Homebrew Valkyrie of Kaldheim Species Details

The valkyries dwell in Starnheim, where fallen heroes rest. Older than the Skoti, the Valkyries do not serve the gods. They were formed at the beginning of time, birthed from Valkmir, the black lake of the first valkyrie's blood in Starnheim. Valkyries judge the fallen, and do not allow their judgment to be clouded by the banal relationships, family ties, and petty squabbling that practically define the nature of the gods.

Valkyries carry out their missions of judgment in pairs, a Shepherd and a Reaper travel together. Shepherds guide the honored dead to Starnheim, while Reapers take cowards to the realm of Istfell, branding them with a rune that marks their shame. Both Valkyries in a pair must agree on each fallen warrior's fate before it can be enacted.

Though valkyries becoming involved in outside affairs is rare, some sagas describe the valkyries joining the gods in a worthy battle, and valkyries will readily fly into battle against demons.

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.

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.

Valkyrie of Kaldheim Traits

As Valkyrie, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Celestial.

Size

Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Life Span

Valkyries don't age as other races do. You are immune to the effects of aging and can't be aged magically.

Flight

Because of your wings, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can’t use this flying speed if you’re wearing medium or heavy armor.

Battlefield Angel

You have proficiency with one martial weapon of your choice.

Chooser of the Slain

You know the spare the dying cantrip. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the gentle repose spell as a ritual with this trait, without requiring a material component. Starting at 5th level, you can also cast the invisibility spell with this trait, without requiring a material component.

Once you cast invisibility with this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.