Homebrew Fairy (Jabberwock) Species Details
THIS IS (Based on) PLAYTEST MATERIAL
The Feywild is home to many fantastic peoples, including fairies. Fairies are a wee folk, but not nearly as much so as their pixie and sprite friends.
Infused with the magic of the Feywild, fairies share a few commonalities with one another but can differ widely in appearance, behavior, and attitude. Many fairies have a special physical characteristic that sets them apart from other creatures of their kind. For your fairy, roll on the Fey Characteristic table or choose an option from it. The Feywild is a wild place, so come up with your own characteristic if none of these fit your character.
Jabberwock Extra Characteristics
| d8 | CharaCteristic |
|---|---|
| 1 | You have small fins that run along your jawline. |
| 2 | You have slit pupils or rectangular pupils (like a goat or shark). |
| 3 | You have retractable claws like a cat. |
| 4 | You have a second tail. |
| 5 | You have bony spikes protruding from your elbows. |
| 6 | You never seem to be dirty for any longer than an hour. |
| 7 | You smell like a campfire, autumn dew, freshly baked brownies, or copper (roll d4) |
| 8 | You emit a sharp hissing noise from your throat when angry or scared. |
Here are some specific notes for the Jabberwock:
Whereas most fairies are based off of the seasons, there is a fifth type of fairy that is seldom spoken of: The Jabberwock. At first glance, they appear much like their usual counterparts, but upon closer inspection, they are very different.
One of the main things that differ is their hands and feet, which look almost like avian talons, and they have tails that usually appear long and lizard-like, but sometimes have leaf-like fins on them. The men typically have horns, whereas the women have antennae. Those whom identify as neither, or both, typically have spiky manes and two long tendrils that aren't exactly horns and not exactly antennae, as fitting for their gender.
Jabberwock's wings typically resemble dragonfly wings, though some appear almost dragon-like. All Jabberwocks have sharp fangs, like a shark's.
Fairy (Jabberwock) Traits
Your Jabberwock character has the following racial traits.Alignment
Jabberwocks are almost always Chaotic, and tend to lean towards Neutrality on a good/evil weigh.
Ability Score Increase
When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one of those scores by 2 and a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You’re free to follow those suggestions or to ignore them. Whichever scores you decide to increase, none of the scores can be raised above 20.
Languages
Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of widespread languages to choose from. The DM is free to add or remove languages from that list for a particular campaign.
Creature Type
You are a Fey.
Every creature in D&D, including every player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race option presented here tells you what your character’s creature type is.
Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the text of the cure wounds spell specifies that the spell doesn’t work on a creature that has the Construct type.
Design Note
The “Creating Your Character” section provides special character-creation rules for the race options in this article. The races that use these rules can coexist seamlessly with races that use other rules. For example, the race options in the Player’s Handbook have built-in ability score increases, while the races in this article don’t. Race options from both sources can adventure together.
If you’d like a race that doesn’t appear in this article, such as an elf or a dwarf, to have similar ability score flexibility, the book Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything provides a rule, called Customizing Your Origin, that gives you that flexibility. That book also gives you the option of building your own race, rather than choosing an existing one. That option is called the Custom Lineage. No matter which option you choose for your character—a race in this article, a Player’s Handbook race, a race modified by the Customizing Your Origin rule, or a Custom Lineage—you can adventure with characters who are built with a different option.
This sidebar builds on the design note in our previous Unearthed Arcana, “Gothic Lineages.”
Size
You are Small.
Speed
Your walking speed is 30 feet, your flying speed is 50 feet.
Jabberwock's Nimbleflight
You have a flying speed equal to 20+ your walking speed, but you require your wings for it.
Fairy Magic
You know the druidcraft and faerie fire spells. You can cast faerie fire without expending a spell slot, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it this way again. You can also cast this spell using any spell slots you have. Your spellcasting ability for these spells is your choice of Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.
Fey Passage
You can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide.
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