Kinships

Dwarf
"Dwarves are too stony to change. I've known a dwarf to keep a promise made a lifetime ago, to his own harm, long after everyone he ever made it to was gone."
— Owlox, elven shaman

Still half-stone, dwarves were born of rock, and only recently carved their way out of the deep places of the world. Their skin and hair glitters with minerals and gemstones. Dwarves consider other kinships strange and mercurial, full of whimsy and change. To be a dwarf is to live with crystal clarity and stony certainty.

Outcroppings. Almost all dwarves have some visible element of stone or crystal in their skin or hair, growing naturally from their bodies. This might be as subtle as a patches of pebbly scales or it could nearly cover the body in rocky shards and spines.

Stone quirk. Thanks to their mineral roots, Dwarves are unlike all other kinships—although they are said to be distant kin of the waste-children of earth who live within the Quakewaste. Use this table to inspire how your stony background manifests.



Ruin Builders. If you see an abandoned cliff-fortress or menhirs set high on a hill, you can be almost certain it was once dwarvish. Obsessive builders and carvers of stone, dwarves have been known to build a fortress for generations, only to abandon it overnight when the last stone is carved, ready to start anew. Their industry is ferocious, their dedication to craftsmanship eternal. Many a wandering dwarf can be tracked by an unconscious habit of piling pebbles into little cairns wherever they go.

Industrious & Competitive. A losing endeavor is called a "dwarvish bet," because those who live beside dwarves know that once they set their mind to a task or challenge, nothing can stop them. Their tirelessness and dedication is respected by those around them. Yet with every generation, dwarvish elders are a little more suspicious of the next generation’s growing love for strong drink and the ease of life on the banks of the Three Brothers.

Friends of Giants. It is known that the giants greatly admire the dwarves for their natural cunning with stone, and that dwarves are often invited into their highwalled cities as guests, counted as friends and advisors in construction, building, and crafting projects of all kinds. Some, however, believe the giants are a little too welcoming, and worry that there might be some larger, darker plan that the empires have for their stoneworking allies.

Dwarvish Names. The names of dwarves are usually a series of up to nine single-syllable sounds. These names act as gates of familiarity—the more of a dwarf’s names one learns, the closer one is to the dwarf. "Knowing the ninth name" is a dwarvish euphemism for romantic intimacy.

Typical names: Du-Ma-Lin-Bah-Gol-Sum-Cha-Mu-Rin (known by most as Du, Duma, or Dumalin), Tho-Sar-Vun-Til-Am-Eng-Pil-Mek-Ta (known by most as Tho, Thosar, or Thosarvun)

Hewn Dwarves (Hill Dwarf)
Not all dwarves are born—some are carved from rock and given life with secret magic only known to the dwarves. These hewn dwarves are more rock than skin, and often look at other kinships with a mixture of confusion, contempt, and curiosity.

Born Dwarves (Mountain Dwarf)
Dwarves that are a few generations removed from the mines and quarries of their kind quickly develop their own ways of adapting to a soft-skinned world. These dwarves—born rather than carved—represent the other forms that dwarves take throughout 5th Edition.

Optional Alternatives: Primal Dwarves
NOTE: These are playtest materials from the Planegea patreon, and may or may not be perfectly balanced, but they have a ton of cool flavor. Choose these at your own risk/reward.

"Have you heard us singing to the mountain? Have you heard the mountain singing back? At times, we dwarves are closer to stones than to mortals; people of the deep are we, kith and kin to the shining, crushing, echoing, glimmering rock."
— Thumkatavarikor, Stoneteller of Windy Cliff

Your dwarvish character shares a number of qualities in common with others of their kind.

Age. Dwarves mature at the same rate as humans, but they’re considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.
Size. Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.
Hardy. Your hit point maximum increases by 1 at 1st level and each time you gain a level.
Deep Focus. Weary dwarves can refresh their minds and bodies through mindless repetitive activities, such as digging, feasting, sorting, or polishing. (This is known as "deep focus.") While in deep focus, you repeat a simple, nonmagical action, your speed becomes 5 feet, and you are blind and deaf to everything but the task at hand. You repeat your chosen action for up to 8 hours, unless woken as from sleep, or until the action can no longer be taken. After at least 4 consecutive hours of deep focus, you gain the benefits of completing a long rest.
Dwarven Memory. Dwarves guard important memories in the intricacies of woven patterns. You have preserved 3 memories in such patterns, braided into your beard, hair, or marked on your body. Each pattern is unique to you and holds information that you alone can decipher. Each memory has one of the following forms, chosen when you create your dwarven character:
• Story: A tale you can recite word for word. You gain proficiency on all Intelligence checks pertaining to one of the following: one creature type; one environment; one location; or one faction.
• Lore: The fine points of a certain kind of knowledge. You gain one of the following: a tool proficiency; a language; or proficiency with a martial weapon.
• Grudge: A record of specific wrongs done to you and yours by a particular creature. Add your proficiency bonus to any Wisdom checks made to track or sense that creature. When you deal damage to that creature, add your proficiency bonus to the total damage dealt.
As an action, you can destroy one pattern, losing the benefits gained by preserving that memory. If you have fewer than three patterns, you can create a new pattern over three separate deep focuses with direct access to the knowledge or memory you seek to preserve.

Stone Type. Your dwarven character was hewn from a certain type of stone, or born to at least one parent who was. Choose one.

FIREBLOOD
Shaped from the igneous rock that forms in the molten blood of mountains, fireblood dwarves understand the bond between creation and violence. These dwarves are often recognized by their obsidian outcroppings and black, white, or gray coloring.

Flame-formed. When you take fire damage, you reduce it by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. Additionally, you are immune to igniting or otherwise catching fire.
Stonecharging. You know how to imbue stone with the magma of its own creation. As an action, you can touch a Small or Medium stone to charge it with explosive energy. When you release the stone, it becomes charged and begins to glow, shedding dim orange light in a 5-foot radius. If a creature or object touches the charged stone, it explodes, and each creature within a 10 foot radius takes a number of d6 bludgeoning damage equal to your proficiency bonus. The charge lasts for 1 hour or until the stone explodes, and you can only charge one stone at a time in this way.
Glazier. When you or a creature you are assisting crafts a glass item or an item that incorporates glass as a major component, your time and cost to craft the item is halved.

HAMMERHEART
Carved from the metamorphic rock that fuses in the deepest parts of stone, hammerheart dwarves know the unity that comes from suffering. These dwarves are often recognized by the gems that gleam from their outcroppings, as well as by their striped or marbled coloring.

Pressure-made. When you take bludgeoning damage, you reduce it by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against being knocked prone.
Stonesensing. You know how to listen to the very heart of stone, sensing its subtle vibrations. As an action, while standing on a stone surface or touching such a surface, you gain tremorsense with a range of 60 feet for up to 10 minutes or until you are no longer in contact with the surface.
Mason. When you or a creature you are assisting crafts a Heavy item or an item that is built from a single stone, your time and cost to craft the item is halved.

SHELLSKULL
Carved from the sedimentary rock that settles over periods of long decay, shellskull dwarves sense the debt that life owes to death. These dwarves are often recognized by their green, gray, red, or brown coloring, as well as by outcroppings featuring fossils, bones, or other once-living things trapped in the rock from which they were hewn.

