Tuchgeist (5e Race)

Tuchgeist

(TOOK-gaist)

"Don't look underneath, or you'll lose your so-o-oul!" -- Mr. Scratch, tuchgeist paladin

Physical Description

Mr. Scratch, a tuchgeist paladin, by Knight9910, Source

The name tuchgeist means cloth ghost, and is a quite accurate name. Indeed, tuchgeister are literally lost souls possessing bodies made of fabric, usually bedsheets or tablecloths. When active, they look much like a person standing upright with a cloth draped around them, except that there is no body inside. Though tuchgeister readily warn people against trying to look underneath their cloth (and doing so is considered a grave offense against them), there is in fact nothing inside of them at all. Their body is only cloth and nothing more.

History

Long ago, there was a little vampiress, forever bound to the body of a small child. Having great magic but not the physical strength to protect or feed herself, she decided to create minions to serve her instead. She summoned up lost spirits from the netherworld, spirits that had wandered for countless eons such that they had long since forgotten who they once were or why they should care, and she bound these spirits into bodies made of fabric from around her castle. The result was a race of beings with surprising strength, little will of their own, and a readiness - even an eagerness - to serve for no further compensation than simple affirmation. In short: ideal servants.

Since then, the secret of creating these beings has spread far and wide. Demons and dark wizards often give tuchgeister as gifts to their children, with the beings able to serve as bodyguard and playmate both in one. Even some adults make use of them; surely one could still appreciate the value of a loyal follower willing to work for almost nothing.

In any case, tuchgeister almost inevitably end up alone. Children grow up and decide they no longer want their childish cloth friend around. Dark lords get slain, leaving behind their innocent and adorable minions that the hero didn't have it in themselves to destroy. Abandoned tuchgeister have been known to wait patiently for years or even centuries in the vain hope that their beloved master will one day return for them. Some of them may never stop waiting, but most will eventually realize the futility of it all and go to find their own way in the world, and perhaps a new best friend. They may end up joining together with small communities of other abandoned tuchgeister. Rarely, they may make friends with an adventurous sort and take up a life of adventure themselves.

Society

When not under the command of any master, tuchgeister tend to dwell alone, or in small communities called haunts. A typical haunt is made up of between 4 to 13 individuals. It will almost never be 7 or 12, however, as those are considered unlucky numbers to tuchgeister.

Despite their quasi-undead nature and origin as a vampire's servants, tuchgeister are not inherently evil. Rather, their demeanor is that of small and mischievous children. They will spend their days trying to one-up each other with pranks, usually at the expense of local mortal populations. In all, having even a notably large haunt near one's town is rarely dangerous, but it can be extremely annoying.

Tuchgeister are also known to collect candy, which they can "eat" by wrapping it up inside their cloth body, causing it to mysteriously disappear. It is questionable if this really counts as eating, but they seem to enjoy it nonetheless. In some cases, they may also share their sweet treasures with mortals that they've taken a liking to. One should be wary of such gifts, however, as tuchgeister are notorious pranksters and like to give bitter candies as well as sweet ones.

Their childish attitude leads many to underestimate this race and believe them to also have the intellect of small children. Tuchgeister actually possess the full learning capacity of an adult, and can be quite cunning when they need to be. Of course, the truly wise are more than happy to let others assume the least of them, in order to gain the advantage.

Tuchgeist Names

Tuchgeister do not have names until they are given one by their masters. This name can be anything that the master feels appropriate, but given that their masters are usually children, the names tend to be some combination of cute, funny, and simple.

In some cases, tuchgeister that have been abandoned by their masters may choose to take new names, no longer wishing to be called by the name given by the one who betrayed their loyalty. The names that these tuchgeister choose for themselves tend to reflect their now cynical and rebellious nature, though of course filtered through their own childish idea of what being cynical and rebellious is.

Given Names: Tuckie, Mr. White, Pillow, Boo

Chosen Names: Howl, Killer, Boogie, Devil

Tuchgeist Traits

Living bedsheet ghosts created to be servants of darkness, they crave candy and friendship.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. Tuchgeister come into being already fully matured. They do not age and their supernaturally strengthened bedsheet bodies will never naturally decay.
Alignment. Tuchgeister were made to be servants and they crave affirmation. As such, they tend toward lawful alignments.
Size. When spread out, an average tuchgeist is roughly 3 to 6 feet wide and 6 to 7 feet long. When standing upright, they are around 3 to 4 feet tall. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fabric Body. Your creature type is construct, rather than humanoid. You are immune to spells and effects that specifically target humanoids, such as dominate person, as well as spells and effects that do not affect constructs or undead, such as cure wounds. You are affected by the mending cantrip, which also restores 1d6 hit points when used on you. You are immune to diseases and aging effects. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws to resist the poisoned condition, and you have resistance to poison and necrotic damage. You do not need to eat or breathe, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish. Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal. Additionally, you can fit through any opening that a bedsheet could be pushed or pulled through.
False Appearance. When motionless and not floating, you are indistinguishable from a normal piece of fabric.
Floating. Unless you choose to lay flat on the ground, you constantly float a few feet in the air. When falling, your maximum rate of descent is 60 feet per round, and you do not take falling damage. You also can not be made prone.

