Homebrew Skeksis Species Details

Appearance

Skeksis are large, humanoid avians. They lack wings and have croppings of teeth along their beaks. Their heads are bare of feathers giving them a very vulture-like appearance. They have dark feathers over the rest of their bodies, extending to elbows and knees where bird-like hands and feet interrupt the flow of feathers for scales. They do also have fan-like bird tails which are used mostly to show emotion. They have a very small secondary set of arms which are usually concealed under their clothes due to their lack of dexterity. Each hand has three fingers and a thumb. Their colors are usually dark though under bright light hues of blue, purple and red can be seen. Non-Skeksis often have a very hard time differing between the genders based upon physical appearance alone.

Culture

Skeksis take hedonism to the extreme. They are all incredibly wealthy and often compete with each other with how to show this wealth off. Trends in attire and décor come and go with great frequency and it seems a constant struggle to keep up with them—lest you seem behind the times. Usually the more extravagant the better and Skeksis tend to prefer reds and greens in their attire. The more expensive and showy items one can wear the better, even at the sacrifice of movement.

Skeksis culture is very much like Victorian England—that is everything is about who you know and how much money you have. Parties are incredibly important and missing the party of a well-known Skeksis can have horrific social consequences. If a Skeksis dislikes such social gatherings and has a hard time keeping up with appearances, knowledge and power can be substitutes and may be used to gain wealth, power and importance in lieu of fancy parties. Making a name for oneself in a particularly renown line of work can act as powerfully as the most precious shiny jewel. Particularly arcane studies, alchemy and military lines of work.

Skeksis live in Empires scattered around the world, though never in the harsh environments and always very near to water and a good source of hunting grounds. Each Empire is ruled by an Emperor (male, female or other). An emperor is picked based upon popular vote and rules until another Emperor’s popularity out-ranks them. A Grand Emperor (male, female or other) rules over all Skeksis everywhere and has final say on all things, no checks and balances exist to temper their ruling. They are signed on for life unless they do something deemed particularly uncouth or traitorous to the Skeksi people, in which case they are made to duel a blood-relative and/or the most popular of the smaller Emperors until a winner emerges by death or conceit.

-As an aside most trends are set by the Grand Emperor and their family/friends.

Mentality

Skeksis are very opinionated and passionate. They have earned a reputation for being evil and arrogant and it’s not entirely undeserved. They are raised in opulence and wealth no other race possesses, so of course this means they are the best and smartest of the races. They can often seem very self-centered and narcissistic but generally this hides a great lack of self-worth, centered around their society’s constant one-up state and wildly changing trends and social hierarchy.

Deep down the Skeksis are a curious and passionate people. They are prone to obsessions which border on the psychotic and have traits akin to OCD and ADD. They are twitchy and seek constant stimulation, often jumping between thoughts and ideas and projects on a whim. They can be incredibly quick to anger and just as quick to find depression.

Some Skeksis have decided to take in servants from the other races though this has not caught on in their culture as a huge trend. They oftentimes will find ‘poor’ creatures either in poor health or poor wealth and offer to share some of what they have with them in exchange for their service. In truth these creatures end up as little more than slaves for very little payment—if any at all. Skeksis are often able to convince themselves they are doing these creatures a favor, however, and it is a source of bragging rights to not have to do one’s own house work and cleaning.

Religion

The Skeksis are not a highly religious people, tending to focus more on books, science and arcane studies which does not leave much room for religious interpretations. They are also prone to worshipping the Grand Emperor as a deity, bowing to their every whim and seeking, above all else, the approval of the Grand Emperor. This does not mean they do not have religion, just that it is far from a cornerstone of their society.

Deities worshipped by the Skeksis would be shrouded in mystery and power. They would be deities a Skeksis would aspire to be, and would reflect the best of their society, which means they would be very flexible and easy to alter from trend to trend or Grand Emperor to Grand Emperor.

Sexuality & General Open Mindedness

As slaves to hedonism the Skeksis are surprisingly open minded when it comes to matters of sex and gender, as well as gender roles in society. Their ruling classes are not limited to any gender and as such rules do not seem to favor any one gender. Occasionally a certain gender or sexual orientation will come into ‘trend’ status and can make things a little uncomfortable. Generally however Skeksis society is very fluid and changing; accepting in that there is no real constant to buck against.

Classes

Skeksis are not limited to any classes. However they excel in arcane-based casting classes (wizard, sorcerer) and non-magical combat classes (barbarian, fighter).

Classes which usually call upon a deity are permissible. Skeksis in these roles often pick a Grand Emperor who’s time has come to an end and pledge themselves to the honor of this Grand Emperor in lieu of a religious deity. The class and abilities act the same in this substitution.

Names

Skeksis names are usually very long and complex, consisting of sounds that are pleasing to hear. It was a trend not very long ago that the longer the name the more important the Skeksis. This lead to many parents naming their children after nearly every member of their family. Short nick-names are given between friends but it is seen as very impolite to introduce oneself with a nick name or provide it without being asked.

Examples (good for all genders): Rhoobious, Kalikaa, Survus, Rheethom, Zazuul

Skeksis Traits

Skeksis are large, humanoid avians. They lack wings and have croppings of teeth along their beaks.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Proficiences

You can wear light and medium armor. You can wield Simple Weapons with the addition of Flail, Longsword, Rapier and Short Sword.

Skeksi Psionics

You know the mage hand cantrip and the hand is invisible when you cast it using this trait. When you reach 3rd level you can cast the jump spell once with this trait, useable again after a long rest. When you reach 5th level you can cast the misty step spell once with this trait, useable again after a long rest. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells. When you cast them with this trait they do not require components.

Language

You can read, write and speak Common and Skeksan.

Wealth

All Skeksis are wealthy. Roll 1d20 and multiply it by 100, that is your starting gold. You may have 3 ‘heirlooms’ of your description. They must be non-magical and their total gold worth cannot exceed 100 gold. You will also roll a series of percentiles for a magical heirloom.

Age

Skeksis live for hundreds of years, an exact age is hard to determine as they usually die of disease (from their decadent lifestyle) or from injury due to magical or scientific dabbling before dying of old age. They reach maturity at 20. Anything over 500 is considered old with everything in between being their ‘prime’.

Size

Skeksis are around 6 feet tall and weigh between 90 and 120 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.