a Stranger

of Burning Eyes

THE STRANGE DWARF HUNKERED BEHIND THE

bush like an obese spider. He never felt the stream's soaking water between his toes. He only watched the high stone town wall for every sign of life.

The day had slipped to night while he brooded there and he had watched the dancing torchlights flare up at nightfall. He was waiting for the night guard.

Then his chance came - a small twigish man walked into view from the left. The dwarf keeled lower behind the bush. The man paced the outside of the wall, coming closer.

The pacing stopped.

"Oi, Ralfo, there's a short man in the bushes!" he called back to his companion on the wall.

"Fine then." spat his companion from above, "Best collect him then, come on, come on!" Ralfo was angry his watch wasn't starting quietly - besides, Ralfo had already taken him as a drunk. If the lout wanted to sleep outside the town tonight, it was fine by him.

"Hey guy?" *the guard said in a diminutive voice. The glare of the torch was obscuring his view.

"Hey guy, what're you doing back there?" The dwarf couldn't see the guard's face either. "We're closing the gates in a clutch of minutes."

*Almost as if the last sentence had triggered a bomb,

the bushes erupted - the dwarf uncoiled

like a damp snake and slammed into

the man's torso. His teeth were

barred - and his eyes glowed green.

They fell over together in a mass of writhing limbs. From the wall, Ralfo was laughing; From his angle he couldn't see the eyes. The guard screamed horribly, and Ralfo caught his breath. The dwarf was pressing his whole weight upon him, and could have stabbed him - it was hard to tell.

When the guard drew his sword in retaliation, however, a sickening sound, almost like flesh boiling into the night air, vomited into Ralfo's ears. The dwarf went limp.

"Ha ha, got 'im then good then, eh Thompson?" giggled Ralfo from the wall. Ralfo was in much better spirits now. The guard named Thompson sloughed the dwarf off him. He stood up uncertainly, and from the ground, turned to look up searchingly at Ralfo. His eyes glowed terrible green.

Ghosts. Demons. Endless horrors exist in the world, but there exists some ancient malevolence - not quite a ghost or demon - not quite like vampire nor even the werewolf - and nay, not even quite of this cosmos that stalks the night.

Terrible Visage

There are many strange species which

masquerade as others, it is true, but none are

quite so unnerving or vile

as these. Known as the "Strangers of Burning Eyes," they are something which hungers after a soul the same way the wolf hungers after flesh. They consume and erase souls from existence - gone, just like a slice of bread, except leaving broken, brain-dead bodies like a hawk leave bones.

A Stranger of Burning Eyes is itself not a corporeal thing. It is like a ghost - a spirit. It moves from person to person like a foul disease, taking their mind and turning their eyes to green flaming lights while their soul is slowly eaten alive.

Ghastly Unknown

It's assumed - like the Vampire or the Werewolf - that these creatures have existed for millennia, sprouting from some equally vile origin. But thankfully they do not - or cannot - multiply, minimizing their trail of destruction. Of course, this makes them incredibly hard to track through the annals of history.

In this way, a Stranger of Burning Eyes is a rare sight. Few know of their existence - but those who have seen, believe - moreover, they quake in fear. A direct host almost never survives, for a soul is a fragile thing. While capable of sustaining moderate damage, they're only able to in the same way a clothe can sustain losing a few threads. Soon it falls apart or as become torn to shreds. A few of these "survivors" really just that however, survivors.

These survivors have called them many things in their ignorance. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Death himself. Satan. All these poor souls know is friends go in and death comes out - or that they were tortured for an eternity's worth of pain.

Necromantic Origins

As additional flavor, (and very optional flavor at that, I encourage you to simply glaze over it,) a player may wish to find an explanation for the origins of their Strangers of Burning Eyes. In my campaigns, if players truly want to dig, and cannot be dissuaded, they find not only was any given Stranger of Burning Eyes was corporeal at one point, but a powerful necromancer in ages past.

But now, however, a Stranger of Burning Eyes is wholly other than what it was.

A lich desires to live forever, choosing to do so through its phalactery. But this is impossible - the phalactery must be fed, and vigorously at that. So it makes a comparatively wise decision, not knowing what it does. It removes the need for a phalactery by gifting themselves the ability to consume a soul.

And thus a Stranger of Burning Eyes is born, from dire dread greed. Of course, in hindsight, the process is revealed to be more destructive that could have been predicted.

Their soul transmuted in this way simply cannot hold the new abilities in line with its natural state. Something must be thrown aside for making room for these new powers, and so it eschews anything but the last fifty years from its memory during it's now perminate desperate scrabble to stay alive. After much time, the personality, the wisdom, the understanding, and even some emotions as concepts themselves cease to be within the soul.

Indeed, the same specimen of a Strangers of Burning Eyes is completely different from the same individual 50 years later; It develops a radically different skill set & perspective to suit its environment.

It is encouraged that players let these origins have little

impact on their given character. It simply doesn't matter - the Stranger has likely existed for millennia before the player came to embody its consciousness in many cases.

How to Use This Homebrew

A Stranger of Burning Eyes is very different in construction from the standard racial archetype. When creating the stats for a given Stranger of Burning Eyes, roll only the Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. This is because the Strength, Dexterity, and Consitution scores are borrowed from the host; The Stranger of Burning Eyes has no corporeal form. Otherwise, apply the traits of a Stranger of Burning Eyes normally.

When choosing a class, DMs must work with their players to come to an appropriate compromise. The constant swapping of bodies & the strains upon a Stranger of Burning Eye's time are large, and prohibits proper study or honing of martial skills as they spend time hunting or re-learning any complex bodily skills.

Stranger of Burning Eyes Traits

Your traits have a number of commonalities with other Strangers of Burning Eyes.

Ability Score Increase. Increases any of your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma scores by a total of 2 points.

Age. Strangers of Burning Eyes are effectively immortal. As long as they are fed, they never die.

Alignment. Strangers of Burning Eyes are heavily driven toward Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil alignments. By nature, they must put their perminate well-being above others, or they would simply never eat.

Long History. Since at any time a Stranger of Burning Eyes only remembers the past 50 year of it's life, he doesn't know everything, but he knows a few tricks.

You are proficent in any two of the Deception, Persuasion, and Performance skills, along with any one other of the Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma-based skills.

Menacing Peepers. You are proficient in intimidation; Your eyes shed dim green light for one foot.

Dark Insight. While a creature is in shadow, you can see it's soul for feet equal to its Charisma score multiplied by itself as if by Faerie Fire. Your ability to view a creature in this way cannot be blocked or broken except by closing your eyes.

Body Snatcher. You have the Burning Soul ability listed below. This is used to move between bodies & take new hosts.

Death's Grasp. Once per day upon touching another creature, you may cause an ink-black sizzling of flesh and soul. This deals 2d4 necrotic damage and you recover 1d6 hitpoints; You have eaten a portion of its soul.

Magical Origins. A Stranger of Burning Eyes can sense anti-magic fields. If it enters one, it falls unconscious and remains so until removed from the field, or it dies of starvation.

Pure Mental Faculty. A Stranger of Burning Eyes is physically incapable of rest. As such, it is completely impossible for his host bodies to gain the restorative benefits of rest by natural means. (I.E., external forces, such as magic or potions still work as written, while things such as salves that aid the natural process of healing cease to function.) Consitution checks and saves are made at disadvantage.

Languages. You may speak any two languages of your

choice. You also read & write any two languages of your choice, though they need not necessarily correlate to your spoken languages.

Also, through a primal ability, you understand & can correctly interpret any telepathic/empathic communication, though you may not be able to respond in kind. Such examples include Deep Speech, or a sentient magic item's form of communication.

Burning Soul

You yourself are not corporal. Without a host, you appear as a shadowy hazy green mist, able to move as if by Gaseous Form with a base speed of 45ft. You are able to extend you essence away from your host's body for up to one fifth the length of the host body before your essence is forcibly expelled in its entirety.

Possessing a Body. As an action, you may force a target in contact with your essence to succeed a DC25 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by you. The process takes rounds equal to the target's charisma modifier at a minimum of one round.

You may keep possession of a host body for days equal to it's Charisma score. While not in possession of a host, you fail a Death Saving Throw every 20 minutes until your death.

Possession Effects. Upon possessing a host body, its eyes gloss over and are consumed by shadow; A pale mote of green flame burns from deep within, large at first, shrinking as the soul is consumed. You recieve 2 levels of exhaustion upon taking a new host. You lose one of these levels of exhaustion every 4 hours.

Upon possessing of a host body, its Strength, Dexterity, and Consitution scores & modifiers become your own. You gain access to its innate senses, like darkvision or tremorsense, and any natural attacks or abilities become your own, like web production or flight; You do not gain it's learned skill or knowledge, like a wizard's magic. (But you would gain access to a Sorcerer's for example, since it's an innate ability.)

Pertaining to the Host. Your host's soul can survive intact for up to 24 hours before it is too badly damaged to survive. After a soul has been broken in this way, upon leaving that host's body without fully consuming the soul, the soul shatters, destroyed forever.

Any soul destroyed by a Stranger of Burning Eyes can only be recovered through divine intervention - intervention which immediately kills the Stranger of Burning Eyes as the soul is torn from its essence; Any other souls that were consumed by a Stranger of Burning Eyes are now impossible to resurrect.