Homebrew Changeling: Fissure Species Details
When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. When life hands you the untapped potential of an orphan child, you make a war machine!
When allowed to develop in a natural setting, Changelings become masters of disguise capable of morphing their outward appearance so long as their bodies retain a similar size and physiology. These traditional Changelings benefit largely from aesthetic fluidity, but retain the basic characteristics of their natural form.
While Changelings, their origins, and their ways, are generally considered to be mysterious, some have found ways to capitalize on the race’s unique ability to alter their physical form.
Changelings Redefined
No one knows when the first attempt was made to refine a Changeling’s innate growth processes, but it is believed to have stemmed from prisoners of war. Adult Changelings were rarely deemed to be trustable, but their offspring prompted some interesting questions. Obviously raising an army that included shape-shifting soldiers would be a great advantage, but what if you could further specialize that ability to create something even more powerful?
It didn’t take long to discover that by forcing a Changeling to limit their forms, they could become even more adept at mimicking the traits included in the new bodies they adopted. Young Changeling slaves were not allowed to exist in their natural forms, but rather forced to stay in only one or two personas that their captors felt would benefit them the most. For example, a Changeling Slave would be weakest in their basic, pale-skinned, bodies. However, if they were forced to spend half of their hours training as a human rogue, and half their hours as a half-orc barbarian, THAT would be a useful tool.
Fissures
What resulted was something that has come to be known as a Fissure. This race of broken Changeling Slaves is no longer capable of altering their appearance at will, but rather forced to oscillate between a few, highly specialized, entities. Most of these Fissures are capable of only adopting one or two different figures, and generally within a similar body size. However, each of these personas benefit from enhanced characteristics associated with that form. Fissures also have the ability to disguise their clothing, and often choose to wear layers and robes to provide ample material to transform.
Occasionally a Fissure reaches a point where they can seamlessly morph into several forms and sizes. These advanced individuals also may gain the ability to transmute simple objects on their person, such as a longsword that can change into a bow, or a shield that can transform into a pair of javelins.
No matter how powerful a Fissure becomes, they are incredibly vulnerable if forced to revert to their natural, Changeling, form. This only occurs when an individual is knocked unconscious, the victim of a particularly strong spell, or possibly because they chose to revert their own appearance.
Changeling Slaves seldom leave their positions of servitude, largely due to the fact that they are raised in a manner that makes them poor at functioning in normal society. Most Fissures exist primarily as tools of their masters with little interest of the world at large.
It should be noted that Changeling Slaves, or Fissures, are looked down upon by traditional Changelings. They are considered to be monstrous creations without a proper place in nature.
Changeling: Fissure Traits
Your changeling character has the following traits.Ability Score Increase
Your Charisma score increases by 2, and either your Dexterity or your Intelligence increases by 1 (your choice).
Age
Changelings mature slightly faster than humans but share a similar lifespan — typically a century or less. While a changeling can shapeshift to conceal their age, the effects of aging still catch up to them.
Alignment
Changelings hate to be bound in any way, and those who follow the path of the Traveler believe that chaos and change are important aspects of life. Most tend toward pragmatic neutrality as opposed to being concerned with lofty ideals. Despite common fears, few changelings embrace evil.
Size
In their natural forms, changelings average between 5 to 6 feet in height, with a slender build. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Change Persona
Based on your Level, you may use an action to transform your appearance or revert to your natural form. You cannot duplicate the appearance of something you’ve never seen.
You decide what you look like, including your height, weight, facial features, the sound of your voice, coloration, hair length, sex, and any other distinguishing characteristics. Unless you are of the appropriate level, you cannot appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you’re bipedal, you can’t use this trait to become quadrupedal, for instance.
Unless specifically allowed, all of the stats and abilities from your Character Sheet remain the same.
