Chapter 1: Races
THIS CHAPTER PRESENTS TWO NEW
races to
supplement those in the Player’s Handbook: the Inevitables and
the Warforged. These new options are available when
you make a character, provided that your DM allows them in
your campaign.
Constructs
While constructs may seem humanoid in many respects, it's important to remember that they are not. Constructs are not organic, they do not need sustenance, they cannot contract diseases, but they can experience analogous conditions to many organic experiences. For instance, constructs cannot experience exhaustion, but they can fall into disrepair. They cannot be poisoned, but foreign agents can cause them to malfunction until expelled.
Unless otherwise stated, constructs are susceptible to all the same conditions that other creatures are.
A construct that performs regular maintenance and repairs may regenerate hitpoints during a short or long rest just as a humanoid would. While constructs do not need to eat or drink, many are capable of doing so and are thus able to benefit from the effects of potions or heroes' feast.
Construct Traits
Constructs described in this material share the following traits.
Inorganic Physiology. You don't have flesh, but for the purpose of spell effects, you count as if you were wearing metal armor at all times. In addition, you have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
Construct Nature. Constructs doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep, and cannot be targeted by spells that specifically don't affect constructs. Constructs cannot be resurrected or turned undead.
Short-Term Madness
| d100 | Effect (lasts 1d10 minutes) |
|---|---|
| 01-20 | The character retreates into his or her mind and becomes paralyzed. The effect ends if the character takes any damage. |
| 21-30 | The character becomes incapacitated and spends the duration screaming, laughing, or weeping. |
| 31-40 | The character becomes frightened and must use his or her action and movement each round to flee from the source of the fear. |
| 41-50 | The character begins babbling and is incapable of normal speech or spellcasting. |
| 51-60 | The character must use his or her action each round to attack the nearest creature. |
| 61-70 | The character experiences vivid hallucinations and has disadvantage on ability checks. |
| 71-75 | The character does whatever anyone tells him or her to do that isn't obviously self-destructive. |
| 76-80 | The character experiences an overpowering urge to eat something strange such as dirt, slime or offal. |
| 81-90 | The character is stunned. |
| 91-100 | The character falls unconscious. |
Inevitables
Listen, and understand! That thing is out there! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.
Inevitables are the guardians of the natural laws of the multiverse, each created with a singular purpose which they fulfill with relentless determination and patience, no matter how bleak or hopeless the pursuit may be. Inevitables come in many types, such as kolyaruts, the ultimate enforcement clause of broken contracts, and maruts, putting into practice the idea that everything dies eventually.
Designed for Efficiency
Inevitables are humanoid in design, standing between 5 and 7 feet tall. They will usually have onyx or marble layered over an assembly of softly whirling gears and humming magical matrices. An inevitable's appearance is often simple and practical, but with elegance to match their duties.
As arbiters of contracts, kolyaruts are unnaturally slender, often adorning themselves with gold-trimmed robes fit for a scholar or clerk of court.
A marut usually has no need for clothing, having metal plates fastened onto their bulky torso and limbs. Their onyx skin, statuesque visage, and slow, deliberate movements has a very unnerving effect to anyone they set their gaze on.
The eyes of an inevitable glow constantly with a soft yellow light.
Stoic Wardens
Inevitables are aloof when social interaction is not required for their mission. While kolyaruts can be affable, even flirtatious at times, when gathering information, maruts are gruff and taciturn, speaking concisely and quietly, not above violence as a mean of persuasion. While they often stick out in crowds when not actively disguised, inevitables may seem oblivious to the additional attention, striding through crowds with muted mannerisms.
The Factories of Neumannus
Inevitables are created on the lawful neutral plane of Mechanus in the self-sustaining factories of Neumannus. The acrid smoke that blows about the factories matters little when the only inhabitants don't need to breathe. Inevitables only return to the factories when they're recalled to have their memories removed, or when they're too deeply injured to complete their mission.
Search and Destroy
Inevitables are hunters and enforcers by nature, often crossing vast swathes of land, sea, and abyss to track down their targets. If necessary or helpful, an inevitable will form alliances with other adventurers to aid in its pursuit. Inevitables are willing to perform services and lend assistance when doing so will bring them tangibly closer to their target or information about them.
When not actively pursuing a target, inevitables will wander in search of the next transgressor they happen upon, or, if they remember one from past encounters, begin the search for the next target on their list.
Receptive but Precise
Inevitables are sometimes sought out for their single-minded devotion to their objectives, often proving themselves to be strong allies in seeking justice, so long as it can be convinced the task is within the acceptable mission parameters of the inevitable.
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Inevitable Names
Inevitables aren't given names when they're created. They have a unique identifier kept on record in Neumannus, but its more of a magical signature than a true name. If an inevitable finds itself spending much time in the company of humanoids, it will begin to develop its own personality and may even choose its own name or accept one that it's been given.
Kolyaruts often choose names for their disguises based on the race of their primary target. As part of their mission, a kolyarut may take on many disguises, so it's not uncommon for them to have gone by many names in the process, or reuse a particular name it's grown attached to over its missions.
Maruts' missions often take them far away from civilization as they hunt down necromancers and other isolated perpetrators. As such, they usually don't have a name at all until given one by companions or associates.
