New Race: The Twylyth

[DangerDwarf]

This is a new race I allow in my Aihrde campaign. I wanted a more fey take on the elf so came up with this. Let me know what you think.

The Twylyth

Among the borders of the ancient Kellerwald, some few fey Twylyth reside among the human villages unbeknownst to most of the population. For reasons unknown, the fey beings of the old forest will occasionally leave their woodland home to steal away a human infant, leaving one of their own in its place.

These fey infants take the appearance of the child they are to replace and are raised by the human family as their own. Neither the Twylyth child nor the human parents are aware of the babes fey origins until the child reaches the human age of puberty, then the Twylyths body begins to undergo changes and its shape changing nature is revealed. This change often ostracizes the Twylyth from the community it was raised in, their former friends and family thinking the creature had purposefully deceived them all these years.

Those Twylyth who are not stoned or put to the flames by the superstitious villagers are often forced to flee their homeland and use their shape changing ability to create a new identity for themselves.

Description: In their true form, a Twylyth possesses many of the physical characteristics of an elf. Their skin is pale in color and they typically reach between 5 and 6 feet tall. The Twylyth are exceedingly thin with angular features, often times giving them an over all frail appearance. Their ears are long, almost twice as long as an elfs and taper to a point. A Twylyths eyes are usually extremely vibrant, possessing an otherworldly quality. Colors usually being blue, green or purple.

All Twylyths have extremely pale, almost white, blonde hair which usually has a slight tint to it based on the color of the feys eyes.

Personality: Overall most Twylyth possess guarded natures. This is due to them having to conceal their true nature from society in general. Most Twylyths suffer from being driven out of the communities they grew up in once their true natures were revealed. Their former friends and family often ostracize the confused fey once his nature becomes known to them, this effects individual Twylyths in differing ways.

Some become loners, living out their existence deep within the wilderness. Others become the boogie men of superstitious tales, taking out their revenge on those who shunned them. There are even Twylyth who seek to overcome the prejudice against them and seek to do heroic deeds.

Whether they seek to prove their worth through good deeds or become the nefarious creatures of fairy tales the Twylyths actions are often colored by their chaotic fey nature.

Racial Affinities: Sadly, most Twylyth have a longing for and understanding of the human societies which cast them out. Many Twylyth, once discovered, simply move on to a new area and assume a new human form and identity. Elves, for some reason, have an instinctive dislike of the Twylyth, even when they are not aware of their true nature.

Environment: Twylyths are rare, but when encountered they are usually found within human communities surrounding the Kellerwald.

Racial Traits and Abilities

Changeling: A Twylyth possesses the ability to change its shape once per round. With this ability a Twylyth can grow 1 foot taller or shorter, change apparent body weight from fat to thin, change ones hair color, grow facial hair, and change skin tone. These changes can make one appear as a member of another race or take on some of the characteristics of the opposite sex although their true sex is never changeable.

Physical Malleability: Any Twylyth with a physical attribute as a prime can utilize their shape changing ability alter their physiology slightly to allow them to make better use of their bodys strengths. To do so a Twylyth must spend a full round altering their form, and make a successful Constitution check with a Challenge Level of 3. Success allows them to split their physical prime with another physical attribute, effectively changing the base target number for each attribute to 15 (as opposed to 12/18). For example, a Twylyth with Dexterity as a Prime wants to lift a fallen tree off of his comrade. Making a successful Constitution role he is able to change his bodys physiology enough to make better use of his strength and his base Strength difficulty is now a 15 as opposed to 18.

Such fine manipulation of their body is tiring to the Twylyth and can only be attempted a number of times per day equal to 1 plus their constitution bonus. The effects last 10 minutes plus their constitution score in minutes.

Animosity: The folk lore surrounding the Twylyth is deeply ingrained into the general population, mothers often threaten unruly children with the likes of, If you dont listen the Twylyth will steal you away in your sleep and replace you with a child that does!. They are shape changers who can assume a different form at will so it is difficult for others to fully trust them.

All Twylyth suffer a -3 penalty to all charisma checks when dealing with anyone who knows their true nature. Elves and other fey creatures have an instinctual dislike for the Twylyth and the character will suffer a -2 penalty to all charisma checks when dealing with elves and the fey, even if they do not know the Twylyths true nature.

Some sages have theorized that the inherent dislike of the Twylyth by elves and other fey is due to the fact that the Twylyth were discarded to human society because of birth defects or some other anomaly making them undesirable to their fairy parents.

