User:ZarHakkar/Flask Homunculus (5e Race)

This content deviates from D&D Fifth Edition standards. Its use could dramatically alter campaigns, take extreme care.

Caution - Here there be monsters! This content intends to provide a different experience, or goes beyond the scope of the anticipated subjects and situations, than the D&D Fifth Edition rules were intended to handle. Some portions of the content below may not be what you expect from traditional game content. When implementing this content, DMs and Players should read over all the information carefully, and consider the following specific notes of interest:

This race is designed to only be played as a full caster, as its anatomy, fragility, and highly limited mobility makes it unsuitable for any other class. Furthermore, it faces severe disadvantages such as the lack of an inventory that requires it to rely heavily on the support of other characters in the game.

Creations of Alchemical Experimentation

Flask homunculi are exactly as the name would suggest, small beings created and housed inside of a flask-like vessel. Born of alchemy and magical experimentation, they are created by carefully isolating a piece of the Weave in a magical vessel and imbuing it with sentience. This process innately imbues the homunculus with a natural affinity for magic.

Tools of Servitude

Most flask homunculi are destined from creation to sit on a shelf in a wizard's tower, relegated to a mere curiosity or occasional research assistant. They are completely dependent on the vessel that contains them, rapidly perishing while outside of the hermetic alchemical environment maintained by the vessel. These vessels, while somewhat more durable than a mundane item of the same make, are still quite delicate, and great care is taken to ensure their safe handling.

For DMs

The flask homunculus while fragile as a PC due its vessel isn't expected to be targeted in combat like other humanoid PCs. When ruling such interactions, consider treating it closer to how you would treat a sentient magic item, as it would likely be held or carried by another PC.

Racial Traits

A small being within a vessel, adept in magic. Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score is 3. Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score by 2. Your maximum for that score becomes 22. Age. Homunculi do not age. Alignment. Flask homunculi tend towards neutrality. Size. Your size is Tiny. Speed. Your base walking speed is 0 feet.

Truesight. You have truesight out to a radius of 5 feet.

Construct. Your creature type is Construct. As such, spells like cure wounds don't affect you, and you are immune to spells like crown of madness or dominate person because they specifically target humanoids. You are immune to poison damage, the poisoned condition, and diseases. You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, and are in fact unable to do any of those things. In place of the sleep normally required during a long rest, you can simply perform light activity.

Vessel. You are sealed within a Tiny magical vessel that sustains your existence, typically a glass flask. This vessel has an amount of hit points equal to 10 + your level, an AC of 13, provides you total cover, has resistance to all damage, and functions as a spellcasting focus. If you are ever outside your vessel, such as from it being destroyed, you take 20 necrotic damage at the start of each of your turns.

Living Spell Component. Whenever you or a creature holding your vessel casts a spell requiring costly material components, you automatically provide for all material components up to a gp cost equal to 50 times your level. Furthermore, you can expend hit die to further reduce the material cost of the spell by an amount of gp equal to 50 times the total of the expended hit die.

Innate Arcane Mastery (Level Adjustment -1). Flask homunculi are infused with arcane knowledge as part of the process that creates them. You gain a bonus level in either the artificer, wizard, or sorcerer class. This bonus level doesn't count towards your total character level.

Bonus Feat. You gain one of the following feats: telepathic, keen mind, or mage hand master.

{{{trait7}}}. {{{description7}}}

{{{trait8}}}. {{{description8}}}

{{{trait9}}}. {{{description9}}}

{{{trait10}}}. {{{description10}}}

Languages. You know the language of your creator and one other language of your choice.

Vessel Specialization

Your vessel is made with a unique feature depending on the class you chose a bonus level in.

Wizard

Your vessel functions as a spellshard, allowing spells to be scribed within it.

Artificer

Your vessel functions as a set of artisan's tools of your choice (or thieves' tools) and has a walking speed of 15 feet.

Sorcerer

Your vessel has the same magical properties as an orb or wand of your choice of common rarity.