Homebrew Abyssal Centaur Species Details

Pressed low into the brush, she tensed. Ear to the ground, she listened. Her breath calm and controlled, she waited. When her foolish prey noisily made its presence known on the forest path, she galvanized her every muscle in her body. Thirty feet. Twenty feet. Ten. Liquid fire raced through her veins as her legs sprang loose. Righteous fury blazed in her eyes as they locked on to her quarry. Her hooves thundered against the ground as she leapt from her concealment. Her blade drank deeply of her first target and her bulk crushed the second. In the blink of an eye, her mission was successful. Father would be pleased.

The Fantastical Corrupted

Like their fey cousins, the upper portion of abyssal centaurs’ bodies resemble the upper half of a muscular humanoid, with some marked differences. Thanks to their fiendish fathers, their ears are decidedly more pointed than fey centaurs. Their faces are more slender and jagged, and their teeth may be sharp. While a fey centaur will have human skin tones, the abyssal centaur’s skin will normally be shades or red, black, or green. Some may grow a pair of twisted horns. Below the waist they have the body of a small horse. Colors of their equine fur can range anywhere from a natural eggshell white, chestnut, or ebony, or be closer in shade with their fiendish skin.

The upper body of an abyssal centaur is roughly the size and proportion or a human. The equine portions tend towards 4 feet tall at the withers. Despite their size, they are often adept at concealing themselves into their environment, a skill necessary for survival whether in the Abyss or surviving on their own in the common realms.

Internal Struggle

The dichotomy of an abyssal centaur runs far deeper than their hybrid appearance. A first-generation abyssal centaur has a fey creature mother and a fiend creature father. This unnatural parentage tears at the psyche of the cursed creature. Life is a constant struggle to survive, never mind flourishing. No matter where they find themselves or how long they’ve been there, abyssal centaurs never feel at home.

Nature vs Nurture

Where an abyssal centaur lives usually depends on the circumstances of its birth. If it’s parents met by circumstance in Ravnica or The Realms, it would likely be born into the clan of its mother. Though family and connection are greatly valued in fey centaur clans, the obvious fiend lineage of a newborn abyssal centaur often results in the foal and its mother being shunned by the clan, or it may leave on its own once it grows older, feeling ostracized by its family. Very rarely does an abyssal centaur mature into a welcome member of it’s clan.

Abyssal centaurs raised in Ravnica or The Realms may lean towards neutral if the teachings of their clan make a deep impact on their spirit. The spurn of their clan could push an abyssal centaur to embrace its fiendish heritage and become evil, or on rare occasion inspire it to rise above its circumstances and pursue good.

If an abyssal centaur’s mother found herself somehow trapped in the Abyss, an entirely different creature would result. Abyssal centaurs raised in the Abyss are the mortal servants of their fathers. Loyal, physically powerful, and ultimately expendable, they tend to be cunning, deceptive, and cruel. If able to prove themselves, abyssal centaurs can become trusted lieutenants in their father’s forces.

Abyssal centaurs born in the Abyss almost always align as Lawful Evil. Mere mortals in a realm of fire and death, survival in the Abyss depends on their ability for stealth and their loyalty to their father’s glory. If an Abyss-native centaur is found outside of its home realm, it is almost assuredly on a mission of evil.

Abyssal Centaur Names

The name of an abyssal centaur depends on the circumstances of its birth. If born into a clan, its given name is likely that of a recently deceased relative. Though centaurs don’t have family names, if accepted into the clan it would bear the clan’s symbol on it’s clothing.

If the abyssal centaur is born in the Abyss, it’s possible the mother may have been permitted to name it, or the father may have chosen something of demonic nomenclature.

Abyssal Centaur Traits

Your abyssal centaur character has the following racial traits. Unlike fey centaurs, yours is fiendish, and therefore has a natural mistrust from and for the latter. These centaurs are smaller than the non-fey/fiend centaurs that roam in some realms.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Abyssal Centaurs mature and age at about the same rate as humans, but have an average lifespan of 150 years.

Alignment

Abyssal Centaurs that grow up in the Abyss amongst their fiendish kin will almost always lean towards Lawful Evil. Those that are raised by their Centaur mothers may be more inclined towards Neutral, though their fiendish appearance would impact how others perceive and treat them.

Darkvision

Thanks to your abyssal heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Language

You can speak, read, and write Common and Abyssal. Abyssal is a form of the Primordial language warped and twisted by the evil of the Abyss. It is written in the Infernal script.

Size

Abyssal Centaurs stand between 6 and 7 feet tall, with their equine bodies reaching about 4 feet at the withers. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet. Any climb that requires hands and feet is especially difficult for you because of your equine legs. When you make such a climb, each foot of movement costs you 4 extra feet, instead of the normal 1 extra foot.

Equine Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push or drag.

Charge

If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack on the same turn, you can immediately follow that attack with a bonus action, making one attack against the target with your hooves.

Hooves

Your hooves are natural melee weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Fiend

Your creature type is fiend, rather than humanoid.

Hellish Resistance

You have resistance to fire damage.

Terrifying Appearance

Due to your more frightening appearance, you are easily able to instill fear. You are proficient in the intimidation skill.