Formless Folk (5e Race)

Formless folk

Formless folks were myths that were among the people of earlier days. Over the centuries people even forgot about the myths that were left of them too. Only a few still remembers the tales of the old days.

These people are highly influenced by nature and society, and the process continues for over hundreds of years. That's why the wisest believe that they are the very reflection of society, civilization, and human nature in general. other believes that they are the variable send by the gods to determine the worth of a civilization.

But the notorious belief is that they are creation of the first beholder, Gzemnid, in an attempt to copy the creation of other gods.

Physical Description

The formless folks don't have any definite structure. They are born in the shape of a transparent human child, and as they grow up, they begin to look like their parents. In most cases, after the death of their parents the child may assume the exact look of one of the parents. On other occasions, they take the form of someone who raised them or who is very emotionally attached to them. In both cases, they take the exact form only at the death of that significant person.

In the case of inheriting the looks of their parents, they often take the adult form and appearance of their parent. After reaching adulthood the formless folk stop aging, but as they grow old, their life force decays and eventually they succumb to death.

History

Although there's no certain knowledge on their true history, the popular theory is that the formless folk were created by Gzemnid, the first beholder, in an attempt to copy the works of other gods. Other theories say that it was a failed attempt to create a replacement of the first beholder himself.

Most of the formless folks are neutral in nature and just blends with the society to live in peace and harmony but in few cases, due to their physical nature they are often exploited and manipulated.

Society

There is lore about a city consisting only of the formless folk, but nobody knows the validity of the story, and the whereabouts of the city is shrouded in mystery. Some formless folk travel in groups around the world in search of knowledge and experience, to give a meaning to their lives.

Like other shapeshifters, there are stories about formless folks becoming "lost in character," going the rest of their lives in one shape and one personality until they remain trapped in it forever, and don't even remember who they used to be. Other horror stories talk about creatures slowly realizing they are formless folks, at the death of their loved ones. Some even confuse themselves with being Doppelganger upon realizing, but the strangest of the stories goes that due to severe loss and sadness, they sometimes take the form of inanimate objects and slowly shut down their consciousness.

Natural Enemy

Doom stalker's are ever natural enemy of the formless folks. They take away the most precious thing of the formless folks which is their memories causing them to turn back into their transparent childlike shape. although feeding the core of the enemy reverts them back to their usual form. but this proves difficult as the enemies are constantly improving depending on its target and changing its form and pattern of attack.

Formless folk Names

They do not have a language of their own, and their names are almost always loan-words from the languages of others.

Formless folk Traits

A highly skilled shapeshifter race with an unending craving for knowledge.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. The formless folk's reach Physical maturity at the age of 250 and often lives up-to 1200 years. In some cases they may live for thousands of years as an inanimate object un-till strong emotions around it awakens it from its dormant state.
Alignment. The majority of Formless folks are neutral and are often heavily influenced by the society or civilization itself.
Size. The size of the formless folk depends on the form he took or inherited. But they tend to be medium bi-pedal creatures.
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.
Page Of History. You are proficient in the History and Insight skill.
Limited Shapechanger. As a bonus action, you can polymorph into a person you are emotionally attached to and has already died. If you die, you revert to your true form. You retain all of your normal statistics while in this form. Starting at level 3 you can take form of two person. You may gain more humanoid forms during the campaign depending on the player and DM's discretion.
Mimicry. As a bonus action, you can turn into a small or medium object. But to do so, you have to hurt yourself by that object and you can stay in that form for hours equal to the number of hit points you have lost. While you remain motionless, as an object you are indistinguishable from an ordinary object, you still retain your senses but you see your surrounding in shades of black and white. Your Ac in any forms of object you take, is always 10 and you revert back to your usual form upon taking damage. Moreover, you take away the damage you took from your total hp.
Adaptive Body. You have advantage on saving throws against poisoned and you have resistance against poison damage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other language of your choice.

Suggested Characteristics

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

d6	Personality Trait
1	My family accepted me even after knowing what I was so, I chose to believe in them and be like what I raised to be and not what I was born to be.
2	I once got "lost in character" for almost a decade, and realizing I wasn't actually the person I thought I was was a very traumatic experience. But it also gave me a newfound sense of empathy for the people I manipulate and imitate.
3	I'm all about living the good life. Adventuring is great pay for a comparatively small amount of effort.
4	I have been been wandering the world for years in search of the city of the formless folk.
5	I'm... kind of a blank slate. I find I get dyed in the color of the people I interact with or imitate for a long time afterwards.
6	All my life, I wanted to belong, to be accepted. It's nice being around people who know what I am and accept me anyway.

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