At 5th level, you learn the fly spell and can cast it once on yourself only without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast it in this way when you finish a short or long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
Jump Scare. You are proficient in Intimidation. When making a Charisma (Intimidation) check against a living creature who can see and hear you, but who is unaware of your presence, you add double your proficiency bonus to the check instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.

Racial Feats

Boogey Magichand Deathdevilmonsterkiller III, a tuchgeist arcane trickster, by Knight9910, Source

Boogeyman

Prerequisite: Tuchgeist,

Your sudden appearance is not only shocking but truly terrifying, and you have adapted to feed on the fear that you cause.

• When you make an attack against a living creature within 30 feet of you, who can see and hear you but who is unaware of your presence, you can use a bonus action to force that creature to make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
• Whenever you cause a creature to become frightened, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level.

Trick or Treat

Prerequisite: Tuchgeist

As a bonus action, you can create a piece of magical candy which is either beneficial or baleful in nature. You always know whether you have created a trick candy or treat candy, but there is no way for anyone else to know without eating the candy. Once created, the candy lasts for 1 minute before dissolving into nothing. During this time, any one creature can use an action to eat the candy and gain its effects, or you can use your own action to make an attack roll and attempt to force feed the candy to someone. Once you have created a candy, you can not create another until after you finish a short or long rest.

• A trick candy is gross enough to gag even a troll. A creature that eats the candy takes 2d8 poison damage and is poisoned until the end of their next turn.
• A treat candy is perfectly sweet without being too sweet, and is strangely satisfying. A creature that eats the candy regains 2d8 hit points, and can immediately make another saving throw against any ongoing condition.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 0''	+1d12	1 lb.	× (0.1) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Suggested Characteristics

When creating a tuchgeist character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.

d6	Personality Trait
1	My puns will always tickle your funny bone. I dare say they're very... "humerus"! Get it?!
2	O-oh, hello... um... please d-don't look at me...
3	I'm a sophisticated spirit and I don't appreciate being treated like a child. ...I will accept some candy, though, but only because I choose to.
4	... (I don't talk much.)
5	Roses are red, violets are blue. Lock your door, I'm coming for you!
6	I'm completely unbothered by things that living people consider dark and depressing. I'm already dead, after all, and it's not so bad.

d6	Ideal
1	Spooky, Scary. I take pride in my ability to get a scream from even the bravest soul. No one is as spoopy as me. (Neutral)
2	Candy King. I want to taste the sweetest sweets from around the world. Candies, pastries, sweet meats, even juice and fruit, I want it all. Give it to me! (Any)
3	Best Friends. I love playing and sharing candy with my friends. Are you my friend? You are now! (Good)
4	Little Nightmare. Spooky is for babies, I want to cause real fear. Gegege, I bet I can scare you to death! (Evil)
5	Free Spirit. You know what they say: ghouls just want to have fun! (Chaotic)
6	For the Master. I love my master. I protect them and play with them, and they will be my best friend forever and ever. (Lawful)

d6	Bond
1	I will do anything to make my master happy and for me to be happy with them.
2	My master abandoned me, but I've made new friends and they'll never leave me. I'll do anything for them.
3	They were my best friend and master, and they abandoned me. Why don't they love me anymore? I'll make them love me!
4	My master got hurt because of me. I need to redeem myself.
5	I think I can almost remember who I was when I was alive. I want to learn my identity.
6	I'm tired of people being scared of me. I wish I could be a person again.

d6	Flaw
1	My flaw is... wait, what were we talking about again? Ah, I found a copper piece on the ground!
2	I can be very possessive. You don't need any other friends besides me anyway, right?
3	Everyone is my friend. Everyone! Ohmigosh, that ancient red dragon looks so cute, I'm gonna go boop her on the nose!
4	I'm not good at talking to people... sorry...
5	People say I talk too much. I'm not sure why they'd say something like that, though. Hey, that reminds me of a story! This one time I was talking with... wait, where are you going? Can I come too? Okay, so the story...
6	Sometimes I forget that my living playmates are more fragile than I am. They don't usually get hurt... too badly...

5.00

(one vote)

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