Class - Hive Mind
The Vex Hydra screeched in binary, and a squad of Goblin frames emerged from the timestream, and formed up around the Mind. The Redjack launched a rocket right at the Hydra, and one goblin stepped in front of it. There was a sharp BOOM, and the goblin lay in pieces, but its Mind remained intact.
The Zerg brood queen screeched, and its zergling brood charged around it, overwhelming the Confederate Marines attempting to burn their Hive Cluster.
You are the controlling element of a distributed being, your mind capable of extending across and controlling mutliple bodies toward your goals. You might be an AI in an android body, who constructs their minion frames, or perhaps you are a telepath, whose mind has grown too powerful to be housed in one body, and must take residence in others as well. Maybe you are the head of a colony of eusocial creatures that bud off from you.
You are both one and many, and your strength is in the number of your unity.
Class Features
| Level |
Proficiency Bonus |
Secondary Body Capacity |
Range |
Features |
| 1 |
+2 |
1 |
15ft |
Secondary Bodies |
| 2 |
+2 |
1 |
15ft |
Group Actions I |
| 3 |
+2 |
2 |
15ft |
|
| 4 |
+2 |
2 |
15ft |
|
| 5 |
+3 |
3 |
15ft |
Extra Action I |
| 6 |
+3 |
3 |
20ft |
|
| 7 |
+3 |
4 |
20ft |
Group Actions II |
| 8 |
+3 |
4 |
20ft |
|
| 9 |
+4 |
5 |
20ft |
|
| 10 |
+4 |
5 |
20ft |
Extra Bonus Action |
| 11 |
+4 |
6 |
25ft |
|
| 12 |
+4 |
6 |
25ft |
|
| 13 |
+5 |
7 |
25ft |
Group Actions III |
| 14 |
+5 |
7 |
25ft |
|
| 15 |
+5 |
8 |
25ft |
Extra Action II |
| 16 |
+5 |
8 |
30ft |
|
| 17 |
+6 |
9 |
30ft |
|
| 18 |
+6 |
9 |
30ft |
|
| 19 |
+6 |
10 |
30ft |
|
| 20 |
+6 |
10 |
30ft |
Perfect Distribution |
- Hit Dice: 1d6 per Hive Mind level
- Hit Points at 1st level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
- Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per Hive Mind level after 1st.
Proficiencies
Secondary Bodies
Your mind is housed primarily in your original body, known as your Core Body. If your Core Body dies, you die.
You are the controller of a group of Secondary Bodies. They should be similar to your Core Body, but their nature and form may vary from this. Work with your DM to determine what precise form you and your Secondary Bodies will take, and how exactly you obtain more of them.
They share your mental characteristics, as you only have one mind, and while they may differ in appearance, they all share the same stats.
Your hit points are evenly divided among your bodies.
At 1st Level, you have one secondary body, and this increments every odd level, as shown on the Hive Mind Class Progression Table.
Many Bodies, One Mind
You are a single entity with a single mind, spanning multiple physical bodies. This has some benefits and some detriments.
- Your multiple bodies allow you to do things that would otherwise be impossible for a single character. When you make an ability check based on Strength or Dexterity, you may use one of your other bodies to help yourself, provided this makes sense. Doing so does not constitute the Help action, and instead allows you to add your Proficiency Bonus to the relevant ability check when you do this, on top of any other bonus you would normally receive (including Proficiency, if it applies). You cannot stack this bonus by using more than two bodies at once.
- Your secondary bodies have needs. You need to power all of your bodies, however this is done. You also need to house them, transport them, equip them, and clothe them if necessary.
- The fact that you are one mind inhabiting many bodies is a mixed blessing. You can percieve with all the senses of all of your bodies at once, and pass that information on however you are able, from any other body. However, carrying on two conversations at once (and similar) is the same amount of strain as it would be for an ordinary person.
- There is a certain range to your ability to control and use your secondary bodies. If a secondary body goes outside of this range from all of your other bodies, you lose control of it, and it falls into a catatonic state. Bodies disabled in this way can be revived with no ill effects up to 24 hours (one day) later, if you get a body within range again for a minute or so. If the body remains out of range for two days, it can still be revived, but it will need medical attention, and you will have to keep it in range for 24 hours continuously, or it will fall back into a catatonic state, and it cannot be revived from this.
- To be clear, each body in range acts as a sort of repeater station, allowing you to extend your range out further. You do not have to keep all your bodies within range of your Core Body.
Group Actions
You have worked out how to exploit your nature as a single mind inhabiting multiple bodies in combat.
At 2nd level, and again at 7th and 13th level you may choose one of the following:
- Group Attack: When one of your bodies takes the Attack action, and one or more of your other bodies is within 5ft of the attacking one, as a bonus action, you may attack the same target with one of those other bodies, to increase your chances of connecting a blow. Add your proficiency modifier to your attack roll.
- Group Defense: When one of your bodies is attacked, and one or more of your other bodies is within 5ft of the target, you may attempt to defend the target with one of those other bodies. As a reaction, you may add half your proficiency modifier (is this enough or too much?) to the AC of the target.
- Suicidal Defense: If your core body is attacked (with a spell, weapon, or otherwise), and you have a secondary body within 5ft of it, you may have that secondary body step into the path of the attack as a reaction. This results in that secondary body automatically being hit by that attack. You may only do this if you sense the attack coming.
At 5th level, you may take one additional action per turn. You may not use more than one action per turn per body.
At 15th level, you may take one more additional action.
At 10th level, you may take one additional bonus action per turn.
Perfect Distribution
Your mind now resides in the group as a whole. You no longer have a Core Body, though that body still exists unless it is killed or destroyed. Now, in order for you to die, each and every one of your bodies must die. If any survive, you are still alive.
Hive Minds come in many forms. Some of the obvious ones are here.
Distributed AI
Constructs their secondary bodies.
Costly to make properly, but they come online quickly; within 14 days, depending on how much labour is available and how coordinated it is.
Rampant Telepath
Takes over their secondary bodies, displacing, consuming or eviscerating their minds in the process. Distinctly evil if inflicted on an unwilling person.
The fastest of the three by far, but also the most morally problematic.
Perhaps minds merge.
When done willingly, they merge immediately, without penalty, and with the possibility of disentangling and relinquishing control without doing harm.
When taken forcibly, it takes some time, the victim gets saves, and the Rampant Telepath consumes the mind of the victim.
Hive Colony
Grows their secondary bodies.
Core body becomes more and more debilitated until birth/budding/reproduction. Slower by far than either of the other two. Three months per minion at minimum.
Problems
This class has a number of problems.
- At level 20, it will disrupt the action economy, to the extent that encounters will have to be built with it in mind.
- It has a problem with health.
- A fireball does 24 damage on average. 1d6+CON HP becomes 180HP at most, if we assume +5 to CON. When spread across the entire mass, this becomes 16 or 17 HP per body. A single Fireball, which is a 3rd level spell, could annihilate this.
- On the other hand, if I raise the amount of health it gets, it quickly gets dumb. A CON 20 barbarian, with their d12 hit die, gets 340HP in the best case, which comes out to 30 HP over 11 bodies. That could still get completely killed by a single Fireball. At level 20.
- If I build it so it can survive that, it ends up with ridiculous amounts of HP. For example, if I take 180HP for the core body, and give half of that to each secondary body, that ends up being 1,080 HP, which is more than a bit bullshit.
- It’s possible that this idea simply does not fit the mould of D&D. Or similar TTRPGs. This idea may have to just die.