Homebrew Felladight Species Details

Ah dinnae know a tonne aboot mah people. The Order found mah egg, ye see, an' learnin' ter speak their language took a while fer obvious reasons. All ah know is that my kind vary from hive tae hive. Some are happy ter make friends wae ootsiders, an' some are ravenous monsters who consume everythin' in their path like locusts... Ah think it's usually the ones who resemble locusts who dae that.

- Spindle

 

Psychic Insectoids

The Felladight are a species of man sized insectoids. As most social insects do, the Felladights have a hivemind. All members of a hive are connected to one another through psionics allowing them all to share memories and knowledge with one another telepathically in perfect clarity. Often building hives underground, they build like ants do, but on a much more gigantic scale.

Felladights in a hive have many different castes. One Felladight will be born when the monarch knows they are approaching death, or if the monarch is already dead in order to take their place. The monarch is the most powerful and intelligent of the hive and is the sole authority who makes all the major decisions for the hive, and often carries out diplomacy on behalf of it. They are greatly powerful psychics, often having premonitions of the near future and being able to hear the thoughts of all members of their hive, no matter how far from the nest they may travel.

The brood mother caste are the most important caste as they can lay over 100 eggs a day to produce new members of the lesser castes.

The warrior caste consists of Felladight who are biologically equipped for combat, utilising their biological waste as a projectile bile that they launch from their mouths. Often possessing 6 arms and razor sharp mandibles, they can chew through most metal, rendering unenchanted armour useless. They also have wings and can use them to their advantage, utilising aerial archery. Different variants of subspecies may have additional features, like stings and claws. The warrior caste are also the most independent, and the most likely to be found outside of the nest.

The worker caste is an umbrella term for subsections of the hive, and include Felladight who are specialised for agriculture, mining, building and scouting. The worker caste are continuously replaced as they don't possess a digestive system, dying after around a week before their body is recycled as either food or fertiliser. The scouts are usually a bit more hardy and possess digestive systems so they can leave on expeditions to find resources and return to the hive, which can take weeks to complete.

The Hiveless

Some Felladight have been known to live amongst humanoids. If they were born in a hive and left or were taken away they will retain their adaptations, however if their egg was laid and hatched independent of hive interference, they will gain no specialised features. 

Hiveless Felladight are almost unheard of, but they do exist. Often times they become great artisans or powerful guardians of the places they call home, following their natural urges to help the collective in a meaningful way.

Felladight Traits

Your Felladight character has the following racial traits.

Age

Felladight lifespans vary. 

Queens can live for up to 500 years.

Warriors can live up to 150 years.

Scouts can live up to 60 years.

Workers don't normally last more than 10 days.

Alignment

Felladight require order as a psychological need. No matter where their hive falls on the good/evil spectrum, they are almost always lawful. 

Size

Your size is medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30ft. 

Your adaptations give you an additional speed type equal to your walking speed. Choose one of the following:

Barbs on your feet which give you a climbing speed

Wings which give you a flying speed.

Darkvision

Hives usually any natural light, so most Felladight have adapted darkvision. You have 60ft of darkvision

Languages

You understand common and you have telepathy out to 10ft. Your telepathy range increases by 10ft when you gain a level, so at 10th level your telepathy reaches out to 100ft.

You need to share a language with a creature and you must be aware of its presence in order to communicate with it this way.

Felladight Psionics

You know the mage hand cantrip, and the hand is invisible when you cast it with this trait.

When you reach 3rd level you gain the ability to cast Dissonant Whispers once and regain the ability to do so on a long rest.

At 5th level you can cast the Mirror Image spell once and regain the ability to do so on a long rest.

Intelligence is your casting ability for these spells. When using this trait to cast them, they don't require any material components.

Ability Score Increase

Your insectoid adaptability has allowed you to adapt to your job. Gain +2 in any ability score of your choice, and a +1 in any ability score of your choice.