Homebrew Medusa Species Details

"When I was a little girl, I would surround myself with books. Stories that shared within their pages tales of wonder and magic, of valor and daring, of heroes of legend casting down the villain against all odds, and whatnot. But there was one tale that stood out from the rest that I remember with utmost clarity. Even now, some three-hundred years later. It was about how one who acts solely in the service of maintaining their outward appearance, their beauty, at the expense of their righteousness, might be fated to become just as ugly on the outside as they were becoming on the inside.

"To tell you the truth, I never really believed those stories. They seemed just that — stories. Fiction. Simple fairytales, inspired by a watered-down series of historical events at best, meant to impart some trite, meaningless little life lessons upon their listener. And I was... wrong. Wrong in so many, many ways. If I were to lift my veil and permit you to gaze deep into my eyes, you would see what it is I'm talking about."

— Ilyssa Myr, medusa healer, to Volothamp Geddarm

The serpent-haired medusae are corrupted mortals who suffer from an immortal curse brought upon them by their vanity. This insidious curse most often begins when women and men seeks out a malicious higher power — be it an archdevil, a dragon, or the gods themselves — and offer themselves to them in exchange for the gift of beauty, restored youth, immortality, and the adoration of all who lay eyes upon them. With these incredible physical gifts, these nascent medusae can use their mesmerizing appearance to gain immense influence and power.

However, these deals usually have an expiration date. Once the fated day comes to pass, the recipient of these favors will find themselves transformed into a medusa. Shunned and abhorred instead of cherished and celebrated, medusae are naturally reviled by their former companions for understandable reasons beyond just their monstrous appearance.

Appearance

A medusa resembles the person they once were, but visibly warped and corrupted, physically devoid of any semblance of the humanity they once held. A writhing mass of venomous snakes sprout from their scalp in place of hair, their flesh is textured by an outline of reptilian scales, and any who gaze upon them risks immediate petrification. Their visage is said to be as beautiful as it was prior to their curse, but to personally discover the truth of this claim is to court transformation into an inanimate stone statue.

While cultivated through artificial means, medusae can also be birthed naturally. These natural-born medusae come to be when a medusa of either sex successfully reproduces with any applicable humanoid race, whether through guile or sincerity. These medusae resemble the race of either of their parents for most of their young lives, seemingly whole and unafflicted with the curse. However, upon reaching the year of adulthood, they undergo a sudden and dramatic transformation into a fully-fledged medusa. Though having done nothing to warrant their cursed form, they still possess all the features and capabilities of one of their kind, including their infamous gaze.

Medusae are most commonly female, and all known medusae born naturally to medusae parents are as well, but mortal men are equally susceptible to the curse so long as their vanity, foolishness, or ill fortune proves excessive enough to warrant its application.

The Curse of the Medusa

Medusae often come to be when a bargain struck with evil beings by those of dark ambitions, but exceptions to this general rule are found in many places. For example, a kindly but timid young woman seeking attention and companionship may cross paths with a mystical stranger with a solution to her despondency, or a dark-hearted nobleman might spend their fortune acquiring perturbing methods of extending their youth. Any person of any social standing are all equally susceptible to the allure of vanity, and those who pursue it beyond the realm of the reasonable or natural are the most likely to find themselves transformed into the accursed being we call the medusa.

The Curse of the Medusa is one of the most powerful curses known to the world. The curse does not offer its victim any protection against magic, but the way it takes hold prevents them from escaping their predicament with anything less than the most considerable feats one of their ilk could hope to achieve. As such, medusae are unable to be afflicted by any other transformative curse, such as lycanthropy. Even spells as mighty as True Polymorph can only ever temporarily force a medusa into another form. Only a source of extreme power to rival the divine could ever hope to lift the curse.

Those who suffer petrification from a medusa's gaze are not dead in the classical sense, but left in a figurative stasis of sorts. With a proper spell or curative substance applied to them, they can be revived, even many hundreds of years after the event, though damage their petrified self sustained during their time as a statue will leave a lasting mark on their freed bodies. A medusa itself is equally susceptible to their own petrifying gaze, and so, while many a medusa might have once cherished their visages prior to their curse, they now possess a pronounced, almost instinctual aversion toward all reflective surfaces.

The Nature of a Medusa

Medusae are often creatures of spite and self-loathing, despising every single facet of their curse. They might spend eons just stewing in their misery, envious of the mortal beings outside of their unkempt domains who both retain their humanity and their natural mortal beauty.

To merely comprehend this new existence as a freakish aberration amidst the ruins of their former lives can test the will of any former mortal. Most fail to accept the consequences they now reap and will simply go mad, fleeing into the closest swamp or ruin they can find, from which they will spend many years terrorizing the communities they once manipulated. Others are driven out by those who survived their gaze long enough to muster a defensive against them, forcing them into the unwilling life of a reviled hermit. Others still will just slip away, never to be seen or heard from again.