Death-born. When you take poison damage, you reduce it by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against poison.
Stonescrying. You know how to peer into the memory of stone. As an action, you can touch a Small, or Medium area of stone to form a connection with its past. This stone can be part of a larger surface. When you form the connection, your senses extend 1 hour into the stone’s past. You can see and hear as if you were in its place 1 hour ago. While connected, as an action, you can push your senses back 1 additional hour. When you do so, you must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the connection ends, and you cannot use this feature again until after a short or long rest. The DC increases by 5 each additional time you take this action.
Reclaimer. When you or a creature you are assisting crafts an item made primarily from damaged, cast-off, or broken materials, your time and cost to craft the item is halved.

WILDBRAID
Cultivated from the crystal that grows when unbound by limitations, wildbraid dwarves feel the joy of freedom. These dwarves are often recognized by their eccentric, reflective outcroppings and pastel coloring.

Sky-grown. When you take lightning or thunder damage, you reduce it by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against being grappled or restrained.
Stonecoaxing. You know the language of stones, and can convince them to listen to your intent. As an action, you can whisper to a Small or Medium stone you can see. When you whisper to the stone, you coax it to grow or shrink as you choose. Over the next 10 minutes, the stone halves or doubles its length, width, or height as you choose. The stone cannot be coaxed to become smaller than 1 foot or larger than 10 feet in any direction.
Artisan. When you or a creature you are assisting crafts a Light item or a fragile item with less than 8 AC, your time and cost to craft the item is halved.

Elf
"Elves aren't really real, you know," said the old man, gazing out at the snow. I was young. It was cold. We were waiting for the hunters to signal the approach of the mammoths.

"You can see through them. They’re dreams. Walking dreams, no more real than that." I knew better than to disagree with my elder. But when I thought about the elves I’d seen—their wild ways, their laughing eyes, their clever hands—they had seemed real to me. More real than anything."
— The Lifesong of Ula Vitar, ranger of the Skyfang Peaks

Semi-translucent, elves have something not-quite-real about them. Originating in Nod, the twin worlds of dreams and nightmares, elves never quite sleep, always seeming only partly attached to Planegea, their thoughts ever wandering far away.

Graceful Translucence. You can see moonlight through an elf’s hand. They are generally a sleek and slender people and are known to move with a subtle step, their eyes seemingly focused on something just out of reach.

Wandering Minds. Elves are known for being in a state of distraction. They often seem either one step behind or two steps ahead of the moment, as if their thoughts are wandering on quite a different path than that of other mortals. Yet when they arrive at their destination and choose a course of action, they are both brilliant and intuitive. Use this table to inspire how your wandering mind manifests.



Eternal Beauty. Elves remain in the prime of their life an unthinkably long time. In a world with no number over nine, they are believed to simply be immortal. Although many elves enjoy the company of other kinships and find their perspectives interesting, they can be aloof in distracted immortality. Some elves prefer to live with their own kind, to avoid the pain of getting attached to such short-lived companions. Such elvish clans are almost never permanent encampments, preferring to wander in search of places of great natural beauty. Elves are known for their work in feathers, beads, colorful paint, and weaving, and their textiles are highly sought, especially for feasts and festivals.

The Call of Nod. Elves don’t sleep, and don’t dream—the World of Dreams and Nightmares is real to them, and they must travel through doorways or by magic to go there…and it never stops calling to them. Whether born in Nod or Planegea, an elf always feels the draw of the dream world, and rare is the elf who does not at some point in their long life seek a way to at least gaze into their former home.

Elvish Names. Elves traditionally name their children with mirrored names, built of two opposed ideas. Elves believe that a name is a reflection, a meditation, and an exploration of the space between the two concepts. The names might describe poles of the person’s identity or simply abstract concepts. Some names are untranslated from elvish, though they are typically constructed in the same way.

Typical names (in Common): Cloudknife, Owlfish, Dreamwake, Calmfear, Greatsmall, Wanderfound, Wildsafe.

Exiles of Nod (Wood Elf or Sea Elf)
Many mortal lifetimes ago, a terrible crime or sin was committed by a clan of elves from the World of Dreams. These elves were cast out, banished forever from Nod, and have dwelt in the waking world ever since. Exiles of Nod are less translucent than their kin, and have spent their outcast generations learning how to survive. Because of this, they tend towards more practicality and skill with both magic and weaponry than others of their kind.

No human—and few elves—know why they were banished, but the oldest of the exile elves know, and some say they are still working towards some larger plan for return or revenge.

Dream Elves of Nod (High Elf or Eladrin)
Those who cross from the World of Dreams or Nightmares have other forms that are more insubstantial, more curious. Some are formed of darkness or the wilderness or the sea.

Dread Elves of Nod (Drow or Shadar-kai)
A group of drow-like beings from the Nightmare World, dedicate to sowing fear in mortals. They guard a secret portal to their world, and are willing to die for their cause.

The Omenbringers (Drow or Shadar-kai)
Dread elves who make their home in the gloom of that land—guard the paths of the place, and seek to protect those who venture into its unspeakable dangers.

Halfling
"Beware the Quietkin, with their many knives and noiseless steps. They can kill before you know that you’re surrounded."
— Great Valley hunter’s warning

Called silentfolk or quietkin, halflings are unseen until it’s too late. A secretive people who hunt by ambush, they are eerie and unsettling, yet highly valued as hunters and allies, if other kinships are able to befriend them.

Small and Deadly. Halflings are known by their small stature and quiet step. Because of their size, they are natural prey for many hungry beasts, so halflings have learned the art of hiding and striking first from the shadows. They tend to wear dark natural colors, and are known for elaborate striped face painting or tattoos as an art of camouflage.

Unseen and Unheard. Halflings are capable of speech, but their culture is built around silence, and their clan tongue is an elaborate sign language created for stalking large prey. It’s hard to get a halfling to open up, but it’s said that on the rare occasions when they feel safe and secure, they are clever and bright companions, full of the jokes and insights they’ve been holding back until it was time to speak. Use this table for inspiration on how this tradition of silence affects your character.


Kill or Be Killed. Somewhere in the past, halflings realized that, thanks to their size, they must choose between living as easy prey or becoming predators, and decided on the latter. Halflings keep to their own kind more than most other kinships, largely because they find others too noisy and clumsy to survive in the halfling way. Their clans tend to camp in hidden places and live their days in total silence, considering it a great offense to make more sound than absolutely necessary.

The Three Favors. There is an old story about a halfling who wandered through the jungle so silently that it snuck up on Death, who was trapped under a fallen tree. Twice, Death asked the halfling for help, and twice the halfling refused. On the third request, the halfling agreed, but only in exchange for three favors from Death in days to come. Death agreed, and ever since, halflings have been a people touched by preternatural luck, which they rely on and count as their well-deserved birthright.

Halfling Names. Most halflings have a sign made with the hands or body that they consider their true name as given by their parents. However, for moving through the dark or communicating with outsiders, they are also given a spoken name, which they typically think of as an informal nickname. These usually have simple, repeated sounds that are easy to pick out if whispered.

Typical names: Taktak, Emem, Bilbil, Adu-Adu, Lolo, Sansan, Pippip, Odod.

