Homebrew Chainborn Species Details

I am Chainborn, born of the moon. over a millennium ago my people were created to serve the hidden moon, an i am one of those creations, Ishural’Zorr, the Dream in Chains exists within my soul. My eyes are theirs, their memories and whispers come to me in dreams to fill the silence of my mind. as long as i serve a purpose i will survive

—Carmen, Eyes of Ishural'Zorr

The Chainborn are beings touched by a slumbering leviathan god, born under broken stars or sculpted from dreams and seawater. Their skin gleams like moonstone or glistens like wet obsidian, often etched with faint bioluminescent patterns that shift in rhythm with unseen tides. Chains—faintly spectral or carved into their flesh—coil down their limbs like ancient markings.

Their eyes lack pupils, reflecting only starlight or deep ocean hues, and their voices sometimes echo with tones not their own. They are dream-haunted and psychic-tethered, walking with purpose even they do not fully understand—bound to something vast, drowning, and waiting beneath the moon.

Bound to the Hidden Moon

To the Chainborn, the moon is no simple celestial body. It is a lock. A cage. A wound in the sky through which dreams leak.

Each Chainborn is mystically linked to the Drowned Moon, a veiled satellite visible only in dreams or through magic. This hidden moon houses Ishural’Zorr, the slumbering Leviathan whose mind spills into reality through cracked stars and prophetic nightmares. The Chainborn are its echoes—its anchors in the waking world—born not of biology, but of forgotten purpose and dream-chains that tug across space and time.

When they sleep, Chainborn do not drift through normal dreams. They descend, pulled through black tides and silver gravity into visions of drowned cities, endless chains, and an eye that opens slowly in the abyss. The deeper their bond grows—through corruption, attunement, or exposure to the Pearl—the more they feel the pull of the Drowned Moon, as if their soul is a key trying to fit into something vast and locked above the world.

Where others see the moon as light, the Chainborn see a prison—and they are never quite sure if they are gaoler, guardian… or key.

The bond to the moon can cause some Chainborn to display unusual quirks. Consider rolling or selecting a trait from the Chainborn Quirks table.

 

Chainborn Names

 

They take names from fragments of recurring visions, whispered words in dreams, or sounds echoed in trance-states. They may not use family names, but instead adopt a title that reflects their role, dream state, or corruption.

When naming themselves, a Chainborn may:

• Only respond to names heard in dreams

• Change their name after major dreams or transformations

• Add a new title after each stage of dream corruption

• Refuse to speak their true name aloud (believing it anchors them)

Chainborn Names: Veluth, Sirrath, Nerai, Aekhal, Zollume. Full name examples: Sirrath, Chain-Eater, Nerai of the Third Moon, Veluth the Half-Woken, Aekhal, Bound by Sleep, Zollume the Keydreamer.

Chainborn Traits

Your Chainborn character has the following traits.

Chains of the Drowned Moon

Choose one of the following Chainboon Traits:

🔗 Dreampull – Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can telekinetically yank a creature you can see within 30 feet up to 15 feet directly toward you (no save if willing, Strength save DC = 8 + your Charisma modifier + proficiency if unwilling).

🔗 Tidewrought Skin – Once per long rest, when you take damage from an enemy you can see, you may reduce that damage by 1d8 + your proficiency bonus. Psychic damage resistance increases to immunity for the duration of the current turn.

🔗 Echo Voice – You can cast Dissonant Whispers at 1st level once per long rest without using a spell slot or components. Charisma is your spellcasting ability.

Dream Corruption Affinity

On a 5 or 6, you do not suffer the usual drawback of corruption.

On a 1, the corruption manifests visibly: your veins glow, your shadow moves independently, or your blood turns brine-like for 24 hours.

At Dream Corruption Level 4 or higher, you gain telepathy out to 30 feet but cannot willingly turn it off.

Aberrant Legacy

Misty Step, Detect Thoughts, or Silence
Charisma is your spellcasting ability.

Subtle Mutations

Webbed hands or eel-slick skin

Iridescent sclera

Gills that whisper in Deep Speech

Constant watery dripping sound from bare feet

Halo of floating salt crystals when angry

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Chainborn mature at the same rate as humans but have strange lifespans. Most age slowly or erratically. Some do not die until the Leviathan’s will is fulfilled.

Alignment

Most Chainborn begin as Neutral (True or Good-leaning), but their alignment is fluid, shaped by corruption, dreams, and revelations.

Size

Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:

Size modifier = 2d6

Height = 5 feet + 4 inches + your size modifier in inches

Weight in pounds = 110 + (1d6 × your size modifier)

 

Chainborn are medium. They resemble other humanoids but have subtle otherworldly traits—translucent skin, opalescent eyes, visible veins that pulse with faint moonlight.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Dream-Touched Nature

 

You gain resistance to psychic damage.

Severed from Dreams

You do not require sleep, though you must still rest to reduce exhaustion and regain spell slots.

While resting, you enter a trance-like dreaming state in which the Leviathan sometimes whispers visions.

Languages

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