Homebrew Warborn Species Details

 

"I was a human, before you decided that I was supposed to solve all your problems! Am I even a person to you anymore? Was I ever?!"

— Una, the First Warborn

A warborn is a fancy, fantasy name for an arcane cyborg created from a lab. Their genetic makeup is scrambled with that of the Githyanki, and part of their bodily function is entirely mechanical.

Two Worlds

When man decides to alter themselves to win a fight, terrible things happen. The warborn are the pinnacle example of this age-old rule of war. Warborn are what happens when a living being undergoes an excruciating process of their body being almost entirely replaced by magic mechanized mass, and some of their mind as well. As a result, the few warborn that exist remember nothing from their past before they became a warborn. Most are made to be supersoldiers, and a few escape the clutches of those who made them and come to live somewhere else.

The warborn look like they used to (whatever such race they were before they were changed) with a few notable changes: their skin is much, much paler than it was before, almost dead-looking. They also have strangely-jointed limbs that look robotic in nature, and eyes with dark scleras that they tend to hide behind masks or under hoods. Their hair, if they have it, is stark-white regardless of original color.

Warborn Personality

Though the warborn retain no memories of their past, certain parts of their former personality make it through the transformation. A person who was a full-on comedian may have retained a sense of humor as a warborn. Memoirs of a warborn's past life are very important to them regardless of if they remember what they were or not. Something in their semi-programmed minds see these items as a lifeline, a sign of security.

Warborn are effectively genderless, though some choose to present some way. Usually the latter are those who have escaped.

Quirks

The warborn are given a specific function that tends to result in some quirks of personality when interacting with people other than their commanders. A warborn player can choose to roll or pick a quirk from the table below.

1d10	Quirk
1	You analyze (out loud) the potential threat posed by every creature you meet.
2	You don’t understand emotions and often misread emotional cues.
3	You are fiercely protective of anyone you consider a friend.
4	You often say the things you are thinking aloud without realizing it.
5	You try to apply wartime tactics and discipline to every situation.
6	You don’t know how to filter your feelings and are prone to dramatic emotional outbursts.
7	You don’t understand clothing beyond its utility and assume that what a creature wears denotes its job and status.
8	You are obsessed with your appearance, and constantly polish and buff your armor.
9	You are deeply concerned with following proper procedures and protocols.
10	War is the only thing that makes sense to you, and you’re always looking for a fight.

 Warborn Names

Some warborn keep the name they had before, even if they do not really understand the concept of that name. Most that stay under command are simply referred to as a numerical designation. Sometimes these numbers are in different languages.

Warborn Names: Una, Tyris, Triseas, Four, Echo, Sectem, Ampo, Optii

Warborn Traits

Your warborn character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 1, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

Warborn stay the age that they were when they were transformed. Seeing how rare they are, the exact lifespan of the warborn is unknown.

Alignment

Warborn are taught discipline as soon as they are conscious again. They tend towards law. Those who escape tend towards neutrality and chaos, but strive to do good once they learn what they were made to do in battle.

Size

Your size varies. Warborn stand as tall as they were in life. (See "Past Life" trait for references.)

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Warborn Resilience

You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits.

• You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don't suffer exhaustion from lack of food for twice as long as a living being. 
• You do not need to sleep, rather you can meditate like elves do and gain the same benefits of a long rest.

Hidden Form

You have to stay hidden from your captors if you escape their clutches. You have been doing it so long you can apply it to other situations as well. You gain proficiency in deception and stealth.

Past Life

When you were transformed from something else, you retained a semi-organic form of yourself. What race you were before gives you a bonus to your skills or otherwise. Your past race also gives you the size and languages (excluding the ones you can choose) of your warborn character.

Roll a d12 or pick from the races below.

Race (Language)	Roll	Effects
Human (Any)	1	You gain a feat of your choice.
Halfling (Halfling)	2	You can hide in the space of a creature one size larger than you (or larger).
Dwarf (Dwarven)	3	You have proficiency in History checks relating to stonework.
Elf (High) (Elvish)	4	You have advantage on Charisma saves against being charmed, and magic cannot put you to sleep.
Elf (Drow) (Undercommon)	5	You know the drow's Drow Magic.
Half-elf (Elvish)	6	You gain proficiency in 2 skills of your choice.
Gnome (Gnomish)	7	You gain proficiency in the Tinkerer's Tools.
Tiefling (Infernal)	8	You have resistance to fire damage.
Tabaxi (Any)	9	You have 10 feet of extra movement and gain the Tabaxi's Feline Agility.
Dragonborn (Draconic)	10	You gain the Draconic Resistance and Breath Weapon of your Dragonborn's past color.
Orc/Half-orc (Orcish)	11	You have Darkvision out to 60 ft.
Gith (Gith)	12	You gain access to the Gith's Psionics (Choose from Githyanki or Githzerai.)

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and the corresponding language from the Past Life table.