Homebrew Rune-Cursed Human Species Details

“What the bloody hell was that?!?” The old dwarf asked his new companion. “You turned into a bloody monster there! I’m no’ meanin’ you were ferocious either lass!”

The dwarf backed away slowly, eyeing the girl more warily. Her face was mostly human, but he now noticed hints of her background in her pale white visage.

“I’m cursed to bear the soul of a monster, a medusa. It gives me strength and comes to my aid in times of trouble.  The power comes at a price though.” She slowly lowers her hood.

Visible now are the gold and copper snakes that the dwarf had assumed were tightly wound dreads.  The coil and writhe in an odd cadence.  The sight was horrifying to be sure, but something about the rhythm of the snakes was oddly soothing.

“I was human once, like your friend who fell to the skittering beast in the cave.  The Bloodtide” at that she spat on the ground, “made me this way.”

The dwarf stroked his beard intently for a moment before slinging his hammer over his shoulder. “Alright lass, I’ll take yer word fer it.” He locked eyes with her for a brief pause before continuing, “You sure saved me hide back there, so’s I owe ya one, but if’n you decide to turn on me I’ll have no qualms about cutting you down. Clear?”

The young woman nodded and smoothed her snakes to calm them and slid her hood back over them.  The pair continued on into the setting sun as dusk rolled in.

Unnatural Beginnings

Fear pervades the life of a rune-cursed human.  To be discovered means almost certain death.  They lead solitary lives, sticking to side streets and back roads.  Harsh reactions have taught them to guard themselves, cloaking themselves in heavy leathers or glamours to hide their appearance.  Like tieflings, they bear the sins of another. Unlike tieflings, they will not pass down their curse to their children.  Their augmented appearance is mostly human with hints of the monster soul they carry.

Rune-cursed humans are the results of arcane rune casters’ experiments with binding monster souls to mortal bodies.  Due to the adaptive nature, humans are the best known subject for these experiments.  Captives, prisoners of war, and slaves have all fallen prey to these predator-like practices.

Through torturous carving and re-carving of runes on their skin, the rune casters bind a part of a monster’s soul to the subject.  This changes the physiology of their body, the painful change often killing the poor soul in the process.  Even fewer of those who survive are able to cope with the changes.  The most “successful” bindings have left the subject human, but a bit more.  Like tieflings, rune-cursed humans bear both the traits of the human they were and the monster they were to become.

Few of these Rune-cursed humans are known, but it is suspected that hundreds are currently roaming the world living as nomads outside of those still held captive by the rune casters.

Reserved but not Uncultured

Tormented by their past and the tortuous transformation, rune-cursed humans often are slow to trust.  To reveal their true nature to a companion is the highest form of trust. Though their trust is often hard-earned, it is not easily lost once won.  A rune-cursed is a stalwart ally for life.

In them exists a powerful evil at the cusp of taking control that the rune-cursed must fight every day.  Despite this internal war raging inside them, the personalities of rune-cursed humans are diverse.  While some bear the burden with stoic resilience, some are vibrant personalities who refuse to allow the curse to define them.  Those who give up and allow the monster to take them transform permanently into the monster with which they were bonded.

Survival in the shadows has taught rune-cursed many things about manipulating the individuals they encounter.  They use pure charisma to obtain what they need.  If they are not skilled with charisma, then they resort to seedier methods.

Having a past before being rune-cursed, they often dream of going home to the life they lead before.  Despite this dream, they likely will never return to their homes for fear of being slain by their own families. 

Rune-Cursed Human Traits

Survival is the primary concern for the rune-cursed. Their abilities have evolved around their need to exist in the shadows.

Ability Score Increase

Your need for survival has made you an expert in hiding your nature when getting what you need.  You increase your Wisdom by 1 and your Charisma by 1.

Age

Rune-cursed humans are human and age at the same rate.  Often the strain of the monster within causes them to die earlier than the average human.  Average lifespan is 60 years old.

Size

Rune-cursed humans are roughly the same size as the humans they began as.  They remain medium size throughout the transformation. Your size is medium.

Speed

Base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

The common change to all rune-cursed is the eyes.  Even if the rest of the traits are internalized, the rune-cursed gains the eyes of a monster.  This allows you to have superior vision in dark and dim conditions.  You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.  You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Forced Survival

You know the friends cantrip.  Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell once per day as a 1st level spell.  As a result of your need for survival, you learned a couple of enchantments that will help you to fit into normal society.

Monstrous Ability

Once per day, you can allow your inner monster to release themselves and fully transform into their form for 30 seconds (five rounds).  During this transformation you have advantage on Intimidation (Charisma) Ability Checks and will have the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution of your inner monster. After using this ability, you will not be able to use it again until you have taken a long rest.(These stats will be pulled from the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, or any source that your Dungeon Master deems fit to pull from.)

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and the language that the monster within them speaks.  Rune-cursed generally know their language and the language of the monster that resides within them.  If the monster you are bound with does not speak a language, then your extra language can be one of your choosing.

Alignment

Rune-cursed humans can have any alignment.  Often they fall more towards the chaotic alignments due to their terrible past.