Homebrew Clockkin Species Details

Ability Score Increase
Increase one ability score by 2 and a different ability score by 1, or increase three different ability scores by 1 each.

Creature Type Humanoid.

Age
Clockkin mature at roughly the same rate as humans but can live for over 1,000 years. Some legends speak of Clockkin who survived for several millennia.

Lore:

The Clockkin

The Clockkin are one of the oldest races in the world, older than most kingdoms and nearly as old as the first forests of the elves. They are so rare that many people believe them to be myths.

A village might go centuries without seeing a single Clockkin.

Appearance

Every Clockkin possesses a humanoid body, but their head is a living clockwork timepiece.

Some resemble:

Ornate stopwatches
Ancient pocket watches
Cathedral clocks
Astrolabes
Hourglass mechanisms

The gears move on their own, powered by an unknown force. No mage, dwarf smith, or scholar has ever successfully explained how a Clockkin lives.

Their heads are not machines attached to a body.

Their heads are them.

When a Clockkin is wounded, their body bleeds like any other mortal. When struck upon the head, sparks of golden light and fragments of magical energy may spill forth instead of blood.

Lifespan

Clockkin live for a thousand years or more.

Many survive longer than elves.

Some ancient Clockkin are said to have witnessed the rise and fall of multiple empires.

The oldest known Clockkin, called The Last Pendulum, supposedly lived for over three thousand years before vanishing into the northern wastes.

Because of their longevity, Clockkin often view time differently than other races.

While humans think in years, Clockkin think in centuries.

The Vanishing Race

No one knows why there are so few Clockkin.

Some believe their numbers have always been small.

Others claim there was once an entire Clockkin kingdom that disappeared overnight.

A darker legend says that every Clockkin born causes another somewhere in the world to die, keeping their numbers forever limited.

Whatever the truth, fewer than a few hundred are believed to exist.

Culture

Clockkin rarely gather in large settlements.

Most spend centuries wandering the world.

They act as:

Historians
Royal advisors
Wanderers
Prophets
Guardians of ancient places

A Clockkin may spend fifty years studying a single ruin and consider it a brief project.

The Sound of Time

Every Clockkin emits a faint ticking sound.

Young Clockkin tick quickly and sharply.

Ancient Clockkin tick slowly and heavily.

It is said that if a Clockkin's ticking suddenly stops, death is near.

Many sailors and adventurers consider hearing a Clockkin tick in complete silence to be either a blessing or a warning.

Clockkin Traits

Every Clockkin possesses a humanoid body, but their head is a living clockwork timepiece.

Timeless Mind

You have advantage on saving throws against being magically put to sleep.

 

Keeper of Ages

You gain proficiency in one of the following skills:
History
Investigation
Arcana
Insight

 

Internal Chronometer

 You always know: The current hour of the day. How much time has passed since an event you personally witnessed within the last 30 days. This trait provides no combat advantage.

Ancient Perspective

You have proficiency with one artisan's tool or one musical instrument of your choice.

Echoes of Possibility

Your connection to time occasionally reveals fragments of what may come. When you roll initiative, you may add your proficiency bonus to the roll. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

Durable Mechanisms

Your unusual physiology grants resilience. When you finish a short rest, you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.