Homebrew Celophian Species Details

These were men once. Simple, angry, stupid men (like any other), but men none the less. All they wanted were peaceful lives and happy families. This was the crime the High Elves sought to punish the for. The Underdark is an unhappy place, and the High Elves sought to rectify this. They wanted a disposable army, and in this humble band of farmers and crafters, they saw the perfect legion of slaves. So they experimented, mangling their genes with the DNA of a people long forgotten until they came out like this. Now, they are the Celophians, abominations of magic and science, free from their yoke, abandoned by their creators, and in their hearts lies the white hot hatred that brought even the greatest empires down low. These are the Celophians, and they will ensure justice is met.

What We've Become

Its hard to believe that umans and these things share a common ancestor. For one, this may be one of the very few bipedal creatures that have no bones or hair. They resemble octopi in many ways, possessing a large cranium with opposable tentacles across the length of their heads. They wield a powerful beak, designed for crushing carapaces. Using an impressive array of tentacles above the beak, they are able to use complicated clicking meant to replicate noises that would require lips and a tongue with ease. They also wield the most dextrous limbs on the planet; for each limb, there are 6 powerful tentacles entwined in a long spiral, designed to separate and grasp anything they need to. The powerful suction cups lining them allow them to climb walls with ease. They have almond-shaped, nictating eyes in an arch, with individuals being born with anywhere from 5 to 9 eyeballs. Their thick, mucus soaked skin, designed for slipping between small cracks, comes in a variety of colors, including dark grey, green, purple, black, brown, and navy blue. An individual can stand from 5 feet to a little over 6 feet tall and weigh from 125 to 250 pounds. In a cruel twist of fate, they mature at the age of 19 and can live for up to 1500 years. Unfortunately, their dire lifestyles make the eldest among them only be able to reach their 50's.

Arbiters

While it is true humans are quite adaptable, Celophians take this to a whole new level. These were designed to be able to thrive in dark cavernous voids, and their extremophile genetic tampering have allowed them to survive in the Underdark for quite a long time, long enough to make a recorded history spanning hundreds of years. Like all peoples, they have widely varying tastes, morals, and customs in the many different lands where they have settled. However, there is one commonality among all of them; they know what the High Elves manipulated them into being. A little known fact regarding Celophians is their gifts from the Lost People they tie their lineage to. Whatever this lost civilization was, they had at least some semblance of psychic resonance, linking one another through their thoughts and emotions. While the Celophians never really inherited something that extreme, there is some semblance of a shared conciousness they all have. Not really concrete thoughts, but more vague emotions. That means, if there was a Celophian in one area, a particularly intelligent Celophian 1000 miles away would be able to feel its residue. What differentiates this hatred from other emotions, while fade away with time, is that this hatred refuses to die down. Ever since the first horrible experiment was done on them, that fire of hatred burned bright enough to rival the sun. The ripple is still rippling, even hundreds of years later. While there are those who choose to live their own lives, here are many who hold vengeance above all things, leading to a culture built upon the very delicate concept of trust. Generally, among Celophians, they are fairly trusting, as they share the same hatred. Among other races is difficult. Their slight psychic nature gives them some insight into others, but even their empathic nature cannot prevent all betrayal. This is most likely why Celophian contracts (be they social or financial) are always a form of blood pact. Celophian culture does not take kindly to traitors, as seen in the brutal eviceration and consumption of a group of insurance representatives that got lost in the Underdark one time. However, if you manage to gain a Celophian's wholehearted trust, and you haven't done anything to betray them, then you have a friend for life.

Lasting Legacy

In a world so callous and cruel as to make these creatures and force them to live, it's a wonder that anything continues to live at all. The Celophians, abhorrent cretins made to be slaves to a master that abandoned them, should be a collection of babbling lunatics barely clinging to life. However, with more expeditions in and out of the Underdark, there's been a severe change in attitude. Within recent times, the Celophians decided to make their mark on the world. Even if their lives are painful, brutish, and short, they know that's exactly how their masters would have wanted it. There is a war going on at the moment. Celophians are waging a war against the High Elves that created them, not only by taking up arms, but by choosing to take up adventuring. There are so many of them, and so little time. So, they have dedicated themselves to doing something an immortal could never do; appreciate life. Where a single elf or dwarf might take on the responsibility of guarding a special location or a powerful secret, Celophians are hosting circuses, making high art, writing. They want to ensure the world that they will not be lost to the annals of history like their predecessors; they intend to write their names on the faces of the world, and no master will stand in their way.

Celophian Traits

This is what you are. Now here is what you can do about it.

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.

Sneaky

You are proficient in the Stealth skill. In addition, without squeezing, you can move through and stop in a space large enough for a Small creature.

Long-Limbed

When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

Empath

You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the charmed condition on yourself. More importantly, your empathic nature allows you to make advantage on all Insight checks made when meeting a person for the first time. If this character is deemed to be trusted, these insight checks are permanent.

Extreme Handiness

Your Dexterity score increases by 1 every 5 levels. Unfortunately, due to your lack of bones, you have to remove one Constitution point every 5 levels as well

Age

Celophians reach adulthood around the age of 19 and can live to about 1500

Size

Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your climbing speed is 35.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Undercommon. With time and investment, another language can be learned with one exception. In a bizarre twist, the amount of collective xenophobia towards High Elves actually disallows you from reading, writing, or speaking Elvish without the use of magic