Homebrew Wandering Soul Race Details

A man stands at the top of a cliff looking down at the rocks below. He has been there for hours. He has not moved, nor has he said a word, simply stood there looking down. The drop is over 100ft, a fall that would almost certainly end in his death. If there was a passersby, they would probably comment on the danger the man was in and suggest he move away from the edge. But there was no passerby. Just the little girl - watching. The little girl knew better than to warn the man of the danger. She knew why he was there. She had watched many a man jump to his death from that very spot. Men stricken with sickness, guilt or loss. Men who had lived extraordinary lives yet decided that the the rocks at the base of the cliff were where they wanted to end their story. The little girl had never understood this. She couldn't understand why anyone would actually want to die. It was only another hour or so before the legs of the man finally gave way to exhaustion and slumped to his knees, falling over the edge. It was then, as the little girl watched the man's body fall and break upon the rocks below, that she decided that she would never die.

A Wandering Soul is not limited to the body it was born with, instead the world is full of suitable options that can be taken. While hard to see a Wandering Soul as anything but evil, in truth, they do not do anything out of spite or hate, they live with only one desire - to live.

Body Snatchers

Wandering Souls are so rare, few have ever met them and even fewer actually knew it.

Wandering Souls are not a typical race, you cannot be born a Wandering Soul. Instead Wandering Souls are the consequence of a will to live so strong that the soul survived beyond its physical body. Where a ghost or spirit are created by necromancy or some other external force acting upon them, a Wandering Soul is created purely from its own internal desire to live. At the point of death, the Wandering Soul tears itself away from the body, a traumatic process that causes them to lose the memories of their old life. Without any memory of their past or experience of the world, they are driven by a single desire to survive at all costs.

In creating a Wandering Soul adventurer, consider the character’s actions immediately after their body's death. Did the character attempt to fill the void by surrounding themselves with people? Did they choose to isolate themselves? Do they want to find out what happened? Do they want revenge?

Under the Skin Suit

When not possessing a creature, a Wandering Soul appears as a small blueish orb of light, about the size of an apple, hidden behind a translucent cloud of smoke. The Wandering Soul floats above the ground, bobbing slightly as it gets shifted slightly by air currents and emits a soft blue light into its surroundings, about as bright as a swarm of fireflies. While typically blue in colour, the colour and light emitted by a Wandering Soul has been known to change. At night, the can be quite enticing to an unsuspecting body.

Controlling the Body and the Mind

A Wandering Soul can possess a corpse as easy as slipping on a pair of shoes. The challenge with corpses, however, is that they are often in a poor state of repair. When a corpse is occupied by a Wandering Soul, everything in the body begins working, but if the cause of death is still present, it will promptly die again. Possessing living creatures is also an option but is much harder than corpses. Because there is a soul and mind present within the vessel, there is a constant struggle between the Wandering Soul and the previous occupant for control. Wandering Soul cannot stay inside a living creature forever, in trying to do so, it would kill itself and the dormant mind inside.

Wandering Soul Names

As Wandering Souls are created by themselves, using their own sheer will power, their names are also of their own making. There is no connection between Wandering Souls, no form of culture to base their names upon, instead they are developed based on the cultures around them. Wandering Souls in complete isolation do not even give themselves names, instead choosing a nomadic life, living body to body, without need of a name.

Wandering Soul Traits

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age

At the point of its body's death, a Wandering Soul is created completely fresh, like a newborn. While they carry with them a fragment of their past life with them they must relearn the world around them and develop as a being in their own right. Their mind however is still structured the same as the race they were before dying and becoming a Wandering Soul. So while a Wandering Soul does not age, their mind develops at the rate of the race they were once apart of.

Alignment

While all those who hear of Wandering Souls assume them to be evil beings, they are in fact much closer in morality to a wild animal. Their drive is not to inflict harm but simply to survive at all costs. All Wandering Souls start off life as True Neutral, but as they develop and grow as a being, their reaction to the pain they cause can shift them to either Lawful or Chaotic.

Size

In their natural forms, Wandering Souls are roughly half a foot in diameter surrounded by a cloud of smoke 1ft in diameter. Your size is Tiny.

Speed

As a Wandering Soul you do not walk but instead float in the air. Your base flying speed is 15 feet and you can hover.

