Colliatur

Colliatur appear much like the base creature does, save for a few subtle changes. Their hair has several strands that are crystalline, their pupils appear to be distorted into the shape of many pointed stars, and their fingertips become reflective and metallic. Perhaps most disturbing of all, the teeth of all colliatur are a perpetually clean, stark white.

Society

These children of the colloid are inclusive, kind and friendly to all races. When left entirely to their own devices, colliatur are disturbingly quiet and seemingly lethargic, though they’re more likely to be in deep contemplation. There is little celebration for the arts or purportedly impressive deeds, but the few stories told of settlements of their kind speak of architecture that defies understanding and resonances that shake men to their cores.

Relations

Most greet the colliatur with open arms, accepting their warm embrace with either a hidden dagger or hand out for mercy. Their tendency to deeply value life make them fast allies in both cases, but their hatred of undead make them mortal enemies of the dødelig. Hoyrall that recognize them for what they are will attack them instinctively (which anyone who knows their true purposes is wont to do). Despite all of that, aside from the dweorg, they are the most celebrated and desirable race from the Underworld as far as most are concerned.

Alignment and Religion

Colliatur typically gravitate towards the Neutral alignment over time, but may be of any alignment they please. They rarely worship any of god, instead gaining quasi-mythic abilities from the colloid.

Adventurers

Exploring is a natural impulse for the colliatur, and spreading the message of the alien overmind is their first priority. Spellcasters are common among them, but warriors of particular prowess are frequent as well.

Names

Colliatur tend to keep the names they had before their transformation.

Emissaries

Some colliatur take refuge with the colloid, but not all; the otherworldly entity is pleased when creatures immune to its call ally with it regardless, but it does so with a cold, calculating plan to segregate these unique beings from the areas of itself most likely to be tread across. Other colliatur create their own settlements, hybridizations of the culture they once knew and the otherworldly forces at play within themselves. Duplicating architecture from Upperworld and Underworld, their buildings have an architecture that seems to twist when looked upon, their structural points truly bizarre and difficult to comprehend.

Whether on the surface or below it, the vast majority of these wondrous towns and villages are said to be extremely amicable to passersby, providing them with free lodging and foodstuffs. Explorers, however, should be reticent when entering a colliatur settlement; some of their race have become militant to the dangers presented by the colloid, and travelers that take of their kindness are soon to find themselves conscripted into service against the alien entity. An Intelligence (History) check (DC 20) gives warning enough that a colliatur settlement has taken on this aggressive stance before it’s too late.

Colliatur Traits

Your colliatur character counts as both the parent race and as a colliatur for purposes of race.

  • Ability Score Increases. Your Charisma score increases by 2 and two of your other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
  • Age. Colliatur mature at the same rate as their parent race.
  • Alignment. Colliatur tend to gravitate towards true neutrality, though the high value they ascribe to life also means that quite a few of them are perceived as good.
  • Size. Colliatur come in different shapes and sizes due to the diverse parent races. Your size is your choice of either Small, Medium or Large.
  • Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet if you are Medium, 25 feet if you are Small or Large.
  • Acid Conversion (Recharges after a Long Rest). Your organic parts may be hurt by acid, but your crystalline parts are capable of converting it into life. As a reaction to taking acid damage, you may regain 10 hit points on your next turn. Acid damage can never kill you, only knock you out.
  • Condition Immunity. If you are of Small size, your body inadvertently has a higher crystal/colloid-density than your larger brethren. You gain immunity to the charmed condition.
  • Conductivity. While your crystalline structure provides a lot of benefits, it also conducts lightning much better than flesh and bone. If you take lightning damage, you suffer from disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws for a number of rounds equal to your Hit Dice.
  • Crystal Refraction (Recharges after a Long Rest). Your crystalline structure can absorb certain types of magic, but only under the right circumstances. Whenever you are targeted by a ranged spell attack or a spell that specifies that it works via a “ray” (like disintegrate, prismatic spray or ray of enfeeblement), you may, as a reaction to being hit by the ray, harmlessly absorb it. If you do, you immediately end the spell’s effects. Consuming the magical energy nourishes you as if you have eaten a full meal, but also is strenuous: You immediately increase your exhaustion level by +1 upon using this ability.
  • Energy Immunity. As a resplendent being of crystal and flesh, you are immune to radiant damage.
  • Energy Resistance. You are anathema to the undead and the tainted energies of unlife. You gain resistance to necrotic damage.
  • Parent Race. You choose the parent race for your colliatur character. You qualify as both your parent race and as a colliatur for purposes of racial prerequisites, item-use restrictions, etc. You do not receive any of the racial features of your parent race, though.
  • Sacred Life. You value life, any life, more highly than just about all other races as a consequence of your entwinement with the colloid. Ending a life is an emotionally and physically draining procedure for you. If you choose to kill a living creature upon reducing it to 0 hit points instead of knocking it out, you immediately increase your exhaustion level by +1, up to a maximum of 5. Constructs, elementals and undead are exempt from this-you can destroy these creatures without ramifications.
  • Superior Darkvision. Seeing the world through star-shaped, resplendent pupils has its benefits. You can see in dim light within 120 ft. of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
  • Thunder Vulnerability. Due to the crystalline structures suffusing your body, you suffer from vulnerability to thunder damage.
  • Languages. You can speak Common and the languages of your parent race.

