D&D Homebrew Races - The Bonepuppet / Living Skeletons
A homebrew race of sentient skeletons for Dungeons & Dragons 3e/3.5; created by Aboleth Eye!
As always, though this homebrew was made with D&D 3.5 edition in mind, with a few tweaks you can absolutely use this material with Pathfinder 1st edition! -- Aboleth Eye
Many undead, like the humble monstrous skeleton, are easily animated and therefore manipulated by necromancers for menial, malicious tasks. By the time a dead creature’s remains rot into nothing but a skeleton, the living soul is almost entirely expunged from the bones left behind. All humanoid races fear the mindless skeleton, the remains of a living person animated by a dark will and resentment.
Bonepuppets are the exception to what many believe animated skeletons are capable of. Upon first encounter, they appear as corporeal skeletons of humanoids like every other skeleton. However, through unknown means or magical interference, each of these unique creatures have had their “soul” returned. They are no longer simple stacks of bone, but souls returned in a cage of undeath.
Some bonepuppets began as simple skeletal guards and servants under the thumb of necromancers. Over time they were typically left to collect dust once their maker themselves died. Time in the dark inevitably gives the soul a chance to reignite and find its way back to what remains of a person.
Other bonepuppets regained their soul upon their reanimation; much to the shock of themselves and any necromancer attempting to control them. Some instances of bonepuppets have even crawled out of long-used charnel pits, screaming for lost friends and family to help them while their bones collect from being scattered about.
One bonepuppet, after becoming a respected member of a mage’s college, recalled that they came into existence from their ashes after a terrible fire. Supposedly, a gentle but dark wind from an unknown source pulled up the ashes from the floor and reassembled their skeleton in solidified corporeal form, their mind slowly more aware as this process happened.
Bonepuppets are rare undead, almost inconceivable in theory and impossible to identify among skeleton hordes. Maybe one in five hundred humanoid skeletons could be a bonepuppet; and even then the situation that awakens their soul could come at any time or never at all. Plus, most living creatures fear undead on instinct so almost all bonepuppets hide to avoid angry mobs, paranoid necromancers or vengeful paladins.
Having a new lease on existing (instead of stopping); these living skeletons are free to pursue everything their past lives failed to accomplish! Though their path is fraught with fear and danger, what do they have to lose now?
Physical Description
It is nearly impossible to tell on a physical level if a skeleton is a bonepuppet. And just as hard to predict if it will ever awaken as one. Before having their so-called “soul” returned, pretty much every animated skeleton looks the same as another. But after the spiritual presence returns, a bonepuppet’s eye sockets suddenly host small beads of light that look about and blink, just like eyes. But it is very hard to spot unless you know what to look for.
Most bonepuppets are made from the adult skeletons of a humanoid creature. They typically stand at the height of their original living self, but are about ¾ or less in weight due to loss of the body's flesh, blood and other biological matter.
Unless by some truly profane circumstances, rarely will the soul of a child return to its skeletal remains... Humanoids of smaller stature, such as halflings and gnomes (and rarely but unfortunately the children of taller races), may also rise as smaller bonepuppets. They typically stand between 2 ½ to 3 ½ feet in height, weighing half their living size.
Bonepuppet bodies are as hardy as bone, and despite not having nerves they do express pain and other sensations inflicted to their bodies. Whenever a bonepuppet is harmed to the point of a bone breaking or fracturing, the point of injury will typically seep a deep red marrow-like substance that seals up the fracture over time. Negative energy and this marrow can easily restore their skeletal bodies with barely a mark on the bone.
These undead creatures have the ability to speak and communicate. They have humanoid voices, and can project sound from their skulls without having tongues or lungs. Any language they knew in a previous life is accessible to them.
As undead they are effectively immune to most charms and compulsions; unless they specifically target undead alone. However, their undead state prohibits all attempts at willing telepathic communication. Some bonepuppets and necromantic scholars believe the soul these creatures is joined with the animating marrow coursing within the bones; able to project their thoughts and emotions but unable to join other human minds (and souls) in conversation.
Remarkably, a bonepuppet’s most bizarre physical ability is remaining complete and whole. A bonepuppet’s individual bones always pull towards one another, as if magnetized to where the bones meet one another. Or perhaps it is drawn to refit into the shape of its animating “soul”?
For example, if a bonepuppet is taken apart or has a bone removed up to a short distance away; the separated bones will dissolve to an animated cloud of bone dust and reassemble itself back in place on the central body. Having bones taken in this manner is apparently painful for a bonepuppet, compared to a stubbed toe or phantom limb syndrome. It seems when done in this matter, bones removed from a bonepuppet will always fall apart if moved two or three feet from the remaining majority.
Some bonepuppets can willingly let go of their bodily integrity, allowing them to fall to literal pieces in a jumbled pile. From this piled form they can easily leap back up into their whole skeletal form, which is quite surprising and useful for ambushes. A piled bonepuppet can be spread apart within a three-foot radius of the skull with no discomfort to the creature. Spellcasters among bonepuppets may allow their bodies to pile during their spellcasting meditations and preparations.