Quietkin (Lightfoot Halflings)
Most halflings are from clans that have long kept quiet and kept to themselves. Some leave their clans because curiosity draws them into the world, others are sent out as long-range hunters or scouts and then—through misfortune or curiosity—never find their way home. These halflings are fleet of foot, and can hide with the greatest of ease.

Silentfolk (Ghostwise Halflings)
Most halflings are from clans that have long kept quiet and kept to themselves. Some leave their clans because curiosity draws them into the world, others are sent out as long-range hunters or scouts and then—through misfortune or curiosity—never find their way home. These halflings have developed non-verbal methods of communicating even complex thoughts with other creatures.

Walkaway Halflings (Stout Halflings)
There are those who refuse the way of silence and make homes among the other clans. These halflings—called walkaways by the quietkin—are represented by many of the other types of halflings found in 5E.

Human
"You've never seen such a difference as from one human to the next. It’s dizzying."
— Bazrhu, stonehewn dwarvish guardian

Known for their remarkable adaptability, humans are unparalleled as beast-tamers. They can be found everywhere in Planegea, both as servant and master of mighty beasts of all kinds, equally likely to have tamed a creature as to have been subjugated by it.

A Dazzling Array. Humans in Planegea come in all shapes and sizes, every shade and color—including tints of blue, purple, and green from elvish or orcish ancestry. Humans are known for their diverse tastes and ability to alter their appearance and culture to whatever landscape they find themselves to a degree considered remarkable by others.

Infinite Adaptability. Humans thrive in nearly every environment across Planegea, from the stormy plains of Thunderverge to the soaring pinewood pillars of the Towering Weald, from the mold-huts of Ghostmire to the dinosaur-back villages of Lastwater Wilds. Use the following table to inspire your diverse origin.



Consummate Survivors. It seems that humans will do anything to survive. Humans can be found worshiping anything, partaking in strange and bewildering rituals and traditions, and adapting their dwellings, their clothing, and all aspects of their life simply to eke out a few more years of breath.

Natural Allies. Of all kinships, humans find it easiest to cooperate with other kinds of beings—for good or for ill. Human encampments are remarkable for the range of other kinships and beasts they mingle into their societies. Sometimes, of course, it is the humans who are mingled in, and many a powerful monster has its share of human pets.

Generalized Human
Most humans have a varied and distributed list of skills. If you choose this heritage, your 8 ability score increases to a 10.

Specialized Human (Variant Human)
Some humans focus on a particular set of abilities that make them keenly powerful in a particular area. Use the variant human rules from the Player's Handbook if you choose this heritage.

All humans get the following trait:

Beast Tamer. Many humans in Planegea have a natural ability to tame wild animals that exceeds that of other kinships. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check related to interacting with an undomesticated beast, you are considered proficient in the Animal Handling skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Dragonborn
"Great are the Dragonborn, and great is our pride, for we are the heirs of the Worldheart. Great are we and great is our pride, for in our veins runs creation’s blood."
— Dragonborn Chant

Arising from the Venom Abyss, racing up the Unfalls in great bamboo rafts, these draconic mortals are the newest kinship to appear in the Great Valley. They are a gregarious people, known for their showmanship, brash fearlessness, and overwhelming pride, declaring with fierce joy their rightful place as the hatchlings of the Worldheart Dragon’s own brood and the harbingers of the will of Blood Mountain.

Powerful Predators The dragonborn are a towering, dominating people, full of hunter’s pride and conquering strength. They laugh easily and loudly, kill for sport, and are unafraid to speak their mind. They vary in hue from white to black, and all chromatic shades in between. The metallic scales of dragonborn that will someday walk the world are nowhere to be found among them.

Heirs of the World. According to the dragonborn, they are the direct descendants of the Worldheart Dragon, hatched of her eggs on Blood Mountain. They say they cut down mighty trees of the Venom Abyss, lashed them together with poisonous vines, and sailed up the Unfalls to bring the Worldheart’s will to Planegea. This confidence or pride is a hallmark of their people. Use the table below to inspire how that plays out in your dragonborn character.



Boastful Athletes. When the dragonborn rafted up the Unfalls in their catamarans, they announced that they had arrived to enact the will of the Worldheart. However, it became clear in time that they had no fixed purpose or way forward, nor any plan to return to their birthplace on Blood Mountain. In the years that have passed since they arrived, some dragonborn have joined with other clans as hunters or makers, while most have kept to their own kind and live in a state of perpetual hunting, feasting, and challenging each other to feats of strength or courage. Dragonborn camps are raucous, dangerous places, which most other mortals take great pains to avoid.

Dubious Birthright. Dragonborn are not long-lived, and several new generations have been born in the Great Valley since their arrival. The oldest of their kind are passing away, and none have ever told the full story of their origin, keeping to the same vague generalities. Some of the young dragonborn raised among other clans have started to wonder whether their old ones are telling the truth. If they were the children of the Worldheart, wouldn’t she have told them their purpose? Wouldn’t they know what to do?

Dragonborn Names. The grandiose culture of many dragonborn incline them towards names that are, in themselves, boasts. Dragonborn use harsh consonants for their given names, and often demand to be addressed based on their bloodline’s most impressive boasts or exploits.

Typical names: Skrath Ogrekiller, Harash Invincible, Arkva Firespew, Zaxal Raftcrafter.


Chromatic Ancestry
None of the dragonborn in Planegea are metallic, as it is a world without metal. The chromatic colors—black, blue, green, red, and white—are present.

You can choose a chromatic dragonborn either from the Player's Handbook or from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons.

Optional Alternatives: Primal Dragonborn
NOTE: These are playtest materials from the Planegea patreon, and may or may not be perfectly balanced, but they have a ton of cool flavor. Choose these at your own risk/reward.

Your dragonborn character shares a number of qualities in common with others of their kind.

Age. Young dragonborn grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, attain the size and development of a 10-yearold human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.
Size. Dragonborn are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Breath Attack. their dragonish instincts become. While you are at or below half of your hit point maximum, you can exhale a violent breath attack as an action. When you exhale, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your color, as well as one additional effect, listed in the Primal Effect feature. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failure, a creature takes a number of d4 of damage equal to your proficiency bonus, and half as much on a successful save. When you regain hit points to more than half your hit point maximum, you can no longer exhale in a breath attack.
The breath attack die changes when you reach certain levels. The die becomes a d6 at 5th level, a d8 at 10th level, and a d10 at 15th levels.
Color. You are descended from a chromatic dragon of a certain color. This color determines the size, shape, and type of your breath attack and grants you additional features, shown on the table below. You have advantage on saving throws against taking damage of your chosen type. Choose one.



BLACK
Most black dragonborn have pitted, inky scales and skeletal features with curving, segmented horns. These dragonborn have a natural affinity for swamps, bogs, and other damp and rotting places, and instinctively understand the ways of insects, worms, and other small devourers of filth.

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
Insect Speech. You have a natural affinity with creeping things, and can communicate simple ideas and emotions to insects, spiders, and other tiny pests. Additionally, as an action, you can command these pests to attack a creature you can see that is not a construct or undead. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. The saving throw is equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failure, the target takes 1d6 poison damage and is pushed 5 feet in a random direction.
Acidic Breath. As a bonus action, you can use your breath to cause a harmless acidic effect, such as marking, staining, or ruining a small nonmagical object or nonmagical surface smaller than 1 foot in radius.
Primal Effect. Once unleashed, your caustic breath attack is capable of eating through wood, leather, and stone. Your breath attack deals double damage to objects and structures.