Reaving Traditions

There are two commonly known types of mutations and paths taken by colloid reavers, known as reaving traditions. There may well be more out there and all three require the unique physiology that blends living crystal with hot-blooded flesh and thus can only be practiced by the colliatur most adept at manipulating their own body, the truth of the information resonating forth from the colloid and changing the bodily structure of the colliatur reaver to accomplish feats otherwise deemed impossible. Some colliatur reavers must make a pilgrimage to a node of colloid containing the respective information, while others already have the required impulses dormant within their very bodies. These modifications generally require a certain aptitude and thus, a colliatur reaver need choose a tradition only upon reaching 3rd level.

Crystal Cannonade

The offspring of the colloid quickly learned to adapt to the terrestrial weapons, and the crossbow was the first the alien collective was to fully embrace.

These inexplicable warriors turn the weapons into otherworldly devices that fire slivers of crystal that slam into objects, but strangely melt into living creatures.

Bonus Proficiencies

At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with light, hand and heavy crossbows.

Crystalline Crossbows

Also at 3rd level, you learn to have your crystalline structures grow over a crossbow you wield as a bonus action, fusing it to your hand. While fused to your hand, you can’t hold objects or manipulate objects with the hand that is fused with your crossbow. It is possible to fuse one crossbow to each of your hands, but when you do, you obviously can’t use your hands. You may use your bonus action on your turn to separate one of your hands from one crossbow fused to you.

When thus fused to your body, crossbows lose the two-handed property and expend no ammunition, as your body has a small reservoir of crystalline bolts and reloads the crossbow with crystalline bolts specifically generated for the respective weapon.

Your crystalline crossbows have a Capacity of 2 (see crystalline crossbow rules below) while fused to your hands. These crystalline bolts change the damage type inflicted by the crossbow to the type you inflict with your Crystalline Claws class feature. You can generate an infinite amount of these crystalline bolts, but they melt away to a sludge after 1 minute, so they can neither be sold, nor scavenged from the battlefield.

Starting at 5th level, your crystalline ammunition receives +1 to attack and damage rolls and is treated as ammunition+1 for all intents and purposes. This bonus increases to +2 at 10th level and +3 at 15th level.

After completing a long rest, you may spend 5 minutes in meditation to modify one of your hand’s capacity to hold bolts for your crystalline crossbows.

Whenever you do, you may expend a number of crystal points of up to your Constitution modifier. For each crystal point spent, you increase the Capacity of one of your crystal crossbows by 1 until you next complete a long rest. (So if you want to enhance the capacity of 2 crystal crossbows, you have to pay the costs separately.) This way of spending crystal points reduces your maximum of crystal points by the amount of crystal points spent until you complete a long rest.

Crystalline Shrapnel

At 6th level, you may add the Spread rate of fire to a crystalline crossbow when customizing it after a long rest. Adding Spread to a crystalline crossbow reduces your crystal points maximum by 2 per hand modified.

Lethal Crystal Bursts

Beginning at 11th level, you can add the Burst rate of fire to a crystalline crossbow with a capacity of 3 or higher when customizing it after a long rest. Adding Burst to a crystalline crossbow reduces your crystal points maximum by 3 per hand modified. Additionally, you increase the base capacity of your crystalline crossbows to 3.

Crystalline Barrage

At 17th level, you can add the Automatic Fire rate of fire to a crystalline crossbow with a capacity of 10. Adding automatic fire to a crystalline crossbow reduces your crystal points maximum by 4 per hand modified.

Crystalline Crossbow Rules

Capacity. Each crystalline crossbow has a Capacity to hold a number of bolts before requiring a reload. This is denoted by the firearm’s Capacity rating.

Reload. Each crystalline crossbow holds a different amount of ammunition, as denoted by the Capacity value of the crossbow. Reloading a crystalline crossbow once its Capacity is emptied requires focused concentration and takes an action during combat.

Rates of Fire

Burst. The crystalline crossbow can fire short bursts, improving its damage. A burst consumes at least 3 bolts, but allows you to increase the damage inflicted on a successful attack by an additional damage die. A hand crossbow would deal +1d6 damage, for example, while a light crossbow would deal + 1d8 damage.

Spread. Crystalline crossbows with the spread property allow the wielder to affect more than one creature or object per shot, but only at normal range. When firing the crossbow, any creatures adjacent to the target must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + wielder’s proficiency bonus + wielder’s choice of either Intelligence or Dexterity modifier) or take damage equal to one die step lower than the base damage die of the firearm used. A crossbow with a base damage of 1d6 would for example deal 1d4 piercing damage to targets affected by such shrapnel, while a crossbow with a base damage of 1d10 would deal 1d8 piercing damage from spread fire.

