MechaPilot
Explorer
Just finished updating the humans for my "Tenesia" setting into 5e, and I figured I'd post it here (any feedback is appreciated).
Human Variant: Tenesian
The word “human” is a corrupted form of the elf word “haluman,”meaning an empty, soulless creature. Elves use the term to describe not only humans, but also goblins, golems & the undead (the word “goblin” is likewise a corrupted form of the elf word “golba,” meaning vicious, mean, and nasty). Humans are commonly selfish and short-sighted, caring more about indulging themselves and their desires than seriously pursuing noble ends or establishing anything that will truly last the ages. However, when they set their minds to it humans are achievers of the impossible, and counting a human out before she's been slain is always a mistake.
Tenesia's humans do not get the usual ability score benefits detailed in the Player's Handbook. Instead, you may choose two ability scores to increase by 1, and you get the following ability:
Empty Inside. You are empty inside, as if you soul is incomplete. Whether consciously or not, you seek something to fill the inescapable void within. For some, this is family and friends, for others it's power,wealth, prestige, religion, or a litany of vices a mile long. This emptiness drives you (and all humanity), focuses you, and turns your empty soul into a fortress of resolve.
Once per rest, you can use this ability to do one of the following things:
Drives. Every human has something they use to try to fill the void within them. These things are motivations that can drive them either to distraction or to greatness. Select one of the following, or invent one of your own:
What do you think?
Human Variant: Tenesian
The word “human” is a corrupted form of the elf word “haluman,”meaning an empty, soulless creature. Elves use the term to describe not only humans, but also goblins, golems & the undead (the word “goblin” is likewise a corrupted form of the elf word “golba,” meaning vicious, mean, and nasty). Humans are commonly selfish and short-sighted, caring more about indulging themselves and their desires than seriously pursuing noble ends or establishing anything that will truly last the ages. However, when they set their minds to it humans are achievers of the impossible, and counting a human out before she's been slain is always a mistake.
Tenesia's humans do not get the usual ability score benefits detailed in the Player's Handbook. Instead, you may choose two ability scores to increase by 1, and you get the following ability:
Empty Inside. You are empty inside, as if you soul is incomplete. Whether consciously or not, you seek something to fill the inescapable void within. For some, this is family and friends, for others it's power,wealth, prestige, religion, or a litany of vices a mile long. This emptiness drives you (and all humanity), focuses you, and turns your empty soul into a fortress of resolve.
Once per rest, you can use this ability to do one of the following things:
- Give yourself advantage on an initiative check, ability check, saving throw, or attack roll. If you have disadvantage on the roll, all sources of disadvantage are ignored for this one roll.
- After rolling for the damage dealt by an attack, you roll damage a second time and take the higher of the two results.
- Impose disadvantage on an initiative check, ability check, saving throw, or attack roll made against you by a single source. If the target has advantage on the roll, all sources of advantage are ignored for this one roll.
- After damage dealt against you is rolled, roll damage a second time and take the lower of the two results.
Drives. Every human has something they use to try to fill the void within them. These things are motivations that can drive them either to distraction or to greatness. Select one of the following, or invent one of your own:
- Wealth. Whether you use it to make your life more comfortable or to amass power, you crave wealth. You are prone to letting greed cloud your judgment, drive your decisions, and push you to take risks you otherwise wouldn't take.
Your drive to accumulate wealth allows you to add 20 gp to your starting equipment. Also, you are adept at haggling and can sell loot for 5%more than normal. - Vice. Alcohol, sex, drugs, gambling. . . you engage in one or all of these to bring you the excitement and contentment you can't otherwise find for yourself. You're prone to squandering your wealth on your chosen vices, and losing yourself (and all track of time) in the bliss they bring you.
While frequenting brothels, drug dens, and gambling parlors you've seen and overheard many useful things. By spending a couple hours and some gold in a den of vice, you can learn some useful information about the town you're in, or about one of its residents. Unfortunately, you have a tendency to stay longer and spend more than you should. Roll 2d10 to determine how many hours you spend there, and 2d4x10 to determine how much gold you spend (if the result exceeds the amount of gold you have, you have run a foul of the proprietor of the vice den you visited).
- Power. You are keenly aware of the way the world bends to the will of the powerful, and how the weak are trodden upon by the strong. Be it physical, magical, or political, you hunger for power and view everything through the lens of how it can be leveraged in your favor. You are loathe to acquiesce to the power of others.
If you have stayed in a town for at least one month, you can find someone there who owes you a favor, or who you can bully into doing a favor for you anyway. As long as the favor poses no significant danger to the person, her loved ones, or her livelihood, she will generally comply with the favor.
- Family. Relationships are the only things that truly matter. Good times and troubles come and go like the tide, but the impact people have on one another will outlast them all. You value your relationships to family, friends, or even community above all the other petty things life has to offer.
Through your network of family and friends you can find people who can help you in your quests. These people may give you a place to rest, point you in the direction of a sage or other person with knowledge to help you, or they may have political or guild affiliations that can give you access you otherwise wouldn't have.
Naturally,you are expected to do the same, should any of your friends or family come calling. Although providing this assistance may be burdensome,you consider it your duty to provide what help you can.
- Faith. The things of the mortal world are cheap and false. They fall away and crumble into dust before eternity. You do not put your faith in men or swords, but in the promise and the hope of religion. You follow a religion, or worship a single deity, and you hold very tightly to those beliefs. They are a light for you in the darkest of hours, but they can blind you to basic humanity if you let them.
You are very knowledgeable about your chosen faith. If you must make a check to recall lore about your faith, you do so with advantage. If there is no readily apparent danger, you can easily persuade priests of your faith to give you and your allies a place to rest, as well as some rations for the road.
- Knowledge. Ignorance may be bliss, but you walk the harder path. You seek to fill your mind with knowledge and gain greater understanding of all things. You are a font of information, both useful and trivial, you cannot abide a mystery, and the lure of lost knowledge is more tempting to you than the luster and sparkle of gold and gems. However, being constantly in pursuit of knowledge can leave you little time to use it to the benefit of others, and you risk losing touch with the world around you when your nose is always buried in books and scrolls.
Choose one of the following:
Generalist. You have a +1 bonus to all skill and ability checks to recall knowledge.
Specialist. Gain proficiency in a knowledge skill of your choice. If you choose a skill you are already proficient with, you add 1.5 times your proficiency bonus instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
- Fame. Worldly pleasures and wealth are fleeting, the powerful can be ruined and slain, but myths and legends are everlasting, like the gods themselves. Whether you want to be respected, feared, or loved, you want your name and deeds to be known in every corner of the world and passed down as a legend throughout the ages. You aren't afraid to do your own thing and stand out from the crowd, but you're also prone to bragging, narcissism, and taking risks to showoff how great you are.
When you enter a town, the DM rolls 1d20. If the result is equal to or less than your character level, your fame has spread to that town. Note: if you use the renown rules, you have advantage on renown checks instead.
While in a town that recognizes your fame, you have disadvantage on checks made to pass among other, everyday people, and you have advantage on either Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Intimidation) checks,depending on the nature of your reputation.
What do you think?
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