheer force of will. Some rise as shambling zombies with rotting flesh, others as skeletal warriors with bones bleached white, and the most powerful as wights whose malevolent intelligence burns cold in empty sockets. They are mockeries of life, animated corpses that move with unnatural purpose. Though their forms may be decayed and their movements sluggish, they possess an unnatural resilience that allows them to endure wounds that would fell the living.
Traits
- Reassemble (per rest): Once per rest, if an attack drops your health below 0, you may reassemble and regain health up to half your maximum health.
- Play Dead (per rest): Once per rest you may temporarily disassemble yourself and fall to the ground as if you were dead. Enemy creatures will treat you as if you were a corpse and you may remain on the ground for up to 3 turns before reassembling. This ability can be used either during your turn or as a reaction to an action taken against you. Both uses cost 2 AP. You may reassemble as a reaction to a creature walking past you and make a single action.
Flaws
- Shambling Form: Your Speed stat starts at 1 instead of 2.
- Divine Weakness: You have 1 degree of disadvantage on resistance checks against divine and holy effects and are vulnerable to radiant damage.
Wraith
The Wraith are souls that refused to depart when their bodies perished, bound to the mortal realm by powerful emotions, unfinished business, or tragic circumstances. They exist as incorporeal beings of pure spirit and malice, able to phase through solid matter yet still interact with the world of the living. Most are tethered to specific locations, objects, or people that held significance in their mortal lives. Their forms shimmer between visibility and transparency, and their touch can drain the very life from their victims. They feed on the negative emotions of others, growing stronger from fear, despair, and anguish.
Traits
- Ethereal Form (per rest): Once per rest you may become incorporeal for up to 3 turns in combat or 10 minutes outside combat. While incorporeal you can pass through solid objects and are immune to physical damage but take double damage from magical sources.
- Possession (per rest): Once per rest you may attempt to possess a creature or object. The target makes a resistance check against their Vitality. If they fail, you control their actions for up to 10 minutes.
Flaws
- Anchored Soul: You are bound to a specific location, object, or person. If you move more than 1 mile from your anchor, you begin taking 1 damage per hour until you return.
- Emotional Dependency: You must feed on negative emotions to sustain yourself. Each day you do not witness or cause fear, anger, despair, or similar negative emotions in others, you lose 1 point from a random stat until you feed.
Soulless
The Soulless are beings who have willingly traded away their very souls in pursuit of immortality and power. Through dark rituals and forbidden knowledge, they have severed their connection to their own essence, becoming hollow vessels animated by arcane energy rather than life force. The most powerful among them become liches, hiding their souls in phylacteries to achieve true immortality. They are creatures of pure intellect and magical might, but their lack of soul makes them cold, calculating beings incapable of genuine emotion. Their very presence radiates death, weakening the living and strengthening themselves through the suffering of others.
Traits
- Phylactery Bond: You have hidden your soul in a phylactery. If your body is destroyed, you reform at your phylactery's location after 7 days. Destroying the phylactery is the only way to truly kill you.
- Deathly Aura: Living creatures within 5 tiles of you have all healing reduced by half. When a living creature within this aura takes damage, they take 1 additional point of necrotic damage and you heal for 1 point.
Flaws
- Hollow Existence: You cannot benefit from inspiration, morale bonuses, or any effects that rely on emotion or soul. Your maximum Resistance level is capped at 3 instead of 5.
- Arcane Dependency: You must consume magical energy to sustain yourself by draining magical items, absorbing energy from magical creatures, or feeding on magical phenomena. Each day you do not feed on magical energy, you lose 1 point from a random discipline until you feed.
Cursed
The Cursed are those who have been transformed into undeath through supernatural afflictions, ancient curses, or dark pacts. Unlike other undead, they often retain much of their living appearance and personality, making them the most insidious of their kind. Vampires are the most well-known among them, cursed with an eternal thirst for blood and an aversion to holy symbols. Others may be bound by different curses or diseases that grant them unnatural longevity at terrible costs. They possess supernatural charm and the ability to drain life force from their victims, but their curses make them vulnerable to specific weaknesses and drive them to commit acts that would horrify their former selves.
Traits
- Life Drain (per rest): Once per rest, when you deal damage with a melee weapon, you may drain life energy to heal yourself for half the damage dealt. This can be achieved through drinking blood, absorbing spiritual essence, or other methods of consuming life force.
- Supernatural Charm (per rest): You have 2 degrees of advantage on persuasion and deception checks against living humanoids. Once per rest you may attempt to charm a humanoid for 1 hour (target makes a resistance check against a threshold equal to half your Vitality stat).
Flaws
- Cursed Weakness: You have a specific weakness (holy symbols, running water, garlic, silver, etc.) chosen when you become cursed. Direct contact with your weakness causes you to gain the Vulnerable status to magical damage for 1 hour and gives you 2 degrees of disadvantage on all rolls while in contact. Being within 10 feet of your weakness causes 1 degree of disadvantage on all rolls.
- Bloodthirst: You must feed on life force regularly. Each day you do not feed, you gain 1 level of exhaustion that cannot be removed until you feed. Additionally, after 4 days without feeding, you become increasingly violent and lose control. You must make a resistance check against your Vitality each time you encounter a living creature or enter combat. If you fail, you enter a rampage state where you must attack the nearest living creature until you successfully feed or are incapacitated.