Cold Iron: The fey nature of the Twylyth makes them uncomfortable in the presence of iron. Coming into direct contact with the metal forces the Twylyth to involuntarily revert to their true form unless they succeed at a constitution check, the challenge level depends on the nature of the contact and will be determined by the CK. This forced transformation is painful and causes the Twylyth to suffer a -2 penalty to all actions for 1d4 rounds while they change.

Enhanced Senses: Same as elves.

Twilight Vision: Same as elves.

Spell Resistance: Same as elves.

Spot Hidden Doors: Same as elves.

Wenafars Boon: All of fairy-kind has an innate distrust and dislike of the Twylyth. Wenafar, the Faerie Queen however holds a special love for these discarded children. All Twylyth carry a pouch of animal bones, stones, feather and other small natural pieces. Once per week they can call upon the goddess to give them guidance and cast the divinatory tools to the ground. This ability functions just like the Augury spell.

Folk-Custom Vulnerability: The Twylyth is vulnerable to various folk customs regarding protection against the Fey. The CK is encouraged to develope as befits his campaign but the following are given as examples. The challenge level for each save is determined by the CK based on the situation. For example; a superstitious village wise-woman schooled in the lore of the fey using a circle of salt to keep a Twylyth away from her would be far more effective than a city dweller who heard a tale of it would be.

1. Making a line or circle out of salt possesses the ability to stop the Twylyth from crossing it. To bypass this the Twyleth must succeed in a Cha check.

2. Carrying Oatmeal in one's pocket can protect them from a Twylyth, placing them under the effect of a sanctuary spell in regards to the fey creature.

3. Four Leaf Clover: Carrying a 4 leaf clover can grant the holder a +2 bonus to all saves against magic cast by a spell casting Twylyth. Striking someone under the effects of a charm or curse cast by a Twylyth allows them a 2nd save at +2 in an attempt to break the spell.

Languages: Vulgate

Size: Medium

Movement: 30 feet

Typical Classes: Druid, Illusionist, Rogue, Assassin, Ranger.

Attribute Modifiers: +1 Dex, -1 Str, -1 Cha

Ranger Modifier: +1 to move silent, +1 to Conceal

Rogue & Assassin Modifier: +1 to move silent, +1 to listen, +1 to Hide

[Treebore]

Cool idea. I know I would be drooling to play one as a thief. Reminds me somewhat of the dopplegangers from Paladium.

[DangerDwarf]

The concept was initially inspired by the old stories of fairies replacing human children with theoir own changelings. I think in some folk lore they were called the Twyleth Teh or somehting similiar.

I've used them in a variety of games over the years, modifying them for the system.

In one 3e campaign I ran I used one as a reacurring villain. He kicked ass. He was a rogue and felt a great resentment against humans for them shunning him after he went through the change. He became a monster of their legends, using his shape changing ability to pose as people his victims would trust then steal away their children (he even ate them ).

In another cmapaign one of my players played one. She was a woodland witch sort and hid her nature from the party through most of the campaign.

[moriarty777]

I think it's pretty cool... I might tweak it *just* a bit (and I stress *might* because at it is... it's pretty much kick ass) and use it in my own Erde/Aihdre campaign if that's all right with you. I was thinking of having something a bit more 'fey' and the height is ideal (I personally dislike short elves but believe they should be a bit shorter than humans... elves would have an average height between this and humans -- but I digress). The prime 'altering' ability would make this decidingly unique.

I recently got my hands on the older d20 Codex... and wanted to do some converting as well as some changes. This is a good place to start.

Moriarty the Red
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[DangerDwarf]

moriarty777 wrote:
I think it's pretty cool... I might tweak it *just* a bit (and I stress *might* because at it is... it's pretty much kick ass) and use it in my own Erde/Aihdre campaign if that's all right with you.

I don't mind at all, tweak and use all you want.

Another idea I had toyed with was having them being vulnerable to various folk-customs to ward against the fey (cant cross lines of salt, etc) and requiring them to make a cha check to overcome it.

[moriarty777]

That is an interesting idea... especially considering the 'prime alteration ability' ... That's damned advantageous so this little hitch would provide just a bit more balance. Overall though... it could provide some interesting Roleplay situations!

One question though... I'm not entirely sure about the 'Find Traps bonus' but I think 'a bonus to Hide' might be interesting to consider.

Moriarty the Red
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[DangerDwarf]

The find traps was with their enhanced senses in mind, but I do like the idea of a hide bonus better.

I still hadn't had the chance to try this race in C&C so I'm curious to see how it plays out balance-wise. The prime-splitting ability is one of my areas of concern.

