Stitchfolk
Anitra's mother was always happy to play along when her daughter would tell her tales of the antics she and her doll "Lucia" would find themselves involved in. Never had she suspected that the divine love her daughter had for the doll would breath life into it. At least not until one afternoon when her mother thought she heard a voice coming from her daughter's room. As she slowly opened the door and peered into her daughter's room, she witnessed the unbelievable. Lucia was moving and speaking on her own!
Terrified, the woman reached out to the local clergy, as she feared the doll was possessed by evil, and there to corrupt her daughter. The local clergy conducted an investigation, and found that this was a rare case of "Storgemancy". An act of familial emotion so intense and strong, that it imbues something so loved, with a little bit of the Storgemancer's soul. Her daughter had loved her doll so completely, that she gave it life!
Bonds that will not break
Stitchfolk will always have someone with which they are bonded. This bond is a connection of pure love, part of how they were formed and cannot be broken except in death. Stitchfolk that find themselves separated from their mortals will still have that bond, and as long as they are apart, there will always be some feeling of loss. A Stitchfolk whose bond is broken must succeed a DC12 Constitution save at the beginning of each day for 4 out of the next 7 days, or be unbound from life.
Stitchfolk that have been bound to the world are otherwise, very hard to kill, and have advantage against dying in most other cases.
Skin Deep
As living constructs, Stitchfolk are pieces of fabris sewn together to resemble some form of creature or humanoid.
The complexity of the doll can range from a simple rag doll, to something anatomically correct. The complexity of the doll only serves to assist in disguising it as a real person. The more complex the doll is, the harder it will be for others to realize that it is a construct. For instance, a tiny rag doll will be pretty obvious (DC5 Wis), whereas an anatomically correct doll will be able to eat and drink, and at a glance, may be more difficult to discern as a construct (DC10 Wis).
Like most constructs, Stitchfolk do not suffer the effects of poison or disease.
Having no living tissue to bruise or bleed, Stitchfolk are resistant to bludgeoning and piercing damage, but their fabric construction often leaves them vulnerable to fire and slashing damages.
Mending, not healing
Becoming a Patchwork
As Stitchfolk grow, they become worn like any object and require repair. Most of tese repairs are done by the Stitchfolk themselves. Over time, they learn to adapt to the needs of their environment. Some Stitchfolk learn to augment themselves using advanced techniques and superior or magical materials. It is rare, but not impossible to find very old stitchfolk that are only a shadow of the doll they were given life as. A Stitchfolk can not ever replace it's head or torso, but can modify it's appendages at-will.
You may find Stitchfolk that have added limbs to assist with grabbing and carrying things, Stitchfolk that have added length to their limbs for added reach or stride, or perhaps used bulkier material to increase their strength.
When Stitchfolk are damaged, they can not be healed by normal means. Since Stitchfolk are not organic, healing spells, potions and the like have no effect upon them. Stitchfolk can either be repaired using weaver's tools with the appropriate skill, or by casting the "mending" spell.
Abominations
On exceptionally rare occassions, Stitchfolk of high enough level or skill, out of necessity, have been known to merge with other stitchfolk. This is absolutely horrifying for both the Stitchfolk and the witness(es).
Physical Description
Stitchfolk are made by mortal hands. They can have differences as far and wide as the imagination will reach. Some will by simple rag dolls, while others will be finely made dolls of gold, silk and porcelain. Most will appear humanoid, and some will be stuffed animals. Stitchfolk can sometimes even resemble Scarecrows, Living Dolls and Voodoo Dolls. While they may have many similarities, Stitchfolk are as different from Living Dolls, Voodoo Dolls and Scarecrows, as Elves are from Dwarves.
Society
Those Stitchfolk that have lost their bond and survived or have otherwise had to move on, frequently group together and form their own communities. Because these are all individuals that have all lost their mortals and their connections with life, the communities tend to be very dreary places that go largely unnoticed by others.
