Homebrew Abyssal Heritage Species Details

To the general population there is no difference between abyssal and infernal heritages, but then, few people ever encounter a full-blooded Devil, let alone a truly Demonic entity, and those that do rarely get to tell about it, so most of what people know is superstition and folklore; like the concept that having horns or cloven feet makes one inherently evil. Of course, that isn't the; not even devils and demons are inherently evil, and you just happened to be the unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your outlook) soul to manifest a mote of that most ancient of ancestries.

Abyssal Bloodline

One of the most unsettling things for many parents, is that any and all bloodlines have the potential to manifest offspring with an Abyssal Heritage. Eons ago, Demons were far more common in the material plane and; well, people will be people even without marauding groups doing what marauders often do. Over time, those fiendish genes spread throughout the populations of every society and, on occasion, a child will be born manifesting some of the traits of that lineage.

Obviously, there is a great variety between the races of the material planes anyway, and this merely serves to add even more variety to the mix, but there are certain physical traits that are common to those of Abyssal Heritage: large horns, long tails, pointed teeth, cloven feet and dark but colourful skin being just some of the more readily identifiable traits, though the specific traits an individual displays vary greatly. Many have no tail, some have no horns, and at least half have "osteo-typical" appendages for their parent's race; meanwhile, a few might even manifest wings.

Those born with an Abyssal Heritage grow and mature at the same rate as those of their parental lineages, but can often live significantly longer, so long as nothing untoward happens to them; unfortunately, untoward things have a disproportionate rate of happening to people with an Abyssal Heritage.

Self-Reliant and Suspicious

Abyssal Heritages tend to subsist in small minority communities, mostly in human cities or towns and often the roughest quarters of those places. Here they have little choice but to grow up swindlers, thieves, or crime lords, but occasionally one may live among populations where they are treated with more respect and kindness.

Lacking a homeland, the Abyssal Heritages know that they have to make their own way in the world and that they have to be strong to survive. They are not quick to trust anyone who claims to be a friend, but when a companion demonstrates they can be trusted, the bonds they forge are often stronger than ties of blood.

Abyssal Heritage Traits

Creatures with an Abyssal Heritage share certain racial traits as a result of their ancestry.

Creature Type

You are Humanoid

Size

Abyssal Heritage isn't limited to a specific ancestry, and a demon-blood can be born from any coupling. Your size is Medium or Small (your choice).

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Ability Score Increase

You can increase any two ability scores by +1.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.

Superior Darkvision

Thanks to your demonic ancestor, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light, you can also see through magical darkness for up to 60 feet. Unlike other creatures, you can discern full colour when using your darkvision.

Abyssal Resilience

You have resistance to necrotic damage and poison damage, and have advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain your Concentration on a spell or a feature ability.

Bile in the Blood

You know the thaumaturgy cantrip, and the inflict wounds and ray of enfeeblement spells. You can cast each of these spells once using this feature without providing material components or expending any spell slots, and cannot do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your Bile in the Blood spells; choose when you gain this ability.

Demonic Adaptation

Certain physical traits you inherited via your Abyssal Heritage come with unique and powerful abilities. Choose one of the following options during character creation:

Abyssal Talons: You manifested clawed hands and/or feet, granting you bonuses to your unarmed strikes.

Diabolical-Dance: You manifested digitigrade legs, increasing your walking speed by 10 feet, and adding 2d4 feet to your long jumps, and 1d4 feet to your high jumps.

Fiendish Flight: You manifested wings, granting you a flying speed equal to your walking speed and the ability to hover. You cannot use your flying speed or hover whilst wearing Medium or Heavy Armor.

Unholy Crown: You manifested imposing horns, granting you advantage on Charisma (intimidation) skill checks. In addition, you learn the spell fear and can cast it once using this feature without the need to provide material components or expending a spell slot. Once you have cast this spell, you cannot do so again until you complete a short or long rest. The Spellcasting ability for this spell is the same as the spellcasting ability you chose with your Bile in the Blood feature.

Yawning Carapace: You manifested thick, darkly colourful skin with light-absorbing scales, granting you a +1 bonus to your armor class whilst you are not wearing armor. In addition, you can give yourself immunity to necrotic damage and poison damage for ten minutes. You can use this ability once, and then cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.