I think I am going to add the vulnerability to folk-customs in protecting oneself from fey. The CL could vary depending on the user of the custom. A villager who makes regular offerings to the little people and believes and knows all of the fey customs would be more effective then lets say a city dweller who heard about using salt.

[moriarty777]

With regards to balance... I agree that the Prime Ability split could be a tricky proposition. However, since we are talking about 'physical' stats, that would mean that one of the two prime choices would HAVE to be physical which is a bit of a limitation.

The added restriction of folk customs to ward against fey will help in terms of the balance.

The question that you have to ask yourself is this: Considering they are getting a bunch of the racial abilities of an elf... Will the inclusion of this one rock the boat? If so... tweak some of them... instead of +2 bonus to the skill related ones (like move silently)... how bout a +1 instead. The reasoning being having lived among humans, they haven't developed or refine these gifts as much as an elf would have. Since they can alter their primes... this will make up for the +1 loss to those racial abilities.

What do you think?

Moriarty the Red
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[DangerDwarf]

See, that's why I'm glad I posted it here. Your insight is helping round this race out a bit. I'm going to edit the original post with some changes.

With the elf race as the base, these were some of the changes made to account for the added abilities:

-1 to extra attribute (cha): Admittedly not a big downsize but it puts a little more to it. This is a reflection of their lesser sense of self as they live a portion of their life basically as a lie.

No bonus to a weapon: This "good" ability was traded out for the Wenefar's Boon, an interesting ability but less practical than +1 to hit with a weapon. This lowers the overall base a little as well.

Iron Weakness: Again, not a big setback, but another weakness that can be exploited (a wrought iron weapon strike having the potential to weaken their combat ability for a few rounds.)

Bonus Reduction: Dropped the bonus for move silent and such some (thanks Moriarty)

Folk Customs: Added three folk customs which can be used against them.

1. Making a line or circle out of salt possesses the ability to stop the Twylyth from crossing it. To bypass this the Twyleth must succeed in a Cha check.

2. Carrying Oatmeal in one's pocket can protect them from a Twylyth, placing them under the effect of a sanctuary spell in regards to the fey creature.

3. Four Leaf Clover: Carrying a 4 leaf clover can grant the holder a +2 bonus to all saves against magic cast by a spell casting Twylyth. Striking someone under the effects of a charm or curse cast by a Twylyth allows them a 2nd save at +2 in an attempt to break the spell.

Overall, this race is more "complex" than I prefer my races but from past experiences in other systems (2nd Edition and 3e) it did add some fun RP to the campaigns.

[moriarty777]

Glad to be of help! The more I thought about the race, the more I liked the idea. I'll definitely open the use of this in my campaign down the line.

Moriarty the Red
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[Maliki]

Looks good, this may make it into my campaign, when I begin the "A" series.
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[Treebore]

How do you determine the CL of the CHA check to bypass the salt?

Should this check be considered Prime for the race irregardless of whether or not they have CHA as a Prime?

[moriarty777]

In my opinion, it probably should be Easy (CL 1) under normal circumstances. I mean it's just salt afterall, a clever player noticing the salt could find a way around it or get rid of it.

The spirit of the 'folk' hinderances should be viewed as a Roleplaying Opportunity as opposed to a mechanic. But then again, that's only my opinion.

Moriarty The Red
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[DangerDwarf]

Treebore wrote:
How do you determine the CL of the CHA check to bypass the salt?

CK determines the CL level. In a majority of instances it will of course be one. However, there could be instances where it would be higher. For example, a village herbalist who regularly leaves out offerings to the fey and Wenafar, one who knows the lore of the fey and holds tightly to the superstitions could possibly have a CL of 2 or 3.

Quote:
Should this check be considered Prime for the race irregardless of whether or not they have CHA as a Prime?

No, not prime unless character has prime for Cha. The Twylyth does however, add their level to the role. The less experienced fey have been raised with the superstitions as well so are more prone to believe them. As he gains in experience he is less likely to be affected by such things.

[DangerDwarf]

moriarty777 wrote:
In my opinion, it probably should be Easy (CL 1) under normal circumstances. I mean it's just salt afterall, a clever player noticing the salt could find a way around it or get rid of it.

Very true, especially when you consider the nature of the C&C game. A PC Twylyth will likely have non-affected party members with them as they travel. It would be nothing for another to brush the line aside. I'd be prone to allowing a magic using Twylyth to creatively use pprestidigation or other such spell to bypass the line as well.

[moriarty777]

Another point I just thought of... just in terms of covering the bases.

The race should not be able to use their Prime Ability Split to augment another physical ability that is already a Prime.

