Homebrew Awakened Elements Species Details

Before the birth of the Material Planes, the Elemental planes formed the vast reaches of the Multiverse. Only through much mixing and creation of these planes on the Gods parts created the Material plane as we know it. In this sense the elemental planes are the primordial soup of life as we know it.

Just as these elements created a profusion of life on the material plane, sometimes it can create life based solely on its own elements with the help of a bit of magic. The first awakened elementals were the byproduct of such magic given form through the elements, lone wanderers of their vast empty planes. Over the course of eons these creatures gathered and created their own civilizations in the elemental planes using the gifts granted to them by their environment.

Four major elemental races exist: earth, wind, fire and water, and each has zero problem living in their own planes but find existence incredibly hard anywhere else. Though given intelligence by the stray magical powers that grace their planes, the elementals attribute their creation to the Gods unique to their attributes. The Fire elementals bow to the King of the Sun, Aman Coroth. The Water to the Queen of the Stars, Ueleman Daran. The Earth to the prince of the moon, Iolop Han, and the Air to the veil between the stars, Erlon Mori. Though these Gods didn't necessarily exist before the elementals, the concept given form by the elementals caused the birth of the Gods to watch over all of the Elemental planes.

Visages of Element and Form

The Awakened elementals of old were hardly distinguishable from their elemental surroundings, you couldn't tell the difference between a water current and living being, or breeze and conscious thinker, or flame and person. The Gods the elements created looked upon the peoples of the material planes and envied how the other God's subjects could do such great things with their form. To remedy this the Elemental Gods tweaked the magic and elements in their creation to make them mimic the shape of humans so that they could be treated and act as such. The magic that holds together this form is very fragile and could easily snap causing the awakened elemental to revert to their inanimate form.

Awakened Elementals don't have parents, instead being the result of a lucky magic imbuing of elements. They do however mirror the growth of a human, starting as an infant at young ages and growing and becoming adult life as they get older. Their bodies tend to resemble their elements as they are young (like a baby made of stone, or cloud) but gain a more material human shape as they grow, gaining skin and hair. Sometimes the only way to differentiate them from a human would be the slight color tinting of their skin or eyes that reflect their elemental heritage.

Genies are the primordial ancestors of the Awakened elementals, reflecting a past life when the Elemental God's involvement was great and so was the abundance of wild magic. These primordial sentient magical beings can be seen as the ancestors of the Awakened Elementals in the sense that they are an earlier version of the sentient elements. They share no genealogical  correlation to genies themselves.

Life is a passing moment.

Due to their short lifespans, the Awakened Elementals are rarely seen as the wise ones, thought they aren't foolish either. They know that their life is fading away with each passing moment and tend to try to live the most of their lives as they can. Fire Elementals tend to live in the moment acting on instinct and whatever idea they have in the moment, Water generally seeking company of whatever kind and making connections, Earth by finding a community or group to get invested in (some even seek abstract communities such as a series of cave systems or a code of laws), then become an unmovable standard to keep the group to (whether that be by being moral pricks, or keeping commitments and promises made), and Air by seeking out whatever knowledge they can get their hands on, then exploring the skies to share it to any listening ear.

Awakened Elemental Lands

Unsurprisingly, you will hardly ever find an Awakened Elemental outside of their home plane unless they have an incredibly good reason to leave. Because only a few types will spawn per elemental plane, it doesn't take much to find one in any settlement or city in that plane. Especially the communal Water Elementals, these elementals will naturally draw near to one another, building up empires of their own make. The Air Elementals will create lofty settlements in the clouds with house vast amounts of knowledge, the Fire Elementals Creating Fortresses of Iron, Steel and Tungsten

Attitudes towards the Awakened Elementals vary by race and region. A Fire Elemental is likely feared in modern society for its chaos but is welcomed among a band of pirates or thugs, while a Water Elemental is beloved by a modern society and shunned by the pirates and thugs. Similarly, Air Elementals are generally welcomed most any where for their knowledge as are the Earth Elementals for their reliability, but both can quickly find enemies wherever they go, the Air Elementals for their forever correcting attitude and the Earth Elementals for their adherence to the laws and codes, even to the hurt of others.

Awakened Elemental Backgrounds

Each Awakened Elemental has its own temperament, which might make some backgrounds more suitable than others.

Air Elementals are patronizing, usually sprung from their wealth of knowledge, though this doesn't mean they would pass up an opportunity to gain more. They rarely stay in one place for long, always looking for a new sky to see and breathe. Air Elementals who don’t live in cities favor open lands such as plains, deserts, and high mountains. Fitting backgrounds include Acolyte, Guild Artisan, or Sage.

Earth Elementals tend to keep to themselves, though this doesn't stop them from seeking out their "tribe," and idea unique to each one. Their bulky size makes gives them high constitution and a sturdy build. They may seem withdrawn but they do not avoid conflict, often quick to point out when a comrade has gone back on his word or betrayed an agreement. Many Earth Elementals live underground, where they can be in their favored element. When they emerge from their caves, they might roam the hills and mountains or lay claim to old ruins.

Appropriate backgrounds for Earth Elementals include hermit, outlander, and soldier.

Fire Elementals often get themselves into difficulty with their spur-of-the-moment lifestyle. Even if they may move from idea to idea and action to action quickly, they won't miss out on the chance to sit down and work on any passions they may have, as most are known to have at least two or three hobbies/beliefs/commitments they pour a lot of their time into.

Likely backgrounds for a Fire Elementals include criminal, folk hero, and urchin.

Water Elementals are the social butterflies of the elemental world, as like you'd expect with a river, Water Elementals tend to go with the flow and take the path of least resistance. Because of this they tend to avoid conflict, instead vouching for the romanticized idea of "koombayah" and friendship and equality between everyone. Because of this Water Elemental society is almost utopian, but outside of their element, Water Elementals are the ones who will suffer the most of all the elementals for psychological and social reasons. Good backgrounds for water genasi include Charlatan, Entertainer, and Guild Artisan.

Awakened Elemental Names

Elementals tend to keep to their tribal origins, despite the technological advancements around them. They usually have a singular first name which they choose, and a title which is chosen for them by their community. A fire elemental may take the name of "Emberla" and be assigned the title "Flame Spinner" if they were involved with metallurgy or something similar.

Subraces

Four major subraces of Elementals are found among the worlds of D&D: Air Elemental, Earth Elemental, Fire Elemental, and Water Elemental. Choose one of these subraces.

Awakened Elements Traits

Your Elemental character has certain characteristics in common with all other Elementals.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other race granted to you by your subrace.

Ability Score Increase

Almost as versatile as humans are, you increase one ability score of your choice by 1.

Age

Awakened Elementals are born from chaos and chance, held together by a fine thread of magic going from your head to your feet. Your Magic power is great at birth and tends to weaken as you age, your elements tend to slowly take over your body like a chronic illness. Most Awakened Elementals mature by age 3 and die around age 30. Depending on the life led and the power gained, these elementals can either wisp away in a calm dispersion into their original form, or explode, losing their sentience and becoming a terrifying elemental of power.

Alignment

Each of the Awakened Elementals have their own beliefs that tend to be universal across their subrace. Fire tends towards Chaos while Earth tend towards Lawful, and Air and Water tend towards neutral. All the elementals are as diverse as humans, and can be good, evil or neutral without any problems.

Size

Elementals were made in the image of humanoids, and as such average from 4 to 6 feet. Your size is medium. Your weight largely depends on you Subrace, with Air Elemetals being anywhere from 50-100 lbs, Water and Fire being anywhere from 100-200 lbs, and Earth Elementals being anywhere from 250-350 lbs.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.