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Laurefindel
2015-11-22, 11:13 AM
I'm converting a setting where characters must belong to one of the following races: aasimar, automaton (homebrewed construct race), girtablilu, sprite and vegepygmy. Humans, elves, dwarves and the other races of the Player's Guide are absent from the setting.

I'm using the aasimar as presented in the DMG, but I need feedback on the four other races I made for this setting. Here they are:

AUTOMATONS
Automatons are sentient clockwork constructs created and animated by aasimars. They are humanoid in appearance, often crafted to resemble the industrious gnomes of far-away Bytopia. Under their skin of beaten brass and their flesh of carved wood, thousands of gears and springs turn and churn as they move.



MADE FOR TOIL AND WAR
Automatons form the working caste and main military force of the aasimari society, and their appearance is made to reflect this reality. Standing from 4 to 5 feet tall but weighting well over 200 pounds, automatons are made of wood with bronze armor plating. Sturdy cogs appear at the neck and joints providing articulation. Aasimars craftsmen pay particular attention the articulation of hands and face, making the automaton as dexterous and expressive as possible. The chest and head contain the most delicate clockworks and are therefore the most heavily protected.
Most automatons seem content with the life of toil and war they were made for. This gives them a sense of purpose and satisfies their sense of responsibility. Automatons are not property however and though they gladly serve their family, they value their free will more than anything else. Sometimes this sense of individual independence surpasses the sense of purpose and duty, and an automaton seeks a life of its own.

CLOCKWORK HEART, SOUL OF FIRE
Inside their metal chest lies a complex system of cogs and clockworks powered by a mystical flame. The clockwork parts need to be winded-up every day but the flame - the spirit and soul of the automatons - is eternal. This means that automatons could technically live eternally, but wear and tear on their mechanism typically reduces their life span to 200 years or so. As such, many automatons outlive their masters and serve many generations of the same family.
As living constructs, automatons do not need to eat, drink or sleep. They do however need to wind-up and rest their gears for about four hours each day. During that time, an automaton performs routine maintenance on its own body (which automatons refer as “grooming”) but otherwise remains conscious and alert of their environment.

GENTLE WARRIORS
Automatons make patient and polite soldiers, fighting without hatred but with cold efficiently. Automatons experience the full range of emotion like everyone else, but they are less likely to react on emotional impulse or let their judgement be clouded by anger, fear or anguish. Perhaps owing to the fire that animates them, automatons are a much warmer people than their stoic aasimari masters.
Automatons do not reproduce and have no gender identity. Most are built with male traits and features, but automatons destined to work as domestic or house servants are sometimes portrayed as female.

THE AUTOMATON INNER FIRE
Automatons are powered by a sacred fire confined inside their chest. This flame is very resilient and can survive for years even if the automaton has been disabled. Automatons do not need food or drink but the flame can be fed, allowing the automaton to consume magic potions but also exposes it to the dangers of poison. Should the flame be extinguished, the automaton dies. For this reason automatons fear prolonged exposure to extreme cold or going under water for more than a minute. While automatons do not need to breathe, they can “drown” like any other character.

AUTOMATON TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Age. Automatons do not age; they are fully functional from the day of their construction. Rust and wear typically limit an automaton’s life expectancy to 200 years or so.
Alignment. Automatons tend to be lawful, finding comfort in an orderly and regulated lifestyle. A few aspire to the high ideals of their aasimar masters but most have a more neutral stance. Truly evil automatons are extremely rare.
Size. Automatons range from 4 to 5 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Living Clockwork. Even though you were constructed, you are considered a living humanoid creature. As an artificial being, you are immune to magical sleep and disease, and do not need to breathe, eat, drink or sleep, although you can drink magic potions to gain their effects. However, your clockwork mechanics need to be winded with a special key at least once a day during a long rest. Once fully winded, you can function for a maximum of 24 hours, after which you become paralysed until you get winded-up again. Although you do not require sleep, you must finish a long rest to regain spent hit dice, spell slots and other abilities.
Skin of Bronze. Wooden and bronze plates protect your heart of gears and cogs. Your armor is part of your body, making you proficient with any armor that has been fitted for you.
Skillful. Automatons are usually built for a specific purpose. You gain proficiency with one skill and one type of artisan’s tools of your choice that represent your profession.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Celestial. You can also understand and speak Pygmish due to your frequent rapports with vegepymies.