For example:

Character has Str and Con as Primes... the character cannot split his Str to augment his Con prime even more.

Keeping that in mind and using the above example... What do you think about allowing a character who wants to alter his two physical primes (being Str and Con) in order to make Dex a full prime? It would take a round for each ability.

I dunno ... might be a tad powerful. Perhaps the race should be limited in the sense that a prime has to be chosen from Physical and the other Mental... that would eliminate this question all together. Or just allow one physical stat to be 'split' at one time.

I think I prefer the last suggestion the best... allowing just one physical stat to be 'split' at one time. The advantage in this case is that a character with two physical primes has the choice of which to split.

Moriarty the Red
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[Inkpot]

DangerDwarf wrote:
I think in some folk lore they were called the Twyleth Teh or somehting similiar.

I believe what you're remembering is the Tylwyth Teg (the fair people). This is an all-encompassing term used to describe the fey, much like "the Gentry" or the "Leannan Sidhe".

Changelings in folklore were notoriously ugly, malnourished, and sickly. The basic idea was that the fey would steal a healthy human child and replace it with one of their sickly ones - nice folks, those fey. A popular method for discovering a changeling was to boil water in an eggshell, which would cause the changeling to cry out:
"Old I be, as an old oak tree, but boiling water in an eggshell I never did see!" Which would, of course, reveal the changeling for what it was. Of course, the darker side of folklore has mothers throwing the baby into running water - if it sank, it was a changeling. Hey, no one said it was a GOOD method....
And that's waaaaay too much information. I've just revealed my geekishness yet again!

I really love what you've done here, DD! Any time someone mentions the fey, I come running. If you haven't already, check out my faerie pdf on the cncplayer.net site. And if memory serves, Serleran has put together a nice little encyclopedia of the fey. At any rate, thanks for sharing this! Nice work!

Ink
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[DangerDwarf]

Thanks Inkpot, I'll definately check out the faerie PDF. I've always liked to make use of folklorish elements to my games.

In previous games I've used the Twylyth in th e reasoning behind their fey parents trading them out was because they were considered deformed by fey standards (usually the result of breeding with a non-twylth) and it was more acceptable for them to have a human "pet" than it was to have a deformed child.

Thanks again for the additional info and jogging my memory on the correct term I was thinking of.

[DangerDwarf]

moriarty777 wrote:
Another point I just thought of... just in terms of covering the bases.

The race should not be able to use their Prime Ability Split to augment another physical ability that is already a Prime.

For example:

Character has Str and Con as Primes... the character cannot split his Str to augment his Con prime even more.

Keeping that in mind and using the above example... What do you think about allowing a character who wants to alter his two physical primes (being Str and Con) in order to make Dex a full prime? It would take a round for each ability.

I dunno ... might be a tad powerful. Perhaps the race should be limited in the sense that a prime has to be chosen from Physical and the other Mental... that would eliminate this question all together. Or just allow one physical stat to be 'split' at one time.

I think I prefer the last suggestion the best... allowing just one physical stat to be 'split' at one time. The advantage in this case is that a character with two physical primes has the choice of which to split.

Moriarty the Red

Yes, my intent was to allow them to use one Physical Prime to bump up a non-prime physical attribute.

So, perhaps this wording will work better:

Physical Malleability: Any Twylyth with a physical attribute as a prime can utilize their shape changing ability alter their physiology slightly to allow them to make better use of their bodys strengths. To do so a Twylyth must spend a full round altering their form, and make a successful Constitution check with a Challenge Level of 3. Success allows them to split one of their physical primes with another physical attribute which is not a prime, effectively changing the base target number for each attribute to 15 (as opposed to 12 & 18. For example, a Twylyth with Dexterity as a Prime wants to lift a fallen tree off of his comrade. Making a successful Constitution role he is able to change his bodys physiology enough to make better use of his strength and his base Strength difficulty is now a 15 as opposed to 18. The Twylyth cna only use this ability to enhance a single non-prime physical attribute at a time.

[moriarty777]

Dare I say it... Pefection!

Thanks DD!

Moriarty the Red
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[gothmog06]

why not have them all over the place not just along the Kellerwald?

[DangerDwarf]

No reason other than the fact that folklore is usually regional in nature. In my campaigns, folklore usually has a basis in truth, if it is not mostly true.

In my campaign, the humans near the kellerwald tell tales of baby snatching fey, which makes them in part correct.

Truthfully, such a creature could reside anywhere in Airdhe, I just prefer to localize.

[Julian Grimm]

Very nice! Any chane you have a PDF of this?
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