Player Options: Undead Compulsions (Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons)

If you’ve been following the blog, then you probably know that I turned one of my players’ characters into a will-o’-wisp. Whoops.

And that meant I had to create both a new player race and class to accommodate this change. But I forgot one big thing: backgrounds! Of course, the problem with undead is that they don’t operate like normal monsters. Like Keith Ammann of TheMonstersKnow.com often points out, undead aren’t so much as free-thinking things, but more like automatons that are driven by compulsions.

Therefore, I need to create something similar for playable will-o’-wisps.

Design notes

Sometimes, when I’m working through a design (especially one I haven’t really done yet), I like to break it down and reverse engineer its parts. Fortunately, the Monster Manual, Player’s Handbook, and Dungeon Master’s Guide in Fifth Edition act like the perfect Rosetta Stone for figuring out these mechanics.

What role do backgrounds serve in Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons?

Backgrounds have a few important elements.

One major, intangible element that backgrounds offer is simply giving the characters a third dimension beyond race and class. It used to be that a human fighter was a human fighter was a human fighter. “I stand in front of monsters and hit them until they don’t hit back anymore.” But now you can make your human fighter an acolyte that’s spent his/her time serving a temple, or even a sage learned in the ways of war. An elven wizard might be a hardened criminal or a paranoid hermit. The halfling rogue might come from a noble lineage or be a salty sailor.

Another element that backgrounds offer are suggested characteristics. While it’s possible for players to come up with their own characteristics, the background characteristics fit the tone and fluff of the background more and help offer some interesting cues. Furthermore, the ideals mold the character’s alignment choice.

Game mechanics-wise, backgrounds give your character a few more minor features:

• Skill proficiencies. Typically, you get two skill proficiencies that fit with the background’s fluff.
• Tool proficiencies. Probably a little underused (at least in my campaigns), this more or less is a profession-related “mini-skill” outside of the normal skill selections.
• Languages. A few backgrounds offer extra languages.
• Equipment. In addition to whatever it is that you start with as part of your class, the background equipment helps shape your character’s appearance and fluff.
• Features. The background features are typically “roleplaying powers” that often give you the ability to stay at certain places overnight for free, NPCs to interact with in-game, etc.

What are compulsions?

There’s a lot of benefits that go into being an undead. However, those benefits are balanced by a few negative factors.

First, it’s tough as hell to heal. Without regeneration or rejuvenation, take enough damage to destroy you and that’s it. Onto the after-afterlife.

There are the roleplaying ramifications, too. A lich can’t just walk into town and have a beer. I mean, he could, but he probably wouldn’t last long. As an undead, you have to keep a pretty low profile or the villagers will break out the pitchforks and torches.

Finally, all undead are driven by compulsions, all-consuming obsessive habits that they must fulfill. Vampires need blood. Liches need knowledge. And will-o’-wisps must destroy life.

So when I go to create a compulsion mechanic for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, I want to make sure that a) helps balance all the other goodness that comes with being undead and b) isn’t so obnoxious it makes the character unplayable.

Backgrounds and compulsions for will-o’-wisps.

The trouble with the backgrounds for will-o’-wisps is that none of them really make sense. Take, for example, the criminal background. You have skill proficiencies in Deception and Stealth (which kind of makes sense), but then you have proficiencies with a game set (lol wut?) and set of thieves’ tool. Being ephemeral/incorporeal, none of these really help.

They can’t use equipment, so those lists are totally shot. And finally, the features and suggested characteristics don’t really gel with an undead creature.

Instead of backgrounds, I think the solution here is simple: replace backgrounds with compulsions which function more or less the same way backgrounds do but with a few minor tweaks:

• No tool proficiencies. Because some of the undead classes such as the will-o’-wisp and others I plan to create may not always have corporeal bodies (wraiths, wisps, banshees, etc), it doesn’t make sense to give them tools. Instead, they use their inherent powers to perform complicated tasks.
• No equipment. You can’t carry things with you into the afterlife, therefore, it doesn’t make sense to have equipment. Plus, some undead classes will assume that you might already have gear (like if you become a revenant or a lich).
• Languages. Some undead races and classes are tied closely to other evil beings. Therefore, it makes sense to have some bonus languages.
• Lair. Instead of the “feature” which helps with your adventuring, you have a lair, a place that you can recover and recharge (sometimes literally). As you grow in stature, your lair might even become more powerful.
• Compulsion. The heart of the compulsion element is, of course, the compulsion itself. This is what drives you to exist in undeath and comes with certain agonies if you’re unable to satisfy these compulsions. These work like downtime activities that a character must do or suffer charisma damage.
• Suggested characteristics. These more or less stay the same as backgrounds but fit better with being undead.

Compulsions

Here are two new compulsions for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition: cursed soul and servant. These compulsions take the place of backgrounds for undead characters.

