The Wandering Soul

The Wandering Soul
A playable ghost race for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition

Wandering Soul
Y
ou’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you? Death Wandering Soul Names
is, as many are often suddenly made aware, an
unfortunate but eventual part of life. It’s not Many wandering souls prefer to keep their given names or
uncommon for an adventurer to meet a grizzly names they’ve adopted in life. Though, owing to damaged
end on their adventures; perhaps as the result psyches, some wandering souls forget their original names
of a skirmish, or a well-placed trap, or even just and are forced to create new ones. Other wandering souls
a simple misstep. Whatever the cause, that’s simply decide to leave the past behind, choosing to take on
that: the end of the road. Or is it? Who says that death must new names with which to start their new lives. Whatever the
be the end? Wandering souls are the dead brought back from case, the name a soul choose is left up to them.
beyond the veil and given another chance at life, though not
with the intended effect, for better or for worse.
Death and Rebirth
Spells are not always successful and wandering souls are
proof of that, being the rare and spectacular result of failed
resurrection spells. They are beings unliving only partially
bought back to the realm of the living; souls separated from
their body and unable to regain their physical, fleshy form.
While many wandering souls return as they were in life, it
is not uncommon for those deceased for longer periods of
time to come back with something missing. Perhaps as a
reflection of their physical changes and the time for which
they were gone, long-dead wandering souls may suffer from
an irreparably damaged psyche, creating problems such as
memory loss, muteness, and even drastic changes to their
original personality. Fortunately for them – though rather
unfortunately for their loved ones – they often do not
recognise that such changes have occurred.
Bad Omens
By and large, wandering souls are not so easily distinguished
from ghosts and other various spirits by the common folk. As
a result, feelings towards wandering souls are not positive,
with the most common reaction being fear. A newly
resurrected wandering soul returning to their hometown may
be met with the tip of a blade or the screams of their friends.
It is strongly recommended that wandering souls disguise or
hide themselves on entering populated areas to avoid
unfortunate encounters.
Ghostly Visage
Wandering souls appear the same in undeath as they did in
life or, at the very least, as they did at time of death.
Depending on how one died, this can lend a rather upsetting
and sometimes gruesome quality to a wandering soul’s
appearance.
To the average onlooker, wandering souls are known to
float several inches off the ground. However, further
investigation of this fact would reveal that while this certainly
seems to be the case, wandering souls exert a force upon the
ground directly below them to keep themselves up, though it
appears to be an automatic bodily function akin to breathing.
In addition to this, wandering souls appear translucent and
adopt a faint, ghostly blue or green glow.
PART 1 | LORE & BACKGROUND

1
Wandering Soul Traits
Your resurrection provides you with a number of traits you Possession Rules
share with other wandering souls.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by Possessing Living Creatures
2, and your wisdom score increases by 1. One creature that you can see within 5 feet of you
Age. As a wandering soul you appear as the age you were must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be
on death. You cannot mature or die of old age. possessed by you for one minute. The DC for this
saving throw equals 8 + your Charisma modifier +
Alignment. Wandering souls do not have an innate your proficiency bonus. On a failed save you then
tendency toward any alignment in particular, but there is a disappear, and the target is incapacitated and loses
common trend towards chaotic alignments due to their control of its body. You now control the target, but
incomplete form. However, for many their alignment remains you don't deprive them of awareness. You can't be
the same as in life. targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except
Size. Wandering Souls retain the size they were in life. ones that turn undead, and you retain your
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have the alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. You
appearance of hovering. otherwise use the possessed target's statistics, but
Unliving Resilience. As a wandering soul, your body has don't gain access to the target's knowledge, class
experienced several changes: features, or proficiencies.
You have advantage on saving throws against being On taking damage you must make a Charisma
poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage. saving throw to maintain the possession. The DC
You have resistance to necrotic damage. equals 10 or half the damage you take, whichever
You are unable to eat, drink, or breathe. number is higher. If you take damage from multiple
You are immune to disease. sources, such as an arrow and a dragon’s breath,
You no longer require sleep, though you are capable of it. you make a separate saving throw for each source
To gain the benefits of a long rest, you can spend the time of damage. Otherwise possession lasts until the
doing light activity, such as keeping watch. body drops to 0 hit points, you end it as a bonus
action, the duration of the possession runs out, or
Darkvision. Your ghostly eyes give you superior vision in you are turned or forced out by an effect like the
dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 dispel evil and good spell. When the possession
feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it ends, you reappear in an unoccupied space within 5
were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only feet of the body. The target is immune to your
shades of grey. Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the
Incorporeal Movement. You can briefly become saving throw or after the possession ends.
incorporeal, allowing you to move through other creatures
and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 5 (1d10) Possessing Objects
force damage if you end your turn inside an object. Items on One object that you can see within 5 feet of you
your person or in your hands up to your carrying capacity can be possessed by you for an indefinite amount
also become incorporeal for the duration. of time. You can't be targeted by any attack, spell,
Possession. As a wandering soul you are able to possess or other effect, except ones that turn undead. You
living creatures and objects no larger in size than you. This now control the object and use its hit points, but
action can be performed on a creature once per long rest. you otherwise fully retain your own statistics. While
The rules for possession for items and creatures vary; see controlling an item you are unable to move your
Possession Rules for details. hands, though you are still capable of vocalising.
Semi-Spectral Nature. Due to the nature of your The possession lasts until the item drops to 0 hit
resurrection, you have two creature types: humanoid and points, you end it as a bonus action, or you are
undead. You can be affected by a game effect if it works on turned or forced out by an effect like the dispel evil
either of your creature types. and good spell. When the possession ends, you
Languages. You can speak, read, and write the languages reappear in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of
you knew in life. the item.
PART 2 | TRAITS & RACIAL ABILITIES

2
Appendix
Credits
Created with Homebrewery.
Ghost Halfling image by Kim Sokol, Paizo Publishing.
Wandering Soul by Crayin
PART 3 | BORING STUFF

3

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A playable ghost race for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition

PART 1 | LORE & BACKGROUND

PART 2 | TRAITS & RACIAL ABILITIES

PART 3 | BORING STUFF

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