Race: Gloomwalker

Gloomwalker (Undead Race)

Alive. Dead. And painfully aware of both.

A Gloomwalker is a being caught between states - a corpse animated not by foreign force, but by its own soul, anchored imperfectly to dead flesh. The result is a walking contradiction: a person who thinks, feels, and remembers… but no longer truly lives.

Their skin is pale and cold, their eyes completely dull gray-white with no visible pupil. Their breath is absent, their heartbeat silent. Though their personality remains intact, the knowledge of their condition often leads to a grim, detached outlook.

Racial Traits

Type: Undead (Augmented Humanoid)
Gloomwalkers count as both undead and their original humanoid type for effects related to race.

Size: Medium (or as base race)
Base Speed: 30 ft.

Ability Scores

+2 Strength, –2 Dexterity, –2 Charisma
Gloomwalkers are physically sturdy but unsettling to be around and slightly stiff in movement.

No Constitution score. Gloomwalkers use Charisma in place of Constitution for effects such as Concentration checks and determining hit points.

Undead Nature (Limited)

Gloomwalkers do not gain full undead immunities. Instead, they have the following:

• Immune to disease and poison
• +2 racial bonus on saves vs mind-affecting effects
• +2 racial bonus on saves vs death effects
• Do not need to eat, sleep, or breathe

Deathless Persistence

A Gloomwalker does not fall unconscious at 0 hit points.

• At 0 HP: staggered
• Below 0 HP: may act normally but takes 1 damage each round
• At –10 HP: destroyed

Unnatural Resilience

+2 natural armor bonus

Negative Affinity

Gloomwalkers are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy (as undead).

Restless Soul

A Gloomwalker cannot heal naturally.

• Must be healed through magic, negative energy, or special effects
• Fast healing and regeneration function normally

Lingering Humanity

Despite their condition, a Gloomwalker retains their identity.

• They are not immune to mind-affecting effects
• They can be affected by morale bonuses
• They may be raised or resurrected as normal, returning them to full life

Turn Susceptibility

Gloomwalkers are affected by turn/rebuke undead as creatures with Hit Dice equal to their character level.

Skills

+2 racial bonus on Intimidate and Knowledge (religion) checks

Languages

Common + any from base race

Level Adjustment

+1