I'm in the process of building a homebrew world. The placeholder is "The New World", and the bare bones of it is a group of adventurers stumbled across this plane whilst using Rifts which had opened up across Faerun and Eberron during the second sundering in Faerun. They were expecting to find the source of the Dark Powers, but instead stumbled across this new world which was rich with resources. Faerun and Eberron had fallen on hard times, the Elven woods were almost gone, the Dwarven mines depleted and war ravaged both settings, so a lot of the residents of these worlds decided to migrate to this new world to start a-new.
The immigration process is strict, and controlled by the original adventuring group (indirectly) who have elected themselves leaders of the new world, calling themselves The Circle (placeholder). Everybody who arrives through the one controlled Rift are given identification papers. There are some that have found other Rifts which enter into the new world, but these are considered illegal and if you are found to have used one you are immediately sent out of the world, or executed.
Humans were late-comers, arriving about 200 years after the initial expedition by the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings. The Rifts have become unstable due to so much usage, and thus Humans have been given a new Sub-Race called Weave Humans. I'll post the ideas below.
Feedback would be great - primarily looking for balance issues and am happy to explain anything, and open to ideas. Thanks in advance.
Sub-Race - Weave Human (Human)
Weave Humans travelled to the New World recently in the thousands. During this exodus, there was a magical explosion caused by the destabilising of the Rift. This catastrophe plunged the Humans into the Ethereal Plane, and some into the Astral Plane. Those in the Ethereal Plane gained unique abilities, whilst the Humans that found themselves in the Astral Plane vanished and have not been found.
Weave Human Traits
Ethereal Sleep
The Weave Humans suffered a terrible event on their exodus to the New World. A magical explosion threw the travellers into the Ethereal Plane, and some were unfortunate enough to be thrown further, into the Astral Plane. They wandered this plane for days until they eventually discovered that they now had the ability to travel between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane, but at a cost.
Weave Humans can no longer rest easy on the Material Plane. If they try, they are plagued by nose bleeds, uncontrollable shaking and migraines. In order for a Weave Human to gain the benefits of a long rest, they must use their ability to travel to the Ethereal Plane and remains there for 8 hours. Once 8 hours have passed, they are transported back to the Material Plane.
Once you enter the Ethereal Plane, the DM rolls a d20. On a 20, you are thrown into the Astral Plane in the middle of a Psychic Wind. The DM rolls on the Psychic Wind table in the Ethereal Travel description within this sub-class to determine the outcome.
Ethereal Travel
Weave Humans have the ability to travel to the Ethereal Plane. The magical damage they sustained during their journey imprinted a psychic ability onto them, but at a cost. They can no longer sleep peacefully on the Material Plane, suffering terrible headaches, nose bleeds and the shakes. Once per long rest, they can cast the Etherealness spell.
When you enter the Ethereal Plane, the DM will roll a d20. On a 20, you are thrown into the Astral Plane in the middle of a Psychic Wind. The DM rolls on the Psychic Wind table below to determine the outcome.
d20
Mental Effect
1–8
Stunned for 1 minute; you can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of your turns to end the effect on yourself
Unconscious for 5 (1d10) minutes; the effect on you ends if you take damage or if another creature uses an action to shake you awake
Planar Blink
When you reach 5th level, you have travelled to the Ethereal Plane to rest for long enough to know that you can use it to your advantage in combat. Once per long rest, you can cast the Blink spell as an action.
Ability Score Increase
Two different ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Skills
You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Sub-Class - Sorcerer (Rift Touched)
Your magical abilities manifested during your journey through a Rift into the New World. Most often, sorcerers with this origin had a particularly dangerous passage through the rift, and some may have been struck by the elemental energy that bounces around in the small tunnels of the extra-dimensional plane. Rift travel has been mostly safe until very recently, as the Rifts have become unstable and the elemental forces within more deadly.
Struck by Magic
On your journey through a Rift, a magical storm battered and crackled through the plane. A large force of elemental energy struck you directly, causing you to manifest your spellcasting ability. You survived this blast, and have learnt how to manage the pain it has caused you. Once per long rest, as a reaction, you can cast the Absorb Elements spell.
Weave Madness
You have been scarred by the elemental forces that struck you during your journey through the Rift. These scars can be something physical, but it has affected your mental well-being. Roll on the following flaws table and add it to your list in the character details section within your character sheet.
Additionally, you have advantage on Knowledge (Arcana) checks when attempting to recall lore about planar travel.
d100
Flaw
01–15
“Being drunk keeps me sane.”