BLUE
Most blue dragonborn have dry blue scales, coarse as sand, and a dramatic frill, which they are able to flare to dramatic effect. These dragonborn naturally prefer drier climates, where the light of their crackling breath can be seen for countless miles across parched dunes.

Frilled. You know how to use your fill to dramatic effect. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses Performance.
Alarming Display. You can startle enemies by suddenly flaring your frill. As an action, you can attempt to frighten a creature within 30 feet that can see you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. The saving throw is equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failure, the creature is frightened of you until the end of its next turn, after which it is immune to this effect. Any other creatures who can see you make the attempt are immune.
Shocking Breath. As a bonus action, you can use your breath to cause a harmless lightning effect, such as briefly flashing bright a light or causing momentary tingling or numbness in a creature within 5 feet.
Primal Effect. Your primal breath can arc outward from creatures that it strikes directly. If one or more creatures targeted by your breath attack fail their saving throw, you can choose one additional creature to target within 10 feet of any creature that failed. That creature must then make the save as if you had targeted it with your breath attack.

GREEN
Most green dragonborn have mossy green scales, partly overgrown with moss and lichen, and a tall crest that runs from forehead to shoulder-blade. These dragonborn prefer forests and other places full of life, where they can climb, and maneuver unseen until the moment of their choosing.

Climbing. You gain a climbing speed of 30 ft. and can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings.
Startling Strike. You know how to attack when it’s least expected. When you hit a creature that is not missing any of its hit points with an attack, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw. The saving throw is equal to 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failure, the target has disadvantage on their next attack until the end of their next turn.
Poisonous Breath. As a bonus action, you can use your breath to cause a harmless noxious effect, such as ruining the taste of food or a drink or causing momentary nausea to a nearby creature.
Primal Effect. Your breath causes a brief bout of retching sickness. Creatures that fail their save against your breath attack are poisoned until the end of their next turn.

RED
Most green dragonborn have mossy green scales, partly overgrown with moss and lichen, and a tall crest that runs from forehead to shoulder-blade. These dragonborn prefer forests and other places full of life, where they can climb, and maneuver unseen until the moment of their choosing.

Imposing. Your sheer height is enough to make others step back in alarm. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses Intimidation.
Mighty Build. The burdens of other creatures are a trifle to you. If a weapon does not have the Heavy property, you can use it as if it had the Light property. Additionally, you count as one size category larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Fiery Breath. As a bonus action, you can use your breath to cause a harmless fire effect, such as lighting a torch or campfire or warming a small object.
Primal Effect. Once unleashed, the flame of your primal breath is all-devouring. A flammable object hit by your breath attack ignites if it isn’t being worn or carried, and creatures that fail their saving throw against your breath attack catch fire. A creature can use their action to put out this fire. Creatures that begin their turn on fire take 1d6 fire damage.

WHITE
Most white dragonborn are covered in snowy spines—smaller on the face, but elongating into long quills or countless slender spikes where other humanoids have hair. They instinctively seek out colder climates, and are known for their perfect memories—a boon to their friends and a curse to anyone against whom they hold a grudge.

Frigid Spines. Merely touching you can menace those who mean you harm. When a creature deals damage to you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to reduce their speed by 15 feet until the start of your next turn.
Unforgetting. Your kind have enduring memories. You can accurately recall every detail of any conversation you have heard, unless magic has affected your memory.
Chilling Breath. As a bonus action, you can use your breath to cause a harmless cold effect, such as briefly cooling a small object or creating a reflective surface no larger than 1 foot in radius.
Primal Effect. Your primal wrath freezes the joints of those who would do you harm. Creatures that fail their saving throw against your breath attack have their movement speed halved until the start of your next turn.

Godmarked (Tiefling)
"Those whose blood is touched by the gods bear a heavy burden – they walk the world marked, and all who see them see into their soul."
— Shalriq the Outcast

There are those whose stories are more tangled with the gods than most. Godmarked is the common name for those whose blood was forever altered in form by an interaction with the divine. Whether a blessing or a curse, their appearance sets the godmarked apart, and their stories are eagerly coveted around clanfires, if they are willing to tell.

Changed by the Gods. Godmarked appearance varies widely, depending on the nature of the god who affected their ancestry. Some touched by animal gods have hooves or tails. Most have skin of an unusual hue, such as the blue child of a river god or the bright red skin of one touched by divine fire. Almost all, however, are touched with some sort of sign on the temples or forehead—most commonly horns or antlers—which mark them unmistakably.

Forever Other. There is no hiding your nature as a godmarked, although some have tried. Whether intended as a blessing or a curse, or simply an unintended consequence of a meeting between god and mortal, a godmarked’s appearance makes them an outsider, set apart from the rest of the clan. Some godmarked use their difference to their advantage, leaning into the attention their appearance calls to gain favor and power. Others attempt to conceal their origin as much as possible, proving their value lies outside whatever their forebears may have done to please or anger the gods. Use this table to inspire your godmarked’s origins, and then consider whether that is something they try to hide or leverage.


Stories to Tell. It is said that a godmarked is welcome at every clanfire but their own. Though often rejected by those who knew the family before their stories intertwined with the gods, these changed ones obviously have stories to tell. Other clans are eager to hear them, to learn how to please or avoid angering the gods, and to understand a little more about the world around them. Many godmarked become chanters or traveling performers, their appearance sufficient to draw a crowd of eager listeners.

Unfinished Business. It is said that those who are marked by the gods are forever bound to them in fate and fortune. Most godmarked know exactly which god is responsible for their appearance through family lore, and those who do not—or whose god is long since dead—are still entangled in the business of those whose power far exceeds their own.

Godmarked Names. Most godmarked retain the names of their kind before they were changed by the divine encounter, so a godmark may have a name that sounds human, elvish, orcish, or like that of any other kinship.

Gnome
"A little distraction here, a little mayhem there—tallfolk and bigteeth are so predictable; just break the pattern and you can get away with anything!"
— Gnomish wisdom

There may be no bolder kinship in all of Planegea than gnomes. Though they stand at only half the height of most other mortals, gnomes make their mark on the world. They shatter the stillness of primordial dawn with magic, music, startling displays of brilliance—and absolute refusal to accept limitations placed upon them by anyone or anything.

Small and Bright. Gnomes are half the height of most other mortals, standing taller than only the quietkin. Their fingers are long and nimble, their eyes large and luminous, their hair drift s as if defying gravity around their pointed faces. Gnomes are attracted to vivid colors and instinctively mimic the ways in which brightly colored birds and beasts use attention and distraction as a survival strategy.

Startle and Sting. Gnomes understand how to rely on the element of surprise to survive, and typically have at least a few tricks up their sleeves to redirect the attention of predators and enemies. Gnomes use such techniques to make a fast getaway—or to distract their prey before an unforeseen attack. Use this table to inspire your gnome character’s favored methods of controlling attention.


