Shade

Life leaves echoes in its wake. Fantasy worlds are no strangers to ghosts and specters that linger on after death, but sometimes a person's passion, purpose, and will to live are so strong, their tie to the living world so unbreakable, that their memories create a vessel for their soul after their body dies. These people are called shades. Shades can rise from any living race.

Shade Traits

Your shade character has certain characteristics in common with all other shades.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1, the two ability scores increased by your Living Origin increase by 1.
• Age. Shades appear as the age they were when they died. They potentially have no limit to theri lifespan, but ancient shades grow weary and lose their hold on their memories, usually fading away after 750 years.
• Alignment. Shades come from all walks of life and tend towards neutrality.
• Size. Your size is determined by your Living Origin.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is determined by your Living Origin
• Darkvision. 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.
• Ghostly Flesh. You can use your action to dissolve your physical body into the ethereal stuff of spirits. You become translucent and devoid of color, and the air around you grows cold. This lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it you gain a flying speed of 30 ft. with the ability to hover, and you have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks made with non silvered weapons. You cannot be grappled or restrained and can move through objects and creatures as if they were difficult terrain. If you end your turn within an object or another creatures space you take 1d10 force damage. You may use this trait once per long rest.
• Imperfect Undeath. Although you are a humanoid, you can be targeted by effects that target undead however you are immune to effects that turn undead. You regain healing as normal and spells that return a creature from death return you to life as a shade. Only a True Resurrection or Wish spell can truly bring you back to life as the race of your Living Origin.
• Life Drain. When you damage a creature with an attack or spell, you can choose to deal extra necrotic damage equal to your level. If the creature's race matches your Living Origin, you gain temporary hitpoints equal to the necrotic damage dealt. You may use this trait once per short or long rest.
• Spectral Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison and disease, and you have resistance against necrotic damage.
• Memento Mori. A shade's remembrance of their own life is the key to their continued existence. You have one object that is a link to your past life. As long as you have this object you do not require food, drink, or sleep. As an action you can draw memories from this object to go under the effects of a Potion of Heroism. After you use this trait, your memento mori loses its magic. You must spend 500 gp in material to refuse your memento mori with magic over the coarse of a short rest to recharge it.
• Languages. You know Common and one other language of your Living Origin.
• Living Origin. Choose another race as your Living Origin. This is the race you were in life.

Spirit and Flesh

A shade possesses a physical body that looks, feels, and acts similar to a living member of their original race, at least superficially. Shades must breath, eat, drink, and sleep. Despite the functional similarities to a living body, shades are not composed of flesh and blood. Their bodies are a memory of who they once were, inhabited and quickened by the presence of their soul. Injury takes it toll on the shade's body, disrupting its ability to maintain a connection to their soul. Food, drink, sleep, and air are not necessary to nourish their bodies but merely to help them maintain a sense of being a living, breathing creature. The more injured or exhausted a shade is, the less corporeal they appear. the colors of their body wash out to pale, desaturated tones, and light begins to pass through them.

Living Memory

The strength of a shade's memory of themselves and their past life is the core of their being. However with time memory fades. The older a shade gets, the memories that keep them tethered to the living world begin to fade. They might grow forgetful, losing track of what they were doing or what year it is. Their memories might drift around them, causing them to see people around them as figures of their past. Memento Mori help a shades keep a hold of themselves and allow them to last longer, sometimes even for centuries.