Homebrew Berbalang Species Details

Berbalangs creep across the petrified remains of dead gods adrift on the Astral Plane. Obsessed with gathering secrets, both from the gods they inhabit and from the bones of dead creatures, they call forth the spirits of the dead and force them to divulge what they learned in life.

Speakers of the Dead. Berbalangs prefer to speak only to dead things, and specifically only to the spirits they call forth in the hope of learning secrets. They record their stories on the bones that once belonged to these creatures, thus preserving the information they gain.

Spectral Spy. The pursuit of knowledge drives everything berbalangs do. Although they mostly learn their secrets from the dead, they aren’t above spying on the living to take knowledge from them as well. A berbalang can create a spectral duplicate of itself and send the duplicate out to gather information on other planes by watching places where the gods and their servants gather. When a berbalang is perceiving its environment through its duplicate, its actual body is unconscious and can’t protect or nourish itself. Thus, a berbalang typically uses its duplicate for only a short time before returning its consciousness to its body.

Weird Oracles. The knowledge that berbalangs accumulate makes them great sources of information for powerful people traveling the planes. Berba­langs ignore petitioners, however, unless they come bearing a choice secret or the bones of a particularly interesting creature. Githyanki have found a way to coexist with berbalangs, and sometimes use the creatures to spy on their enemies and to watch over their crèches on the Material Plane

Berbalang Traits

Berbalangs have certain racial traits as a result of their Astral Sea descent.

Ability Score Increase

Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 2. Your Strength and Charisma get a -2 and your gets Constitution -3. 

Age

Berbalang can out live time if they keep their bodies on the Astral Plane. But if they choose to exist on any other plane  they only live up to 30-40 years

Alignment

Berbalangs might not have an innate tendency toward evil, but many of them end up there. Because of the way the get there knowledge society tends to look down on them. 

Size

Tieflings are about the same size and build as humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet and flight is 40 feet

Darkvision

Thanks to your Astral heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 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.

Astral Link

You know the speak with dead cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the plane shift spell 1/day. 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write all languages.