Wizards of the Coast have updated their Unearthed Arcana of D&D playtest material to include Gothic Lineages.
Transform into a creature of the dangerous night with one of these three new race options;
- Dhampir
- Hexblood
- Reborn
This racebook follows Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and lacks Ability Score increase trait, Language and Alignment. You can be a good Dhampir if it makes narrative sense.
Dhampir
Poised between the worlds of the living and the dead, dhampirs retain their grip on life yet are endlessly tested by vicious hungers. Their ties to the undead grant dhampirs a taste of a vampire’s deathless prowess in the form of increased speed, darkvision, and a life-draining bite.
Dhampir have hungers, but it might not be for blood. Some of these people might feast off spinal fluid, or dreams, or drain someone of a particular colour.
Equally, Dhampir are not always half-vampire-half-human in the traditional sense. They could be created through a parasite or might be a diminished manifestation of an otherwordly being.
Hexblood
Where wishing fails, ancient magic can offer a heart’s desire—at least, for a time. Hexbloods are individuals infused with eldritch magic, fey energy, or mysterious witchcraft. Some who enter into bargains with hags gain their deepest wishes but eventually find themselves transformed.
Hexbloods also have a range of origins. They, as a child, may have struck a deal with a Hag or may have been swapped by Fey kidnappers.
Reborn
Death isn’t always the end. The reborn exemplify this, being individuals who have died yet, somehow, still live. Some reborn exhibit the scars of fatal fates, their ashen flesh, missing limbs, or bloodless veins making it clear that they’ve been touched by death. Other reborn are marvels of magic or science, being stitched together from disparate beings or bearing mysterious minds in manufactured bodies. Whatever their origins, reborn know a new life and seek experiences and answers all their own.
Reborn origins are as varied as the other undying in Gothic Lineages. A Reborn might result from a magical resurrection gone wrong, or a body could host a spirit.
Quick Links
- D&D’s Gothic Lineages (PDF Link).
- D&D’s Arcana Unearthed on Gothic Lineages.
Creative Commons credit: Rhosyn Kathegat III, Dhampir Shadowdancer by deerari.
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