GIRTABLILU
The girtablilu is a sisterhood of deformed female aasimars born with the lower body of a large scorpion instead of normal hips and legs. They live in a secret kingdom of their own, honing their skills with spears and bows like the fabled Amazons of Arborea. The name girtablilu refers both to the sisterhood and to an individual of that group. It is also the name of the curse to which they owe their monstrous appearance.



A CURSED EXISTENCE
From the waist up, the girtablilu appear exactly like female aasimars but their lower body is that of a five-foot long scorpion with its chitin plating, serrated pincers, arachnid legs and venomous stinger. Although they can rise much higher on their legs, they stand about 5 feet tall and weight some 200 pounds. A girtablilu matures at the same rate as an aasimar and can expect to live just as long.
The girtablilu owe their monstrous appearance to a curse that harkens back to the aasimari civil war. The curse seems to affect only female newborns, usually killing the mother during birth. In olden days, these monstrous babies were slain or abandoned at birth but a few were raised in secret. Over time, it became customary to hand-over these cursed offspring to other girtablilu until they formed a society of their own.

BETWEEN NAGAS AND SPHINX
In their ostracism, the girtablilu have had two great allies: the Sphinx who raised the first girtablilu children, and the nagas who taught them how to survive in the Dark Woods.
The girtablilu owe much to the Sphinx and to show their gratitude, they defend his acropolis and patrol the lands around it. It is customary for a girtablilu reaching adulthood to make pilgrimage to the oracle at the temple of the Sphinx. It is said that the young girtablilu will learn from him the one truth that will define her whole life. More often than not, this “truth” is stated as a cryptic or open-handed riddle but is nevertheless considered one’s most valuable possession.
Much of the girtablilu’s social customs and practices come from their naga neighbours. Like them, the girtablilu possess a noble side and a more sinister one. Whereas the Sphinx has taught them spirituality, the nagas have endowed the girtablilu with knowledge and eldritch powers.

A PERPETUAL BATTLE
For the girtablilu, life is a continuous battle. Surviving the spirits and the manifestations of the Dark Woods is in itself a perilous endeavor but for the girtablilu, the real conflict comes from within. The girtablilu continually struggle against their feeling of self-loathing or against the bitterness that they cultivate toward the aasimars of old. It is against the darker side of their soul that the girtablilu wage their greatest war.
To ease their mind, the girtablilu continually hone their skills as huntresses and warrior-maiden, transcending their physical skills into mental fortitude. For the girtablilu, salvation is achieved through perfection.

A HIDDEN KINGDOM
The girtablilu are a secretive people. Perhaps because they are so self-conscious of their deformity, they do not share their customs and rarely talk about themselves to strangers. They tend to adopt a distant attitude toward non-girtablilu people and thus make few friends outside their sisterhood. The girtablilu do not doubt the loyalty or the abilities of their companions of other races, but they are slow to thrust that they can accept them as they are. Friendship between aasimars and girtablilu in particular is considered taboo and discouraged by both societies.
The girtablilu jealously guard the location of their kingdom a secret. Their queen has welcomed very few outsiders, and the location of her court has become a favourite subject of speculations among young aasimars. Instead, the girtablilu erect small enclaves near aasimari settlements where goods and news can be traded. This is also where girtablilu newborns are brought by their mourning fathers. When the girtablilu sing and chant to the stars, the aasimars know that they have lost a daughter and that the girtablilu gained a new sister.

