Homebrew Amphimorpho Species Details
Amphimorphos are large, furred creatures with shapeshifting capabilities that were created in a lab as chimeric amalgamations of numerous alien species. They have slender, vaguely canine faces with long, blunt snouts that lack nostrils. They possess long ears that can swivel independently to better hear and emote. Their bodies are long and stoat-like, and they have large, thick tails that can grow to be almost twice as long as the entire rest of their body. Most Amphimorphos walk on four legs, with their forepaws possessing flexible digits that they can use to manipulate objects, although others have been known to take bipedal raptor-like stances. There are even records of individuals taking on a humanoid body plan in order to fit into humanoid society. Due to the relatively small amount of time that Amphimorphos have been in the wild for, Amphimorpho culture is simple and underdeveloped. Amphimorphos tend to form small families or tribes known as suits, socials or galas as opposed to larger communities, and they live largely arboreal hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Amphimorphos value creative expression, individual growth, and familial love.
Amphimorpho species and illustrations created by @Tuxedo_Dragon on Twitter. Further information can be found at amphimorpho.carrd.co.
Amphimorpho Traits
Due to the genetic modifications that led to their creation, Amphimorphos are extremely flexible and well adapted for survival. An Amphimorpho's cells are semi-fluid and capable of changing their position and function on a dime, allowing them to rapidly change their biology and physical form at will.Ability Score Increase
Amphimorphos are naturally charming and fun loving creatures whose biologies are specially adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. You gain +2 to charisma and +1 to dexterity.
Age
An Amphimorpho's highly regenerative cells resist aging very well. Amphimorphos mature at 2-3 years old and can live to be 70-80.
Size
Amphimorphos can grow to be 3-4 feet at the shoulder while on all fours, and 5-6 feet from head to toe while standing. Their tails tend to match or exceed their body length, making them 10-12 feet long from the tip of their snout to the tip of their tail. Your size is medium.
Speed
You have a walking speed of 30 ft.
Creature Type
You are a Beast.
Language
Amphimorphos were created in laboratories that operated primarily in common, possessing no language of their own. You speak common.
Arboreal
Due to their strong, prehensile tails and their flexible digits, Amphimorphos are great climbers. You have a climbing speed of 30 ft.
Hyperactive STEM Cells
An Amphimorphos cells are able to reproduce, reposition, and repurpose like STEM cells, allowing them to quickly heal wounds. While taking a short rest, all hit dice rolled grant an additional +1 to hp. You replenish 1 additional hit die every time you take a long rest.
Multiple forms
Amphimorphos possess multiple forms that they can consistently change between at will. Changing into these forms tends to be faster, more energy efficient, and more reliable than changing into other forms. You possess two different forms, your Basal Form and your Alpha Form. Your Basal Form is your default appearance as an Amphimorpho, while your Alpha Form is a secondary form that can either change aspects of your Basal Form or take on the appearance of another species. Your Alpha Form can appear as any small or medium sized beast or humanoid. You do not gain any of the features or abilities of any creature or species you mimic. You may not take any form other than your Basal Form while suffering from exhaustion. On your turn you may switch between your Basal and Alpha Forms without taking an action.
Imprint
You may use a bonus action to imprint on any medium or small beast, humanoid or monstrosity you are touching, saving their genetic information until you take a long rest. At any time, you may use the Mimic action to mimic the appearance of any creature you have imprinted on. You may imprint on a number of creatures equal to your proficiency modifier. If you attempt to imprint on a creature when you already have the maximum number of imprints active, the oldest imprint you have saved will be overridden.
Mimicry
Amphimorphos are able to mimic the appearance and biology of any other animal. As an action, you may change your form to mimic the appearance of any beast, humanoid or monstrosity that you can see within 60 feet of you or that you have previously imprinted on. You may also use detailed depictions or descriptions of a creature's appearance in order to mimic them, but this will only allow you to accurately mimic the traits depicted in full. You may only mimic another creature a number of times equal to 1+ your Constitution modifier per Short Rest(minimum of 1). You can mimic a creature for an amount of time equal to 10 x your proficiency modifier, and while mimicking another creature you must concentrate as if you were concentrating on a spell. While mimicking another creature you gain its appearance and voice, but you do not gain any of its features or abilities. You can only mimic a creature's size if its size is equal to or up to two sizes smaller than your own. Otherwise, you will grow or shrink as much as you can without exceeding your limits. Objects or gear you have on your person do not change to mimic another creature, and if you mimic a creature that your gear is not made for, your clothing may rip, fall off, or obstruct your transformation. While mimicking a creature, another creature can make an Investigation check contested by your Deception check to discern whether or not you are real.
