Snowfolk

Snowfolk were simple snow sculptures made by children that became magically animated and sentient. Most snowfolk are made of three balls of snow of varying sizes, with the smallest ball as their head. They have sticks for arms, and sometimes a carrot nose.

Hardy Snow

The magic that animates a snowfolk also grants them a measure of protection against normal melting. Snowfolk don’t need freezing temperatures to exist, but they do feel most comfortable in the cold.

Although they won’t naturally melt, they are very susceptible to fire and avoid it at all costs.

Winter Escapades

Snowfolk are most likely to be encountered in cold climates.

They feel a close affinity with whoever the last person was to awaken them and usually try to accompany them.

Snowfolk become local celebrities in remote, wintery villages and are either seen as protectors or omens of good luck. Adventurous snowfolk make excellent winter foragers and rescuers, due to their ability to ignore freezing cold temperatures.

Bound Soul

When a snowfolk is created, they gain a soul that is bound to a piece of their construction, like a hat or a pipe. As long as that object remains, a snowfolk can be transferred to a new body by placing their bound soul in a new snowy sculpture. The snowfolk retains all of their memories and abilities when this happens.

Snowfolk Traits

You gain the following traits as a snowfolk.

• Ability Score Increase. You gain a +2 and +1 bonus to two different ability scores of your choice, or +1 to three different ones.
• Age. Snowfolk are created magically and don’t have different stages of life. A newly created snowfolk has the basic knowledge of a young child. A snowfolk’s body lasts for up to 5 years before deteriorating, but they can be moved to a new body indefinitely.
• Size. A snowfolk’s body shape changes depending on the type of snow sculpture they were made from. Snowfolk typically stand between 4 and 5 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
• Snow Body. As a creature made of magical snow, you gain immunity to cold damage but vulnerability to fire damage. You are adapted to the most extreme cold environments. You ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a cold environment.
• Bound Soul (Major Feature). Your soul is bound to a specific piece of your construction, like a hat, pipe, or button eye. Your soul is tied to this object. If you die, and your bound soul can be recovered, you can be brought back to life. A new snow body must be built for you, using magical ingredients worth 500 gp, and your bound soul must be incorporated into this new body (we assume that the ingredients are common enough that any alchemist or magical shop could provide them). After 24 hours, you come back to life with 1 hit point. This causes strain on your soul, and you take a -4 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. Every time you finish a long rest, the penalty is reduced by 1 until it disappears.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial.

Major Features

Choose one of the following major features. You can exchange this major feature for two minor features.

• Cold Breath. You can use your action to exhale cold in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use your cold breath, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
• Ice Form. Because your body is made from snow, you have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
• Snow Magic (Magic). You know the friends cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ice knife spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the snowball swarm spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. You don’t require material components for these spells. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Minor Features

Choose two of the following minor features, or four if you didn’t choose a major feature.

• Cold Acclimation Aura. Characters within 30 feet of you do not feel the effects of cold environments. Characters within this range can ignore any of the drawbacks cause by a cold environment.
• Disconnected. If any of your limbs or appendages are severed, you can reattach them as an action. Your limbs continue to function when separated, although they are limited in the actions they can take. For example, if your head is severed, you can still see from it but the head itself can’t move. In general, a severed appendage can’t take actions or make attacks.
• Fluent. You can speak, read, and write two additional languages of your choice.
• Friendly Face. You have proficiency in the Persuasion skill.
• Leave Snow Trace. You leave no tracks in icy or snowy terrain. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide in this terrain.
• Long Series of Bodies. You have proficiency in the History skill.
• Snowballs. You can conjure snowballs from your body to throw. Your snowballs are considered a ranged weapon with a range of 30/90 feet, and you are considered proficient with them. You can use your Strength or Dexterity score for determining the attack roll, and your snowballs deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage plus your Strength or Dexterity modifier. Because of your skill with throwing snowballs, you are considered proficient with any thrown weapons.
• Trained Tools. You have proficiency in two tools of your choice.

Snow Body

Vulnerability to fire damage is a huge weakness and isn’t represented in any other ancestry in these rules. However, we feel that it fits the idea of a magical snowfolk and have decided to include it.. As a weakness, it easily offsets the benefits from an immunity to cold damage and cold acclimation. Because of this, Snow Body is essentially a free feature for the snowfolk. If you don’t want to have snowfolk have such a weakness, you can reduce their immunity to cold damage to resistance instead, and increase the amount of fire damage they receive from any source by an amount equal to their proficiency bonus.