GIRTABLILU TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1, and your Strength score increases by 2.
Age. Girtablilu reach adulthood in their early twenties and live up to 150 years old. Girtablilu do not reproduce; they are born of aasimar parents as a result of an ancient curse.
Alignment. Girtablilu can be of any alignment, but their unwelcome origin and resentful nature cultivate the darker side of their soul.
Size. Girtablilu average around 5 feet tall with an equally long scorpion body. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Thanks to your aasimar blood, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Claw. You are proficient with your claws which are a melee weapon that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit. As long as the target is not larger than yourself, it is also grappled (escape DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). You have two claws, each of which can grapple only one target.
Stinger. You are proficient with your stinger which is a melee weapon that deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit, and the target must make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + you Strength modifier), taking 2d8 points of poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Once you reach 3rd level, your poison damage increases to 3d8. From 5th level and on, your target takes 4d8 points of poison damage on a failed saving throw.
Chitin Armor. The lower portion of your body is covered with thick chitin plates. When you aren’t wearing any armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Celestial and Ophidian.



SPRITES
Sprites are a race of tiny winged humanoids native to the Dark Woods. Despite their small size and their weak stature, they are surprisingly apt predators and very combative preys. What the sprites lack in size and brute strength, they make it in tactics, agility and sheer numbers.



SMALL AND AGILE
Sprites are small humanoid-shaped creatures rarely exceeding one foot in height. They have sharp, sparkly eyes and long pointy ears. The most distinctive part of their anatomy however is their insect-like wings which they use with uncanny speed and agility. The size, shape, coloration, veins and media of a sprite’s wings are unique to each individual; sprites recognize each other through their wings more than by their facial traits.

FOUR GODS, FOUR TRIBES
The sprite race is split in four major subraces that they call “tribes”. Each tribe has its own distinct appearance, set of customs and patron deity. Sprite mythology features four gods representing the cycle of birth, growth, death and decay. While these tribes don’t always see eye-to-eye, all see each other as a necessary part of the balance of the Dark Woods.
Sprites live in clans ranging from a few dozens to several thousand individuals of the same tribe. Most still live the feral, primitive lifestyle of their ancestors, but some clans have become civilized under the influence of aasimars. Clans of sprites living close to aasimari settlements often mimic the lifestyle of their celestial neighbours with well-intentioned but at times clumsy results.

LIGHT AND DARKNESS
As a race, sprites are both light and darkness but individual clans tend toward one or the other, rarely assuming a neutral stance. Some are good-hearted and generous, others shy and withdrawn. Some are scheming and manipulative, while others are plainly dangerous. In this regard, the sprites are like the Dark Woods themselves: wild, unpredictable and not to be underestimated.
If some regions are plagued with feral and cannibalistic sprites, the blessed influence of the brighter clans forms the only oasis of peace in the Dark Woods. But bright or dark, sprites live in remarkable harmony with their world.


SPRITE TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2. As a Tiny creature, your Strength score may never be higher than 6.
Age. Sprites reach adulthood after three years and can live up to century.
Alignment. Sprites are a free and chaotic race; depending on their tribe, they can be very benevolent or wickedly cruel.
Size. Sprites measure less than a foot in height and rarely weight more than 5 pounds. Your size is Tiny.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 10 feet. You can also fly with a speed of 40 feet. As long as you have the ability to move, you can hover and fly backward effortlessly.
Lesser Invisibility. You can fly with a fast, erratic movement that is tremendously hard to track and your small size makes it easy for you to hide. You are always considered at least lightly obscured and can attempt the Hide action even when observed.
Diminutive. You can’t manipulate weapons or tools made for larger creatures. Every melee or reach weapon manufactured for your size uses the dagger’s damage die, range and special properties. Your small size allows you to move through the space and out of reach of any creature without provoking opportunity attacks.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Sylvan, and one other language among the following: Celestial, Pygmish, Goblin, Bullywug and Harpy.
Subrace. There are four kinds of sprites based on which aspect of nature their tribe represents. These four aspects are known as The Eater of Flesh; The Great River of Worms; The Painter of Life and The Sprout Singer. Choose one of these subraces.