Alter Self
Amphimorphos are able to make any number of smaller alterations to their body as they please. Once per short rest, you may take a bonus action to change aspects about your appearance, such as the color of your skin, fur, hair and eyes, your facial structure and body type, the number and arrangement of your limbs, your species and your height. These changes can only be made within reason: for instance, you cannot increase your height so much that your size would increase, or decrease it so much that you would become smaller than a foot tall. These alterations are purely visual, and aside from changes caused by reducing one's size, do not grant any functional abilities. The amount of times you can use this feature becomes twice per short rest at 7th level and three times per short rest at 13th level. You may only maintain this changed form for 5 minutes, or until you transform back as a bonus action on your turn, are incapacitated, gain a level of exhaustion or die.
Stress Fatigue
Amphimorphos are capable of maintaining other forms for long periods of time, but they are most comfortable in their Basal Form. It takes substantial effort to mask their true nature, and if they spend to much time in another form they can become exhausted. Because of this, they often need time to rest and recover. In order to gain the benefits of a Short or Long Rest, you must rest for an additional 2 hours. While resting, you must spend the entire rest period in your Basal Form, and you must spend at least 1 of the 2 additional hours sleeping. You also have a fast metabolism, as the process of changing your cells is extremely energy intensive. In order to satisfy yourself, you must eat two days worth of food every day.
Amphimorpho Mutant Type 0
Not all Amphimorphos are Amphimorphos at birth. Some are born as creatures of another species entirely, whose genomes are altered when they are infected with a highly volatile artificial virus. This viral agent was initially created as a medicine intended to deliver the Amphimorpho's fast-acting STEM cells to the host's body, but an unexpected mutation within the host's cells caused them to change into the cells of an Amphimorpho, changing the creature's entire biology. These artificially created Amphimorphos are known as Type 0s, and they can be told apart from a natural born Amphimorpho by their comparatively bizarre anatomies, frequent mutations and bioluminescent, liquefied body parts.
Infectious Lineage
Type 0 Amphimorphos are created when a creature from another species is infected with a bio-engineered virus. If a medium or small sized beast or humanoid were to come in contact with the Amphimorpho virus, whether through the blood, saliva, bite or bioluminescent fluid cells of an Amphimorpho, there is a 1 in 4 chance they will be infected by the virus and transform into an Amphimorpho themselves. This causes their species to completely change over the course of 24 hours, during which they gradually become sick to the point of being bedridden. Creatures that are immune to being poisoned are immune to this effect. One this transformation is over, this creature is now part of the Type 0 Amphimorpho lineage. Just like with other lineages, any move speeds, skill proficiencies and languages they gained through their original race remain unchanged while their appearance and other racial traits are replaced with that of a Type 0 Amphimorpho. If you are infected with the Amphimorpho Virus, change your race to Amphimorpho Mutant Type 0 and use your original race to decide the traits and abilities you keep. If selecting this race in character creation, select another race to use as your original race.
Ability Score Increase
Your new-found body is adaptable but volatile, while keeping the strengths of your old one. You gain +2 to any ability score and +1 to any other ability score, or you gain +1 to any 3 ability scores.
Age
An Amphimorphos regenerative cells are highly resistant to aging. Your lifespan is a little longer than the base lifespan of your original species.
Size
Amphimorphos are large and slender creatures, and the transformation into one has made that readily apparent. Your height is about a foot taller than it was before you became an Amphimorpho, and your size is medium or small.
Speed
Your move speeds are the same as your original race. You may need to override your move speeds to reflect this on your character sheet.
Languages
Your transformation may have changed your species, but it didn't change your culture. Although your new brain brings new instincts and methods of communication, you still know all the same things that you knew before your transformation. Your languages are the same as those your original race learns. You may need to override your languages manually to represent this in your character sheet.
Arboreal
With a strong, prehensile tail and opposable digits, your new body is better at climbing than ever before. You gain a 30 ft increase in climbing speed over that of your original race. You may need to override your climb speed manually to represent this in your character sheet.
Hyperactive STEM Cells
An Amphimorphos cells are able to reproduce, reposition, and repurpose like STEM cells, allowing them to quickly heal wounds. While taking a short rest, all hit dice rolled grant an additional +1 to hp. You replenish 1 additional hit die every time you take a long rest.
Multiple Forms
Amphimorphos possess multiple forms that they can consistently change between at will. Changing into these forms tends to be faster, more energy efficient, and more reliable than changing into other forms. You possess two different forms, your Basal Form and your Alpha Form. Your Basal Form is your default appearance as an Amphimorpho, which may include mutations not often present in normal Amphimorphos such as horns, brightly colored fur or additional non-functional body parts. Your Alpha Form is the appearance you possessed before becoming an Amphimorpho. You may change between these forms during your turn without taking an action. You may not take any form other than your Basal Form while suffering from exhaustion.
Imprint
You may use a bonus action to imprint on any medium or small beast, humanoid or monstrosity you are touching, saving their genetic information until you take a long rest. At any time, you may use the Mimic action to mimic the appearance of any creature you have imprinted on. You may imprint on a number of creatures equal to your proficiency modifier. If you attempt to imprint on a creature when you already have the maximum number of imprints active, the oldest imprint you have saved will be overridden.