16–25
“I keep whatever I find.”
26–30
“I try to become more like someone else I know — adopting his or her style of dress, mannerisms, and name.”
31–35
“I must bend the truth, exaggerate, or outright lie to be interesting to other people.”
36–45
“Achieving my goal is the only thing of interest to me, and I’ll ignore everything else to pursue it.”
46–50
“I find it hard to care about anything that goes on around me.”
51–55
“I don’t like the way people judge me all the time.”
56–70
“I am the smartest, wisest, strongest, fastest, and most beautiful person I know.”
71–80
“I am convinced that powerful enemies are hunting me, and their agents are everywhere I go. I am sure they’re watching me all the time.”
81–85
“There’s only one person I can trust. And only I can see this special friend.”
86–95
“I can’t take anything seriously. The more serious the situation, the funnier I find it.”
96–100
“I’ve discovered that I really like killing people.”
Weave Scars
Starting at 6th level, choose an element from the list. You have the ability to cause the scars on your body to flair up which show signs of the elements pouring out from them and into your spells. Whenever you cast a spell that deals elemental damage to a single target, you can choose to deal an extra 1d4 damage, but this damage is also applied to you. The scars on your body pulse with elemental energy which cause you immense pain.
Cold
You have learned to add an icy blast to your spells. Once the damage has been inflicted, you feel cold and your skin turns a pale blue. Your lips blacken and your extremities look frostbitten.
Fire
You have learned to add a touch of fire to your damage spells. Once the damage has been inflicted on the chosen target, you feel hot and sweat uncontrollably, and your scars turn black as if they have been cauterised recently.
Lightning
Lightning sparks around you as you cast your spell. Once the damage has been inflicted, your hair stands on end and your scars emanate a pulsing blue light.
Thunder
You can add thunderous energy to your damage spells. Once the damage has been inflicted, your ears ring intensely and your scars glow with a faint purple light. You also suffer with headaches until you finish a long rest.
Controlled Flair
At 14th level, you have built up a resistance to the pain your Weave scars inflict on you. Whenever you choose to use your Weave Scar ability, you gain resistance to your chosen damage type until that spell has dealt damage to you.
One with the Weave
Starting at 18th level, you can spend 6 sorcery points as a bonus action to magically transform yourself into a ball of magical energy. In this form, you gain a flying speed of 20ft and have resistance to your chosen damage type until this ability ends. If you move within 5ft of a creature, that creature must make a Dexterity (DEX) saving throw equal to your Sorcerer spell save DC or take damage equal to half your Sorcerer level (rounded down). You take 5 force damage if you end your turn inside an object.
You remain in this form for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you die, or if you dismiss it as a bonus action.
Background - Illegal Arrival
You are an illegal immigrant in the New World. You spent a considerable amount of time hunting down a Rift you could use to travel. For whatever reason, you could not enter the New World legally, but you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society. You may have stumbled upon a Rift accidently, or may have been guided to one by a trafficker for some coin.
Whatever the reason may be for entering the New World illegally, it's a dangerous place and you have grown accustomed to hiding in plain sight.
Work with your DM to establish what your papers say about you. The New World's Identification Paper states the following information about an individual - Race, Date of Birth, Fathers Name, Mothers Name, Place of Birth and Date of Arrival.
Tool Proficiencies: One set of tools, choose from the Forgery Kit, Navigator's Tools, or Thieves' Tools
Equipment: A crudely drawn map of your home-worlds supposed Rift points, illegal papers showing you as a legal citizen in the New World, and a pouch containing 5 gp
Illegal Rift Arrival
There are many kinds of illegal immigrants to the New World, whether they be marauders looking for new plunder, black market merchants, Changelings from Eberron or just someone down on their luck. People from all walks of life want to come to the New World, whether that be for something genuine, or something more sinister.
d8
Illegal Rift Arrival
1
On the run
2
Criminal
3
Trafficker
4
Fence
5
Changeling
6
Hired killer
7
Witness protection
8
Smuggler
Feature: Illegal Immigrant
You are part of a percentage of people in the New World who are here illegally. You have obtained papers which show to the untrained eye that you have every right to be in the New World. These papers have written on them the following information - Race, Date of Birth, Fathers Name, Mothers Name, Place of Birth and Date of Arrival.
You are able to tell if an individual is living in the New World illegally by examining their identification papers for 10 minutes. Not all forgeries are created equally, and you have an eye for the real thing, as you yourself own a set of these forged papers.