Cursed Soul

Prerequisite: undead race or class

Undeath is not a welcome state as far as you’re concerned. You see it as a curse despite its many benefits and hope to find a way to end it. Ever since becoming a creature of the dark, you have worked hard to find a way to undo it. In fact, it’s all you think about. Each day that passes feels like a year, this horrible condition tearing at your very soul.

Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Religion

Lair: Hidden From the World. Embarrassed by your undead state, you’ve hidden from the living. Your lair could be an abandoned house, perhaps even the one you used to live in life. Or you could make your home the hollow of a tree in some primeval forest, or the ruins of an ancient temple. While in your lair, you gain the full benefits of a long rest in half the time it normally takes.

Compulsion: Remove the Curse. You are obsessed with ending your undead state and returning to natural life. Once a week, you must devote time to researching a method to undo your curse.

• Resources. You must spend at least four hours and 25 gp in expenses to discover a way to end your curse. Spending more time and money increases your chance of finding a clue.
• Resolution. You make (your choice of) an Intelligence (Arcana) or Intelligence (Religion) check to determine whether or not you discover a secret to ending your curse. You gain a +1 bonus on the check for every four hours beyond the first four spent performing research and a +1 bonus for every additional 25 gp spent, up to a maximum bonus of +10. Determine how many clues you learn using the Research Outcomes table below.

Research Outcomes

• Charisma Loss. If you are unable to perform research or roll poorly on the research outcomes table, your compulsion begins to consume your thoughts–your Charisma score is reduced by 1d4. You lose all sense of self and become possessed by your compulsion if this reduces your Charisma to 0. At that point, the DM takes over your character and your character is effectively dead. The reduction lasts until the next time you roll an 11 or higher on the research outcomes table.

Suggested Characteristics. Cursed souls are constantly tormented by their current state of being. While they try their best to maintain a positive outlook on the world, the overwhelming desire to end their curse sometimes makes interactions with others difficult.

Servant

Prerequisite: undead race or class

Not only are you undead, but you are the undying servant of a powerful being. Your attachment to this foe shapes your very existence, and failure to comply with his/her commands could erase your entire sense of self.

Choose a fiend, powerful wizard, or some other dominant force as your master. Work with your DM to detail the nature of this service. Did you trade your eternal soul to your master in exchange for something trivial, or did you sacrifice your freedom to help others? Are you comfortable in your relationship with the one you are bound to or do you wish to free yourself from this bondage? Perhaps you are more than just a servant, but a student, learning all you can from another wiser being. Your master may not even be the one responsible for your undead nature; they’re just the one that controls you.

Skill Proficiencies. Insight, Performance

Languages. One of your choice (one that your master knows)

Master. Your master is a forceful, commanding presence, typically a powerful evil creature or spellcaster. It’s likely that you’re not their only servant, but one of many who all share the same fate as you. You can select your master from the Master table or roll randomly.

Lair: Master’s Home. You are only comfortable when you are in the presence of your master. Your master’s home depends on the nature of your master. A vampire master may live in a tall, gothic castle, whereas a hag cover may live in a treehouse in some misbegotten swamp. While in your master’s home and within 100 feet of your master, you gain the full benefits of a long rest in half the time it normally takes.

Compulsion: Obey. When your master speaks, you listen. And when your master directs you to do something, you must follow those orders without question. Otherwise, you begin to lose all sense of yourself.

• Resources. You must spend at least four hours per week communicating with your master either in person or through some other means. Any orders that your master gives, be they short term or long term, you must follow… or at least convince them that you followed the orders.
• Resolution. You must make a Charisma (Deception, Persuasion, or Performance) check to convince your master that you have not only accomplished or furthered along the tasks they asked of you, but you went above and beyond what was asked. If you accomplished a significant part of the task and you have not run out of time to do so, you add +1 to your check.  And if you have completely finished your task, you add +5 to the check.

Reporting Outcomes

• Charisma loss. Displeasing your master of failing to report to your master results in a loss of self; your Charisma score is reduced by 1d4 points. You lose all sense of self and become possessed by your compulsion if this reduces your Charisma score to 0. At that point, the DM takes over your character and your character is effectively dead. The reduction lasts until you the next time you roll an 11 or higher on the reporting outcome table.

Suggested Characteristics. As a servant, you must balance two opposing forces: the part of you that is still aware of who you are and once were, and the part of you that must follow your master’s commands. This internal conflict often leads to troublesome personality quirks.

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Hopefully, these undead compulsions can add some flavor to your own campaigns that involve undead. So far, I’ve created the will-o’-wisp race/class for you to play, but you can expect a few more over the coming weeks.

Be sure to share this so others can join in on the fun! It only takes a few seconds and a click of a button and it helps me out a ton.

See you next time!