Brilliant Survivors. Gnome-built camps can be found where other mortals find it impossible to live; on the underside of cliffs, dangling from enormous trees, nestled in the glow of an active volcano, and so on. Gnomes offer refuge to those who find themselves in the strangest places, and many tallfolk owe their lives to a sudden, surprising discovery of gnomish hospitality. Even when built in typical places and drab on the outside, the inside of their dwellings—too small for most tallfolk to enter—are covered in wonders of invention, art, and beauty... tiny oases of craftsmanship and light in a dark and violent world.

Star Whisperers. Gnomes have a deep affinity for the stars—something about their small brilliance, their clever dances across the sky—there is a kinship. Gnomish elders are known for their remarkable understanding of the rumors of the heavens. And some even say that certain gnomes with a bent towards secrecy and evil have direct communication with the unfathomable, ancient minds that lurk and spiral in the darkness between the stars...

Gnomish Names. Gnomes reveal their own names when they come of age. Until then, among other gnomes, they are affectionately called by dismissive child-names, such as Stumblefoot, Rockhead, Slowpoke, and so on. Though they might seem insulting to others, these names provoke young gnomes to create a new name and take their place as adults as early as possible. No two names are the same, as the naming rite places great emphasis on surprise.

Example names: Krazbaxnixelpiftery, X’xyx, Nine-Nines, Wauwauskadamar, Cup-of-the-Wind, [High-Pitched Squeal].

Startle Gnomes (Rock Gnomes)
These gnomes are those commonly seen in the Great Valley, living in bone-and-gnomequilt huts encircled by crafted goods for trade, fashioned from the cast-off waste of other clans.

Insightful Mind (Artificer's Lore). Whenever you make an Intelligence check related to the lore of magic items, alchemical objects, or stars, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.
Startle-Crafter. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools. Using these tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 ps worth of materials to craft a Tiny magical device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time.

When you create a device, choose one of the following options:
• Kinetic Toy. This toy is a moving animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or hunter. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.
• Fire Starter. The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.
• Song Jar. When opened, this jar plays a single song at a moderate volume. The jar stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.

Ingenious Gnomes
There are countless ways to survive in Planegea, and many gnomes rely on methods other than surprise and distraction to stay alive. These are represented by other types of gnomes in 5th Edition, and their many brilliant methods of survival offer great advantages to their companions.

Half-Elf
"I have known the meaning of the clanfire on a winter’s night and have walked the dreamscapes of my ancestors. I have seen and understood both death and immortality, magic and matter. I am not half-anything. I am both, and wholly myself."
— Meku-Ukem the Omenbringer

Sometimes called Twilight Children, these descendants of humans and elvish parents share traits from both bloodlines. As such, they are gifted with many boons from both kinships, a people who learn to navigate the complexity of belonging to contrasting—and sometimes conflicting—ancestries and expectations.

Patterns of Lineage. When combined, elvish and human features swirl together in surprising ways—a half elf is often translucently blue in some parts of their bodies, and solid in others, and may sometimes have one pointed ear and one rounded, or differently-colored eyes. These combinations typically reveal themselves in elegant natural patterns, like the stripes or spots of a hunting cat or swirls and loops that remind one of clouds, water, or leaves.

Children of Two Worlds. Half-elves can be found anywhere humans and elves dwell together, both in Nod and in the Great Valley—or they may, for any number of reasons, be raised by only one half of their family. Whatever your upbringing, use the table below to inspire how it shaped your half-elf character.


Gifts of Perspective. Navigating the inheritance of two worlds and diverse ways of life is a gift in the ever-shifting horizons of Planegea. Half-elves can chart their own course between the dreamlike ways of their immortal elvish ancestors or the fire-hardened immediacy of their human parent, often taking the best aspects of both lineages to survive as they see fit. Whether fully immersed in the societies of their parents or striking out on their own, half-elves know that belonging has more meanings than some might imagine and there are as many paths through the world as feet to find them.

Blood Dancers. It is said that some half-elves have a unique ability to express the visage of either ancestry, appearing as solely human or solely elvish at will. For some, this is a form of self-expression, for others, a means of navigating between different societies, whether for noble or selfish ends.

To play a blood dancer half-elf, replace the Skill Versatility feature with Blood Dancer.

Blood Dancer. You can, as a bonus action, instantly change your outward appearance between your elf aspect, your human aspect, or your half-elf aspect. You are recognizably yourself in each aspect, retaining similar features such as eye color, face shape, and so forth. However, while in your elvish or human aspect, it is impossible to discern from your physical appearance that you are of two worlds.

Orc (Half-Orc)
"Might, stamina, courage, vision...what more could you ask for? Is there any other people who can compare to the majesty of the orcs?"
— Lift, spellskin of Seerfall

Orcs are among the mightiest, most feared, and most honored kinships in Planegea, hailed as conquerors and warlords. Their people often lead clans and win great glory as hunters. Many say that orcs are the rightful rulers of the land, although others resent it and will do all they can to oppose orcish might for as long as they can.

Majestic Might. An orc is awe-inspiring—taller than a human, with green skin that blends with grass and trees, mighty tusks that can gore with no need for a knife. They are considered a beautiful and blessed people, and much admired throughout the world.

Proud Hunters. The orcs live as nobility in Planegea. Their numbers are not great—orcish life is hard, and many do not survive the brutal upbringing of a clan hunter. But those who reach adulthood are hunt-scarred warrior-poets who have been groomed to lead.

Spiritual Unrest. The orcs have long been a reverent people, with deep roots in the worship of the gods of the land. Yet something has changed in the last few generations. Their power has grown, and some have started to doubt whether their fate must always be to bend the knee to the gods. They are strong, and some believe that the way of survival is one led not by spirits in their hallows, but by the hand of the hunters who risk their lives at spearpoint. This tension with the divine can play out in many ways. Use this table on the right to inspire how it affects your orcish character.


Enemy-Makers. The powerful make powerful enemies. Through pride and conquest, the orcs—though feared and admired by most—have more than their share of opposition. There are gods who conspire for their downfall, clans dedicated to their destruction, even some giant empires who think the green mortals would do better if they learned a lesson in humility. Orcish elders laugh at warnings of such dangers, however, daring all to come from any direction.

Orcish Names. Orc names tend to be verbs since their traditions place emphasize on action over talk. Orcs may or may not translate their names, and sometimes other mortals do not realize that a guttural-sounding orcish name may have an uplifting meaning.

Typical names (in Common): Smash, Seek, Guess, Journey, Comfort, Avenge, Focus, Remember.

Mechanically, full-blooded orcs in Planegea use the racial features of the Half-Orc from 5th Edition. But they are the original kinship: a proud and noble people who stand shoulder to shoulder with their human and elven peers. (Well… more shoulder-to-head. But equal nonetheless.)

Dreas
"Sometimes the rustling you hear in high branches is just the wind, and nothing more. But most of the time it’s us—and we’re laughing at you."
— Dreas joke

As the Day-Star rises over the forest and the dew sparkles on the leaves, some trees sense the clans of mortals and wonder what it would be like to walk among them. The most curious and free-spirited of these, touched by magic and enlivened by the primordial nature of the world, choose to leave their parent forests, and take on the shape of a humanoid. This departure, once made, is irreversible, and the resulting creature—called a dreas—lives the rest of its days as a tree who walks among people.