Once in a while, Stitchfolk will band together to create a troup of entertainers, or a guild of some sort. Stitchfolk thrive on the love and/or attention of mortals.
Personality
Since Stitchfolk are generally born out of love, they tend to gravitate toward good alignments. They value contact with mortals and will prioritize serving and caring for mortals over more nefarious interactions. However, from time to time, a Stitchfolk can be born out of other extreme emotions, such as anger, hate, rage and lust. On the exceptionally rare cases where this occurs, the personality will reflect how they were born.
Stitchfolk Names
As a result of being constructed they are often named by their creators, and will reflect the culture and personality of their creator. Their names can vary as widely as the multiverse.
Stitchfolk Traits
Stitchfolk are dolls bound to life by strong emotion.
Type For the purposes of all spells and other affects, you are a Construct type creature.
Ability Score Increase Your Constitution and Dexterity score increase by 1.
Age When Stitchfolk are given life, they are unbound by time. The lifespan of a Stitchfolk is limited only by the survival of it's head and torso, or by the loss of the bond with their mortal. Their lifespan is otherwise limiteless.
Alignment Stitchfolk are born from an outpouring of extreme emotion, into a doll. Most Stitchfolk are "born" out of love, compassion and empathy, and are therefor, good alignments. But there are occasions where they can be born from hostility, greed and lust, and will reflect those values.
Size Stichfolk can technically be any size, but are most often small.
Speed Your base movement speed is 30 feet.
Languages You can read, speak, and write Common and one other language. This usually follows the known languages of your bonded mortal.
Darkvision None? (Putting a flamable Stitchfolk in a dark place with no darkvision, is both fun and evil?)
Living Construct Even though you were constructed, you are a living creature. You are immune to poison and diseases. You do not need to eat or breathe, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish. Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state, but you are not prevented from being given visions; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.
Fibrous Body Your entire body is viable to be lit aflame. You naturally have disadvantage in saving throws against spells and effects which would ignite you. You are vulnerable to fire and slashing damage. However, your fibrous body gives you resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage.
False Appearance If you are motionless at the start of combat, you have advantage on initiative. Additionally, if a creature hasn't observed you move or act, that creature must succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check to discern that the doll is animate.
Mendable You can be mended like an object, not healed like an organic thing. When the mending spell is cast on you, it has the following alterations: It has a casting time of 1 action. If you have 0 hit points you become stable. As part of the casting of mending the caster may expend any level of spell slot to cause you to regain a number of hit points equal to 1d8, plus their spellcasting ability modifier. For each level of the spell slot expended you regain an additional 1d8 hit points.
Skill Proficiencies Because you are so skilled at reading your mortal's responses and doing things to improve their spirits, you are trained in Insight and Performance.
Tool Proficiencies You are proficient with Weaver's Tools.
Body Modification By weaving different threads, yarns and fabrics, you can fortify, modify and even reshape your body.
At level 1 you have the ability to reweave one ability score. At the beginning of each day, you can adjust one ability score by reinforcing appendages with cotton(+1) fabric and thread. You can only have one ability score modified in this way at a time.
At level 5 you can weave reinforcement panels using cotton(+1), wool(+2) or leather(+3) to help protect you, and you can adjust one ability score by reinforcing appendages with wool(+2) fabric and thread. You can only have one ability score modified in this way at a time.
At levels 10 and 15 you can add, remove or modify up to 2 appendages, and you can adjust one ability score by reinforcing appendages with leather(+3). You can only have one ability score modified in this way at a time.
At level 20 you can merge with other Stitchfolk. To do this you must roll a base DC 15 Charisma(Insanity) save. Each additional Stitchfolk you merge with increases the save by 5.
Practice
Safe
Homebrewing
This is just another version of what was already in the works by so many others. My intent was not to pillage anyone else's work, so please don't give me any hate.
This was just my late attempt to fulfill a need I have. You are more than welcome to ignore it.
Front Cover Art: Mage Hand Press
Character Art: WotC/D&D Beyond
Back Cover Art: Skiorh