Homebrew Cinderborn Species Details

 

Cinderborn are beings of living ash and smoldering ember, born from catastrophic fire — volcanic eruptions, dying elementals, or arcane infernos. Their bodies hold humanoid form through an inner flame that never dies. Embers drift from their skin, their eyes burn like coals, and every step leaves a scorch mark. They are not fire. They are what fire leaves behind.

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When a great fire dies — a volcano's last breath, a forest consumed to nothing, an elemental destroyed in battle — sometimes something remains. Not ash. Not smoke. A presence, shaped by the memory of the flame, pulling itself into the form of the living it once watched from afar. These are the Cinderborn.

They walk among mortals with the slow confidence of something that has already burned. Their bodies are compact ash, held together by a fire in their chest that dims but never goes out. Touch them and your fingers come away warm. Stand near them in winter and you won't feel the cold. Cross them, and you will.

Cinderborn are drawn to cold, forgotten, or dying places — as if compelled to finish what fire started, or perhaps to simply remind those places that warmth still exists in the world.

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Born from the aftermath of catastrophic flames, Cinderborn are humanoids composed of living ash and internal fire. Their bodies smolder constantly, shedding dim light and leaving scorched prints wherever they walk. They resist fire but are smothered by cold, and their touch carries the warmth of embers that never fully fade.

Cinderborn Traits

Lore-grounded: Shaped by catastrophe and sustained by an inner flame that refuses to die, your Cinderborn character possesses abilities that reflect both the destructive and enduring nature of fire.

Darkvision

Darkvision

Your ember-lit form illuminates your surroundings. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Ashen Resilience

Your body is composed of fire-hardened ash. You have resistance to fire damage.

 

Cold Susceptibility

Your internal flame is smothered by extreme cold. You have vulnerability to cold damage.

Burning Body

Your surface is always smoldering. When a creature within 5 feet of you hits you with a melee attack, it takes fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus. This damage occurs before any resistances or immunities the attacker may have.

Smoldering Presence

Your body sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius at all times. You can suppress or resume this light as a bonus action. While suppressed, you are not extinguished — merely contained.

 

Ash Drift

As a bonus action, you can partially dissolve into flowing ash. Until the end of your turn, you can move through the space of any creature without it being treated as difficult terrain, and you do not provoke opportunity attacks. You can use this trait once, regaining use after a short or long rest.

Cinder Step

You leave scorched footprints on flammable surfaces and can always ignite small flammable objects you hold (candles, torches, tinder) by touching them for 1 second. This produces no combat benefit.