Tree People. Although dreas take on the form of people, their origins as trees are unmistakable, with green or barklike skin, leafy, mossy, or flowering hair or beards, and a tendency to stand in the sun and rain for hours on end, faces upturned towards the sky. Some dreas are more humanoid than others—there are those that have branching wooden antlers or more (or less) than the usual number of fingers, while some have a surface of such finely polished wood that it appears almost indistinguishable from skin. Dreas are capable of growing their own clothing, although some prefer to blend more seamlessly among mortals by donning the skins and woven cloth of the clans.

Eager Outsiders. Dreas are inherently curious and find mortal life fascinating. Having chosen to leave behind their rooted nature, they often do everything possible to live alongside their chosen people, trying to fit in and be of use and value. However, their origin usually leads to misunderstandings and trouble of one kind or another, so it is not uncommon for a dreas to find themselves alone despite their best efforts. These outcast dreas have been known to band together into small clans of their own, which tend towards seclusion, secrecy, and even outright hostility towards the mortals who rejected them.

Secret-Keepers of the Forest. The dreas remember their time as trees with perfect clarity—the cycle of years, the feeling of the wind and living things in their branches, the taste of water in dark soil rising through their roots. Although they have chosen to live among mortals, most dreas keep close to the wooded places of the world, preferring to keep in communion with trees and all green things. They often act as ambassadors for the forests, looking to the interests of both the trees and their adopted clans.

Adventure Seekers. Although many dreas choose to take on mortal form because of their interest in a particular person or clan, some leave the forest for the more abstract aspiration of adventure, wanderlust, or a broad curiosity of things hidden where roots cannot reach. Such dreas are often eager to keep on the move, seeing stability of any kind as a return to rootedness. They prefer to risk their lives in search of experiences at the extreme edges of mortality, often accepting great danger in pursuit of adventure and the deepest possible understanding of the world.

Botanical Origin. Dreas may take the form of humanoids, but they are obviously of a different nature. Use these tables to inspire how your dreas character was shaped by its roots.






Dreas Names. Dreas have long, unpronounceable tree-names that can only be spoken in Sylvan, which sound like rustling leaves and creaking branches. They often adopt mortal names like those of the clan they join, preferring to blend in as much as possible with their chosen people.

Dreas Traits. Your dreas character has a number of qualities in common with other dreas.

Age. Dreas live about a century, but they only show their true age on the spring and fall equinoxes. In the fall and winter, they appear to age rapidly. By midwinter, they look 10 years older than their actual age. They then begin to grow younger through the warmer months until midsummer, when they look 10 years younger than their actual age. Then the cycle repeats. In regions with milder or more extreme seasons, this effect is similarly diminished or stronger.
Size. Dreas vary greatly in height and build depending on the tree they sprung from, with slender aspen-dreas and massive oak-dreas and everything in between. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. At ease in the gloom of the forest at night, 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 gray.
Botanical Form. Your creature type is Plant.
Photosynthesis. You require different nourishment than other kinships. Instead of 1 pound of food each day, you require exposure to 1 hour of sunlight, a sunglobe, or an equivalent light source. You cannot eat solid food, and attempting to do so gives you the poisoned condition for 1d4 hours. You require the same amount of water as most humanoid kinships.
From the Forest. You know the druidcraft cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the speak with plants spell and the charm person spell once per day; you must finish a long rest in order to cast these spells again using this trait. When you cast charm person with this feature, sentient plants are also a valid target for the spell. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Tree Step. You gain the ability to enter a tree and move from inside it to inside another tree of the same kind within 500 feet. Both trees must be living and at least as large as you. You must use 5 feet of movement to enter a tree. You instantly know the location of all other trees of the same kind within 500 feet and, as part of the movement used to enter the tree, can either pass into one of those trees or step out of the tree you’re in. You appear in a spot of your choice within 5 feet of the destination tree, using another 5 feet of movement. If you have no movement left, you appear within 5 feet of the tree you entered.
You can use this trait once and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. You must end your turn outside a tree.

[quote="HeroAmongMen"]Half-Ooze
The palms and tall grasses shook, and Fulga raised her spear in alarm, ready to strike at whatever beast might come through—until she saw her companion, who had been missing for two days. She smiled in great relief… but then her smile faded. He was strange-looking—pale, with a glistening greenish hue. His eyes did not look at her with recognition, only hunger. And then, with an awful slurping sound, he stretched out his arms to an unnatural length, grasped a branch above, and was gone.
— The Dark Tale of Fulga’s Abyssal Hunt

Sometimes, in dark caverns or cruel forests, a hapless wanderer meets an untimely end at the creeping pseudopods of an ooze sire. Usually catching their prey asleep, the sire slides into a mortal’s ears, nose, and mouth—and once it is inside, it is too late. What awakes from that slumber is a new creature—a half-ooze, half-humanoid being aware of only three things: its strangely malleable body, the dim memories of its past life, and an overwhelming hunger.

Is That You? Half-oozes wear the form of the creature that died when the ooze sire gave them life, although they are a little paler, and clammier to the touch. Their skin tends to have an unusual tint, depending on the type of ooze that sired them. Half-oozes usually exist in dark and dangerous places and are typically dressed in ragged wraps that let them stretch their limbs when occasion calls for it.

So Hungry! When a mortal meets its end at the touch of an ooze sire, that creature ceases to exist. Half-oozes can, with great effort, recall some dim shreds of the memory of the creature that died to bring them into being (called the ooze dam, regardless of gender). But although they wear the face and form of their dam, they are an entirely new creature in their thinking. Half-oozes usually come to consciousness in dark places, alone, without any knowledge of how they got there—only knowing the need to eat.

Often, the dark and lonely origins of half-oozes, and their voracious appetites, leads them to a life of violence and villainy. They tend to fall in with the desperate, doing whatever they need to do to stay alive.

Born in Darkness. Nobody knows how the first ooze sires came to be. Most think they crept from the Venom Abyss, while others believe them to be the trick of some dark god. Still others say that something leaked through from a more distant and unsettling place. Still, regardless of their origin, ooze sires and their offspring are a fact of life grudgingly accepted by those at the edges of dark and eerie locations.

Appetite for Adventure. Half-oozes all come into existence with ravenous hunger, and that appetite continues to drive them throughout their life. Most half-oozes will give the same answer to anyone who asks them why they did something—they were hungry. The rare half-ooze who can find a constant food supply might seek to improve itself for its short life by learning or building something, or by seeking to make the world a better place. There have even been half-oozes who sought out the families of their dams and tried to make restitution for whatever was broken in their last life… if it does not get in the way of their next meal.

A Bad Beginning. Your half-ooze adventurer has arisen from unpleasant circumstances. Use the tables below to find out a few details, or sort it out yourself.

DAM

AWAKENING

SURVIVAL

Half-Ooze Names. Half-oozes usually call themselves by the first word or phrase that pops into their mind. This is often one of the last thoughts of their dam as they drifted off to sleep. Since dams usually meet their end in dark and lonely places, this lends a macabre air to the names of most half-oozes.

Common Names: Lost, Hopeless, Dark, Cold, Miss-You, Desperate, Soon, What-Was-That, Damp, Alone, So-Tired, Not-Safe.