Background - Spawn of Sloth (Derogatory term for a Native New Worlder)
You grew up on the streets alone, ridiculed and poor. You had no one to watch over you or to provide for you, so you learned to provide for yourself. You fought fiercely over food and were often arrested for petty crimes committed just to stay alive. You were a vagrant, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through grit and determination.
Equipment: A small knife, identification papers declaring you as a Native New Worlder, a pet mouse, a token to remember your parents by, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
Feature: Sticks and Stones
You have spent your life being insulted, spat at and ridiculed publicly. You have been in chains far more often than you would like and as a consequence, you have earned the trust of a City Guard or City Watch member. They took pity on you during your many stays in the cells for petty crimes.
You can use this relationship to gain access to information which may only be known by a City Guard or City Watch member. For instance, the name of a prisoner and their current whereabouts or any wanted individual they are currently on the look out for.
Work with your DM to determine who this person is and the relationship they have formed with you.
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Hey,
I'm in the process of building a homebrew world. The placeholder is "The New World", and the bare bones of it is a group of adventurers stumbled across this plane whilst using Rifts which had opened up across Faerun and Eberron during the second sundering in Faerun. They were expecting to find the source of the Dark Powers, but instead stumbled across this new world which was rich with resources. Faerun and Eberron had fallen on hard times, the Elven woods were almost gone, the Dwarven mines depleted and war ravaged both settings, so a lot of the residents of these worlds decided to migrate to this new world to start a-new.
The immigration process is strict, and controlled by the original adventuring group (indirectly) who have elected themselves leaders of the new world, calling themselves The Circle (placeholder). Everybody who arrives through the one controlled Rift are given identification papers. There are some that have found other Rifts which enter into the new world, but these are considered illegal and if you are found to have used one you are immediately sent out of the world, or executed.
Humans were late-comers, arriving about 200 years after the initial expedition by the Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings. The Rifts have become unstable due to so much usage, and thus Humans have been given a new Sub-Race called Weave Humans. I'll post the ideas below.
Feedback would be great - primarily looking for balance issues and am happy to explain anything, and open to ideas. Thanks in advance.
Sub-Race - Weave Human (Human)
Weave Humans travelled to the New World recently in the thousands. During this exodus, there was a magical explosion caused by the destabilising of the Rift. This catastrophe plunged the Humans into the Ethereal Plane, and some into the Astral Plane. Those in the Ethereal Plane gained unique abilities, whilst the Humans that found themselves in the Astral Plane vanished and have not been found.
Weave Human Traits
Ethereal Sleep
The Weave Humans suffered a terrible event on their exodus to the New World. A magical explosion threw the travellers into the Ethereal Plane, and some were unfortunate enough to be thrown further, into the Astral Plane. They wandered this plane for days until they eventually discovered that they now had the ability to travel between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane, but at a cost.
Weave Humans can no longer rest easy on the Material Plane. If they try, they are plagued by nose bleeds, uncontrollable shaking and migraines. In order for a Weave Human to gain the benefits of a long rest, they must use their ability to travel to the Ethereal Plane and remains there for 8 hours. Once 8 hours have passed, they are transported back to the Material Plane.
Once you enter the Ethereal Plane, the DM rolls a d20. On a 20, you are thrown into the Astral Plane in the middle of a Psychic Wind. The DM rolls on the Psychic Wind table in the Ethereal Travel description within this sub-class to determine the outcome.
Ethereal Travel
Weave Humans have the ability to travel to the Ethereal Plane. The magical damage they sustained during their journey imprinted a psychic ability onto them, but at a cost. They can no longer sleep peacefully on the Material Plane, suffering terrible headaches, nose bleeds and the shakes. Once per long rest, they can cast the Etherealness spell.
When you enter the Ethereal Plane, the DM will roll a d20. On a 20, you are thrown into the Astral Plane in the middle of a Psychic Wind. The DM rolls on the Psychic Wind table below to determine the outcome.
Planar Blink
When you reach 5th level, you have travelled to the Ethereal Plane to rest for long enough to know that you can use it to your advantage in combat. Once per long rest, you can cast the Blink spell as an action.
Ability Score Increase
Two different ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Skills
You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Sub-Class - Sorcerer (Rift Touched)
Your magical abilities manifested during your journey through a Rift into the New World. Most often, sorcerers with this origin had a particularly dangerous passage through the rift, and some may have been struck by the elemental energy that bounces around in the small tunnels of the extra-dimensional plane. Rift travel has been mostly safe until very recently, as the Rifts have become unstable and the elemental forces within more deadly.