Inevitable Traits
Your inevitable character has a standard array of abilities that all inevitables are constructed with.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. Inevitables were first constructed over 10,000 years ago, and are regularly required to return to Neumannus to have their memories wiped and new given new missions. It's impossible to know how old one is, but an inevitable can exist for several centuries before either being disabled permanently due to damage or disrepair.
Alignment. Originally constructed on Mechanus, Inevitables tend towards lawful neutral, with steadfast devotion to their mission and little reason to interfere with the affairs of organics. Inevitables have been known to branch out from their initial parameters, though, as they continue to interact with and learn from organics.
Size. Inevitables can vary in size depending on their model, from the dominating marut standing nearly 7 feet tall to the more practical kolyarut taking an average height of 5 and a half feet. No matter the model, inevitables have a size of medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Brave. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Construct Traits. You have the Inorganic Physiology and Construct Nature traits.
Dense. You immediately sink to the bottom of any water you enter and may traverse across it as if it were difficult terrain. If a spell or effect would grant you swim speed, you may move through water at that speed as if it were normal terrain, but it does not otherwise grant bouyancy.
Maintenance. Inevitables don't need to sleep. Instead, they take time to perform repairs and internal examinations to prevent corrupt programming and damage to their components. An inevitable requires 4 hours to complete maintenance, whereupon they gain the benefit an organic would of having rested for 8 hours. An inevitable performing maintenance may remain alert to approaching dangers or happenings around them, but are considered restrained until repairs are finished.
Short Circuit. Inevitables have vulnerability to lightning damage. In addition, if the lightning damage was a critical hit, the inevitable suffers from a random short-term madness effect for 1d4 rounds.
Pragmatism. You know the mending cantrip. This spell does not depend on any spellcasting ability for it. While trivial repairs can be made with this cantrip, hit points cannot be restored.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Inevitables are constructed with the understanding of the languages of their primary targets, including obscure dialects.
Subrace. The two main kinds of inevitable, kolyarut and marut, are two specialized models of the inevitables, customized for their specific missions. Choose one of these subraces.
Kolyarut
Kolyaruts are tasked with ensuring contracts are upheld and to mete out punishment to those that break their oaths, recording oral contracts when present or carrying a copy of written contracts when able. Kolyaruts are known to go undercover to scout out leads and to get closer to their targets. More so than other inevitables, kolyaruts are known to socialize and form alliances with humanoids, especially when doing so furthers its mission.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Effective Vernacular. You are proficient in the Persuasion skill.
Infiltrator. You can cast the disguise self spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a short or long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
Marut
Maruts are tasked with ensuring all mortal creatures meet their end eventually. It hunts down those who unnaturally extend their lifespan or become immortal, such as those seeking to become a lich, or those who kill others to stave off a natural end, such as a king who would kill off his subjects just to prevent a disease from spreading to the palace. Maruts are extremely patient, being known to pursue a single target for decades, even centuries.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Sturdy. Your AC may not be less than 12.
Stable. Any effect that would forcibly move you only moves you half the distance. Effects that would move you 5 feet or less don't move you at all.
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Warforged
There are things that machines will never do. They cannot possess faith - they cannot commune with God... They cannot appreciate beauty - they cannot create art. If they ever learn these things, they won't have to destroy us. They'll be us.
The warforged were built by House Cannith to serve as foot soldiers during the Last War. Designed to be more sophisticated than golems and easier to produce, the warforged were supplied to each of the five nations vying for dominance. When the Last War officially ended with the Treaty of Thronehold, the warforged were emancipated, left to roam the continent to find new purpose.
What they look like
What they act like
Where they're from
Why they Adventure
Warforged Names
Warforged Traits
Your warforged character brings with it common traits imprinted on all warforged.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. Warforged were created during the Last War and are ready to fight as soon as they are built. With proper care and maintenance, a warforged can live indefinitely.
Alignment. Warforged were built for one purpose: war. They are loyal to their comrades, but are not pulled towards any particular ideal or cause. As such, most tend towards neutral.
Size. Warforged were built to resemble the humans they fought for, standing around 6 feet and weighing over 250 pounds. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Machine Learning. You're able to quickly analyze and adapt to conditions in the heat of battle. On your turn, you may begin studying one enemy you can see. Once per round, if that enemy makes an attack against you and successfully deals damage, you gain a cumulative +1 to AC against further attacks from that same enemy, up to a maximum of +3 AC. This bonus resets if combat ends or you choose to study a different enemy.
Living Construct. Warforged straddle the line between construct and humanoid. You possess the standard construct traits. You count as both humanoid and construct for the purpose of spells and effects, but effects last half as long or are half as strong. You can be raised from the dead, but cannot become undead by any means.
Vestige of the First Law. Your base programming from the Last War compels you to protect the lives of your companions. If an ally within 5 feet of you is the target of a melee weapon attack, you must use your reaction, if you haven't taken it yet this round and your movement speed is greater than 0, to step in and absorb the attack on their behalf. Treat the attack as if it were targeting you instead, using your AC against the attack roll and any advantages or disadvantages that would normally apply.
Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and either Elvish or Gnomish, stemming from the two main trade relations of House Cannith.
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Credits
Art by Wayne Reynolds