Thrombulan (5e Race)

Author: Zhenra-Khal (talk) Date Created: 5-24-2022 Status: First Draft Editing: Don't edit without discussion. Unauthorized edits will be reverted.

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The Thrombulan race is part of the Z's Blood Magic sourcebook, and uses the mechanics and features presented therein.

Thrombulan

So named because they appear in their infancy as a large blood clot, a Thrombulan is a sentient, ooze-like creature seemingly made entirely of blood. Indeed, their origins lie in blood magic - Blood corrupted by the abuse of Hemocraft, given life by magic gone awry. Many Thrombulans arise from the corpses of slain blood magi, as their dark art remained in their ichor even as their life faded from the rest of their body. Often mistaken for vampires or shapeshifters, some Thrombulans can liquefy themselves to enter a foe's body and control it from within, or take on the form of humanoids they've slain.

Sticky Simulacrums

In their amorphous form, a Thrombulan strongly resembles a formless mass of congealed, clotted blood, whose color matches the blood of their progenitor - The creature whose blood the Thrombulan grew from, which usually either dies as it forms and grows in their veins, or is already dead of other causes when the Thrombulan forms from their residual essence.

In their humanoid form, a Thrombulan is physiologically identical to its progenitor. As such, many of them suffer consequences because they resemble their progenitor, who has been found dead or vanished. They may be hunted for "replacing" their progenitor like a shapeshifter would be, or they may have to learn to take up their progenitor's life in their place. If the first memories of a Thrombulan are those of fear and being on the run, they may be slow to trust - Or if their new life begins with the love of a family, being nursed as if they have amnesia, they may stop at nothing to protect those that show them kindness.

In addition to being subject to the repercussions of their unfortunate origins, a Thrombulan must continue to imbibe more blood to sustain themselves, a need that has a habit of landing them in hot water. In many cases, people will discover a Thrombulan when pets, criminals or wild animals start vanishing, only to be found later, desiccated husks lacking the faintest trace of lifeblood.

Contemplative Parasites

Despite their origins and hardships, Thrombulans are curious creatures by nature, being born into a life they must figure out quickly in order to survive. Their instincts are strong, and they learn awareness easily - And those that live more than a few months tend to pick apart the questions of existence, wondering why they were created all of the sudden, only to suffer and inflict suffering in order to continue living.

<More lore pending due to shortage of creativity juice>

Thrombulan Traits

Thrombulan

Creature Type. Humanoid

Ability Score Increase. Constitution +2, Wisdom +1

Age. Thrombulans reach maturity within a few days, and can live a theoretically-indefinite length of time, as their bodies do not suffer cell degeneration like other races.

Alignment. Most Thrombulans are neutral in regards to the struggles of the world, though their thirst for blood and apathetic self-preservation instincts can easily see them slide towards evil in the eyes of most sentient races.

Size. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base speed is 20 feet. You also possess a Climbing speed of 20ft.  

Aberrant Biology. Due to your unique physiology, you possess the following traits.

• You don't need to eat or drink, but you must consume at least 1 pint of fresh blood each day for sustenance.
• You have Resistance to Poison damage, and advantage on saving throws against disease and the Poisoned and Prone conditions.
• You are Vulnerable to Fire damage.
• When you rest, you cannot expend Hit Dice to heal yourself unless you can consume at least 1 pint of fresh blood for each Hit Die you expend. 

Amorphous Form. As an ooze-like creature, you can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. Additionally, you can end the Prone condition on yourself by spending 5ft of movement, rather than half your movement.

Finally, you possess the ability to maintain a humanoid form, in which you are indistinguishable from an ordinary humanoid. As an action, you can assume your humanoid form, often resembling the humanoid from whose blood you were born; You choose the exact appearance of your humanoid form, but your statistics do not change. Using your Harvest Ichor ability, moving through a narrow crack, using your racial Climb speed, or suffering Fire damage instantly causes your form to destabilize into your ooze form, revealing your true nature. 

Drink Ichor. You can drain the blood from a corpse within 5ft of you as an action. When you do so, if the creature has been dead no more than 1 minute, you gain enough nourishment to sustain you for a day, and you may immediately expend a number of Hit Dice not exceeding the creature's Proficiency Bonus, regaining hit points from them as normal. The creature must possess blood or some blood-like fluid in their body, and this ability cannot harvest blood from a creature more than once.

A corpse drained using this ability cannot be harvested using Corpse Magic.

At 3rd level, when you use this ability, you can store blood within yourself for later. With a single use of Drink Ichor, you can collect a number of pints of blood from a creature equal to the Maximum Number Of Harvests for its size. This stored blood lasts until you use it, and can be used to fuel your Hit Dice later via Aberrant Biology. You can store a number of pints of blood at one time not exceeding your Proficiency Bonus. 

Progenitor's Gift. You gain one of the following benefits, as you gain some knowledge and power from your progenitor.

• Darkchild: You gain darkvision with a range of 60ft. Additionally, whenever you begin your turn in dim light or darkness, your movement speeds increase by 10ft until the beginning of your next turn.

• Aquatic Adaptation: You gain a swimming speed of 20ft, and you can breathe both air and water.

• Aerial Adaptation: You gain a flying speed of 20ft. You cannot fly if you are wearing medium or heavy armor.

• Expended Talent: You gain proficiency with one skill and one tool of your choice, and you learn an additional language of your choice.

• Martial Might: You gain proficiency with light armor and simple weapons, plus two martial weapons of your choice.

• Magical Might: You learn one cantrip of your choice. Additionally, at 3rd level, you learn one 1st-level spell of your choice; You may cast this spell once without expending a spell slot, regaining the ability to do so when you finish a long rest, and you may also cast this spell using any spell slots you possess. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, plus one other language spoken by your progenitor.

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