Revenant "Race" for ACKS

(c) Seamartini www.fotosearch.com Stock Photography

Some say that death brings final rest and respite to man. However, some spirits cannot rest. Drawn to the living world by an oath unfulfilled or a mortal sin unconfessed, these revenants emerge, restless, from the grave to right the wrongs of their former lives. Many are monstrous undead, acting in vile ways to pursue the crimes they committed while living. A few, however, evade the dark grasp of Chaos and retain their free will. Some retain their own morality.

Revenants are undead, albeit free-willed undead. They must consume the blood and flesh of living or recently dead sentient beings to heal and exist. A Chaotic revenant will gleefully engage in cannibalism. A Neutral one, on the other hand, will steal corpses from coffins and gallows, feed on the flesh of evil men and beastmen, and drink some of the blood of the living while keeping them alive.

A revenant has a mission. This might be vengeance, or maybe redemption. Its player must choose a mission which will allow for a long campaign - a long-term mission rather than a short-term one. This mission will take precedence over other goals, as it alone keeps the dead character walking. Once completed, the revenant should usually die; alternatively, a Judge may allow continued play pursuing a new goal, especially if other player characters - spell-casters and their allies - have already turned into sentient undead through magical research, or plan to do so.

As noted above, revenants have free will. Enough free that a player would be able to play them as any other player's character. However, note that they are reviled by their very nature, and must take great efforts to disguise their true form, lest the living  cower in fear from this visage, or try to slay the unliving character. Thus, the prudent Judge should consider this race carefully, and only allow experienced players to play it.

By the Law of nature and Law of the Divine, a revenant shouldn't exist; death should be final. Thus, a revenant may be Neutral or Chaotic, but never Lawful, even if they walk the land to pursue a Lawful cause or calling.

Requirements:

A revenant must have Constitution and Wisdom scores of 12 each.

Class category values:

• A revenant class may have any category value. However, it may not choose a spell-caster class with a Lawful code of behavior and it may not turn undead. In case of a Divine spell-caster, it must choose Control undead instead.

• Revenants with an Arcane class cannot use spell research to become undead - as it is already undead.

Revenant 0 (100xp):

• Relentless: The revenant is unaffected by the paralysis ghouls can inflict, and gain a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Petrification/Paralysis and Spells (reskinned Connection to Nature). 1 power.

• Dead Soul: The revenant is dead and cursed and is beyond the capability of magic to return to life. It cannot be restored by Restore Life and Limb. Instead, this requires Animate Dead; after the spell is cast, roll on the Tampering with Mortality table. The revenant, of course, stays dead, but may be reanimated into undeath. Furthermore, it suffers a penalty on the 1d20 roll of the Tampering with Mortality table of -1 per level of experience.

• Dead: a revenant is not a living being and thus it does not have to breathe. It also does not have to eat and drink except for healing purposes (see below). It is also immune to all forms of disease and poison including magical ones. 2 powers.

• Sleepless: a revenant does not have to sleep, and cannot sleep even if it desires to do so. It is also immune to all sleep powers and effects. 1 power.

• Reverse healing: a revenant is undead. Therefore, regular healing spells damage it, while reverse healing spells (such as Harm) heal it. Potions of Healing damage the revenant. -1 power.

• Unholy: a revenant may be turned like any other undead of the same HD and are vulnerable to weapons and other effects (such as holy water) which harm the undead. However, their strength of will and the importance of their mission - which brought them back from the grave - allow them a save vs. death, with a +2 bonus, to escape the effects of turning. If this save fails, a "turned" result works like a fear spell; a "destroyed" result instantly slays the character; and a "controlled" result works as a charm effect. -2 powers.

• Deathly Visage: a revenant suffers -2 on reaction rolls vs. any non-Chaotic beings, and enjoys +2 to reaction rolls with Chaotic beings. 0 powers.

• Bloody Healing: the revenant does not heal naturally. Instead, it can only heal by magical means, or by consuming the flesh or blood of living or recently-dead sentient beings. One XP worth or creature eaten heals one hit point in the revenant. The revenant may also drink the blood of a living being. This requires a willing or incapacitated target, reduces the target's hit points by half of its regular maximum, and heals the revenant as if the target had half of its regular XP. -1 power.

• Profane Endurance: like many undead, the revenant resists mundane damage. At 1st level, the character gains a +2 bonus to AC and decrease the damage from any non-magical attacks by 1 point per die. At 7th level, this protection increases to +4 AC and 2 points per die. At 13th level, the protection increases to +6 AC and 3 points per die. The damage reduction is applied per die. Damage can be reduced to 0, but not less than 0, on each die. this AC bonus from stacks with potions of invulnerability, rings of protection, and similar effects, but does not stack with armor. Attacks from monsters of 5 HD or more are considered magical attacks due to the monster’s ferocity; the same goes to silver weapons.

Revenant 1 (600xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD 1 (500xp)

Revenant 2 (1,100xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD 1 (500xp)
• Fighting 1 (500xp)

Revenant 3 (1,600xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD 2 (1,000xp)
• Fighting 1 (500xp)

Revenant 4 (2,100xp):

• Revenant 0 (100xp)
• HD2 (1,000xp)
• Fighting 2 (1,000xp)

Additional XP requirement after level 8: 40,000xp.