Homebrew Dune Elf Species Details

Dune Elves are a tough and talented people of fiery spirit. They come from the same line as elves, however they have become almost unrecognisable from millennia in the desert, after shunning the rest of elvenkind after disagreement over war. The only features they share with elves are their pointed ears, incredibly longevity, and their sleepless nights.

Muscular and Towering

Dune Elves are taller than humans on average, ranging from just over 5 foot to well over 6 feet. They are usually stronger and more muscular than humans, weighing 130 to 190 pounds. Males and females are about the same height.

Dune Elves’ coloration encompasses the normal dark human range and also includes skin in shades of copper and bronze, hair encompassing black, dark brown and red, and eyes that can resemble melted iron or copper, or shades of fire and embers.

Living in the Moment

Dune Elves, like elves, can live well over 700 years. However, accostomed to a life in the harsh dunes, they are usually unable to live that long. Due to this, they often act like their next day will be their last, and still react to more short-lived events. This isn't to say, though, that they are always careful. Quick to anger, they reply to insults with violence, and insults to their culture or family with death. 

However, when the need arises, they can be as cunning and wise as any other race. They are always suspicious of other races, especially elves, and usually the mere presence of an elf is insult in itself. 

Dusty dunes

Most Dune Elves dwell in large, open deserts, and small towns within them. Dune Elves are excellent hunters. They are experienced with life in the desert, and are masters of saving water, tracking, and heat management. They usually struggle in colder temperatures, and are known to complain of the cold in temperate areas.

Survives and Opportunists

Living in the desert, there is usually limited possibility of construction. However, the ancient deserts of the world are often teeming with forgotten temples and abandoned ruins, full to the brim with ceremonial, golden blades. These are so plentiful; most dune elves will have at least one golden weapon. However, a limited few have even been able to enchant them. Living in the ruins of forgotten civilizations, the air is full of lingering magical potential, which talented dune elves have been able to transform into runes and enchantments for their gear.

Distrusting and Lonesome

Dune Elves are generally distrusting to most races, due to a life of solitary, living with only other dune elves for company.

Dwarves. “Of any stranger, I'd trust a dwarf over any other. I can respect them, that much can be said, and I am honestly impressed with their metalwork.”

Halflings. “There's just something about them, something they're... hiding. No one is that joyful if they're not hiding something.”

Humans. “Colonisers, raiders, the lot of them. They have no place in the desert.”

Elves. "Filthy beings of war and hatred! I would slay an elf as soon as it set foot in the desert!"

However, they are usually very fond of more unique races, such as dragonborns and tieflings, usually because of the shared experiences of mistrust and exile.

Dune Elf Names

 

To show their independence from pureblood elves, Dune Elves usually adopt Dwarven names, mainly just to spite their elven brethren. Unlike elves, they do not have a child name, they keep their original until their deathbed. Their last name is almost always their parent's, most of whom adopted them from the names of lost temples found in the desert, whether Infernal, Draconic, Yuan-Ti, or otherwise.

 

Dune Elf Traits

Dune Elves split off from elves, and migrated into the desert. For millennia, this changed them, and they have evolved to adapt.

Ability Score Increase

From your years in the desert, you have learnt the skills to survive. Your Strength score increases by 2, and either your Dexterity or Constitution score by 1.

Age

Like their Elven brethren, Dune Elves have a greatly improved lifespan. Dune Elves usually reach physical maturity at the same rate as humans, and are treated as an adult past the age of 18. They can live to be around 700, and are considered an elder from the age of 600 onwards, but often die earlier than this, due to the danger of life in the desert.

Size

Dune Elves range from just over 5 to well over 6 feet tall and have muscular builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Keen Senses

From your time in the desert, you need to always be looking over your shoulder, and knowing how to survive. You have proficiency in both the Perception skill and either the Survival skill or the Nature skill.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Heat Resistance

From an upbringing in the desert, you have become accustomed to its scorching heat. You can remain comfortable in intense heat, and you have resistance to damage from fire. However, the cold is alien to you, and as such feels much worse.

Trance

Like Elves, Dune Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Dwarvish, having chosen to forget Elvish. Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a Dune Elf might speak, although less so than a dwarf might. However, they also might pick a language from the forgotten temples that surround them. 

Tremorsense

You have tremorsense up to 40 feet. This does not replace normal sight, but you need a successful perception check to detect vibrations, opposed to the creature's stealth check. Years of avoiding dune worms has engrained an innate ability to detect vibrations in the sand beneath your feet.