Make-Believes
Singular; Make-Believe. Plural: Make-Believes.
No one truly knows how Make-Believes are made. Some claim the joy and imagination of a child may give their toy a spark of life, or those with innate magic may transfer it into them. Others believe the divine blesses them, giving them life to protect their young masters. Whatever the source, the end result creates a Make-Believe, what was once a toy now a humanoid figure of the same cloth.
Toys full of Life
Make-Believes all share one common theme; that of a toy given a soul and an grown body. Their new sizes often disguises their composition from a distance, leading much surprise once one gets a closer look to this new face. A make-believe once a nutcracker may now be a stiff yet unrelenting soldier, while a make-believe that was a puppet jester may appear as an overly nimble ventriloquist. These wondrous folks need not be humanoid in appearance; what appears as a porcelain catfolk with a heart of gold may have once been a treasured doll of a child lost to time.
Unique to make-believe’s is the ability to return to their diminutive form, hiding their new lives for a short time as they resume the shape of a toy. Speech and combat prowess disappears in such a state, but whimsy remains in the ability to move and weave magic when opportunity allows. This toy-origin also provides each make-believe with capabilities shared alongside those with similar origins and composition; what was once doll may be naturally agile in movement and speech, was what once a fluff of comfort may now naturally understand others and aid them, while what was once a fantastical figurine may now naturally lead and defend others.
Born of Wonder
The source for the soul within a make-believe is as much a mystery as it is perhaps a multitude of origins. The most common idea for a make-believe’s existence is that of a child’s care and wonder to its favorite possession. If it can be believed that magic and divinity can be shaped by the faith and emotions of many people, then it stands to reason that a small toy may find itself a shard of life through a child believing it to be its favorite friend.
Other origins for a make-believe’s birth may be that of a craftsman pouring their very soul into their masterpiece, their creation given life through this immense passion. Beings of magic, often that of fey or genies, may gift life to toys of those who have lost family. Parents who stop at nothing to bring back their lost infant may perhaps find their soul within a toy the child once held dear. Figurines of heroes and villains of old may find these very myths spurring their wooden or metal limbs to life, their minds and acts an exaggeration of what was once alive. Perhaps with time, such make-believes may remake themselves into their own myths.
Wander with Whimsy
The reason for a make-believe travelling the world may be as varied as their possible origins. Many are driven to explore out of sheer wonder and curiosity for the world they manifested into, enjoying the awe and incredulity in the faces of those of flesh and bone they encounter. Perhaps a make-believe simply seeks to find or save the kid that brought them to life, or perhaps they wander ages after this kid has long been gone from this world, their joy and whimsy lingering in plush given life. Whatever sparks their travels is up to your whimsy as their player, just as much as their source for their animation.
Make-Believe Traits
- Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
- Age. Make-Believes seem to live as long as their creator or until wear and tear gets them. It has been noted of Make-Believes living for a few more decades after their creator passes.
- Creature Type. You are Humanoid, but count as a construct for the purposes of being detected.
- Rarity. Scarce. The art of bringing extensive life into inanimate objects is a lost talent, and so the few make-believes one may encounter are those formed from child-like wonder.
- Size. Make-Believes are generally much taller than what they once were as normal toys, but such new sizes vary between 3 to 6 tall. You are Medium or Small (your choice when selecting this race).
- Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
- Made of Joy. Your body’s inanimate composition provides you the following.
- You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe.
- You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, as well as resistance to poison damage.
- You are immune to diseases.
- Return to Size. As a bonus action, you can transform into a Tiny toy. For the next hour, or until you end it early (no action required), you gain the following.
- Your movement speed is 10ft.
- Your attacks are made with disadvantage.
- You cannot speak.
- You have advantage on Charisma checks to pass off as a inanimate toy, and creatures who do not know you have disadvantage on Wisdom checks to realize you aren’t a normal toy.
- You gain temporary hit points equal to double your character level. This feature ends early if these temporary hit points drop to 0.
- Once you have used this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
- Toy Composition. The toy you grew from has provided you unique abilities! Choose one:
- Doll. You gain proficiency in Acrobatics and Deception.
- Puppet. You gain proficiency in Performance, and can use the Help action to aid a friendly creature within 30 feet of you on their next ability check if they can see or hear you.
- Plushie. You gain proficiency in Insight. Each time you expend one or more hit dice during a short rest, choose one of them. Each creature of your choice within 15 feet of you regain additional hit points equal to half that roll.
- Action Figure. You gain proficiency in Persuasion. The first attack you make each turn has advantage if attacking a creature that attacked a creature friendly to you since the start of their last turn.
| d6 | Make-Believe Characteristics |
|---|---|
| 1 | I lost my creator as soon as I was born. I wander the world to find them. |
| 2 | I hate lying. I was told everytime I lie, I make a kid cry, so no lies from me! |
| 3 | I have nightmares of waking up being made of flesh, but I am still hollow inside. |
| 4 | My owner made me to protect them from the night. They may be gone now, but I will stop at nothing to protect others from the dark. |
| 5 | I fear I was born from the anguish of a lost child, for the child in that family portrait looks too much like me. |
| 6 | Nobody knows my actual voice is deeper than the abyss. The children prefer a whimsical voice. |
