Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
right I think I have finally getting nearly done with my grand project for a fantasy alien
I need help on the face mostly and ideas for mechanics for how to make them both interesting but not overpowered.
any other points you have are welcome.
Physical description
with fairly proportional legs but with arms of equal length they are subtly unnerving to the other races of the world.
their skin feels oddly rubbery and is surprisingly stretchy when pulled. it tends to be a lighter contrasting shade to their more durable parts.
they also have almost built-in armour but it is far too bendable and seems to merely make them more resistant to simple scrapes and cuts than anything that could stop a weapon, the armour-like extensions of the body are slightly more durable but not sufficient for armour class.
A fault-like piece around its chest as well as a coating on the lower arms, legs, hands, feet and at the knees and elbows.
this pseudo armour has a smooth stone-like texture to the touch, oddly always slightly cool regardless of the temperature of both the star folks' insides or the external world.
their feet are digitigrade six-digit hands and feet, with the latter being slightly prehensile all slightly clawed seemingly a leftover from an older time.
possessing two short almost reptilian tails that seem to hang uselessly from behind them, they run in parallel inferring a doubled-vertebrae system they are at max the length of the thigh.
they seem to have heavy and very wide hips and males seem to have broad shoulders.
their head is large, and their neck is well built and highly durable.
they have a cultural love of masks which are worn whenever possible and unlike other peoples, they have no love of gold or gems with semi-precious stones being seen as instead desirable.
the head should be large but beyond that, I have few ideas
ears should be like this: as it makes them less elf or human instantly.
EYEs
eyes are block colours with no visible pupil at all with the option for black eyes that just look like deep abysses but others make it clear that they are round orbs of some kind not certain what shape but ideally inhuman.
how many is also a question of great importance either one or more than two never just the common two?
I have considered giving the inability to shut their eyes or blink.
colouring
they are most commonly two contrasting colours with the armour parts being darker and glossy and the rest of the skin in the lighter shade
they seem to have no linage component as the colour are not inheritable but this is well known to them what does control it is unknown.
a rare mutation which is inheritable is the reversing of this trait with light armour and dark rest of the skin.
Non-statable traits
random different biological traits they can drink both fresh and saltwater with no ill effects.
They lay eggs instead of living birth and take 25 years to mature to adulthood with a decisively none human development cycle with the first five years as a sort of larvae, with the next 20 being an underdeveloped adult form called a nymph and then the rest of it life as a functioning adult
The larvae stage is characterized as non-sapient with the traits of sapience being the signs of the coming morph into the nymph stage.
Death from ageing is odd for them as it seems to be characterized by changes in their bodies that almost mirror the change from larvae to nymph stages of their life but the body just fails as if something is missing from them a shift that is failing for reason they do not know leading some to theorize their lost ascension may be more than a story or myth.
the non-integrator name options? (I am not calling the high or pure odhi the first is too elf and I hate pure as a positive concept so if you guys have any idea please tell me)
When they speak of the wonders of the odhi they rarely mean the local integrator populations although they are well known for their scholarly or magic works who they mean are the odhi native culture the ones who came to this world and apparently many others although that is questioned deeply by other peoples scholars.
Odhi city builders? Are known for their love of scholarly subjects to the point if you have knowledge and or a story to share you will always be welcome and you can trade for lodging, food or other goods.
These people build small city-states mostly largely in inaccessible locations which are deliberately selected for a variety of reasons from the slopes of mountains to far-off islands to the Underdark.
They have never been known to have knowingly gone to war with each other although they have only had a fifty-year history on this world so it may be simply the need has yet to happen they speak of a far-off time in their histories when they fought other aberrations such as aboleth, mind flayers and Psurlon but this is apparently long past.
Why they live out of the way.
Magical utility. Part of their seemly power is how casually they use and make magical objects from rapid heating plates, strange cloth-making contraptions, stones harvesting constructs ad other wondrous labour-saving options have let them put up cites that rival any others in a matter of decades rather than centuries they have been known to sell these items rarely but never explain how they make them either out of fear or some other unknown reason but it easily explains the subtle political fear that follows there ambassadors if they can make such marvels for basic labour what would their weapons of war even look like?
They are organized in a set of counsels which each sends representatives to the city grand counsel for dealing with topics that affect the city at large fewer counsels are built around related topics. the harvest counsel is for any goal of taking basic natural resources from farming, mining, forestry and other related fields.