Ethereal Form

While in your true Ethereal Form (not possessing a body) you are: Resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing Damage from Non-magical Weapons,

Vulnerable to Psychic and Force Damage,

Able to pass through solid objects, such as walls, floors and even creatures,

Are able to see, hear and understand the world around you but are unable to communicate by normal means.

Chosen Vessel

Once per long rest you may select a corpse and cast Chosen Vessel. A corpse protected by Chosen Vessel cannot decompose or deteriorate as a corpse normally would, instead it remains untouched in a static state where it does not age or rot. The corpse is still vulnerable to external forces such as attacks, spells or the elements (i.e. fire) but if left alone it will remain the same forever. Chosen Vessel can only be cast on one corpse at a time, casting it on a second corpse ends the effects on the first. There is no time limit on Chosen Vessel and will last until it is cast again on another corpse.

Possession

Once per long rest, while in your Ethereal Form, you can use an action to enter the body of a creature and attempt to possess it. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Possession Effects While you are possessing a body, the following rules apply: Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the possessed body, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the body. If the body has any legendary or lair actions, you can’t use them.

You assume the creature’s hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you possessed the creature. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce your normal form to 0 hit points, you aren’t knocked unconscious.

Your ability to cast spells is limited by the body you have possessed. If the creature can't speak you cannot cast spells that require Verbal (V) components and if it has limited use of its limbs you cannot cast spells that require Somatic (S) components.

You retain the benefit of any features from your class or other source and can use them while possessing a body as long as the body is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless the possessed body also has that sense. There are three different types of body that can be possessed which each have different restrictions and benefits in addition to the effects listed above. The three types of body are: A Living Creature A Corpse Your Chosen Vessel 1. A living Creature When attempting to possess a living creature the creature can resist you by succeeding on a Charisma check with a DC equal to 8 + your Proficiency Modifier + your Charisma Modifier. If the creature succeeds the check, you are forced out of the body and receive 1d10 of force damage. If the creature fails the check, you can now control its body. Regardless of whether the creature succeeds or fails the check, this feat cannot be used again until after a long rest. While controlling the body of a living creature you are unable to make any action that requires concentration as you must concentrate on resisting the creature's dormant mind. You can't, however, lose concentration unless you chose to or your mind receives damage directly, such as from a psychic attack. Possessing a living creature provides the following effects in addition to those listed under 'Possession Effects': You have access to the creatures basic memories, such as names, addresses and schedules, but not their secrets.

You benefit from and can use any racial traits or bonuses the creature has but not those of its class. Possession of a living creature ends if the body's hit points reach 0, if you are forced out by a direct attack to your mind, you take a long rest or you choose to leave the body. 2. A Corpse A corpse cannot be possessed unless it is capable of supporting life. There are three factors that define whether a corpse can support life: It can store a soul or has some form of sentience.

It has all of its vital organs intact and functioning.

It hasn't been deceased longer than 6 hours. If all three of the above are true then the player can possess the corpse. The process of possessing a corpse automatically brings its hit points up to 1 but you may also spend your own Hit Die during the initial possession to bring its health up further. Any damage the body received before being possessed is still present on the body and any damage effects that were effecting the creature now effect you. For example, if the creature was poisoned, then you would now take poison damage until the effect is finished. Upon possessing a corpse, you also suffer an exhaustion level for each hour the creature had been dead for. If it was dead for less than an hour you receive no exhaustion. Possessing a corpse provides the following effects in addition to those listed under 'Possession Effects': The body stops decomposing, can heal and rest like a living body and is no longer considered a corpse.

You only have access to half the corpse's maximum hit points.

You receive a -1 to all ability scores except for Charisma. (This is calculated after the the bonuses from the corpse are added.) Possession of a corpse ends if the body's hit points reach 0 or you choose to leave the body. Leaving the body will return it to a corpse and it will start the decomposition process again. 3. Your Chosen Vessel To possess a Chosen Vessel it must also be capable of supporting life as detailed under '2. A Corpse'. Possessing your Chosen Vessel does not count as a use of Possession and can be done an unlimited number of times. Possessing your Chosen Vessel works the same as possessing a corpse but does not incur any of the negatives. Possession of your Chosen Vessel ends if the body's hit points reach 0 or you choose to leave the body. Leaving the Chosen Vessel does not start the decomposition process.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one language of your choosing.

Your Wandering Soul character has the following traits.