Homebrew Drakar Species Details

The Drakar are those remnants of Mankind who were infused with the physical essence of The Great Serpents and the Dark Dragons. All Drakar are born with Draconic features such slitted eyes and scales over some if not the majority of their bodies. As they grow older they will acquire more scales to protect their flesh and may obtain other traits such as horns, a tail, or claws. These changes will play a more prominent role for the young Drakar once they go through the Rite of Ascension and are given their Dragon Soul. 

The Ascension is a coming of age Rite of Passage, whereby a young Drakar will be closer tied to their Draconic nature. This Rite begins with a journey out into the other Planar Realms in search of materials to craft an egg. The journey can be taken with others attempting the Rite of Ascension, however, if within a year there are no others to attempt the journey the young Drakar must travel alone. The Drakar on the journey are given supplies correlating with the number going on the journey; fewer numbers means more supplies to compensate. It is a trial of hardships but the Drakar train their entire lives up to this point for this very trial. If you journey with others all must return for the rite to be completed. If one were to die the other must return with a portion of that Drakar’s scales, claws or horns to return to the family. The trial must be completed within three years, otherwise you are not allowed to complete the rite of Ascension and are considered dead. There are those who have killed themselves if they do not complete the trial within the allotted time, this is considered an honorable death to seek rebirth and a chance to return to the People cleansed of their failure.

Every Drakar is given specific materials to gather, some of which may be extremely common, while others may be ridiculously rare. The rarer the materials needed the fewer materials needed as if to balance the hardship. Drakar on journeys who travel in groups try to balance those in the party with the types of materials that must be gathered. If the journey is successful each Drakar alone makes their final trek to the Planar Realm of Asgard, the seat of power for those called the Dragon Lords as well as the Temple dedicated to The Great Serpents. Some will choose to journey instead to the Planar Realm known as the Wastelands to seek the Temple to the Dark Dragons.

Upon making it to one of the Temples the Drakar then begins a ritual cleansing, or a ritual mortification depending on which Temple they journeyed to. They must burn or melt their materials down to ash or slag. Then from these materials, combined with pieces of their own body such as scales, claws, horns and even blood, they will forge, mold and shape it all into an egg. The Priests then summon the power of their respective triumvirate and bless the creation, which changes the forged amalgamation into a true Dragon’s egg, the appearance of which is unique to each Drakar. The egg is usually the size of a small stone that could easily fit in the palm of one’s hand. The Drakar must then ingest the egg and wait for it to “hatch”. The hatching process takes up to three days to complete and Drakar must spend this time in meditation and reflection on their journey.

After three days the egg will “hatch” inside the Drakar imbuing the young Drakar with powerful magics. This has a certain effects on the Drakar such has exaggerating those physical qualities that they possess, such as their horns becoming larger or more prominent, they might obtain spiky protrusions across their bodies, they may obtain wings and be able to fly, their tails may become longer or thicker and be able to be used as weapons etc. The color of their scales will reflect that of the egg they consumed. Lastly, a spiritual entity is “born” and becomes bonded to the Drakar. These entities are called Drakon.

Drakon in their natural state can only be seen by their bonded Drakar. A Drakar and their Drakon speak mind to mind, and this is the basis of the power possessed by the Drakar race. They are what is known as Espars, and as Espars they use the Noetic Magic, or mind magic. For instance Telepathy, especially between Drakar, is considerably easier as they use the Drakon as relays and foci. After both the Drakar and the Drakon have grown in power they are able to perform powerful summoning magics. The first of which would be the power to manifest their Drakon onto the Material Plane. As spirits the Drakon or small and cannot be far from their bondmate, but as a manifestation they can be quite large. Some use their manifested Drakon as Mounts when the need for travel is paramount. Another form of manifestation even more powerful is the power to merge with their Drakon which alters the Drakar’s body to be more Draconic in appearance, the other effects of which differ depending on the nature or type of the Drakon itself. Either form of manifestation cannot be maintained indefinitely. Their Strength of Will and their Stamina will determine how long they can maintain these forms of manifestation.

Lastly, there is an extremely powerful form of manifestation called Ascension. With this form of manifestation, the Drakar and the Drakon merge again but instead of it affecting the Drakar it affects the Drakon, manifesting as a true Dragon of Legend onto the Material Plane sharing one mind, one body and one soul. By tradition a Drakar will give their Drakon a name after their Rite of Ascension but it is only when a Drakar and Drakon can actually perform a true Ascension that the Drakon will reveal their true name to their bondmate. From that day forward the Drakar will take the name of their Drakon as their own and they will be known as Dragon Lords. 

Dragon Lords are the highest echelon of Drakar society. They are heroes and legends, or can be tyrants and villains. The tyrants and villains are called Dragon Warlords and they receive their Drakon from the Temple in the Wastelands. Battles between the Lords and Warlords are disastrous, and if either falls in battle it is felt by all Drakar across the Planar Realms. However, there is always the promise of rebirth and when a new Dragon Lord or Warlord truly Ascends it too is felt by all. When one such individual arises and shares the name of one of the fallen a great celebration is held across the Realms.

Drakar Traits

Your Draconic blood manifests in a variety of traits you share with other Drakar.

Ability Score Increase

See Bonded Variants for more details.

Age

Young Drakar grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.

Alignment

Drakar tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil (The Great Serpents and The Dark Dragons respectfully). Most Drakar are good, but those who side with The Dark Dragons can be terrible villains.

Size

Drakar are taller and heavier than most other races, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Drakonian Companion

You have a Drakonian Companion. Choose one type of Companion from the table. The breath weapon and damage resistance are determined by the type of Companion, as shown in the table.

Drakonian companion	Damage Type	Breath Weapon
Amphitere	Lightning	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Basilisk	Acid	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Dragon	Fire	5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save)
Drake	Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Non-Magical Weapons	None
Qiulong	Psychic	15 ft. cone (Con. save)
Serpentine	Cold	15 ft. cone (Con. save)
Wyvern	Poison	15 ft. cone (Con. save)

Breath Weapon

You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Your draconic ancestry determines the size, shape, and damage type of the exhalation. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your draconic ancestry. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Damage Resistance

You have resistance to a type damage associated with your Drakonian Companion.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. Draconic is one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.

Appearance

All Drakar are unique in there appearance and one might not look like another. Rather than having the physical characteristics described in full choose 1d4 + 1 of the following features: small horns; fangs or sharp teeth; eyes of a serpent; a tail; leathery or scaly skin; various shade skin or scales. You could also come up with ideas of your own, however, none of the characteristics will have any effect on the stats for abilities of your character.

Some Characteristics may also be unique to the Drakonian Companion that you have chosen. 

DRAKONIAN COMPANION	CHARACTERISTIC
Amphitere	Rainbow Colored Plumage instead of Scales
Basilisk	Six fingers on each hand; goat-like legs; cloven hoofs; Vestigial wings or limbs;
Dragon	Spikes and spines in various locations on the body; An aura of heat or the smell of a bonfire
Drake	Excessive plating instead of scales; Spines down the back; Scale plated knuckles or brow ridges
Qiulong	Antlers instead of horns; fur down your spine and tail; A Pearl of Wisdom in the center of your head
Serpentine	Fin-like protrusions behind the ears, behind the elbows, or at the ankle; Gills; Webbed hands or toes
Wyvern	A forked tongue; Breath the wilts plant life;