Automatic Fire. Instead of shooting at a single target, crossbows with this rate of fire property can target a 10-foot cubical area within long range with bullets. Every creature in that area must succeed a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + wielder’s proficiency bonus + wielder’s choice of either Intelligence or Dexterity modifier) or suffer the damage of the attack.

Creatures take no damage on a successful save. Targets have advantage on their saving throw if the distance is equal to or greater than the weapon’s normal range.

An attack with an automatic fire crystalline crossbow consumes at least 10 bolts.

Designer’s Note

The crystalline cannonade’s system is intentionally designed so it works with firearms. GMs who do not want black powder firearms in their campaign still can easily use the crystalline cannonade.

Reaving Vortex

Some colliatur reavers learn to grow razor-sharp filament wires from their bodies, whipping them around with a flick of the wrist, standing immovable in a vortex of destruction as the filament-wires cut apart any opposition.

Reaver’s Filaments

Starting at 3rd level, you can generate deadly reaver’s filaments-crystalline, fragile and dazzling, the reaver filaments deal the same damage and damage type as the one chosen for the Claws of Crystal class feature.

Reaver filaments are treated as monk weapons. Reaver’s filaments are ranged and melee weapons at the same time and may be used to attack adjacent foes without suffering from disadvantage. When used as melee weapons, reaver’s filaments have the reach property.

When you use them as ranged weapons, they are subject to cover and all usual modifications for ranged attacks and have a range of (20/40). You can wield one reaver filament per hand. The usual rules for two-weapon fighting apply when using two filaments. A filament requires gestures to execute attacks, thus you needs to have nothing but the filament in your hands to direct the attacks. Reaver’s filaments are not precise enough to open doors, pick locks or perform similar actions.

Reaver’s filaments have hit points equal to your Wisdom score, a damage threshold of 0 and, if destroyed, can be reformed as an action that provokes opportunity attacks.

Filament Superiority

Beginning at 6th level, you may perform devastating tricks with your razor-sharp filament wires.

Maneuvers. You learn two maneuvers of your choice, which are detailed under “Maneuvers” below. Maneuvers enhance your attack or defense in some way. You can use only one maneuver per attack with a filament and may only use them when attacking with a filament. You learn one additional maneuvers at 11th and 17th. Each time you learn new maneuvers, you can also replace one maneuver you know with a different one.

Filament Dice. You have four filament dice, which are d6s. A filament die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended filament dice when you finish a long or short rest. You gain an additional filament die at 11th and 17th level.

Saving Throws. Some of your maneuvers require your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows: 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity or Constitution modifier (your choice)

Maneuvers

  • Extending Filaments. You can expend a filament die when making a ranged attack with a reaver’s filament to increase its range. Roll the filament die and then expend a number of crystal points up to or less than 1/2 the number rolled, minimum 1. For each crystal point expended, you increase the range of your reaver’s filaments by +(10/20) for a number of rounds equal to the result of your filament die or until you complete a short or long rest, whereupon the range resets to normal.
  • Filament Exchange. You may, as an action, roll one of your filament dice. You gain a temporary number of crystal points equal to the number you rolled. These temporary crystal points last for a number of minutes equal to your proficiency bonus plus your Constitution modifier.
  • Filament Pacification. You may, as a bonus action, expend one of your filament dice to add Pacifying Strike’s effects to all attacks you execute with your reaver’s filaments for a number of rounds equal to the number rolled on your filament die.
  • Filament Parry. When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and expend one filament die to reduce the damage by the number you roll on your filament die + your Dexterity modifier. If you expend 2 crystal points, you may also use this ability to reduce the damage you incur from ranged attacks.
  • Filament Push. When you hit a creature with a filament attack, you can expend one filament die to attempt to drive the target back. You add the filament die to the attack’s damage roll, and if the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you push the target up to 15 feet away from you.
  • Filament Reposition. When you hit a creature with a filament attack, you can expend one filament die to maneuver one of your comrades into a more advantageous position. You add the filament die to the attack’s damage roll, and you choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you, That creature can use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks from the target of your attack. Since you lift your ally through the air with your filament, the movement may ignore terrain that costs additional movement and you may lift your ally with your filament over obstacles, provided you could lift the ally in question.
  • Filament Web. You can expend filament dice whenever a creature within 5 feet of you hits you with a melee attack. One of the razor-sharp filaments cuts into the attacker, who takes damage equal to the filament dice you expend plus your proficiency bonus.
  • Whirling Trip Attack. When you hit a creature with a filament attack, you can expend one filament die to attempt to knock the target down. If the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you knock the target prone and it can be moved around by your filament for 5 feet times the result of your filament die. You may expend an additional filament dice to increase the damage at 11th level and 17th level.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Underworld Races and Classes © 2017 AAW Games LLC; Designers: Thilo Graf and Mike Myler

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