Changeling

Long ago there was a woman named Jes, and she had one hundred children. Her rivals conspired against her and swore to kill her children. Jes begged the Sovereigns for help, but their answer was the wind and rain. In the depths of despair, a lonely traveler took her hand. 'I will protect your children if they follow my path. Let them wander the world. They may be shunned and feared, but they will never be destroyed.' Jes agreed, and the traveler gave her his cloak. When she draped it over her children, their old faces melted away and they could be whoever they wanted to be. And so it remains. Though the Children are shunned by all, the gift of the Traveler protects them still.
      — Chance, changeling priest

A changeling can shift its face and form with a thought. Many changelings use this gift as a form of artistic and emotional expression, but it is an invaluable tool for grifters, spies, and others who wish to deceive. This leads many people to treat known changelings with fear and suspicion.

Hidden People

Changelings are spread across Khorvaire. Wherever humans can be found, there are changelings; the question is whether their presence is known.

Changelings are born to one of three paths. A few are born and raised in stable communities, where changelings are true to their nature and deal openly with the people around them. Some are orphans, raised by other races, who find their way in the world without ever knowing another like themselves. Still others are part of the nomadic changeling clans spread across the Five Nations who keep their true nature hidden from the single-skins. Some of these clans maintain safe havens in major cities and communities, but most prefer to wander, following the unpredictable path of the Traveler.

In creating a changeling adventurer, consider the char-acter’s relationships with the people around them. Does the
character conceal their true changeling nature, or do they embrace it? Do they have connections to a changeling community or clan, or are they alone and in search of companions?

Masks and Personas

In their natural form, changelings are slender and pale with colorless eyes and silver-white hair. A changeling can alter its physical appearance with a thought. While this can be used to deceive others, it is a natural form of expression for the changeling. A changeling shifts shapes the way others might change clothes. A casual shape—one created on the spur of the moment, with no depth or history—is called a mask. A changeling mask can be used to express a mood or to serve a specific purpose and then never used again.

However, many changelings develop identities that have more depth. They build an identity over time, crafting a persona, with history and beliefs. This focused identity helps a changeling pinpoint a particular skill or emotion. A changeling adventurer might have personas for many situations, including negotiation, investigation, and combat. Personas can be shared by multiple changelings; there might be three healers in a community, but whoever is on duty will adopt the persona of Tek, the kindly old medic. Personas can even be passed down through a family, allowing a younger changeling to take advantage of contacts established by previous users of the persona.

Changeling Names

A changeling might use a different name for each mask and persona, adopting new names as easily as they develop new faces. The true name of a changeling tends to be monosyllabic; however, there are often accents to a changeling’s name that are expressed through shapeshifting, something single-skins will likely miss.

For instance, two changelings might have the name Jin, but one is Jin-with-vivid-blue-eyes and one is Jin-with-golden-cheeks. Changelings have a fluid relationship with gender, seeing it as one characteristic to change among many others.

Changeling Names: Bin, Cas, Dox, Fie, Hars, Jin, Lam, Mas, Nix, Ot, Paik, Ruz, Sim, Toox, Vil, Yug

Changeling Traits

Your changeling character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases
by 2, and one ability score of your choice increases by 1.

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 tend toward pragmatic neutrality, and few changelings embrace evil.

Size. In their natural forms, changelings average between 5 and 6 feet tall, with a slender build. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Changeling Instincts. You gain proficiency with two
of the following skills of your choice: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion.

Shapechanger. As an action, you can change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and sex. You can also adjust your height and weight and can change your size between Medium and Small. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change. You can't duplicate the appearance of a creature you've never seen, and you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs that you have. Your clothing and equipment aren't changed by this trait.

You stay in the new form until you use an action to revert to your true form or until you die.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and two other languages of your choice.

Changeling Sourcebooks

This version of the changeling race is official D&D material.
It's a mashup between the versions in Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse.

This Document's Credit

This document was compiled, formatted, adjusted, copy edited, and (semi)-balanced by LtKodiak.
homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/user/ltkodiak
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BigBeard.Design/LtKodiak

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