Homebrew Reigar Species Details

Reigar are humanoid-like descendants of a species of cephalopods similar to octopi, giving them chromatophores that allow them to change the color of their skin on a whim. Though some reigar are known to have distinctive bioluminescant features like freckles, stripes, or spots that remain distinct on their faces or bodies. What other humanoids might think of as hair is actually a constantly shifting cloud of twinkling or glittering motes, something reigar call a Glory. This Glory changes color randomly and can even aid in repelling attacks.

Many reigar exist solely to create art, and many consider violence to be its highest form. This all culminated in a historic event known as The Master Stroke, in which the reigar home planet was destroyed in a glorious display of carnage and destruction. Though the beauty of this display varies depending on who you ask. Some even wonder if this destruction didn't have more sinister motivations that remain hidden to this day. Regardless, many reigar still explore wildspace, committing acts of violence all in an effort to create something beautiful.

A common item found among reigar is a talarith. Normally, this magic item allows the wearer to summon a golem in the wearer's likeness,  using the same stat block and everything. This feature could be changed so that the golem only has 1 Hit Point, but even that is a full-fledged feature in the Echo Knight subclass. So instead, determine with your DM why your character does not have access to this item. Perhaps your character was not raised among other reigar and therefore doesn't know that talariths exist or at least doesn't know how to make one. Perhaps your character was cast out of an existing reigar society for abhorring violence, pursuing art through non-violent means, or some other reason entirely. Knowledge of how to create a talarith could be a goal for your character throughout a campaign. At higher levels, it might not even be that broken, though of course, consult with your DM about what makes the most sense for your game.

Other questions to consider for your reigar character:

What is your appearance? Do you have freckles? Stripes? Something else? Do you have total control over your chromatophores or can they sometimes shift on their own, perhaps reflecting your emotions? Perhaps your character prefers to match the shade of their surroundings either out of shyness or paranoia.

How has the reigar culture affected you? Do you have an art form that you pursue? How do you feel about violence as an art form? Is violence something you actively seek out or something you begrudgingly accept as a fact of life? How do your feelings affect your relationships with the people around you, including other reigar?

Do you long for a home planet that no longer exists? Or was the destruction of this planet the most beautiful display of art you've ever seen/heard of? Who do you give credit to/blame for this destruction?

For further details on the reigar and their culture, ask your Dungeon Master or consult Spelljammer: Adventures in Space.

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign. As a suggestion, many reigar speak Celestial, though if your character did not grow up around other reigar, this might not make sense.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description.

Height and Weight

Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Player’s Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

Reigar Traits

As a reigar, you have access the following traits.

Creature Type

You are a Celestial.

Size

You are Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

Hold Breath

You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour.

Glory

Your Glory provides you extra protection. When you aren’t wearing armor, your base AC is 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier. A shield’s benefits apply as normal.

A Talent For Art

You gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Arcana, History, Performance, or Persuasion.

Chromatophores

Thanks to your cephalopod ancestors, reigar have chromatophores all over their body, giving them the ability to change the color of their skin at will. Also, thanks to the inherent bioluminescence of certain parts of the body, such as a reigar's freckles, stripes, or spots, they can choose to cause these features to give off a faint glow, as if by the Light spell. This light can be activated as a bonus action.