Each council is made up of a representative of the group for example blacksmiths who is then elected to the maker counsel which has a high counsellor who is often at the lower important grand council meeting with more serious for the groups involved having all representative meet to discuss all representatives are elected based on being part of the group and suitability for the role otherwise it is purely democratic so it may not be the best smith but it will be a smith.
Then you have the makers who turn those into finished goods from masons and builders to jewellers or bakers and any relevant type of smith.
You have the external counsel which is designed to deal with matters of outside the city from warriors, diplomats, traders and spies this counsel is normally known as the outer hands.
The inner works counsel deals with enforcing laws, administration, crime and other such internal matters.
One of the most expansive and held in high esteem is the scholar counsel which has areas such as education, material reality knowledge, psionics and arcane matters.
No one is born to any of the organizations although memberships may run in families with several generations being blacksmiths others may have a child in the arcane whilst their parents are in city maintenance and trading, note by membership I do not mean the representative but closer to how some families may have a business they tend to go into.
The integrator cultures.
why are they called integrators?
they literally integrate into already existent things as opposed to setting up something of their own.
urban integrator
it is common with some to join up with other native races out of some seemingly unknowable reasoning they often form a small quarter of the cities, putting the moon folks' love of intellect and wisdom in trades from bureaucrats and scholars to dojos and arcane academies some rising so high as to be the adviser of the local government or their prized assassins.
the moon men oddly seemingly adopt the local culture nearly completely, only keeping their love of scholarship, mystical arts and martial arts and their trade mark thought process towards things.
these are the most commonly encountered by the other peoples of the world not because they are the most common but simply because they are the easiest to find.
they are otherwise similar to any of the citizens of the nation they are a member of.
wild integrator
first, these are noted for a slightly different appearance compared to the rest of their kin which is somewhat unnerving, they range from translucent to utterly transparent flesh with people being able to watch them digest food in the latter case, with even converts to this lifestyle over time gaining this appearance, the flesh tending towards greens and oranges for unknown reasons however at least two are known for grey black colour.
the wild integrator are commonly found in either tropical rain forests or swamps with differing social structures in both but in overlapping areas they are noted to change lifestyle as it suits them or personal preference.
they are commonly noted to be solidarity but social normally living alone only coming together to raise offspring or to deal with a widespread problem, in swampy areas they tend towards fission-fusion groups and a much more community-based life why this is unknown(maybe the endless supply of black dragons?).
much like their more urban cousins they also love contemplation and they will happily share what they have figured out in solitary contemplation when they encounter each other or other friendly people every from the heights of philosophy to the best way to cook the local foods as all knowledge is prized so they will put their minds to whatever problems they might have.
they are known for still using tool use and will happily take your sword if you leave it lying around.
Lost ascension
the star folk have told tales of further morphs of their people in a previous age or time they were able to metamorphose into stranger and stronger forms but they are said to have lost knowledge of these processes and are stuck in their basic forms.
classes they like:
fighters are the backbone of the military with psi knights as the most iconic versions in the rare versions who lack psionics they will be battle masters, eldritch knights or ever rarely samurai
rogues are far less common but soul knives are common and used fairly often with arcane tricksters also common.
monks are well-liked and many of the cities the moon folk built have had monasteries built near them and many have tried being monks at one point in their lives.
psions(if we are even given one) a highly prestigious class they are near ubiquitous.
wizards are a common and well-liked class with most sub-types present lacking enchantment as they find psions better and necromancy as they deem it wrong.
artificer, they have less of them than the rock gnomes but they are common amongst them.
classes more often found in integrators mostly for the wild integrators as both are fairly compatible with their goals of survival.
rangers
druid
on why they do not really like certain classes.
Barbarians the moon folk noted for valuing self-mastery finds the brutal aggression of the barbarian being distasteful also given the base culture that came to this world was an incredibly advanced culture and the most common barbarians coming from primitive cultures they may have lost the native pressures to generate them, the few that have been found are from the integrator cultures.
sorcerers seem incredibly rare as possibly they lack the intermixing of bloods for the dragon sorcerers and the other based on external situations that then breed true this suggests they were once a people from a very stable environment and an environment with a complete lack of dragons of any description.
Clerics although they seem perfectly cable of faith and it is observed they seem to have something equivalent to gods but clerics are oddly absent from their numbers with only those who converted to other faiths have been able to become them this is noted as truly odd
paladin is often a simple problem that oaths sworn to high ideals that are inflexible may simply rarely appeal to a people of fundamental relativity and pragmatism. Still, some of them have been seen again in the urban integrator cultures.
the other classes warlock and bard are neither particularly favoured nor hated bards being welcomed in their territory but the moon folk seem to find the magic of the bards surprising.
