Reborn

Death isn’t always the end. The reborn exemplify this, being individuals who have died yet, somehow, still live. Some reborn exhibit the scars of fatal ends, their ashen flesh or bloodless veins making it clear that they’ve been touched by death. Other reborn are marvels of magic or science, being stitched together from disparate beings or bearing mysterious minds in manufactured bodies. Whatever their origins, reborn know a new life and seek experiences and answers all their own.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft

Faded Memories

Reborn suffer from some manner of discontinuity, an interruption of their lives or physical state that their minds are ill equipped to deal with. Their memories of events before this interruption are often vague or absent. Occasionally, the most unexpected experiences might cause sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back.

Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark, silent stretches. Occasionally, though, in a moment of peace, stress, or excitement, a reborn gains a glimpse of what came before. When you desire to have such a dreamlike vision, roll on the Lost Memories table to inspire its details.

Lost Memories
d8 Memory
1 You recall a physically painful moment. What mark or scar on your body does it relate to?
2 A memory brings tears to your eyes. Is it a bitter or cheerful memory? Does recalling it make you feel the same way?
3 You recall a childhood memory. What about that event or who you were still influences you?
4 A memory brings with it the voice of someone once close to you. How do they advise you?
5 You recall enjoying something that you can’t stand doing now. What is it? Why don’t you like it now?
6 A memory carries a vivid smell or sensation. What are you going to do to recreate that experience?

Reborn Origins

Reborn might originate from circumstances similar to those of various undead or constructs. The Reborn Origins table provides suggestions for how your character became reborn.

Reborn Origins
d8 Origins
1 You were magically resurrected but something went wrong.
2 Stitches bind your body’s mismatched pieces, and your memories come from multiple different lives.
3 After clawing free from your grave, you realized you have no memories except for a single name.
4 You were a necromancer’s undead servant for years. One day, your consciousness returned.
5 You awoke in an abandoned laboratory alongside complex designs for clockwork organs.
6 You were released after being petrified for generations. Your memories have faded, though, and your body isn't what it once was.
7 Your body hosts a possessing spirit that shares its memories and replaces your missing appendages with phantasmal limbs.
8 In public, you pass as an unremarkable individual, but you can feel the itchy straw stuffing inside you.

Reborn Traits

  • Ability Score Increase. Increase one ability score by 2 and increase a different one by 1, or increase three different ability scores by 1. If you are replacing your race with this lineage, replace any Ability Score Increase you previously had with this.
  • Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. If you are replacing your race with this lineage, you retain any languages you had and gain no new languages.
  • Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you gain this lineage.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Ancestral Legacy. If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it.
    • If you don't keep any of those elements or you choose this lineage at character creation, you gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.
  • Deathless Nature. You have escaped death, a fact represented by the following benefits:
    • You have advantage on saving throws against disease and being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
    • You have advantage on death saving throws.
    • You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
    • You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep. You can finish a long rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.
  • Knowledge from a Past Life. You temporarily remember glimpses of the past, perhaps faded memories from ages ago or a previous life. When you make an ability check that uses a skill, you can roll a d6 immediately after seeing the number on the d20 and add the number on the d6 to the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Unearthed Arcana

Source: Unearthed Arcana 76 - Gothic Lineages

Faded Memories

Reborn suffer from some manner of discontinuity, an interruption of their lives or physical state that their minds are ill equipped to deal with. Their memories of events before this interruption are often vague or absent.
Occasionally, the most unexpected experiences might cause sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back.
Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark, silent stretches. Occasionally, though, in a moment of peace, stress, or excitement, a reborn gains a glimpse of what came before. When you desire to have such a dreamlike vision, roll on the Lost Memories table to inspire its details.

Lost Memories
d8 Memory
1 You recall a physically painful moment. What mark or scar on your body does it relate to?
2 A memory causes you to shed a tear. Is it a bitter or cheerful memory? Does recalling it make you feel the same way?
3 You recall a childhood memory. What about that event or who you were still influences you?
4 A memory brings with it the voice of someone once close to you. How do they advise you?
5 You recall enjoying something that you can’t stand doing now. What is it? Why don’t you like it now?
6 A memory carries a vivid smell or sensation. What are you going to do to recreate that experience?
7 You faintly remember a place that couldn’t possibly exist. What is this vision? How does it make you feel?
8 You experience a memory you’re certain isn’t your own. How does it seem unnatural? Could it be a glimpse of a past nightmare or something worse?

Reborn Origins

Reborn might originate from circumstances similar to those of various undead or constructs. Roll on or choose an option from the Reborn Origins table to determine how your character gained their lineage.

Reborn Origins
d8 Origins
1 You were magically resurrected but something went wrong.
2 Stitches bind your body’s mismatched pieces, and your memories come from multiple different lives.
3 After clawing free from your grave, you realized you have no memories except for a single name.
4 You were a necromancer’s undead servant for years. One day, your consciousness returned.
5 You awoke in an abandoned laboratory alongside complex designs for clockwork organs.
6 You were released after being petrified for generations. Your memories have faded, though, and your body is not what it once was.
7 Your body hosts a possessing spirit that shares its memories and replaces your missing appendages with phantasmal limbs.
8 In public, you pass as an unremarkable individual, but you can feel the itchy straw stuffing inside you.

Reborn Traits

  • Ability Score Increase. Increase one ability score by 2, and increase a different one by 1.
  • Type. Humanoid, as well as Construct or Undead (choose when you gain this lineage)
  • Size. Medium or Small (choose when you gain this lineage)
  • Speed. 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.
  • Deathless Nature. You have escaped death, a fact represented by the following benefits:
    • You have advantage on saving throws against disease and being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
    • You have advantage on death saving throws.
    • You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
    • You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep. You can finish a long rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.
  • Knowledge from a Past Life. You temporarily remember sporadic glimpses of the past, perhaps faded memories from ages ago or a previous life. When you make an ability check that uses a skill, you can roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
  • Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character.