Graveborn
"They call me 'Half-Dead.' 'Lichborn.' 'Ghoul.' I am daughter to death, an agent of your undoing. If you kill this flesh, I will rise again to strike you down. Death is not my bane; it is my birthright. How can you hope to stop me?"
Child of Death
It is against the natural order of things for death to beget life. Yet under strange and rare circumstances, this can happen. When a mortal woman receives the seed of the dead, sometimes an abomination is created, a mockery of the natural order, a thing of half-life. A Graveborn. A Graveborn appears at first glance to be human. On closer inspection, however, their black, greasy hair, dark, sunken eye sockets, pale, veiny skin, and a faint odor of decay and freshly turned earth give away their true nature.One Foot in the Grave
Like Tieflings and Aasimar, Graveborn are children of two worlds – the land of the living and the land of the dead – and their heritage is as obvious in Graveborn as it is in Tieflings and Aasimar. Graveborn are thus usually ostracized from society, as polite folk tend to have a powerful fear of the dead. Devout clerics may even attempt to Turn them, and, much to the Graveborn's dismay, this works (to a certain degree). Because of this, Graveborn are often driven to the edges of civilization, or else deep underground. Some live as hermits deep in the wilderness, while others join cults to gods of undeath where their heritage makes them something of a celebrity rather than a pariah.Graveborn
Age. Graveborn mature at the same rate as humans, but do not die of old age. Alignment. The power of death coursing through their veins pulls many Graveborn towards Evil, and most are Neutral on the law-chaos spectrum. Size. Graveborn have the same range of height and weight as humans. Death's Legacy. Your type is humanoid with the half-undead subtype. You only need half as much food, water, air, and sleep as a human. Effects that target undead can target you, though their effect is halved (if possible). For example, Turn Undead merely gives you the frightened condition. Living Death. Death comes more easily for you, but you also have the ability to shake it off. You do not make death saving throws; if you are reduced to 0 hit points, you die instantly. Resurrection magic does not work on you. However, 24 hours after you die, assuming your body has not been destroyed, you make a DC 5 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, you rise to life with half your hit points restored. If you fail, you make another such save in 24 hours. Each time you succeed on a Living Death saving throw, future Living Death save DCs are increased by 5. If you fail three such saving throws in a row, you are dead for good. Magic that prevents a corpse from being raised as an undead (such as gentle repose) prevents you from using this feature; you roll a Living Death saving throw 24 hours after any such magic has stopped affecting you. Feign Death. You can cast and dispel feign death on yourself at will without providing any components. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Weak Healer. Magical healing doesn't stick to you as well as it does to the fully alive. Whenever you would regain hit points from magic that can't affect undead, you regain half that many hit points instead (round down) and gain the other half as temporary hit points. You lose one of these temporary hit points at the start of each of your turns (10 per minute).
Subrace.
Three subraces of Graveborn exist: Ghoul, Fetch, and Dhampyr. Choose one of them for your character.Ghoul
Also called "Rotborn", Ghouls are the children of corporeal undead, such as zombies and liches. The pale skin common to all Graveborn has a grayish tint in the Ghoul, and appears loose in places, almost like it is falling off. Ability Score +1 Str, -2 Cha Bite Your grayish, rotting teeth carry the stench of the grave, and you can make unarmed strikes with your bite. If you hit with this unarmed strike, you deal piercing damage instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike, plus 1d4 necrotic damage. This necrotic damage increases by 1d4 when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4). Undead Fortitude If damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, you drop to 1 hit point instead. Natural Zombie Magic that would animate your corpse as an undead (such as animate dead) has a chance of returning you to your half-life instead. When your corpse is the target of such a spell, make a Living Death saving throw. On a success, instead of the spell's normal effects you return to life as though you had done so on your own. On a failure, the spell affects your corpse as normal. This saving throw does not increase the DC of future Living Death saving throws, nor does it count toward failing three in a row. This feature can return you to life even if you have already failed three Living Death saves in a row.Fetch
Also called "Ghostblooded", Fetches are the children of incorporeal undead, such as ghosts and wraiths. The pale skin common to all Graveborn is unnaturally smooth in the Fetch, with a faint bluish tint that makes it seem almost translucent. Ability Score +1 Wis, -2 Str Chill Touch You know the chill touch cantrip. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Etherealness As an action, you can enter the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. You can use this feature twice; you regain all expended uses after a long rest. You are visible on the Material Plane while you are in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet you can't affect or be affected by anything on the other plane. Ethereal Sight You can see 30 feet into the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane, and vice versa. Ghost-Form When you die, make a Wisdom saving throw at your Living Death save DC. If you succeed, your spirit leaves your body, and acts separately from it as a ghost-form. You remain in your ghost-form until you succeed on a Living Death saving throw (in which case your spirit returns to your body) or fail your third such save in a row or your body is destroyed (in which case your spirit passes on, or, if you choose and the DM allows it, becomes a ghost permanently). While in ghost-form, you gain all the resistances and immunities of a ghost, as well as a ghost's Incorporeal Movement feature. Your Ethereal Sight increases to 60 feet, and you have unlimited uses of your Etherealness feature. Your speed becomes 0, but you gain a fly speed of 40. Your ghost-form appears to be equipped with ethereal copies of all your gear, but they are non-functional.Dhampyr
Also called "Leechspawn", Dhampyrs are the children of vampires. The pale skin common to all Graveborn is taught and veiny in the Dhampyr, and white as the full moon. Ability Score +1 Cha Charm You can cast charm person at will as long as neither you nor your target are in direct sunlight or running water. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Vampiric Vulnerabilities At the start of each of your turns, if you are in direct sunlight without protective clothing, make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you take 1 point of radiant damage. When you take radiant damage in any other way, the radiant damage dice are rolled twice and you take damage equal to the higher result. If radiant damage reduces you to 0 hit points, your heart crumbles to ash and you lose your Living Death feature. In addition, at the start of each of your turns, if you are in running water, make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you take 1 point of acid damage. Bat Form If you aren't in sunlight or running water, as an action you can polymorph into a Tiny bat, or back to your natural form. You can use this feature twice; you regain all expended uses after a short or long rest. While in bat form, your game statistics are replaced with those of an ordinary bat, as found in the Monster Manual, including hit dice and hit points, but you retain your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. You automatically revert if you drop to 0 hit points, and any excess damage carries over to your normal form. Bite You have retractable fangs that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with this unarmed strike, you deal piercing damage instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. In addition, when you deal piercing damage to a living creature with this unarmed strike, you can choose to deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage to the creature, and you regain half that many hit points. This necrotic damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6). Misty Escape If damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit, or you are in direct sunlight or running water. On a success, you take a mist form instead of dying. While in mist form, you can't take any actions, speak, or manipulate objects. You are weightless, have a flying speed of 20 feet, can hover, and can enter a hostile creature's space and stop there. If air can pass through a space, the mist can do so without squeezing, but it can't pass through water. You have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws, and you are immune to all nonmagical damage except from sunlight. You remain in mist form for two hours or until you take any damage, at which point you revert to your normal form. If you revert from taking damage, you die, otherwise you regain half your hit points and are paralyzed for 24 hours.Languages. You can speak, read and write Common and Abyssal
Comments