Unstable Mimicry
Your volatile biology makes shifting forms easy, but maintaining forms hard. As an action, you may change your form to mimic the appearance of any beast, humanoid or monstrosity that you can see within 60 feet of you or that you have previously imprinted on. You may also use detailed depictions or descriptions of a creature's appearance in order to mimic them, but this will only allow you to accurately mimic the traits depicted in full. You may mimic another creature a number of times equal to 3+ your Constitution modifier per Short Rest(minimum of 1). You can mimic a creature for an amount of time equal to 5 x your proficiency modifier, and while mimicking another creature you must concentrate as if you were concentrating on a spell. While mimicking another creature you gain its appearance and voice, but you do not gain any of its features or abilities. You can only mimic a creature's size if its size is equal to or up to two sizes smaller than your own. Otherwise, you will grow or shrink as much as you can without exceeding your limits. Objects or gear you have on your person do not change to mimic another creature, and if you mimic a creature that you gear is not made for, your clothing may rip, fall off, or obstruct your transformation. While mimicking a creature, another creature can make an Investigation check contested by your Deception check to discern whether or not you are real.
Fluid Biology
Your body is subject to rapid change and mutation, something that can serve as a blessing and a curse. Three times per short rest, you may take a bonus action to change aspects about your appearance, such as the color of your skin, fur, hair and eyes, your facial structure and body type, the number and arrangement of your limbs, your species and your height. These changes can only be made within reason: for instance, you cannot increase your height so much that your size would increase, or decrease it so much that you would become smaller than a foot tall. While changing your form in this way, details may be incorrect and features that you do not actively focus on maintaining may revert, change or "slip". These alterations are purely visual, and aside from changes caused by reducing one's size, do not grant any functional abilities. The amount of times you can use this feature becomes four times per short rest at 7th level and five times per short rest at 13th level. You may only maintain this changed form for 1 minute, or until you transform back as a bonus action on your turn, are incapacitated, gain a level of exhaustion or die.
Stress Fatigue
Your new biology is unwieldy and hard to control, taking immense effort to maintain a desired form. Because of this, you often need time to rest and recover. In order to gain the benefits of a Short or Long Rest, you must rest for an additional 2 hours. While resting, you must spend the entire rest period in your Basal Form, and you must spend at least 1 of the 2 additional hours sleeping. You also have a fast metabolism, as the process of changing your cells is extremely energy intensive. In order to satisfy yourself, you must eat two days worth of food every day.
Bioluminescence
The viral agent that infected you was tagged with a bioluminescent marker, causing parts of your body to glow with a soft neon light. Certain parts of your body, such as your tongue, eyes, paw pads, tail tip and liquefied cells will glow in a bright neon color, emitting Dim Light for 10 ft and giving you disadvantage in Stealth Checks unless actively suppressed by changing your form. If you're wounded, your blood and liquefied cells will also drip on the ground and make a glowing trail.
Creature Type
You are a Beast.
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Comments
Awesome and comprehensive job on this! Amphis are definitely my favourite species by far hehe
Just a quick note btw, in the extra resources found on the Google Drive folder for these goobers, there's a Google Doc with even more information (that would probably be too much for a D&D species lol)! And I just wanted to point out a quick section that I noticed in it, under the Basal Form area:
I'm probably just nitpicking at this point, but that's because to me, there's really no gaping holes in this! It's very well thought out and thorough, definitely balanced from a gameplay perspective (the short and long rest penalties and the exhaustion barrier to abilities are very fair and logical imo), and I would definitely use this in a campaign! Only reason I nitpicked that little bit was because there's nothing else that says "this is wrong". Great job!
Sorry, I love amphimorphos too much XDThanks for the kind words! I was using the google drive folder as my primary reference, so there were a lot of things that I wanted to include that I ended up just not being able to fit in(mostly a more detailed description of the lore and stuff, but also some functional stuff like altering one's Basal Form like you mentioned)
I think the end product would've been better if I had taken the time to work that stuff out, but I'm new to DnD and I was working on this mostly in between classes. DnD Beyond is tedious and annoying, so I ended up spending a lot of time and energy messing around with the system itself, thus not leaving that much room to work on the actual content. This is also why I'm probably not gonna try making any edits, as changing something you've already published is a whole ordeal. Still, I really appreciate the constructive criticism! It means a lot to me that this small thing I made ended up being enjoyed by someone. Cheers!
Fair enough, I completely understand! You did a great job, and I'm definitely gonna be using this in a campaign hehe
Besides, it's not like a lil' homebrewing can't fix it! D&D rules are meant to be guides, not set paths. If something suits a campaign better one way than the other, choose that way! So I guess nitpicking in this area was kinda unnecessary on my behalf, sorry ^^"
THANK YOU SO MUCH AAAAAAAA
ITS EVERYTHING I COULD EVER HOPE FOR
This is a thing?!?! It’s amazing (^w^)
i haven’t read the comics but I love the art that my bf sends me from it :3