Struck by Magic
On your journey through a Rift, a magical storm battered and crackled through the plane. A large force of elemental energy struck you directly, causing you to manifest your spellcasting ability. You survived this blast, and have learnt how to manage the pain it has caused you. Once per long rest, as a reaction, you can cast the Absorb Elements spell.
Weave Madness
You have been scarred by the elemental forces that struck you during your journey through the Rift. These scars can be something physical, but it has affected your mental well-being. Roll on the following flaws table and add it to your list in the character details section within your character sheet.
Additionally, you have advantage on Knowledge (Arcana) checks when attempting to recall lore about planar travel.
Weave Scars
Starting at 6th level, choose an element from the list. You have the ability to cause the scars on your body to flair up which show signs of the elements pouring out from them and into your spells. Whenever you cast a spell that deals elemental damage to a single target, you can choose to deal an extra 1d4 damage, but this damage is also applied to you. The scars on your body pulse with elemental energy which cause you immense pain.
Cold
You have learned to add an icy blast to your spells. Once the damage has been inflicted, you feel cold and your skin turns a pale blue. Your lips blacken and your extremities look frostbitten.
Fire
You have learned to add a touch of fire to your damage spells. Once the damage has been inflicted on the chosen target, you feel hot and sweat uncontrollably, and your scars turn black as if they have been cauterised recently.
Lightning
Lightning sparks around you as you cast your spell. Once the damage has been inflicted, your hair stands on end and your scars emanate a pulsing blue light.
Thunder
You can add thunderous energy to your damage spells. Once the damage has been inflicted, your ears ring intensely and your scars glow with a faint purple light. You also suffer with headaches until you finish a long rest.
Controlled Flair
At 14th level, you have built up a resistance to the pain your Weave scars inflict on you. Whenever you choose to use your Weave Scar ability, you gain resistance to your chosen damage type until that spell has dealt damage to you.
One with the Weave
Starting at 18th level, you can spend 6 sorcery points as a bonus action to magically transform yourself into a ball of magical energy. In this form, you gain a flying speed of 20ft and have resistance to your chosen damage type until this ability ends. If you move within 5ft of a creature, that creature must make a Dexterity (DEX) saving throw equal to your Sorcerer spell save DC or take damage equal to half your Sorcerer level (rounded down). You take 5 force damage if you end your turn inside an object.
You remain in this form for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you die, or if you dismiss it as a bonus action.
Background - Illegal Arrival
You are an illegal immigrant in the New World. You spent a considerable amount of time hunting down a Rift you could use to travel. For whatever reason, you could not enter the New World legally, but you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society. You may have stumbled upon a Rift accidently, or may have been guided to one by a trafficker for some coin.
Whatever the reason may be for entering the New World illegally, it's a dangerous place and you have grown accustomed to hiding in plain sight.
Work with your DM to establish what your papers say about you. The New World's Identification Paper states the following information about an individual - Race, Date of Birth, Fathers Name, Mothers Name, Place of Birth and Date of Arrival.
There are many kinds of illegal immigrants to the New World, whether they be marauders looking for new plunder, black market merchants, Changelings from Eberron or just someone down on their luck. People from all walks of life want to come to the New World, whether that be for something genuine, or something more sinister.
You are part of a percentage of people in the New World who are here illegally. You have obtained papers which show to the untrained eye that you have every right to be in the New World. These papers have written on them the following information - Race, Date of Birth, Fathers Name, Mothers Name, Place of Birth and Date of Arrival.
You are able to tell if an individual is living in the New World illegally by examining their identification papers for 10 minutes. Not all forgeries are created equally, and you have an eye for the real thing, as you yourself own a set of these forged papers.
Background - Spawn of Sloth (Derogatory term for a Native New Worlder)
You grew up on the streets alone, ridiculed and poor. You had no one to watch over you or to provide for you, so you learned to provide for yourself. You fought fiercely over food and were often arrested for petty crimes committed just to stay alive. You were a vagrant, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through grit and determination.
You have spent your life being insulted, spat at and ridiculed publicly. You have been in chains far more often than you would like and as a consequence, you have earned the trust of a City Guard or City Watch member. They took pity on you during your many stays in the cells for petty crimes.
You can use this relationship to gain access to information which may only be known by a City Guard or City Watch member. For instance, the name of a prisoner and their current whereabouts or any wanted individual they are currently on the look out for.
Work with your DM to determine who this person is and the relationship they have formed with you.