Homebrew Belzibik Species Details

Belzibik From Volo’s Guide to the Feywild & Other Poor Decisions

“If you think you’ve seen a Belzibik because you spotted one staring at you from a tree, congratulations — it saw you first, and has likely been watching you for some time.”

The creatures known as Belzibik — or “Star-Eyes,” as more nervous travellers insist on calling them — are among the most unsettling forest-folk one is likely to encounter. Possessed of a single enormous eye and an alarming fondness for watching passersby in total silence, these beings favour the upper reaches of forests and Feywild canopies, where they cling to branches like living knots in the wood.

Belzibik move with sudden, erratic speed, swinging and leaping between trees in ways that make even seasoned scouts uneasy. When they choose to remain still, they do so with unnerving patience. Many a traveller has only realized they were observed when the Belzibik decided to move — and vanished entirely.

Their bodies are thick-set and powerful, clearly shaped by a life spent climbing, hanging, and leaping rather than walking open ground. Their skin is often marked with stars and circles, designs that appear to be sacred to them. I am told these markings are applied through ritual means shortly after birth and expanded upon throughout life, though attempts to inquire further have been met with polite silence or, on one memorable occasion, prolonged staring.

Belzibik settlements are marvels of woven architecture suspended among great trees, forming living villages where they eat, train, and conduct their many rituals. To the untrained eye, these communities may appear savage or chaotic. In truth, Belzibik culture is highly structured, deeply spiritual, and governed by customs outsiders rarely understand — and are seldom invited to.

Belzibik live far longer than humans and mature at a glacial pace, which may explain their maddening patience. Whether this longevity is a gift of the Feywild or the lingering touch of something older remains a matter of scholarly debate… preferably conducted somewhere not beneath their trees.

 

Belzibik Traits

Belzibik traits emphasize mobility, awareness, and endurance, shaped by a life of constant movement through forested and Feywild terrain.

Size

Belzibik are either Small or Medium. You choose the size when you select this species.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
You have a climbing speed of 25 feet and a swimming speed of 25 feet.

Star-eye Awarness

Your single, ever-watchful eye is adapted to low light and constant vigilance.

• You gain proficiency in the Perception skill. If you already have proficiency in Perception, you instead gain proficiency in Insight.

• You have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. Within that range, you can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of gray.

Canopy-born Agility

You are adapted to fighting and moving in dense, vertical terrain.

• You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks made to maintain balance, climb, or traverse difficult natural terrain made of trees, vines, or uneven surfaces.

Unsettling Gaze

Your focused stare is difficult to ignore.

• As a bonus action, you can fix your gaze on a creature you can see within 30 feet.

• Until the start of your next turn, that creature has disadvantage on the next Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Insight) check it makes that does not involve you.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan.