Psukhopomp (5e Race)

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/king-hime Property of King-Hime

Psukhopomp

As the old man dies, the pale man with a plain, wooden mask holds his hand over his face, guiding his soul to the afterlife with a quick prayer. Tearing through hordes of undead, a bestial werewolf-like creature with a head reminiscent of an animal skull tears into the abominations of nature, letting out a chilling howl before ripping the head off a zombie with its sharp fangs.

Created by rituals done to let them leave their humanity, psukhopomps hide their entire life from scrutiny. Scarce and melancholic, this race of beings only want one thing: To be forgotten and to attune their sins.

Physical Description

Most psukhopomps, or "pomps" for a shorter name, wear masks that conceal their faces, in order to separate individuals from their previous life but still honoring their culture. They are not undead, but rather their own category, albeit they rise from the dead, reborn as a new creature. Soulguide Pomps look like pale skinned humans with silver eyes, and black, grey, or white hair. They cover their face with plain looking masks. Marauder Pomps are bestial in appearance, with lupine bodies covered in black fur, like werewolves, only that their head appears to be an animal skull, such as a wolf, stag, or avian.

History

Pomps are normally ritually formed from the souls of the dead taht commited a sin they repented too late, but don't want to risk becoming a ghost, and often retain quite a bit of individuality derived from their soul's previous existence. They are not undead, and are more similar to spirits or constructs if not their own category. Soulguides are the more wise and quick, they normally take the tasks of guiding souls to the right place, and preventing soul misuse or possession. Marauders are more feral, using their brawn and durability to hunt undead, the psukhopomp's eternal enemy.

Society

Soulguode Psukhopomps see the dead as their responsibility and a potential source of infinite problems. They reluctantly guide souls, and are happy to guide them and get it over with. Marauders see the undead as foul creatures that must be destroyed at all costs, and often go out of their way to destroy them, if able. This is not to say they refuse to work with undead, but eventually they will find a way to betray their temporary companions or employers, if they are undead in nature.

Pomp Names

Psukhopomps have names based on the Greek names of our world. Soulguides have more human sounding names, while Marauders do not bother with names, and call themselves a name that describes their personality, appearance, or fighting style. Male: Athanasios, Alexander, Aegeus, Gruffclaw, Soulripper, Umberskull

Female: Agafya, Agata, Phoebe, Swiftfang, Dusktail, Moonmarrow

Pomp Traits

A race of ritualistically created beings
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. Pomps do not die of old age. After their wrongdoings are forgotten or their body is destroyed, they die.
Alignment. Usually a pomp leans to neutral alignments, but almost never evil.
Size. Most Pomps stand from 5 to 6 feet tall, but Marauders are 6 to 7 feet. Your size is Medium.
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.
Undead Animosity. You cannot be possessed by undead, and you gain advantage on saving throws that are forced by undead. You can sense whether a creature is undead if it is within 120 feet of you.
Damage Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic and radiant damage.
Ward Death. If you are subject to an effect or attack that would kill you instantly, make a death roll. On a 10 or higher, you are not killed, but rather reduced to 0 hit points and stable. Otherwise, you are inevitably killed. Your soul is considered unwilling for the consideration of spell effects.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Celestial, and one other language of your choice.
Subrace. Choose between the Marauders and the Soulguides

Marauder Pomp

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1
Natural Attacks. You have jaws or claws that can tear at foes. Your unarmed strikes are considered versatile simple weapons in which you are proficient and deal 1d4 slashing, necrotic or radiant damage (your choice) on a hit.
Brutal Animosity. You gain advantage on unarmed strikes against undead. Your unarmed strikes on undead count as magical for the purpose of bypasing resistances and immunities.

Soulguide Pomp

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1
Guide Soul. You can guide souls to their rightful place. When a creature dies within 30 feet of you, its soul may not be affected by spells that affect souls liberty except yours (with the means of the soul cage spell, for example). The soul goes to the respective place, according to the DM, and their willingness for magical effects is also determined at DM's discretion.
Ward from the Foul. If a creature you can see in the 30 feet sphere around you gets affected by a spell that does poison or necrotic damage, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll or give advantage if it requires a save. You can use this trait up to times equal to your proficiency bonus and regain all uses after a long rest.
Soul Protector. Other creatures benefit from and can use your Ward Death trait. Because of how taxing this is to you, they can only do this once and can't use the trait again until 7 days have passed.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 8''	+4d6	110 lb.	× (1d3) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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