Homebrew Carbuncle Species Details

Hailing from subterranean dwellings, these elusive beings are hermetic in nature; they prefer the company of themselves above others so it is rather rare that they are found outside of their homes. Record of their existence is so poorly documented that their appearance is not a certainty.

For the most part, they resemble large fluffy creatures with armoured shells, like a strange mélange of canine, feline and armadillo. However, that is not their most unique feature, protruding from their foreheads are brightly coloured gems, emeralds, rubies and sapphires tend to be the most common. Their colouration varies from what one might expect of a feline, patterns and all, to bright blues, greens, reds and various other hues. Races who hear tell of these beings seek them out, for their precious gems are said to have restorative purposes, they also make for excellent lie detectors. 

With a kind of, hyper-empathy the Carbuncle is very in tune with the emotions of other creatures, a rather convenient self-preservation instinct. When they sense ill-will or they identify a lie, the gems on their forehead light up blinding creatures in their vicinity. 

Good luck trying to catch one, they are as spry as a Harengon and flightier than Tabaxi!! Should one reveal itself to you of its own volition, take them not for granted, you have gained a powerful ally. 

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.

Carbuncle Traits

As a carbuncle, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Fey.

Size

You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.

Speed

Your walking speed is 35 feet and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

Claws

You have claws that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Hold Breath

You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour.

Natural Armor

Your shell provides you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You can’t wear light, medium, or heavy armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.

Nature’s Intuition

Thanks to your mystical connection to nature, you gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth, or Survival.

Shell Defense

You can withdraw into your shell as an action. Until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to your AC, and you have advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. While in your shell, you are prone, your speed is 0 and can’t increase, you have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, you can’t take reactions, and the only action you can take is a bonus action to emerge from your shell.

A Rock Among Others

As a means of protecting themselves from poachers and greedy adventurers, the carbuncle’s shell took on a more rock like texture, allowing them to conceal their precious stones and shelter themselves from harm even in broad daylight. 

Beacon of Truth

Beyond their restorative purposes, a carbuncle’s gemstone is able to read the hearts of others with pinpoint accuracy. When a creature within 30 feet either lies or demonstrates a harmful intent towards you or an ally within 5 feet of you, make an opposed Insight (Wisdom) against their Deception (Charisma) if you succeed the creature must make a Constitution saving throw of DC 8 + proficiency + spell casting modifier or be blinded for 1 minute. You can do so a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Vulpine Agility

Your reflexes and agility allow you to move with a burst of speed. When you move on your tum in combat, you can double your speed until the end of the turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you move 0 ft. on one of your turns.