Medusae are often forced to endure long bouts of isolation, which can take a fiercely negative toll on what lingers of their mind. The only company most can look forward to receiving are adventurers and monster hunters out for their head and the prestige slaying such a creature brings. That being said, some medusae manage to avert this dreary fate by re-integrating themselves into the societies they prior fled from, often at great effort, and under greater cover of secrecy, bartering, or meticulous intrigue wrought on their behalf.

Medusae in Society

Those medusae who avoid the madness that often accompanies their affliction can be expected to retain their keen intellects, and with the ageless demeanor that comes with their curse, can sharpen their minds almost endlessly if permitted the resources. A medusa that is found out in a human community might somehow garner favor instead of the typical revulsion and persecution if they can quickly and effectively prove themselves a boon instead of a deadly menace. A medusa of such incredibly good fortune can hope to acquire a stable lifestyle suited to their dispositions, perhaps as a devoted healer if they can master the venoms discharged by their serpent hair, or even a courtier to a ruling noble if they prove their wits to be sharp enough for the job.

Even if they abandon their homes and the embrace of more familiar civilizations, medusae that drift far into the unkempt wilds can find favor as guardians of time-lost shrines and all the treasures they possess, or as patron protectors to isolated towns and village communities. Some refuse to settle at all, meandering endlessly throughout the world in search of the means to end their curse or die trying.

Whether due to a latent realization or insight into themselves, an exceptionally rare few medusae might even come to accept or outright appreciate their curse — after all, it grants them a stunted aspect of much-coveted immortality, and affords them a genuine degree of power and protection against certain threats. Those that seek to avoid their innate and uncontrollable ability to petrify their onlookers or themselves need only adorn their visages with a veil, or an all-covering mask. It is an ultimate irony to those punished for their excessive hunger for attention, but also a necessity under such circumstances.

Medusa Origins

Medusae are traditionally believed to be mortals whose grandiose vanities and lust for adoration twisted them into demented monsters. Though it happens often in this manner, the truth is that many medusae originate from differing circumstances. Some are plainly victims of their own hubris and egotism, while others are innocent souls cursed by mere circumstance. One may have violated the domain of an Archfey and paid the price, others may have blindly bartered their beauty away to a devil in exchange for a power that proves more undeniable yet terrible than they ever could have imagined.

In any case, it takes nothing short of a truly awesome force to curse a mortal into a medusa, and only a power or spell to rival its inception can ever hope to reverse it.

Medusa Origins

Alignment

Medusae tend toward the Lawful alignment, and most are possessed by the evil, callous, self-serving natures that created them. Those few who rise beyond their wicked former lives and actively seek the means of redeeming themselves, or were generally benign people prior to their curse, can become a neutral or good force.

Names

Medusae keep the names they held prior to their curse. However, those driven mad, or whose minds succumbed to the ravages of time, may forget theirs. These unlucky medusae subsequently take on a new name or instead are given a moniker by those native to their territory.

Female names: Ilyssa, Euryale, Megaera, Minerva, Adora, Alecto, Etna, Karina, Stheno

Male names: Orpheon, Marlos, Ilarion, Hysterion, Vesuvian, Maedus, Arvos

Surnames:  Ferron, Urnrayle, Katakros, Myr, Grayle

Medusa Traits

As a medusa, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are classified as both a Humanoid and a Monstrosity.

Size

You are Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Ageless

Medusae do not have a known lifespan; they live until they are killed.

Cursed

You are considered to have undergone the complete Curse of the Medusa, and as such cannot be subjected to another transformative curse. You can only be cured by means of a Wish spell, and will revert to your original race if this happens.

Petrifying Gaze

The most infamous facet of a medusa's curse is the ability to turn those who meet their corrupted gaze to unliving stone. Starting at level 5, you gain access to the Petrifying Gaze ability.

You can use your action to force a creature within 30 feet of you that can see your eyes to make a DC 8 Constitution saving throw if you can also see it and aren't incapacitated. On a failure, the creature begins to turn to stone and is restrained until the end of its next turn. On your turn, you can use your bonus action to force the same creature to repeat this saving throw with disadvantage. Each time it fails, it remains restrained until the end of its next turn. When a creature is restrained in this way for the third time in a span of 10 minutes, it is instantly petrified. Starting at level 10, the DC for this saving throw increases to 10. At level 15, the DC increases to 12. At level 20, the DC increases to 14.

The petrification lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic. You are also susceptible to your own Petrifying Gaze if it is cast at your own reflection, or while your target is brandishing a reflective surface in your direction, such as a steel mirror.

Snake Hair

You can use your snake hair to make unarmed attacks instead of your fists. You deal 1d6 + your Dexterity modifier piercing damage on a hit, and your target must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or else they are poisoned until the beginning of your next turn.