Homunculus, 2nd Variant (5e Race)
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Homonculus
As If They Were Human
Those imbued with Philosopher's Stones appear just like anyone else. A normal member of their race, with the same traits as ever - but they hide a dark secret. Inside the core of their being, and circulating through your blood, is its magic. And, of course, it might be a bit jarring to see someone lose an arm and return with it back a week later, but in a world of magic and fantasy, that can happen! And it's definitely possible for someone to have their head utterly obliterated only to show up only a few days later without a scratch... Right?
Alchemical Miracle
However it came about you, you are now in possession of a Philosopher’s Stone. However, it is inside of your body, and, in fact, part of it. It powers your bodily functions past the normal means, keeping you youthful and alive for a potentially infinite amount of time, and giving you incredible transmutation powers. The individual Philosopher’s Stone cannot be used without killing you, and removing it would do so as well.
It is the souls of others that power the stone - they were used in a transmutation circle, big or small, with their spirits as the ingredients for the luminous stone at your core. They are with you always - their attitude depends on who you are. Perhaps you are a cold and ruthless killer, whose actions the souls of a peaceable kingdom protest. Or, maybe you have taken the time to talk with each and every one of them, unifying their souls under a united cause. After all, those with Stones become biologically immortal, so taking the time to do so is quite easy.
The number of people within you does not matter functionally; the stones will work the same whether it is 100 or 100,000. The number of souls within does give more strength to a stone, but they will get the same traits - the rest is up to the character. Although, more than one soul is needed for a stone to be created, as just one would be your soul within your original body.
The stone’s residence inside your body makes your true identity rather easy to hide. You can blend in with society, albeit staying ageless and youthful. However, your magical nature leaves you to be easily discoverable by any magician with enough power on their hands, and when word gets out that a philosopher’s stone is somewhere, people will more often than not want to find it. They want to find you.
Society
Being much less a race and more of a magical alteration or augmentation to one’s body, individuals embedded with Philosopher’s Stones do not have a unified culture or a culture of their own at all. They almost always stay with the one that they were born into and that they began life as, unless, of course, you were shunned or rejected for gaining this unnatural magical power.
Homonculus Names
Again, they do not have a single unified culture or any at all, so the names are purely up to their original race. It is not uncommon for those who undergo this transformation to change their name or pick a different one, due to either leaving their culture or being symbolic of the enormous physical and spiritual change.
Homonculus Traits
To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2 and your Intelligence increases by 1.
Age. They age at the normal speed for their original race, however they stop aging once they reach a good way into adulthood. At that point, they will live until either they are killed or their Philosopher’s Stone runs out of power - exhausted or drained through magical means.
Alignment. You follow the same alignment as the race you were before your transformation.
Size. You are as tall as your race would normally be. Your size is either Small or Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Once Another. Prior to the transformation into your current form, you were once a normal member of a different race. Besides the traits listed here, you retain the original's culture, naming conventions, size category, appearance, and alignment. As well as this, you may also choose one trait from that race, and gain it permanently. This race must be a living creature and cannot be an undead, or construct.
Screams of the Damned. The philosopher’s stone within your body contains tens to thousands of souls. You hear their voices almost always, fragmented and chaotic. Until you can come to peace with your inner turmoil, they always make noise. You have disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed, as the voices can cloud your judgment or confuse you needlessly. You can focus your mind and listen to what they say, hearing them clearly and even one at a time. Doing so takes 10 minutes and can be done over the course of a short rest, taking your full concentration to perform.
Regenerator. The power of the Philosopher's Stone inside you allows for your body to regenerate. If you lose a limb or body part such as an eye, heart, hand, etc, you can use your reaction to regrow it instantly, exactly as it was before. When you do so you have disadvantages on all ability checks until the end of your next turn and once used you cannot use this trait again until you complete a short or long rest. You are also immune to the effects of Lingering Injuries (as described on page 272 of the Dungeon Master's Guide), regenerating these injuries instantly.
Renkinjutsu. Your body has the power to transmute matter. You know a cantrip of your choice from the school of transmutation. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast a 1st level transmutation spell once and need to finish a long rest before you can cast it again. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Magnum Opus. You are the living embodiment of transmutation magic and as such you appear as a creature of magical force for effects that would detect you such as detect magic.
Imperfect Being. Even though you contain massive amounts of energy within yourself, you are still a living being. You need food, water, and air, just like any other creature. However, when you use your Screams of the Damned trait you can suspend your life energy using the souls within, forgoing food and water for up to 8 hours.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write the languages granted by your race.
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