Personality & the Soul
The personalities of bonepuppets are as varied and lively as any humanoid creature’s. For every one of these undead are animated by a single, complete or near complete soul that once lived.
Upon awakening for the very first time, most bonepuppets are delusional about or unable to reconcile their undead condition. They typically express themselves as if waking from a bad dream, or protesting the experience or persons that initially killed them. In this state of confusion and potential panic, they believe their bodies are merely numb and not lacking flesh. That their skeletal appearance is a form of madness or illusion afflicted upon them. It usually takes time and literal self-reflection that helps the newly awakened bonepuppet to recognize their existence's implications.
Most bonepuppets, after recognizing their condition, retain complete awareness of their previous life and will have foggy memories from it. These bonepuppets typically have personalities close or identical to their original living personas, according to testimonies of acquaintances and friends of the bonepuppet. It is believed that these bonepuppets have had their original soul fully returned to their new bodies, unaffected by time or other eroding factors. Of course, they may often forget their new bodies cannot perform biological actions. Some may offhandedly ask for a drink or food, being inevitably disappointed upon any attempt to consume it (and often making a mess).
Other bonepuppets from those who who died from devastating injury or perished a long time ago have little to no memories of their past lives. Perhaps their souls were taken off the Material Plane to their just reward in the planes; the return wiping or repressing their body's original memories. These amnesiacs may eventually remember experiences and connections with time and extensive social interaction. But many instead display completely new or altered personalities from their previous living selves. Some bonepuppets claim their “soul” is not originally from their current body, believing their souls wandered a great “blackness” before finding themselves in a skeletal body.
About fifty percent of bonepuppets have memories, the rest awakening with little or none...
Because bonepuppets awaken randomly, usually alone or driven into solitude, they often undergo these psychological hurdles in utter loneliness. Many start out erratic or mad upon realizing certain biological functions are impossible for them. They cannot sleep anymore, for one; so the lack of that need affects many bonepuppets mental health. They do express mental fatigue but are unable to sleep to restore themselves in this manner. Instead they must be completely inactive for an eight-hour period to restore themselves; but this leads to many bonepuppets hating sleep. Their inability to dream gets to them as well; for all they have are memories they typically wish to forget or escape from...
Many bonepuppets crave certain foods they loved when they were alive, but as skeletons they cannot taste, digest or even swallow food. Bonepuppets who perished from starvation or dehydration often lunge at food or drink to satisfy this memory-craving, but embarrisingly recognize that they are no longer capable of hunger or thirst for normal food. Some bonepuppets have bouts of insanity and even attempt to consume human flesh and blood to feel something; but this is also to no avail. They have memories of tastes and textures, but can never experience them again...
There is a rare tradition found in cults related to death gods that allows bonepuppets to experience taste and pleasure from food and drink again. It is a funerary tradition called “sin-eating”: a special meal is prepared for a departed person, metaphorically attuning the food and drink to the sins they left behind. Then a “sin-eater”, usually a close connection to the departed, ritualistically consumes the meal to absorb and carry their sins throughout their undead existence.
Bonepuppets uniquely can partake in this tradition and are able to experience the taste and satisfaction of the meal they consume. As they chew and drink in this ritual, the bonepuppet not only causes the consumed foodstuffs to vanish as if digested instantly, and the sin-eater may even experience memories of the departed’s life. Some bonepuppets are welcomed therefore in these cults that conduct sin-eating rituals. Perhaps the departed's sins, spiritually placed into the food, are the key ingredient to satisfying the human desire for taste in a bonepuppet's soul.
Sadly, bonepuppets are typically lumped together as just aberrant variations of skeletal undead. So they are commonly hunted and destroyed without restraint or nuance. A paladin may easily smite their way through a tomb without realizing a bonepuppet is raising its boney hands to beg for mercy... And a skeleton trying to blend in with a humanoid city is obviously something "dangerous and unpredictable" in their eyes...
These sorts of bad experiences, as well as their inability to be healed with conventional positive energy, draws many bonepuppets towards evil ambitions and desires. And the rewards of sin-eating as described above typically beckon them to worship evil gods as patrons. However, bonepuppets can channel both positive or negative energy as spellcasters without issue, depending on their alignment and class.
Clerics of all faiths have attempted to justify the existence of bonepuppets by merging them in their ideology regarding the intelligent dead. Sadly, this means bonepuppets are typically demonized and grouped with evil undead like liches, revenants and vampires.
Some faiths have the dogma that bonepuppets, like all undead, are hungry for human flesh and hope to patch themselves up in a new flesh body. This is completely untrue regardless of the bonepuppet’s alignment; they have no hunger nor need to consume foodstuffs or bodily flesh of any kind.
Due to prejudice against their existence, and the existential and moral quandary that comes from arising as an undead; undeath is often a literal hell for the soul of a bonepuppet...
