D&D 5E Ideas for all-Planetouched groups and their characters

[Faolyn]

Neat idea! I'd have the patrons be a hound archon descended aasimar and an arcanaloth descended tiefling, and call it The Rescue.

I... I suddenly got a really weird Pound Puppies vibe.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Neat idea! I'd have the patrons be a hound archon descended aasimar and an arcanaloth descended tiefling, and call it The Rescue.

It's a good contrast to some of the more negative ideas I had for an orphanage.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

So let's go back to the X-Men/Doom Patrol/Umbrella Academy idea where a bunch of Planetouched are brought together in an institute that's training them for something run by a wealthy benefactor who's possibly a Professor that does indeed have some sort of agenda of their own.

If it's a Reginald Hargreeves or a Niles Calder, the benefactor has their own personal agenda for taking in these students. If it's a Charles Xavier (especially the modern-day radicalized version) they might have an agenda for all Planetouched. Is the benefactor planetouched themselves, but keeps it secret? And what purpose would the institute/academy serve?

 

[michaeljpastor]

So let's go back to the X-Men/Doom Patrol/Umbrella Academy idea where a bunch of Planetouched are brought together in an institute that's training them for something run by a wealthy benefactor who's possibly a Professor that does indeed have some sort of agenda of their own.

If it's a Reginald Hargreeves or a Niles Calder, the benefactor has their own personal agenda for taking in these students. If it's a Charles Xavier (especially the modern-day radicalized version) they might have an agenda for all Planetouched. Is the benefactor planetouched themselves, but keeps it secret? And what purpose would the institute/academy serve?

This is an expansion on my thread on Planetouched Lineages where I've put together comprehensive writeups on the various planetouched as lineages with a bunch of character customization and ideas that span from 2nd edition all the way to 5th. With all the things I've written, it's time to think of story ideas, centered around groups completely composed of Planetouched of different varieties. I'm looking for clans of the slightly "weird", from the mostly "human" but with a hint of the "monstrous", to the outright "monstrous" but with a "human" soul. It's mostly story ideas and a description of characters and groups I'm interested in. Specific or generic names are fine for such character concepts.

Spoiler: Planetouched Summary

A short summary on the Planetouched from that: Planetouched are a mixture of a humanoid, most commonly Humans but also potentially Elves, Orcs, Halflings, Goblins, whatever with a planar influence in their bloodline, this could be from an ancestor such as a Fiend, Celestial or Genie, or it could be a mutation from an infusion of planar energy, or a bunch of other methods that combine the mortal with the planar. There's 6 varieties of Planetouched:
Tieflings - Who have lower planar influences commonly from fiends such as Devils, Demon, Yugoloths, Hordelings, Gehreleths/Demodands and so on. They're the most common Planetouched and are often marginalized outcasts.
Aasimar - Who have mostly upper planar influences commonly from celestial such as Angels, Archons, Guardinals, Celestial Eladrin, Asuras and even the secretive Rilmani of the Outland. They're often the privileged Planetouched.
Genasi - Who have elemental influences most commonly from Genies, Elementals and so on. There's tribes of Genasi like the Janni and the Ruvkova found throughout the Elemental planes.
Axani - Who have the influences of lawful planes, they're generally come in the varieties of divinely sanctioned prototype being or part-construct cyborg scavengers.
Cansin - Who have the influences of chaotic planes, they're generally either monstrous toad people or attractive manic pixie dream people with randomly shifting features.
Liminaire - Who have the influence of the Ethereal, Feywild, Shadowfell, Astral and other planes. They're nomads and shapers, drawn to emotions and dreams.

In many ways I've always seen Planetouched as sort of the mutants of the planes, so there's certainly a bunch of ideas for something like a X-Men but for planetouched. But group of Planetouched could be a gang or a secret society too. Anyways one idea I have for a group of Planetouched:

The Carnival
This group of Planetouched travellers and entertainers roam across many worlds, often worlds with little exposure to the planes. Containing members who range from freakish to alluring, they're a troupe of Acrobats, fire-breathers, musicians, seers, illusionists and more. To many they're a source of the wondrous and the exotic, to entertain with their unusual talents and strange natures. But to others it's said that they're criminals looking to cheat and steal the children away from every town they pass through. Some whisper that the carnival is roaming different worlds to search for something.

Some members are:
Ape Boy - A Tiefling of Barlgura descent, who has the ruggedly handsome head on a hulking body sparsely covered with orange fur, he's the resident strongman of the carnival. Ape Boy wants to do what's right, looking to protect those around him from terrors only the Carnival can understand. Prone to the occasional rage, he seeks to control his primal rage by swearing an Oath as a Paladin of Devotion, shielding the Carnival and other innocents from harm.

The Fire Dancer - She's a Tiefling with a prehensile tails, slightly scaly skin and cloven hooves. She juggles flaming knives alternating between her hands and her tail which she uses like a third hand, while breathing fire. Before she joined the Carnival, she was a street child who had to hide her nature, which she flaunts now as a Tiefling. The Fire Dancer is a Bard from the College of Swords, who rarely cares for the plight of most locals, often jumping herself and her adopted family in trouble as a result.