THE OOZE SIRE LIFE CYCLE

The dreadful creatures known as ooze sires wait in the dark for unsuspecting humanoid victims for one reason: reproduction. As an asexual species, they infest a humanoid host—posthumously called an ooze dam—permanently fusing with it and using it to consume as much nourishment as possible. The fused creature—called a half-ooze—tends to live until half of the ooze dam’s natural lifespan. When the half-ooze dies, the final stage of the ooze sire’s life cycle begins, and 1d4 new ooze sires depart the corpse, to seek new dams, perpetuating the species’ miserable existence.

Half-Ooze Traits. Your half-ooze character has a number of qualities in common with other half-oozes.

Age. Half-oozes don’t last long, since their bodies begin on borrowed time. They usually live out about half their dam’s original lifespan, if the dam was young when the half-ooze was sired. A half-ooze with an elvish dam might live for hundreds of years, where one with an orcish dam might die of old age after only a couple of decades.
Size. Half-oozes typically range in height from under 4 feet to over 6 feet tall, depending on their dam. Your size is Small or Medium, depending on your dam.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Hunger of the Ooze. You must eat every day or suffer 1 level of exhaustion. When eating, you require twice as much food as other Medium humanoids. You do not require your food to be cooked to gain nourishment from it.
Pseudopodic Limbs. As an action, you may extend either your arms or legs to twice their normal length. When doing so, your AC decreases by 1. If you extend your legs, your walking speed increases by 10 feet. If you extend your arms, any melee weapon you’re wielding is considered to have the Reach property. If a weapon already has the Reach property, it does not gain additional range, as it’s too awkward to handle at that length. You may end the effect as a bonus action. Your arms and legs cannot both be extended at the same time.
Rubbery. Your ooze origin makes you able to fit through small spaces. Your body can fit through openings normally suitable only for Small or Tiny creatures. Depending on the size of the opening, your armor and equipment may not fit through.
Echoes of the Dam. You have the faintest memories from the life of your dam. Choose one: Gain one skill proficiency, one weapon proficiency, or two tool proficiencies.

Ooze Sire. Half-oozes are sired by one of three types of ooze: Acidic, Magical, or Sticky. Choose one.

ACIDIC
The ooze that sired you was of a peculiarly acidic variety. The skin of acidic half-oozes tends to have a pale greenish hue and a faintly sharp smell hangs around them.

Corrosive Rebuke. When you take damage from a melee attack made within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to deal acid damage to your attacker. The acid damage is equal to your character level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Omnivore. You have resistance to acid damage and are immune to being poisoned by food or drink.

MAGICAL
The ooze that sired you was of arcane origin, perhaps concocted by some strange spellskin for unknown experiments. The skin of magical-half-oozes tends to have a purplish hue, and they have a vaguely sweet smell.

Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the spellskin spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
Magic Memory. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill.

STICKY
The ooze that sired you was of a creeping, sticking nature. The skin of sticky half-oozes tends to have a yellowish hue, and they smell faintly of rot.

Ooze Climb. Your gummy fingers help you cling to the walls. Climbing no longer costs you extra movement.
Sticky Fingers. You gain proficiency in the Sleight of Hand skill.

Saurian
"We are not like the milk-slurpers who scurry frantically from womb to grave. The egg and the cairn are one. We are firm in life and firm in death, with nothing to fear as we pass between the two."
— Coldstripe, druid of Shatterbone

The soft-skinned kinships of Planegea are but a single note in the song of life that echoes outward from Blood Mountain. And—as some would measure it—the soft-skined kinships are recent, weak, foolish, and raw. The scaled saurian look with skepticism at the hairy folk. Saurians have been here longer, survived more, remember the ways of their ancestors, and measure out time by epochs, not seasons. It is this long memory and measured way that defines the saurians, who take their time to move through the years. Some call them calculating, others aloof—but they remember what came before, and some even know what will come after.

Vibrant Patterns. There are four distinct bloodlines of saurian: the crested leatherwings, the menacing sharpfangs, the lumbering hammertails, and the graceful webfeet. Each has a distinct culture, and they avoid mixing as much as possible. But all are scaled and feathered, with colorful patterns spreading across their bodies in unpredictable ways, making them easily identifiable. Saurian shamans believe that much can be known about a hatchling by its patterns, and elders say they can read a whole life, from egg to grave, by the ripples and swirls in a saurian’s scales.
The faces of saurians are not built for expression like other humanoid kinships. Rather, saurians express their emotions in the colors of their scales, which shift tint and hue based on the mood of the creature. The colors of each saurian are unique to its own bloodline, and one must learn which colors correspond to which mood to know the feelings of another. A strong emotional reaction in a clan of saurians takes on the appearance of a vivid rainbow scattering through the crowd.

Patient Hunters, Protective Parents. Waiting is a natural state for saurians. They do not move unless it is necessary, but when they do, they strike like lightning. Saurian hunters perfect the art of the ambush, remaining immobile for days only to drop on their prey for the killing strike. Within their tents, saurians are devoted to family. Hatchlings are not raised by individual parents but laid in a communal nest and then raised by the entire clan. A young saurian has a dozen parents and learns from their youth to listen to the counsel of the elders. Saurians are affectionate with their own kind and will fight to the death to protect their young from any threat, no matter how overwhelming the odds.

Ancestral Memory. For saurians, the past is present. They honor their ancestors and bury them within their encampments, taking council with them by ritually summoning their spirits. Saurians carry within their blood an ancestral memory, allowing those of strong spirit among them to call to mind memories of the dead to give them guidance. The saurian word for "dead" means "frozen," and they speak of a coming Great Thaw when all their ancestors will rise to aid their descendants now of greatest need. Because of this belief, saurians are comfortable with death to a degree that is unsettlingly morbid to other kinships.

Fearless Wanderers. Many saurians leave their clans behind to go wandering in search of food, companionship, stories, glory, and more. Elders encourage it, so that the knowledge they gain can be passed on to the clan and their descendants after they are dead. The landscapes of Planegea are littered with subtly marked cairns and secret graves of saurians who, although dead, will gladly share their knowledge with those who know how to ask.

Touched by Death. Every saurian has heard the whispers of the dead in their camps or echoing from lonely graves in the wild. Use the table below to inspire your character’s interactions with the dead.


Saurian Names. Since saurians hatch from egg clutches and have no individual parents, their names are usually descriptive of physical appearance. These can change over time as appearance changes. For example, a saurian might be called Brightstripe as a hatchling but come to be known as One-Eye after a predator attack.

Common names: Darkscatter, Leopardspot, Stripetail, Gaptooth, Shortwing, Highjump, Rippleshine, Thickskull, Greenclaw, Longlegs, Fadescale.

Saurian Traits. Your saurian character shares a number of qualities in common with others of their kind.

Age. Saurians reach adulthood at the age of
7 and have exceptionally long lives, surviving as long as gnomes if not killed by predators or disease.
Size. Most saurians tend to stand somewhat taller than humans, usually between 6 and 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Ancestral Memory. You are connected to the dead, recognizing their guidance and warnings, and know the sense whispers cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the bless spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the augury spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Subtype. Saurians belong to one of four lines of descent: Leatherwing, Hammertail, Sharpfang, or Webfoot. Choose one.