I need help on the face mostly and ideas for mechanics for how to make them both interesting but not overpowered.
any other points you have are welcome.
Physical description
with fairly proportional legs but with arms of equal length they are subtly unnerving to the other races of the world.
their skin feels oddly rubbery and is surprisingly stretchy when pulled. it tends to be a lighter contrasting shade to their more durable parts.
they also have almost built-in armour but it is far too bendable and seems to merely make them more resistant to simple scrapes and cuts than anything that could stop a weapon, the armour-like extensions of the body are slightly more durable but not sufficient for armour class.
A fault-like piece around its chest as well as a coating on the lower arms, legs, hands, feet and at the knees and elbows.
this pseudo armour has a smooth stone-like texture to the touch, oddly always slightly cool regardless of the temperature of both the star folks' insides or the external world.
their feet are digitigrade six-digit hands and feet, with the latter being slightly prehensile all slightly clawed seemingly a leftover from an older time.
possessing two short almost reptilian tails that seem to hang uselessly from behind them, they run in parallel inferring a doubled-vertebrae system they are at max the length of the thigh.
they seem to have heavy and very wide hips and males seem to have broad shoulders.
their head is large, and their neck is well built and highly durable.
they have a cultural love of masks which are worn whenever possible and unlike other peoples, they have no love of gold or gems with semi-precious stones being seen as instead desirable.
the head should be large but beyond that, I have few ideas
ears should be like this: as it makes them less elf or human instantly.
EYEs
eyes are block colours with no visible pupil at all with the option for black eyes that just look like deep abysses but others make it clear that they are round orbs of some kind not certain what shape but ideally inhuman.
how many is also a question of great importance either one or more than two never just the common two?
I have considered giving the inability to shut their eyes or blink.
colouring
they are most commonly two contrasting colours with the armour parts being darker and glossy and the rest of the skin in the lighter shade
they seem to have no linage component as the colour are not inheritable but this is well known to them what does control it is unknown.
a rare mutation which is inheritable is the reversing of this trait with light armour and dark rest of the skin.
Non-statable traits
random different biological traits they can drink both fresh and saltwater with no ill effects.
They lay eggs instead of living birth and take 25 years to mature to adulthood with a decisively none human development cycle with the first five years as a sort of larvae, with the next 20 being an underdeveloped adult form called a nymph and then the rest of it life as a functioning adult
The larvae stage is characterized as non-sapient with the traits of sapience being the signs of the coming morph into the nymph stage.
Death from ageing is odd for them as it seems to be characterized by changes in their bodies that almost mirror the change from larvae to nymph stages of their life but the body just fails as if something is missing from them a shift that is failing for reason they do not know leading some to theorize their lost ascension may be more than a story or myth.
the non-integrator name options? (I am not calling the high or pure odhi the first is too elf and I hate pure as a positive concept so if you guys have any idea please tell me)
When they speak of the wonders of the odhi they rarely mean the local integrator populations although they are well known for their scholarly or magic works who they mean are the odhi native culture the ones who came to this world and apparently many others although that is questioned deeply by other peoples scholars.
Odhi city builders? Are known for their love of scholarly subjects to the point if you have knowledge and or a story to share you will always be welcome and you can trade for lodging, food or other goods.
These people build small city-states mostly largely in inaccessible locations which are deliberately selected for a variety of reasons from the slopes of mountains to far-off islands to the Underdark.
They have never been known to have knowingly gone to war with each other although they have only had a fifty-year history on this world so it may be simply the need has yet to happen they speak of a far-off time in their histories when they fought other aberrations such as aboleth, mind flayers and Psurlon but this is apparently long past.
Why they live out of the way.
Magical utility. Part of their seemly power is how casually they use and make magical objects from rapid heating plates, strange cloth-making contraptions, stones harvesting constructs ad other wondrous labour-saving options have let them put up cites that rival any others in a matter of decades rather than centuries they have been known to sell these items rarely but never explain how they make them either out of fear or some other unknown reason but it easily explains the subtle political fear that follows there ambassadors if they can make such marvels for basic labour what would their weapons of war even look like?
They are organized in a set of counsels which each sends representatives to the city grand counsel for dealing with topics that affect the city at large fewer counsels are built around related topics. the harvest counsel is for any goal of taking basic natural resources from farming, mining, forestry and other related fields.
Each council is made up of a representative of the group for example blacksmiths who is then elected to the maker counsel which has a high counsellor who is often at the lower important grand council meeting with more serious for the groups involved having all representative meet to discuss all representatives are elected based on being part of the group and suitability for the role otherwise it is purely democratic so it may not be the best smith but it will be a smith.