SPROUT SINGER
This tribe of sprites venerates the Sprout Singer, the spritish goddess of all beginnings.
Spritish mythology depicts her as an ethereal spirit whose songs provoke seedlings to sprout, cause flowers to bloom, urge beasts to mate and make people fall in love. But every beginning means the end of something else and so the Sprout Singer relies on the Great River of Worms to fertilise the soil and produce nutriments to make the spark of life possible.
Sprites of the Sprout Singer tribe could be defined as “merry tricksters”. They love to sing, dance and play pranks on trespassers. They have a natural knack to perceive a person’s motives and intentions. Once a person’s heart is deemed pure, these sprites become very friendly and eager to start new relationships.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Heart Sight. The Sprout Singer allows you to read a creature’s soul. If you spend at least 1 minute observing and interacting with another creature outside combat, you learn certain information about its nature. The DM tells you two of the creature’s following characteristics of your choice:
• The present emotional state of the creature.
• Whether the creature is Good, Neutral, Evil or Unaligned.
• Whether the creature is an animal or a nature spirit taking animal shape.
• Whether the creature is polymorphed, wild shaped or somehow magically disguised.

PAINTER OF LIFE
This tribe venerates the Painter of Life, the spritish goddess of life, growth and colors. The Painter of Life is portrayed as a comely female sprite capable of taking every animal shape and hue. She is said to be the midwife of the Dark Woods and the one responsible for the coloring of all things. Although she embodies life itself, The Painter of Life cannot create existence and therefore relies on the Sprout Singer to provide the initial spark of life.
Sprites of the Painter of Life tribe are the most numerous of all four tribes. They are also the most civilised, and the most likely to mimic the aasimars’ courtly ways. They dress in elaborate and colorful attires integrating many floral, insect-like and animalistic motifs ranging from flamboyant colors to nature-blending camouflage.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Camouflage. The Painter of Life inspires you to wear patterns, colors and scents that blend in a multitude of environments. You are proficient with Dexterity (Stealth) and you have advantage on such checks.

EATER OF FLESH
This tribe venerates an entity called The Eater of Flesh, the spritish god of hunters and predators. The Eater of Flesh takes many forms but sprites often portray him as a large, wolf-like predator. The Flesh Eater is not only a predator, he also represents the instinct to fight rather than flee and the representation of “conquest” and “passion” in spritish culture. But all predators need preys to survive and therefore The Eater of Flesh relies on the Painter of Life for the creatures that she raises and for the camouflage that she paints on the hunters’ fur.
Sprites of the Eater of Flesh have brown or gray skin and are often bald. They have wide red eyes that can see in the dark and a prominent chin that makes them easily identifiable. Of all four tribes, these sprites are the most feral, travelling in small bands of hunters over vast territories. They wear simple garments and armors of bone and insect carapace. At best, these clans are proud savage warriors but many are callous and merciless cannibals.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1,
Darkvision. Your predatory instincts give you superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

GREAT RIVER OF WORMS
This tribe venerates the Great River of Worms, the spritish manifestation of entropy. For the sprites, the Great River of Worms is more an inevitable force than a true god: a mass of maggots advancing like a great slithering snake and turning everything on its path into dirt and dust. But the Great River of Worm is not a bringer of death; the maggots are only a manifestation of what happens to those who have already died. Thus it relies on the ungrateful work of the Eater of Flesh to complete the cycle of life, thus allowing the Sprout Singer to start a new one.
Sprites of the Great River of Worms have a morbid fascination with death, decomposition and everything that comes after. Many wear animal skulls as hats and keep carrion insects as pets. Of the four tribes of sprites, they are the most willing to trade with harpies, nagas, hags and other spirits of the Dark Woods. Sprites of the Great River of Worms are also on friendly terms with vegepygmies. This has made them scholars among sprites and although they haven’t mastered literacy, they paint their science on the wall of their caves and thus accumulate great libraries of knowledge.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Worm’s Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against disease and poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.



