Homebrew Bladeling Species Details

Planar Outsiders: Bladelings are one of many races that are not native to Faerun. Instead Bladelings hail from one of the outer planes, Archon the plane of infinite battle. Bladelings are actually the only creatures that are native inhabitants of Archon’s strange landscape, having lived there long before the ancient war between the gods of the orcs and goblins gripped their plane. The large majority of Bladelings migrated deeper into the Plane making their homes on the smaller shards deeper in the plane. 

Exotic Mercenaries: While most Bladelings are xenophobic and hide away deep in Archon others strike out in order to make money or find excitement. Most of these mercenaries move to the upper layers of Archon where they can play both sides of the conflict between the Orcs and Goblins. Others still travel out into the other planes, this is most likely how any Bladeling characters ended up of Faerun. 

Appearance: With the exception of the most well traveled adventurers and the wisest scholars most people in Faerun have never seen a bladeling before and it is a gamble to know how people will react to your exotic appearance. Bladelings are about the same height as the average human and while their build is on average a little slimmer the high metal content in their bodies means that they are extremely dense. Of course the most noticeable part of Bladelings is the sharp metallic protrusions that cover most of their body. While these blades can be grown anywhere on their bodies they naturally occur more often on the head, shoulders, arms, and lower legs. Beneath these blades bladelings have grey skin that can range from near black to a gentle blue-grey. 

Deadly Biology: Calling their growths ‘blades’ is more than just for intimidation. They are extremely sharp and as strong as any well forged blade. This makes getting into close-quarters combat with any bladeling extremely dangerous, and can even be dangerous to the bladeling itself if the blades are not carefully groomed around joints, the face, and other delicate regions. This grooming however is not challenging as the blades can easily be pulled from the skin, while this can cause the bladeling some discomfort, especially for larger blades it does not cause any pain and the removed blades can often be used as weapons themselves. Interestingly enough once removed from the body these blades only last 2 minutes before disintegrating away into nothing more than a pile of rust.  It is unknown why this is.

Fierce Warriors: Coming from the Plane of Battle Bladelings are extremely familiar with conflict, in fact it makes up a large portion of their culture. Bladelings see combat as something critical to life, as important as breathing. Bladelings host ceremonial combats for all occasions such as marriage rites, celebrations, and see it as only natural that strong combatants should rule over the weak. This kind of mentality is often reflected in Bladeling adventurers as most have an extreme eagerness for conflict some would mistake this blood-lust for bravery as it is common for Bladeling warriors to target who they would think to be the strongest opponent, and even to refuse retreat instead favoring a fight to the death.

Age: Bladelings age similar to humans, reaching maturity around the age of 17 and becoming elderly around 70-80 years of age.

Alignment: Hailing from Archeon, the plane of Eternal War, Bladelings are equally comfortable in Lawful ranks of soldiers and Chaotic war bands.  Bladelings have no inclination towards either Good or Evil.

Bladeling Names: Bladelings are usually named in the biblical and Hebrew traditions. They receive their first name when they are born, then after they have proven themselves on the field of battle, they may choose a descriptor to add to their name, usually something meant to inspire fear in their enemies. Below are a few suggestions for each.

Male: Adir, Dror, Ira, Melech, or Shani

Female: Batel, Eliana, Herut, Malka, or Sarah

Descriptors: Shade’s Doom, Silent Killer, Shadow Walker, Death Drinker, or Doom Whisperer.

Bladeling Traits

Bladeling Traits

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Bladeling Resistance

You have Resistance to Acid Damage.

Barbed Body

Whenever you deal damage with an unarmed attack the attack deals 1d4 extra slashing damage.  In addition whenever you take damage from an unarmed attack the creature that attacked you takes 1d4 slashing damage.

Natural Blades

You may draw a blade from your body. You may choose the blade to be either a Dagger, Shortsword, or Thieves' Tools. This blade then crumbles to dust after 2 minutes. After using this ability you can not use it again until after you finish a short or long rest.

Bladeling Weapon Proficiency

You gain Proficeincy with Daggers, Shortswords, Longswords, and Greatswords.

Languages

You can read and write Common, as well as Infernal.