Homebrew Dracopyre Species Details

Some say the dracopyres were born of dragons, and others of lycanthropes, but the truth is somewhere in the middle. These beasts that haunt dark woods and forests came from one dragonborn, a mighty warrior inflicted with a dark curse that drew power from the moon and burdened him with the traits of both a lycanthrope and vampire. He was able to remain dragonborn, for a time, but eventually his curse overtook him, and he became something new and sinister.

Dracopyres never amass in great numbers. They are solitary creatures, distrustful of others, because of the adventurers and other dracopyres out for their neck. Although fearsome, they are definitely mortal, and so they rely on being the apex predator of their range to survive. Some are born dracopyre, but some, as many stories tell... are made. The curse is capable of transfer via bite, though there are few that survive the bite and fewer who survive the transformation. Dracopyres for ages have only existed in a hybrid state: they initially appear with the silhouette of dragonborn or lizardfolk from a distance, but a closer inspection reveals scaly hide(usually dark greens, browns, and blacks) like that of an alligator or crocodile on their limbs and back and tail, and a head that is somewhere between bat and canine and serpentine. Also on their back are two bat-like wings, which they use to soar on the night winds. Their piercing eyes are red, or green or gold. They stand from around 6'6"-7' tall, and weigh around 180-220 lbs. Born dracopyres mature quickly at around 15 years of age. However, all dracopyres have the potential to live for many, many years- typically only dying when killed, which is may happen in five years, five decades, or five centuries.

Because of the physical demands of the curse, many dracopyres tend towards Evil and Neutral alignments, seeing themselves as forces of nature or simply folk who must do terrible things to survive. However, there are the odd Good dracopyres- dark guardians who paid a heavy price to defend their homes, or stout-hearted people who refused to buckle under the curse. Regardless of their alignment, the life of a dracopyre is centered around combat and the hunt, whether to maintain position in the pecking order of their habitat, evade capture, or strike down intruders. They draw on the power of the curse to adapt to the environment that shaped them, gaining more cunning, or strength, sharper reflexes; this attunement to the struggle thrust upon them is the basis of all dracopyre legends.

The true names of few dracopyre are known. The trials of their old lives or the one they are born into quickly fade away as they learn to manage the curse and those who fear and loath it. They take new names, fierce and primal ones, which often reflect an aspect of the curse they have mastered. Regardless of who they might have been, this is not merely a persona adopted, but a sort of calling card: the old name may be forgotten, but the second one won't.

Dracopyre Traits

Hybrid beasts of a dark curse, dracopyres live by oppressive savagery and by being opportunistic and resourceful.

Mooncurse

You count as dragon, lycanthrope, and vampire for the purposes of effects related to those creatures.

Darkvision

You have Darkvision out to 60 feet.

Fear of the Night

Once after a long rest, you can use a bonus action to radiate terror for 1 minute. Make an Intimidate check, and you can use the check result for your AC for the duration against creatures within 60 feet of you.

Wings

You have bat-like wings with a wingspan of twice your height. Beginning at level 3, you gain a fly speed of 30 feet, but you are unable to fly if you can't fully open your wings. You're also unable to fly when wearing heavy armor, or any armor with which you're not proficient.

Strength of the Night

When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can forgo one extra die of damage to either regain hit points equal to a roll of that damage die if you are bloodied, or to frighten the target of the attack for one round. This choice is permanent.

Shadowmight

You gain 3 stat points to allocate to your ability scores in any manner you choose, i.e. +3 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence and +1 Constitution, or +1 Strength and +1 Charisma and +1 Dexterity.