Homebrew Snowborn Species Details

A Snowborn has a solid body made from a lump of compacted fresh snow, with a secondary ball of snow forming their head. Their arms and legs are made from twigs, and on average they stand at 5 feet tall and weigh around 200 pounds. The enchantment that gives the Snowborn life gives them greater strength than their body’s organic constituent parts would suggest – for example, in battle, a Snowborn can assume an ice form for greater protection. Their innate magic also means a Snowborn’s senses are similar to most humanoid creatures, despite having lumps of coal for eyes, a carrot for a nose and no visible ears. Although the Snowborn do not generally wear clothes or armour, they often like to show off their individuality by wearing statement accessories, whether that’s a formal top hat or a cosy poncho.

As each Snowborn is spontaneously created, they don’t tend to reside together in family or social groups. Individual Snowborn will recognise each other as kin, but no large communities of Snowborn are known to exist. Their relatively short existence as a species means the Snowborn have not developed specific cultural practices or long-standing traditions. However, many Snowborn do share some common characteristics. They are often curious, playful beings; neither nature nor nurture has prepared them for danger, so their actions can seem naive and impulsive at times. Snowborn rarely dwell on the past or spend much time planning for the future – their interests lie in the present and the opportunities it provides for new discoveries.

Snowborn often take some time to adapt to the ethics and etiquette of the societies they encounter. Unless they have been taught otherwise, Snowborn don’t have much interest in or understanding of money. They will sometimes leave a shop without paying for what they have taken, simply because their lively minds skip over such mundane details.

Like the weather, Snowborn can be unpredictable and often arrive in and leave town without warning. Curiosity draws them to travel and explore urban areas, but it is not typically in their nature to settle in one place for long. Snowborn can survive in warmer climates where normal snow would melt, however they feel more at home in colder environments. Snowborn are generally social creatures who enjoy making connections with whoever they meet. Not only do Snowborn form friendships with sentient creatures, they also enjoy communing with nature and the elemental forces they can sense within it.

Snowborn Traits

Your snowborn has innate magical abilities and an affinity with the elemental forces of snow and ice.

Flash of Frost

The elemental magic that brought you to life allows you to cast the Frostbite cantrip as an action

Frigid Construct

Snowborn are constructs made from snow and ice. Because of this, you don’t need to eat, drink or breathe; you are immune to disease; you don’t need to sleep; and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Settled Snow

When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert and are indistinguishable from a snowman, but it doesn’t render you unconscious and you can see and hear as normal.

Languages

You can speak, read and write Common and one other language of your choice

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1

Chilled Anatomy

Your body is frozen and icy, so you are resistant to cold damage but vulnerable to fire damage.

A snowborn has a solid body made from a lump of compacted fresh snow, with a secondary ball of snow forming their head. Their arms and legs are made from twigs, and on average they stand at 5 feet tall and weigh around 200 pounds.

The enchantment that gives the snowborn life gives them greater strength than their body’s organic constituent parts would suggest.

Compacted Snow

Without bones or muscle, you can contort yourself easily. You are able to move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than your own. Additionally, you can squeeze through a space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than you without movement penalties.

Glacial Form

As a bonus action, you can harden your body into an ice form. This transformation lasts for 1 minute, until you die, or until you revert to your normal appearance as a bonus action. When you assume your ice form, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 temporary hit point), and a +1 bonus to your Armour Class. After transforming, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.