Homebrew Fey Exchangelings Species Details
"No wonder they gave it away, uglier than a deformed orc,"
A baby cries in the middle of the night, the parent investigates, but nothing seems wrong... at first. Within a few nights, the child dies of illness most of the time, but on rare occasions the child will survive, but slowly become more and more disfigured. In truth the child is not changing, the illusion is wearing off. This is a changeling. An arch-fey capable of walking the planes has a child that is sickly or deformed, and they replace it with a humanoid child.
Warped and Turned
Changelings are malformed creatures. while they have a normal human/elven stature, between 5 - 6 feet in height, they often have thin spindly limbs that look weak or strangely elongated. their skin tone can range both the human and orc-ish skin tones, but never into the more ethereal colors that Elves might find lovely. Eyes can be any color, but never match each other. If there is a natural vision problem, it will not effect both eyes equally. Asymmetry is a hallmark of Changelings.
Alone Among Family
After learning of their nature, many Changelings begin to withdraw from their adoptive parents, fearing rejection. This fear is sadly not unjustified as most families that realize they have changeling children lay blame on the changeling, forgetting that it had no choice in showing up with the family. It will be rare to find a Changeling with a happy home life. They set out from home early to try and find someplace they belong. Most wind up seeking a way to return to the Feywilds, but they will find no welcome there. If it is possible to find their natural parents, they will not be likely to even remember having left the changeling behind, let alone that they have a child who might return. Their human/elven child is most likely dead by this point as Arch-fey are not exactly responsible care givers.
So they will wonder the planes alone. Alone because the changeling that survives infancy is already rare, they one that survives their own family after that is fare more rare. While they can be powerful beings, they are always mistrusted and rejected. Further, they have Elven life-spans, so that is a long time to be alone.
Distraction and the Search
Changelings take up adventuring because they are either looking for a way to the Feywilds or because they need a distraction to fill up their over-long time in this life.
Out of necessity Changelings learn the disguise self spell, and can cast it a number of times per short rest equal to their level.
Changeling Names
Changelings are likely to have one of two types of names, the name of the child they replaced if the family realized late in life that the child was a changeling, or a cruel name if the family realized early. Those that do find their Arch-Fey parent in the Feywilds will often take their natural parent's family name.
Family Names (Common Translations): Amakiir (Gemflower), Amastacia (Starflower), Galanodel (Moonwhisper), Holimion (Diamonddew), Ilphelkiir (Gemblossom), Liadon (Silverfrond), Meliamne (Oakenheel), Naïlo (Nightbreeze), Siannodel (Moonbrook), Xiloscient (Goldpetal)
Fey Exchangelings Traits
Whiles you retain many of your Fey abilities, similar to those of elves, you are harshly marked as something else...Hidden Strength
Despite your light build, you count as one size larger when it comes to carrying objects.
Ability Score Modificaition
Your Strength, Constitution, and Intelligence are all in creased by 2
Your Dexterity is decreased by 1
Your Charisma is decreased by 2
Age
Although Changelings reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, they can live to be 750 years old.
Alignment
Being untethered in the world, Changelings don't tend to develop strong ties to any philosophy or creed. True neutral to Chaotic Neutral is usually where they wind up.
Size
changelings range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
A Mask
Changelings learn to hid themselves quickly, and their magical heritage helps. They easily learn the "Disguise Self" Spell and can cast it a number of times per short or long rest equal to their character level.
Keen Senses
You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Untrusted
Because of the nature of a Changeling's arrival in this world, they are seldom trusted. If a creature can see you, you have disadvantage on all Charisma checks
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Weylish, a dialect of Elvish that while easily understandable by any Elvish speaker, marks you obviously as a Changeling. If you are disguised you may make a Charisma(performance) check to hide your accent. You also speak the language of the family that raised you.
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