Homebrew Owlk Species Details
Owlks are tall, bipedal creatures resembling an Elk and an Owl hybrid. They have unguligrade legs that end in hooves, and most of their body is covered in feathers. They have five digits on their scaly hands, but where their pinky would be, they have a second opposable thumb. They have large antlers on their heads, retroreflective eyes, and their jaws are full of sharp, prickly teeth. Wherever they may be found, the Owlks are fearful creatures. Usually, they're hidden away from other species, never leaving beyond the boundaries of their hidden home. They usually find some wooded region to hide in, but each tribe of Owlks finds its own unique home. Whether it's a marsh, glade, forest, or grove, they usually settle in a place with lots of nature, as the only thing they are drawn to as much as the stars are the trees. Each tribe shares a fondness for light, as it wards off the dangers of the dark. While their methods for creating light differ slightly, most tribes settle on some design of lantern. The material used to make the lamp depends on what is near that specific tribe, but usually it is a mix of native woods and metals. Each Owlk crafts their own lantern as part of their rite of passage into adulthood, and to signify themselves as an adult, they bond a piece of their soul into their lantern during a deep slumber around a sacred campfire. The lanterns are sacred objects, and upon completion, most Owlks never let them leave their side.
Owlk Traits
The Owlks special connection to light and nature have granted them gifts to combat the suffocating dark.Size
Owlks are much taller than most humans and have a willowy figure. They typically range between 6.5 and 8 feet. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Age
Owlks are a long-lived species, although they become physically mature at a similar rate to humans. Owlks continue to mature culturally for much longer than that, however, crafting their lantern around the age of 120. They can live to be 800 years old.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan
Ability Score Improvement
Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Luminous Bond
As part of your rite of passage, you created a soulbonded lantern that now serves as a source of light and identity.
As an action, you can magically light or extinguish your lantern. When lit, it sheds dim light in a 30-foot radius. While holding this lantern, you can see in its dim light as if it were bright light.
If your lantern is ever lost or destroyed, you can recreate it by spending a long rest crafting a new lantern and sleeping with it by a lit campfire. The materials required for crafting the lantern are rare woods and metals worth 50 GP.
Eyes of the Lantern
You were raised in the dark and taught to trust the light of your flame.
When you are holding your lit soulbonded lantern, choose one of the following effects. You can use this feature an amount of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all charges spent after completing a long rest.
Piercing Sight: You can expend an action to see through magical and nonmagical darkness within the range of your light source for up to ten minutes.
Keen Vision: You can expend a bonus action to gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks you make that rely on sight while within the range of your light source for one minute.
Lantern Ward: You can expend a reaction to impose disadvantage on an attack roll that targets you or an ally within the range of your light source.
Dreamward Soul
You have a mystical connection to the Dream World. You gain the following benefits.
Dream Ward: Whenever you fall unconscious (not from sleep), you may choose to immediately gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Wisdom modifier + your level. You can use this feature once per long rest.
Dreamwalking: When you fall asleep, you may enter a lucid dreamscape of your own design. You may choose to allow other creatures who are asleep within 30 feet of you to enter this dream. These creatures must be willing and cannot be magically shielded from dreams to enter your dreamscape. While in your dreamscape, you cannot be affected by the Dream spell or any other similar magical effects unless you allow it. Additionally, while in your dreamscape, you and any creatures inside have resistance to psychic damage.
Ancestral Moon
Many Owlks return to their ancestral home when they sleep. It is said that thousands of years ago, the Owlks lived on a distant moon underneath a green, ringed gas giant. They inhabited the large marshes that covered the moon, living in stilted houses next to ancient trees and winding rivers. Every clan has different stories for why and how the Owlks left their home moon. Some say they followed the lantern lights in their sleep and woke up in a new world. Others say they received a signal that beckoned them across the stars. The only thing that's known for certain is that the Owlks remember their first home and usually model their dreamscapes after it.
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