Homebrew Bees in a Trench Cloak Species Details

"We were on the brink of death, blows raining from every direction. One more hit and we would have been gone. The dragon readied its attack, and as fire spit from its mouth, our rogue threw themselves in front of the blast, taking the full brunt of the attack. They should have died that day, but instead, their cloak fluttered to the ground, unharmed, and all hell broke loose."

—Brokeback the Dwarf

Mysterious Benefactor

Bees in a Trench Cloak have been provided a Cloak of Obstruction, allowing them to congregate under it and move as one, giving the hive a portable nest. 

The hive may feel obliged to assist their benefactor for the powerful gift granted to them, possibly setting out in adventure to find some way to repay them for the gift of sentience. 

Bees in a Trench Cloak are able to write, read, and understand the language spoken by their benefactor.

Hive Mind

The queen bee gains human like sentience, using her control over her hive to imitate human behavior. The worker bees control movement and physical attack, while the queen bee controls communication and magic.

Bees in a Trench Cloak Names

Members of this race are named by their benefactor, usually with single syllable, easily remembered names. 

Bees in a Trench Cloak Traits

Your Bees in a Trench Cloak character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age. Individual bees live extremely short lives. They live for one to two months, but are replaced easily by the queen bee, who lives for up to 100 years.

Alignment. Bees in a Trench Cloak are typically neutrally aligned, serving only themselves and their benefactor.

Size. Cloaked, you reach 4 to 5 feet tall. Your size is small.

Speed. Your base flying speed is 25 feet. Your base burrowing speed is 5 feet, but can only be used when dispered.

Cloak of True Disguise. You are granted a cloak imbued with advanced illusory magic. Wearing this cloak does not hinder your ability to equip other armor. The cloak cannot be taken off by any creature other than the hive itself.

As an action, you can choose to “Disperse” and leave the safety of the cloak.
When changing forms to “Dispersed”, any equipment you were wearing or carrying is dropped. You become a large mass of individual bees with an Intelligence score set to 10 if it is lower than 10.

When in Dispersed form, each beast operates independently. The flying speed of individual bees is now 45 ft. The beasts cannot cast spells and must be communicated with as beasts. The racial traits of Bees in a Trench Coat do not apply to the individual beasts. The Sting (unarmed strike) action may be taken 1+character level times per turn.

As an action, the queen may choose to “Assemble” and assemble the hive under the cloak as long as at the cloak is within 5 feet. 

A creature which observes the transformation will know your true nature.

Inconspicuous. Bees in a Trench Cloak are indistinguishable from a small humanoid creature when under their cloak. Even if you’ve told them outright, most intelligent creatures would be unlikely to believe you. A creature which observes the transformation will know your true nature. A powerful true sight spell can see through the cloak, but others would be unlikely to believe them.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 30 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of yellow.

Stingers. Your stingers are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes under the cloak. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Dexterity modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Languages. You cannot speak any language, but can understand, read and write (using Mage Hand) Common and one language of your choice.
note: Bees in a Trench Cloak can use magic, but cannot complete any verbal components

Bees in a Trench Cloak Traits

+2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, Cloak of True Disguise, Inconspicuous, Darkvision, Stingers, Extra Language

Inconspicuous

Bees in a Trench Cloak are indistinguishable from a small humanoid creature when under their cloak. Even if you’ve told them outright, most intelligent creatures would be unlikely to believe you. A creature which observes the transformation will know your true nature. A powerful true sight spell can see through the cloak, but others would be unlikely to believe them.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 30 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of yellow.

 

Stingers

Your stingers are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes under the cloak. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Dexterity modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Languages

 You cannot speak any language, but can understand, read and write (using Mage Hand) Common and one language of your choice.
note: Bees in a Trench Cloak can use magic, but cannot complete any verbal components

Ability Score Increase

+2 Dexterity and +1 Constitution

Cloak of True Disguise

You are granted a cloak imbued with advanced illusory magic. Wearing this cloak does not hinder your ability to equip other armor. It can only be taken off through the will of the queen.
Note: Item must be manually added to inventory and added through homebrew system

As an action, you can choose to “Disperse” and leave the safety of the cloak.
When changing forms to “Dispersed”, any equipment you were wearing or carrying is dropped. You become a large mass of individual bees with an Intelligence score set to 10 if it is lower than 10.

When in Dispersed form, each beast operates independently. The beasts cannot cast spells and must be communicated with as beasts. The racial traits of Bees in a Trench Coat do not apply to the individual beasts. The Sting (unarmed strike) action may be taken 1+character level times per turn.

As an action, the queen may choose to “Assemble” and assemble under the cloak as long as at the cloak is within 5 feet. 

A creature which observes the transformation will know your true nature.