Homebrew Yuan-Ti Halfblood Species Details

"You cannot goad one of the serpent folk into hatred or fear, or evoke in it love or friendship. They may feign such things to cozen you, but within they are always coldly, calmly calculating."

— M. Sephrites

 

Humans Transformed

The serpent creatures known as yuan-ti are the spawn of a decadent, perverse human society. After revolting against their creator, they found dark powers which taught them profane, cannibalistic rituals to mix their flesh with that of snakes. They produced a caste-based society of hybrids in which the most snakelike are the leaders and the most humanlike are spies and agents in foreign lands. They also developed a philosophy of separating emotion from intellectual pursuits, allowing them to focus their energy on personal advancement and expanding their territory. They believe themselves to be the most enlightened mortals in the world, and in their hubris they seek to become ever greater.

Structured Society

The goal of every yuan-ti is to transform itself into the ideal combination of snake and humanoid. This attitude is reflected in yuan-ti society by a caste system, with status predicated on where a particular form of yuan-ti lies along the ladder of transformation. The basic form of yuan-ti society is a pyramid with abominations at the top, malisons in the middle level, and purebloods at the base. The outliers are the anathemas, the most powerful yuan-ti of all, and two castes that lie beneath all yuan-ti: broodguards and slaves.

Emotionless Pragmatism

During their ascension, the yuan-ti freed themselves from the yoke of their human emotions. Now they view the world from a pragmatic and dispassionate perspective. They understand emotional connections in a detached, intellectual way, and recognise that these feelings in others can be exploited through bribes, favours, or threats. As creatures devoid of emotion, yuan-ti exhibit behaviour and use tactics that exemplify that outlook (or lack of one). Whether in combat or in daily life, the following principles guide the yuan-ti in all they do.

Other Lives Are Cheap

Yuan-ti put little value on humanoid lives, even those of their own slaves and cultists. They would poison children to carry out a threat against their parents, or turn one person into a mindless, half-snake slave in order to show their family the consequence of resistance. They might refrain from provoking others' feelings if doing so could adversely affect the yuan-ti's plans, but they understand humanoid psychology well enough to know that they can get away with this casual disregard for life almost anytime.

Depend On Deceipt

Yuan-ti have no sense of honourable combat. They are naturally stealthy, and if they can sneak up on enemies, either in an ambush or to murder them in their sleep, the yuan-ti will do so-and they actually prefer these tactics to open warfare. Because abominations and malisons can change into the shapes of snakes, they can keep their presence hidden and get into places their normal forms couldn't enter. Their resistance to poison gives all yuan-ti a tactical advantage in dealing with other creatures. A pureblood serving as a food taster for a royal family could poison a meal and declare it "safe" after taking a bite.

HALFBLOODED

As a halfblood, you are an outlier in yuan-ti society, which probably contributed to you leaving your home behind. You are even less snake-like than a pureblood, but may still show signs of your serpentine heritage; a forked tongue, scales on shoulders and elbows, exaggerated canines and the like. In terms of your psyche, you may not be as callous and, cold-blooded and emotionless as a regular yuan-ti, but you will certainly be more than a stone's throw from a regular human. Think about how being raised in this society might impact your character.

Yuan-ti are fairly isolated in the world, but their creator god and whatever dark force uplifted them knows about their existence. Other races may not know what a yuan-ti is, but anyone aligned with either yuan-ti creator might. If they find out your heritage, their reaction could vary from interested to horrified: or even violent. Whatever the case, your appearance alone may make those less used to unusual company uncomfortable. As a rough guide, expect to be treated how a dragonborn or tiefling might be.

Yuan-Ti Halfblood Traits

Your Yuan-Ti Halfblood character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of dark rituals corrupting the human form and psyche.

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

Halfbloods mature at the same rate as humans and have lifespans similar in length to theirs.

Alignment

Halfbloods struggle with the dual-nature of their heritage. They have trouble when empathising with feelings of fear, loss, and sadness, but still yearn for connection and belonging. They are not as machiavellian as their yuan-ti parent, but not as compassionate as their human parent. They care little for law or chaos and tend toward neutrality.

Size

Halfbloods match humans in average size and weight. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

 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.

Serpentine Resistance

You are resistant to poison damage and have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.

Cold of Heart

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

Innate Spellcasting

You know the poison spray cantrip. You can cast animal friendship an unlimited number of times with this trait, but you can target only snakes with it. When you reach 3rd level, you can also cast suggestion with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can also cast enthrall with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Speak with Snakes

Using sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple concepts and ideas with snakes.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Abyssal