LEATHERWING
Leatherwings are reclusive mystics with a reputation for cruelty, pursuing arcane knowledge with a zeal that precludes all other concerns. They are descended from pterosaurs, and have crested heads and long, folding wings attached to their arms.

Winged Creature. You gain a flying speed of 45 feet.
Flying requires the use of both arms. While flying you can use your action to make a grapple check against another creature of Medium or smaller size with your talons. If you succeed, you may lift and carry the creature with no penalty to your speed.

Powerful Aerial Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift while flying. Half or more of this weight must be hanging from or carried by your talons to take advantage of your aerial build.

HAMMERTAIL
Hammertails are contemplative wanderers who never stop moving, preferring to erect temporary shelters only against the most violent storms, and covering enormous ranges in their lifetime journeys. They are descended from ankylosaurs, and have thick, club-like tails.

Armored Scales. Your AC increases by 1.
Hammer Tail. Your tail is a natural weapon with a reach of 10 feet, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

SHARPFANG
Sharpfangs are territorial warriors who live in warlike hunting bands, dedicated to the glory and danger of the chase. They are descended from carnosaurs, and have jagged teeth and long claws.

Predatory Rush. When you take the dash action on your turn, your movement speed increases by 10 feet, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Hatched to Hunt. Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

WEBFOOT
Webfeet are graceful athletes who live on the water where fish and water plants are plentiful, preferring fishing and competitions of strength to the more strenuous life of inland hunters. They are descended from aquatic dinosaurs, and have webbed hands and feet and a high crest on their head.

Darkvision. 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 gray.
Limited Amphibiousness. You can breathe air and water, but you need to breathe air at least once every 4 hours to avoid suffocating. You gain a swimming speed of 30 feet.
Trumpet. As an action, you can make a trumpeting blast of sound that reverberates through your crest. This trumpet can be heard up to a mile away, and up to half as far away if the sound is blocked by solid walls or muffled by other noise such as thunder, battle, hoofbeats, etc. Your trumpet counts as an instrument with which you are proficient.

Starling
"Oh! To be back there in The Great Dance, high above the little hunts of mortals—to return to the wheeling arcs and fiery duels of the stars! It is a terrible thing to fall from heaven."
— Ouaia-ao, starling sorceress

Planegea’s stars soar and wheel overhead in a great dance, gossiping and arranging themselves according to a complicated, political cosmology. As every night ends, they enter combat in a struggle called the Dawn Duel, attempting to knock each other into the Sea of Stars, claiming each other’s light in order to become that day’s great light, the Day-Star. Very rarely, however, the defeated stars do not fall into the sea, but rather to a far more alien and frightening place—Planegea!

Shining Ones. Starlings are humanoids with glowing skin, eyes, and hair. They are strange and glamorous to behold; beautiful, ageless, and otherworldly. When starlings first fall to earth, they are wrapped in star-silk spun by the finest lightworms, but this quickly tatters in the rough and raw-edged primordial world in which they find themselves.

Strangers in a Strange Land.No starling falls to the mortal world by choice. To be thrown from the great dance of the heavens after millennia of performing is shocking. Most starlings are initially terrified and aggrieved at their sudden and strange situation, and each adapts in their own way. Some find their feet by joining the life of mortals, while others remain aloof, unwilling to find companionship with such lowly creatures.

The Sky's Castaways. Like shipwreck survivors, starlings must build new lives from nothing in an unfamiliar place. Many prefer to remain in isolation, spending their time watching the sky and participating in the great dance in their own lonely way. Others join nearby clans, finding roles as sorcerers, chanters, or gatherers. A select few starlings have even portrayed themselves as gods, using their heavenly light to dazzle others into worship—at least until another starling comes along to break the illusion.

The Quest to Ascend. Most starlings, upon finding themselves fallen from heaven, do everything that they can to return to the great dance. It is almost unheard of for a starling not to spend the first few years of their fall as a wanderer, searching for any rumor or means of returning to their high abode. This search—called the star-quest by those who are familiar with it—is believed to be hopeless, and every one of the starlings who has embarked on it has eventually given up.

Memories of the Dance. It is hard to explain the great dance to mortals, or to communicate to the crude folk around a clanfire what it is to be among the company of the stars. But your character remembers the courts of heaven. Use this table to inspire your recollections as you gaze up at your brethren in the night sky above.


Starling Names. Starling names are phrases from the illuminated chorus, and almost never have consonants. A starling name, pronounced properly, is not spoken but sung. However, most starlings in Planegea have long since abandoned any hope of their names being sung correctly by the throats of the crude creatures of the mortal world.

Common Names: Oa-a, Aíae, Ioua, Uaio-ua, Eoíu, Aeia, Io, Ooua, Eeío, Aioue, Ui-ooa, Eiue.


Starling Traits. Your starling character has a number of qualities in common with other starlings.

Age. Starlings have no age, appearing both glamorously young and fabulously mature at the same time. They don’t grow older, but they do grow dimmer over the course of their exile from the heavens, eventually fading out over six or seven human lifetimes—although some fade much more quickly due to their sorrow at being far from home.
Size. Starlings are generally slender and slightly smaller than other humanoids, usually standing about five feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Glow. Choose a color. Your body and your hair (if any) sheds dim light of that color, in a 5 to 20-foot radius. You can alter the radius as a bonus action. This light is permanent as long as you are alive, but a layer of clothing is sufficient to block it.
Light-footed. Whenever you make a Charisma (Performance) check to dance, you are considered proficient in the Performance skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Starry Vigil. On a night where you can see the stars, you do not need to sleep to gain the benefits of a long rest. Instead, you can watch the stars all night, gaining the benefit of a long rest after 8 hours. You remain alert and aware of your surroundings during this time. After finishing this long rest, you have advantage on your next Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) check related to the stars, constellations, or weather.
Pure Energy. Due to your stellar nature, you are able to briefly phase out of material existence and pass through obstacles. As a bonus action, using up to 10 feet of your movement, you can become immaterial and pass through all creatures or objects in your path. You may not end these 10 feet of movement inside another creature’s space or inside of a solid object. If you attempt to do so, you are pushed back the way you came until you reach an area large enough for your body, and take 1d10 force damage for each 5 feet you were pushed. You cannot use this trait again until after a short or long rest.
Dazzling Touch. Once as an action, you can attempt to blind a creature you can touch with a focused burst of brilliant light. The target must make a Constitution saving throw. The DC is 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save, the target is blinded until the end of your next turn. You cannot use this trait again until after a short or long rest.

Time does not allow us to talk of all the wondrous kinships of Planegea. We cannot speak of the birdfolk, catfolk, lizardfolk, fishfolk, turtlefolk, the half-giants gentle or warlike, or the reincarnated spirits of the dead that dwell in stone-and-wood bodies. We will have to leave aside the elemental wastewalkers, the blessed children of greater gods, the half-beasts, the goblinfolk in all their many shapes, and the scaled ones who revere or defy the dragons of Blood Mountain. If only the clanfire could burn all night, we could speak of every bloodline under the stars. But since our time is short, remember that every kinship in 5th Edition has a place in Planegea, if you only know where to look.