Then you have the makers who turn those into finished goods from masons and builders to jewellers or bakers and any relevant type of smith.
You have the external counsel which is designed to deal with matters of outside the city from warriors, diplomats, traders and spies this counsel is normally known as the outer hands.
The inner works counsel deals with enforcing laws, administration, crime and other such internal matters.
One of the most expansive and held in high esteem is the scholar counsel which has areas such as education, material reality knowledge, psionics and arcane matters.
No one is born to any of the organizations although memberships may run in families with several generations being blacksmiths others may have a child in the arcane whilst their parents are in city maintenance and trading, note by membership I do not mean the representative but closer to how some families may have a business they tend to go into.
The integrator cultures.
why are they called integrators?
they literally integrate into already existent things as opposed to setting up something of their own.
urban integrator
it is common with some to join up with other native races out of some seemingly unknowable reasoning they often form a small quarter of the cities, putting the moon folks' love of intellect and wisdom in trades from bureaucrats and scholars to dojos and arcane academies some rising so high as to be the adviser of the local government or their prized assassins.
the moon men oddly seemingly adopt the local culture nearly completely, only keeping their love of scholarship, mystical arts and martial arts and their trade mark thought process towards things.
these are the most commonly encountered by the other peoples of the world not because they are the most common but simply because they are the easiest to find.
they are otherwise similar to any of the citizens of the nation they are a member of.
wild integrator
first, these are noted for a slightly different appearance compared to the rest of their kin which is somewhat unnerving, they range from translucent to utterly transparent flesh with people being able to watch them digest food in the latter case, with even converts to this lifestyle over time gaining this appearance, the flesh tending towards greens and oranges for unknown reasons however at least two are known for grey black colour.
the wild integrator are commonly found in either tropical rain forests or swamps with differing social structures in both but in overlapping areas they are noted to change lifestyle as it suits them or personal preference.
they are commonly noted to be solidarity but social normally living alone only coming together to raise offspring or to deal with a widespread problem, in swampy areas they tend towards fission-fusion groups and a much more community-based life why this is unknown(maybe the endless supply of black dragons?).
much like their more urban cousins they also love contemplation and they will happily share what they have figured out in solitary contemplation when they encounter each other or other friendly people every from the heights of philosophy to the best way to cook the local foods as all knowledge is prized so they will put their minds to whatever problems they might have.
they are known for still using tool use and will happily take your sword if you leave it lying around.
Lost ascension
the star folk have told tales of further morphs of their people in a previous age or time they were able to metamorphose into stranger and stronger forms but they are said to have lost knowledge of these processes and are stuck in their basic forms.
classes they like:
fighters are the backbone of the military with psi knights as the most iconic versions in the rare versions who lack psionics they will be battle masters, eldritch knights or ever rarely samurai
rogues are far less common but soul knives are common and used fairly often with arcane tricksters also common.
monks are well-liked and many of the cities the moon folk built have had monasteries built near them and many have tried being monks at one point in their lives.
psions(if we are even given one) a highly prestigious class they are near ubiquitous.
wizards are a common and well-liked class with most sub-types present lacking enchantment as they find psions better and necromancy as they deem it wrong.
artificer, they have less of them than the rock gnomes but they are common amongst them.
classes more often found in integrators mostly for the wild integrators as both are fairly compatible with their goals of survival.
rangers
druid
on why they do not really like certain classes.
Barbarians the moon folk noted for valuing self-mastery finds the brutal aggression of the barbarian being distasteful also given the base culture that came to this world was an incredibly advanced culture and the most common barbarians coming from primitive cultures they may have lost the native pressures to generate them, the few that have been found are from the integrator cultures.
sorcerers seem incredibly rare as possibly they lack the intermixing of bloods for the dragon sorcerers and the other based on external situations that then breed true this suggests they were once a people from a very stable environment and an environment with a complete lack of dragons of any description.
Clerics although they seem perfectly cable of faith and it is observed they seem to have something equivalent to gods but clerics are oddly absent from their numbers with only those who converted to other faiths have been able to become them this is noted as truly odd
paladin is often a simple problem that oaths sworn to high ideals that are inflexible may simply rarely appeal to a people of fundamental relativity and pragmatism. Still, some of them have been seen again in the urban integrator cultures.
the other classes warlock and bard are neither particularly favoured nor hated bards being welcomed in their territory but the moon folk seem to find the magic of the bards surprising.
