Revenants

Singular; Revenant. Plural: Revenants.

Pietro remembers killing blow. Sword through neck. Was attacked before Pietro could put on armor. Everything went black. Pietro does not remember after that, just... anger. Pietro did not wish to die. Woke up in the ashes of home. Body was no more. Pietro just remembers the cold feeling of metal, finding old armor wrapped around like second, broken, skin. But fire remained. Fire remained inside soul. Pietro still burning, inside. Wishes to burn Order to the ground, watch new body reflect in their eyes. Watch what they have wished to kill, kill them. - Pietro Dawnstar, Alloy Revenant

What happens to a soul that refuses death, only to find its body destroyed beyond its ability to repossess? A revenant is born from such events, their unyielding spirit creating a crude body for themselves to wander the earth once more. Such bodies are often formed from the materials found around their untimely demise. Cursed are these souls to lose a part of themselves, the reason for their return barely in their grasp, and so they wander to find meaning in this cold, barren body they now call home.

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Body Remade

Revenants are most prominent in lands where necromancy has ravaged the land, leading communities to burn their dead so they may never see loved ones unwillingly return from the grave. With no body to return to, a revenant imbues its spirit into the very environment around its grave or their deathplace, transmuting it into a body it can operate. In rare cases, a revenant's body may still be partially intact, fixing its missing pieces by fusing flesh with nature so that it may walk once more.

The composition of a revenant's new body is unique to its instance, providing it varying capabilities in turn. Revenants may take up a form of ash, wood, or flesh, their new body perhaps formed from their charred remains or a tree overtop their grave. A revenant who was a warrior in life may possess their old armor, altering its shape and density to fill up the space it occupied when alive. In regions where the organs of the dead are preserved in canopic jars, it may be custom to form the jar in a humanoid form so that the spirit may return to it as a revenant.

Broken Souls

In returning to the land of the living, especially into an incomplete body, a revenant loses a part of itself in the realm of death. It is not uncommon for them to return with splintered memories, ravaged by the inability to recall key moments of their lives as they seek out either closure or a way home. These memories may return with time, but many claim that their return occurs during times of great peril, leading revenants to pursue death and its many dangers if they wish to remember themselves once again.

Even if a revenant returns with memories intact, their personality may not be like the one they had in life. The sheer willpower to return to the living and forge a body for oneself may greatly enhance the personality traits tied to the emotions or desires that fueled their resurrection. A revenant who was once a guardian knight may prove to now be overprotective and defensive, while one who died before they could find something they were seeking could prove to be constantly restless and always wanting to move.

While their new body may not require nutrients, revenants still require the need to rest and sleep, their mind capable of exhaustion just like in their previous life.

Restless and Unfulfilled

Due to their touch with death and with a reforged body, revenants will frequently take on the life of adventuring. Some may seek to take the path to regain their memories and make them whole once more, while others may reject this broken past and set out to make themselves anew, reincarnated as something new but perhaps still deadset in fulfilling the goals of their past life. Perhaps their previous capabilities prove more useful in their new body, or their encounter with death awakened powers once locked while they were alive.

Revenant Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. It is estimated that revenants will die of "old age" after fifty years in their new body, crumbling into dust.
Creature Type. You are a Humanoid, but count as Undead for the purposes of being detected.
Rarity. Extraordinary. Few return to the living on their own, and those who do are often hunted down by clergy and hunters of the undead.
Size. You are Medium or Small (your choice when selecting this race).
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
Born from Death. Your undying spirit and reformed body provides you the following benefits:
- You have advantage on saving throws against diseases and being poisoned.
- You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
Grim Determination. Upon rolling a failed death save, you can instead treat it as a success. Once you have done so, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
Lost Memories. You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice, as well as one of the following: a language, a tool, or a weapon of your choice.
Self-Made Body. A revenant’s abilities differ greatly based on the materials that composes its new body. Choose one of the following benefits.
- Warped Alloy. You have a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier does not affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but you can apply a shield's bonus as normal if you are using one. As part of a long rest, you can integrate a piece of armor into your body, gaining its magical benefits (if any).
- Warped Ash. You have resistance to fire damage. Moreover, you can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide, provided you are wearing and carrying nothing. You can also move through any creature’s spaces, regardless of their size.
- Warped Clay. You know the *Mending* and *Spare the Dying* cantrips. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the *Gentle Repose* and *False Life* spell once as 2nd-level spell with this trait, regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.
- Warped Flesh. You know the Primal Savagery cantrip, and can cast it as a bonus action a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus. When casting it in this way, this attack deals necrotic damage and uses a d12.
- Warped Wood. Your reach is 5 feet greater than normal.

d6	Revenant Characteristics
1	I was an adventurer on the brink of fame or infamy, before I met my untimely demise. I refuse to die before I attain the fame I was promised!
2	I frequently forget the composition of my new body, over or underestimating its capabilities as I think myself in my living body.
3	I was put to death for a crime I never committed. I will have my vengeance against this so-called "justice".
4	I keep seeing this figure in my dreams. I believe them to be the reason I returned, but I cannot remember who they are. I will stop at nothing to find them.
5	I made a promise stronger than death. I will ensure it remains unbroken.
6	I seek a way to return to my old body, or to make myself anew in something better.