Goat Boy - An Aasimar of Cerdival Guardinal descent, he resembles a Satyr with his goat horns and hooves. Goat Boy is a Horizon Walker Ranger, who often assumes the role as the guide to the visitors of the Carnival, who he vigilantly watches to ensure there's no trouble between his Carnival and the locals. Goat Boy is always on the look out for other Planetouched which he seeks to recruit his traveling family, while making sure the rest of his family don't cause too much trouble among the locals.

The Clockwork Man - An Axani with visible mechanical parts and clockwork gears at his joints, the Clockwork Man is both a sideshow and the accountant of the Carnival. While he speaks with a monotone voice barely showing emotion in his public persona, among the Carnival this arrogant and temperamental Rogue of the Mastermind Archetype puts his focus into running a variety of larcenous schemes, where he plots to steal from wealthy locals to enrich himself.

The Tailor - This hyperactive Cansin of a small-frame with a multi-colored skin hue whose hair, fashion, and gender changes randomly everyday is the resident tailor of the Carnival. This Sorcerer of Wild Magic is almost always seen with their tailor supplies, presenting a friendly face to all visitors looking to pry into all their secrets. Sometimes they moonlight as an announcer, a magician, or a merchant. The Tailor is quite loyal and supportive of their Carnival family, and often involves themselves in schemes aimed the locals.

Mud Girl - A Genasi with a connection to Para-elemental Ooze, reddish-brown skin is always moist and a collection of blue-ish grey fungus grows out of her hair. Mud Girl is a Druid from the Circle of Spores, often working as an apothecarist selling her mostly worthless wares to gullible locals. In the Carnival she's their resident healer, where she puts her real skills to use, taking on a more motherly role, where she often finds herself cleaning up the problems the others end up causing.

The Ghost Woman - A Liminaire who's slightly translucent and gives of a faint glow, she passes herself off as a spirit from beyond who provides answers to locals that will pay her. The Ghost Woman is a Conjurer Wizard, who pretends to talk to dead relatives and friends, but instead reads the dreams of locals to get an insight into their expectations. In the Carnival she often provides the means for them to travel between worlds, as she's navigates through the waxing and waning connections.

I've always wanted to do a traveling Troupe of characters - with a large magical wagon that is bigger on the inside thaan out, and all characters are gifted a level of straighth up Bard (making effective level max 21). Level 21 would not be your standard adventure - it would be a collaborative effort to create an Epic Theatre performance of their adventures.

I'd introduce "sub-skills" in Performance based that everyone would have to pick from - from lighting to makeup to Roles (child, matron, hero, etc). You could easily expand this to nearly a circus sized Troupe if you had players who could handle wrangling a few NPCs apiece.
My old group and I were going to do this in our next adventure, but group dynamics and illness prevented us from ever implementing it.

 

[michaeljpastor]

So let's go back to the X-Men/Doom Patrol/Umbrella Academy idea where a bunch of Planetouched are brought together in an institute that's training them for something run by a wealthy benefactor who's possibly a Professor that does indeed have some sort of agenda of their own.

If it's a Reginald Hargreeves or a Niles Calder, the benefactor has their own personal agenda for taking in these students. If it's a Charles Xavier (especially the modern-day radicalized version) they might have an agenda for all Planetouched. Is the benefactor planetouched themselves, but keeps it secret? And what purpose would the institute/academy serve?

Planetouched or not, the leader is aware (or suspects) a prophecy of a Great Event coming in a generation and he must gather a task force or two that is going to prrevent it, or shepherd, everyone through it. The ruling powers suspect that s/he is actually gathering an army to overthrow the "legitimate" governing class (which s/he may be), giving the players two adversaries to deal with - the Establishment and the Crisis.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Planetouched or not, the leader is aware (or suspects) a prophecy of a Great Event coming in a generation and he must gather a task force or two that is going to prrevent it, or shepherd, everyone through it. The ruling powers suspect that s/he is actually gathering an army to overthrow the "legitimate" governing class (which s/he may be), giving the players two adversaries to deal with - the Establishment and the Crisis.

If there's a seer or oracle involved do they just see nothing but pain and loss in the future? To what lengths will the Establishment go to stop the leader? And what's the gathering of Planetouched for? Is there a need to gather those with the essences of all the different planes for something?

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

And what's the gathering of Planetouched for? Is there a need to gather those with the essences of all the different planes for something?

 

[michaeljpastor]

If there's a seer or oracle involved do they just see nothing but pain and loss in the future? To what lengths will the Establishment go to stop the leader? And what's the gathering of Planetouched for? Is there a need to gather those with the essences of all the different planes for something?

Something Big and Badass tilted the Great Wheel and the contents of the outlands are sliding into the maws of some of the planes, and its a affecting the material plane, so there's a little chance for some extra planer action