Homebrew Avian Species Details

A birdlike race of humanoids hailing from the planet Avos, their stone structures, simple clothing, deeply-religious nature and rather simplistic battle tactics (primarily consisting of "overwhelm the enemy with thousands of disposable soldiers") make them seem primitive at first glance. But the Avian are very intelligent, and anyone brave or foolish enough to venture into an Avian temple or tomb will find examples of advanced -and deadly- technology, powered by Avolite crystals. These enigmatic power sources are mined solely by the Stargazer priests on their homeworld, and power everything from simple lights to spaceships capable of interstellar travel.

Avian culture is centered around the worship of Kluex, the "Winged God of the Aether". According to their religion, the Avian once existed outside the mortal plane alongside their god, but grew jealous of the mortals' pleasures. The Avians crossed into the material world, an act punished by stripping them of their ethereal wings, dooming them to be forever flightless. An Avian can only be reunited with Kluex by shedding their mortal body while keeping the truest of faith in their hearts. Ceremonies to achieve this state of pure being include ritualistic sacrifices of captured enemies, and an elaborate procession that culminates in the most devout, chosen by the priests, climbing a tall tower and taking a leap of faith, their spirit breaking free of their mortal prison and flying into the Aether, as their now-discarded body plummets to the ground below.

This bloody theology does not sit well with all Avians however, and a growing number have rejected the words of the Stargazers and the divinity of Kluex. Calling themselves "Grounded", they have taken to the stars and formed their own colonies. Some have crafted terrestrial flying ships and make their lives in piracy, and many others have joined multi-racial organizations like the Terrene Protectorate.

Avian Traits

Here are the Racial Traits for Avians

Ability Score Increase

Wisdom and Strength increase by 2 each.
Constitution decreases by 2

Age

Avians have a shorter lifespan than Humans, with most dying before the age of 60, but it's not entirely unknown for Avians to live up to ages of 110. The older an Avian becomes, the more respected they become in the Avian community, with the Temple Worshippers aspiring to induct the elders into their faith.

Alignment

The Avian act as a heavily religious species, with a great deal of them being Lawful Neutral. However, large companies of Avians have been known to stray from the path, becoming rogues to the rest of their race, and these freelancers can range from Chaotic Evil to Lawful good. So there is really no restrictions of Alignment for the Avians.

Size

Avians are slightly shorter than most other races, but are still medium in size, however their frames can be quite frail at times.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak Avian and Common, being proficient with the ancient texts of Avian Hieroglyphics. While many Avians who are devoted to Kluex spend entire lifetimes carving great obelisks to their god, it is not the same with all Avians, a great portion of which prefer to take to the stars and some pick up other languages.

Feathered

One of the defining features of Avians are their Feathers, covering almost every inch of their bodies (excluding feet and beak). Feathers tend to soak up water much better than many other materials and a wet Avian will receive a -1 to acrobatics checks and a further -1 to all dexterity based checks (Including Acrobatics for a total of -2). Feathers are also capable of ignition as they are extremely flamable when dry. 

Linguistic

Through the thousands of years of perfecting their Religious Hieroglyphs the Avian speak, they are almost perfect in deciphering unfamiliar languages. Avians receive a +1 on Linguistics, but due to their beaks and the difficulty to form certain sounds with them, they receive a -1 in attempts to communicate using a language that is unfamiliar to them.