VEGEPYGMIES
Vegepygmies, also known as mold-men, are short humanoid-looking creatures living in small communities all across the Dark Woods. As primitive people, their collective memory does not reach far back in time but for as long as anyone can remember, the vegepymies have always been there.



SENTIENT PLANTS
Vegepygmies are short and stout, ranging anywhere between 2 and 4 feet tall and weighing between 25 and 50 pounds. Their head looks dried and shrunken and green fungus tendrils dangle from their arms, waist and legs. But that is the extent of their resemblance with humanoids, for vegepygmies are a type of sentient plant creatures with a distinctly different metabolism. Among those differences, vegepygmies have no vocal cords and thus cannot speak; their language consists entirely of rhythmic clicks, taps and beats.
Vegepygmies live in small tribes of 15 to 50 individuals led by a shaman or a chieftain. Every individual is appointed a social position such as worker, warrior or envoy, not unlike some colonies of insects.

CHILDREN OF RUSSET MOLD
Vegepygmies are born out of humanoids that died while carrying russet mold’s spores – which in the Dark Woods means virtually everyone. As long as the corpse is left undisturbed by predators and unexposed to direct sunlight, up to six vegepygmies emerge from the remains within three days of the creature’s death. Vegepygmies demonstrate a macabre reverence for their “birth corpse”, carrying grisly mementos such as bones, teeth and bits of garments or jewelry as their main form of ornament and source of materials.
Approximately 1 in 20 vegepygmies retain fragments of its birth corpse’s memories, abilities and personality. These individuals often become shamans, chieftains or solitary marauders. Some vegepygmy even have been known to display affection for humanoids, adopting their former adventuring companions as their “tribe”.

THE WILL OF THE WOODS
Vegepygmies see the russet mold as a blessing and a holy manifestation of the Will of the Woods, a deity that they venerate as an abstract, shapeless and omniscient entity. They claim to be acting on its behalf, following an agenda that other races cannot comprehend. This makes them often appear unorganised and unpredictable, yet vegepygmies of different tribes act with uncanny synchronicity.
Unlike most animated plants however, vegepygmies do not display the usual malice or cruelty that is typical of the creatures of the Dark Woods. Since they seem unaffected by its malevolent influence, the vegepygmies are welcomed among the Free People.

VEGEPYGMY TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1, and your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. Vegepygmies reach adulthood in a few days only, inheriting the knowledge of their race as they are born. Vegepygmies can live up to 50 years old.
Alignment. Vegepygmies tend to be neutral in alignment. They can be concerned without being callous or forgiving, and also don’t quite understand the concepts of order and insurrection.
Size. Vegepygmies grow to 2 feet tall in a matter of days after their birth. From then on, they grow steadily but slowly as they age until they reach just above 4 feet tall. Your size is Small.
Speed. Vegepygmies are fleet of foot despite their size. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Plant Creature. Vegepygmies are plant rather than humanoids. As such, you are immune to spells and effects targeting humanoid creatures.
Mold Resilience. Your plant metabolism makes you less vulnerable to disease and poisons. You have advantage on saving throws against disease and poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
Darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Natural Armor. Mossy tendrils give you some basic protection. When you are not wearing any armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Languages. Vegepygmies do not speak. Their language called Pygmish consists of rhythmic clicks and taps which characters of other races may learn but cannot ‘speak’. Pygmish has no written form but vegepygmies paint and carve basic hieroglyphic symbols that they use for warnings and navigation. You also understand Sylvan, although you cannot speak it.

Greased Up Fox
2015-11-23, 10:26 AM
How would skin of bronze work with class restrictions on armor?

Laurefindel
2015-11-23, 07:25 PM
How would skin of bronze work with class restrictions on armor?

the idea is that they are proficient with all types of armors, as long as they are made and fitted for the automaton.