Even to the most astute observers, your ruse is usually indiscernible. If you rouse suspicion, or if a wary creature suspects something is amiss, you have advantage on any Charisma (Deception) check you make to avoid detection. Of course you must be careful that your actions reflect your Persona. Behaving in a way that is decidedly out of character will still cause alarm.
NATURAL FORM
You are at your weakest when in your native Changeling form. Fortunately, you only exist in this state if:
- You choose to do so.
- You are rendered unconscious.
- You fall prey to a condition that limits your use of magic.
When in your Natural Form your take on the physical characteristics of a Changeling. Pale skin, white eyes, and a slender physique. While in this state ALL of your stats become 10 (+0), and all of your Saving Throws and Skills adopt a (+0) modifier.
PERSONAS
As you level up you may add additional personas to your repertoire. You do not need to choose a new persona immediately upon leveling up, but once you decide on a persona it may not be changed until Level 13 when you have the option to make revisions.
LEVEL 1: FIRST PERSONA
Your First Persona is your primary state of being. This is the form you have spent the majority of your life as, and it is a direct reflection of your Character Sheet.
LEVEL 3: SECOND PERSONA
For your Second Persona you may choose the appearance (both physical and clothing) of one humanoid race you are familiar with. This Persona is strictly visual and you retain all of the information found on your Character Sheet.
LEVEL 5: THIRD PERSONA
For your Third Persona you may choose the appearance (both physical and clothing) of one humanoid race you are familiar with.
This Persona may benefit from specific Skills that differ from your Character Sheet.
For this Persona you may choose to reassign 7 points worth of modifiers within your Skills, Saving Throws, and/or Additional Skills. You may add or remove more than one point per modifier just so long as none of your Skills exceed 20.
LEVEL 7: FOURTH PERSONA (w/ equipment option)
For your Fourth Persona you may choose the appearance (both physical and clothing) of one humanoid race you are familiar with.
For this Persona you may choose to reassign 7 points worth of modifiers within your Skills, Saving Throws, and/or Additional Skills. You may add or remove more than one point per modifier just so long as none of your Skills exceed 20.
You may choose one piece of Equipment and bestow upon it a second state of being. For example: A shield than can transform into greatsword, or a length of rope that can be transformed into barbed wire. Consult with your GM for the exact specifications and stats.
LEVEL 9: FIFTH PERSONA (w/ size option)
For your Fifth Persona you may choose the appearance (both physical and clothing) of one humanoid race you are familiar with.
You now have the option to choose a Race of one Size larger or smaller than your Natural Form. (Medium)
This Persona may benefit from specific Skills that differ from your Character Sheet.
For this Persona you may choose to reassign 10 points worth of modifiers within your Skills, Saving Throws, and/or Additional Skills. You may add or remove more than one point per modifier just so long as none of your Skills exceed 20.
LEVEL 11: SIXTH PERSONA (w/ size and non-humanoid options)
For your Sixth Persona you may choose the appearance (both physical and clothing) of race you are familiar with.
This Persona does NOT need to be humanoid in nature, and may resemble any Race or Creature you are familiar with. Be sure to take into consideration any possible restrictions this Persona may have. Such as mobility or ability to communicate.
You now have the option to choose a Race of one Size larger or smaller than your Natural Form. (Medium)
This Persona may benefit from specific Skills that differ from your Character Sheet.
For this Persona you may choose to reassign 10 points worth of modifiers within your Skills, Saving Throws, and/or Additional Skills. You may add or remove more than one point per modifier just so long as none of your Skills exceed 20.
LEVEL 13: REVISION
You may choose to replace or revise any one of your existing Personas (EXCEPT YOUR FIRST PERSONA) using the same options as the Level 11: Sixth Persona options.
LEVEL 15: REVISION
You may choose to replace or revise any one of your existing Personas (EXCEPT YOUR FIRST PERSONA) using the same options as the Level 11: Sixth Persona options.
Changeling Instincts
You gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Deception, Intimidation, Insight, and Persuasion.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice.
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