Homebrew Wereraven Species Details

Wereravens are secretive and extraordinarily cautious lycanthropes that trust one another but are wary of just about everyone else. Although skilled at blending into society, they keep mostly to themselves, respect local laws, and strive to do good whenever possible.

In their human and hybrid forms, wereravens favor light weapons. They are reluctant to make bite attacks in raven form for fear of spreading their curse to those who don’t deserve it or who would abuse it.

A Kindness of Wereravens. Wereravens refer to their tightly knit groups as kindnesses. A kindness of wereravens usually numbers between seven and twelve individuals. Not surprisingly, wereravens get along well with ravens and often hide in plain sight among them.

Charitable Collectors. Wereravens like to collect shiny trinkets and precious baubles. They are fond of sharing their wealth with those in need and, in their humanoid forms, modestly give money to charity. They take steps to keep magic items out of evil hands by stashing them in secret hiding places.

Curse of Lycanthropy. A humanoid creature can be afflicted with the curse of lycanthropy after being wounded by a lycanthrope, or if one or both of its parents are lycanthropes. A remove curse spell can rid an afflicted lycanthrope of the curse, but a natural born lycanthrope can be freed of the curse only with a wish.

A lycanthrope can either resist its curse or embrace it. By resisting the curse, a lycanthrope retains its normal alignment and personality while in humanoid form. It lives its life as it always has, burying deep the bestial urges raging inside it. However, when the full moon rises, the curse becomes too strong to resist, transforming the individual into its beast form — or into a horrible hybrid form that combines animal and humanoid traits. When the moon wanes, the beast within can be controlled once again. Especially if the cursed creature is unaware of its condition, it might not remember the events of its transformation, though those memories often haunt a lycanthrope as bloody dreams.

Some individuals see little point in fighting the curse and accept what they are. With time and experience, they learn to master their shapechanging ability and can assume beast form or hybrid form at will. Most lycanthropes that embrace their bestial natures succumb to bloodlust, becoming evil, opportunistic creatures that prey on the weak.

Wereraven Traits

Your wereraven character has the following racial traits.

Shapechanger

You can use your action to polymorph into a raven-humanoid hybrid or into a raven, or back into human form. Your statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment you are wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. You revert to its human form if you die.

Beak

In hybrid or raven form, your beak is a natural weapon which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you use your beak, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength or Dexterity modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. Additionally, a humanoid target struck in this way may be cursed with wereraven lycanthropy.

Lycanthrope

Resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren’t silvered

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Size

Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. In hybrid and raven form, you can fly 50 feet.

Mimicry

The wereraven can mimic simple sounds it has heard, such as a person whispering, a baby crying, or an animal chittering. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by your Charisma (Deception) check.

Languages

You can read and write Common and Auran, but you can speak only by using your Mimicry trait.