Luckily, some civilizations and cultures see the bonepuppets as merely an extended stay of its citizens. Some explorers claim they have been to necropolis-cities entirely populated by bonepuppets, living their undeaths to the fullest and pursuing knowledge regarding their existence. Other cultures perform strange rituals upon their dead that seem to give rise to these living skeletons more often after ten or a hundred years or so, and they are given rights and lives to live within their culture as elders and death god priests.
And in these increasingly tolerant times, some cities see bonepuppets as merely a new form of adventurer. Cities that form from many cultures interacting or where adventuring circumstances are more common may see these living skeletons as merely another race to profit and engage with. They even allow these undead the city necropolis or graveyards to reside in while they rectify their existences. Some settlements, the more remote ones, do attempt to attract wandering bonepuppets to join them--though these groups are typically cults devoted to necromancy or death gods...
Bonepuppet Racial Traits
The following are the racial traits for all Bonepuppets. They can come from any Medium or Small size humanoid race, and their ability scores, size bonuses and natural weapons are affected by that choice:
- Size: Small or Medium (chosen at 1st level)
- Racial Ability Scores: the racial ability scores depend on the Bonepuppet's size, chosen at 1st level.
- Medium- Dex +2, Con --, Cha -2.
- Small - Str -2, Dex +4, Con --, Cha -2.
- Bonepuppets are light on their feet but lack the vigor of living creatures. Undead have no Constitution Score and cannot benefit from enhancements to Constitution.
- Undead Traits: All bonepuppets began as a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, brought back through strange magic, time or even by the gods.
- Hit Dice/Hit Points: Normally Undead creatures have d12s for Hit Dice, however bonepuppets retain the Hit Dice from their class levels. Like normal Undead bonepuppets do not gain any bonus hit points due to their blank Constitution modifier.
- Not at risk of death from massive damage, but when reduced to 0 hit points or less, it is immediately destroyed.
- Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
- Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
- Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.
- Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).
- Darkvision out to 60 feet.
- Uses its Charisma modifier for Concentration checks.
- Not affected by the raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures, but a sapient undead is returned to their undead forms and cannot be turned back into their previous living selves.
- Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep. An undead spellcaster must be inactive or meditate for an 8 hour period before they may refresh and choose spells for the new day, once per 24-hour period.
- Necromantic Healing: With 8 or more consecutive hours of inactivity in any 24-hour period, an undead with an Intelligence score recovers 1 hit point per Hit Die. If the undead is completely inactive for a full 24-hour period, it recovers 2 hit points per Hit Die instead.
- Magical Healing: The application of negative energy, such as an inflict wounds spell, can restore hit points to an undead. Generally, any spell that would harm a living creature by the application of negative energy heals the same number of lost hit points when cast on an undead. Positive energy has the opposite effect, cure wounds would inflict hit point damage when cast on an undead.
- Healing Ability Damage: Ability damage is temporary, just as is hit point damage. Ability damage returns at the rate of 1 point per 24 hours.
- Damage Reduction: 5/bludgeoning. The bodies of bonepuppets have no flesh or internal organs to be slashed or pierced.
- Natural Armor: The exterior of a bonepuppet’s body is hard bone and able to resist harm better than flesh could, granting them a +2 natural armor bonus to AC.
- Natural Attack: A bonepuppet’s limbs end in sharp bone, and they can use their claws as natural weapons. An unarmed bonepuppet can make 2 claw attacks as a full-attack action with their full Base Attack Bonus. Additionally, a bonepuppet wielding a weapon one-handed can attack with it as a primary attack and make one claw attack as a secondary attack.
- A Medium bonepuppet deals 1d4 + Strength modifier in slashing damage with their claws. A Small bonepuppet deals 1d3 + Str modifier with its claws.
- Special Qualities:
- Immune to cold. Skeletal bodies have no flesh or organs, and are thus unaffected by extreme cold.
- Turn Resist: The animating “soul” of a bonepuppet is so potent and willful that only higher levels of turning/rebuking undead can affect them. Treat bonepuppets as if their Hit Dice is +2 higher against turn/rebuke checks.
- Languages: Common.
- Bonus Languages: any non-secret.
- Level Adjustment: +1.
- Favored Class: Fighter. Most bonepuppets were animated to serve as warrior defenders and scouts.
- A bonepuppet cleric cannot choose any god with the Good domain as their patron. The taint of undeath is an impossible hurdle for any such powers reaching the bonepuppet’s “soul”.
- Alignment: any. The soul animating a bonepuppet is that of a humanoid, and thus can be any alignment. However, due to the living’s hatred of the undead and the potential for causing harm, many bonepuppets choose to be non-good.
But I read a comic on Tumblr many years ago that made me ponder how to create skeletons as characters. For the life of me I cannot find it (and if I do I will link it here); but it made a great impact on me and inspired this player option. It was of someone's skeleton bard in their own D&D campaign, forgetting they were undead one day and the realization came when they looked at their own reflection. It was truly heartbreaking to read, and extremely impactful to me.
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