Vanzatli'Driin (3.5e Race)

Author: Zhenra-Khal (talk) Date Created: 8/1/2018 Status: Complete so far. Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Vanzatli'Driin

An otherworldly race of eldritch fey, hailing from a shadowy realm where nature and madness entwine without bounds. Vanzatli'Driin, or Van'Driin for short(ish), are fey from a foreign plane with strange beasts and little light.

Personality

Despite their quiet outward nature, the Van'Driin is at heart a mad thing - Filled with rapid trains of thought and explosive emotion, yet none of that shows on the surface. They keep themselves as calm and grim as the shadows that shelter them, avoiding attention and thus persecution. When they allow themselves to relax, however, they tend to be talkative, if awkward, rambling about details to the point of forgetting what they were actually describing in the first place.

Physical Description

Resembling tall, slender elves at first glance, the Van'Driin tend to have dusky or ashy skin and greyscale hair; But despite the shades of black, grey and white, their hair tends to retain an iridescence, even in dim light. Their eyes tend to be the only thing vibrant about them, shades of every hue imaginable and intensity that makes them appear to glow.

Physically, there is almost no distinction between the two genders beyond their reproductive organs; This race has broad shoulders and broad hips, tending toward lean muscle and little to moderate body fat; Rippling muscle and jiggling rolls are as alien to the Van'Driin as the sun is, seen as failure to maintain the body properly, evenly and naturally, such as would occur from hunting and general exercise. Likewise, they have a tendency to keep long hair, which can be confusing for outsiders when combined with their patches of soft fur.

However, The Van'Driin also have features unlike other elves. Short horns poke through their abundant hair, often resembling those of a goat or antelope, or the antlers of a deer; These horns grow as they age, eventually becoming too large to hide by the time they are middle-aged. They have long, slender tails tipped with a tuft of hair, and their legs are digitigrade like a beast's, ending in pawlike feet with an appearance halfway between those of a wolf and a bird of prey.

The Van'Driin also typically have thick, soft fur along their hands and forearms, the lower halves of their legs, across their upper chest, inner shoulders and collarbone, and along the entire length of their spine; They typically possess no facial or body hair beyond this. Short retractable claws hide within the tips of a Van'Driin's digits, masquerading as ordinary but sharp fingernails and toenails until needed.

The final distinguishing feature of a Vanzatli'Driin is the dark-edged, vertical slit on their forehead. At first glance this just appears to be a mark, be it a birthmark or cultural habit, but in truth this slit is a closed eye, often kept shut as an attempt to fit in with other humanoid races.

As far as clothing, the Van'Driin prefer loose-fitting and comfortable clothes that don't bind their fluid movements, leave them vulnerable to the sun or advertise their aberrant forms; Things like trenchcoats are exceedingly common among them. Their clothing is typically a dark shade, so as to blend in with the shadow they so often find themselves in, and jewelry they wear tends to be worn underneath their clothing so as not to attract attention.

Relations

The Van'Driin tend to keep to themselves, trying to avoid unwanted scrutiny, and thus don't mingle with other races that much. Dwarves are suspicious of them, complaining that elves get stranger with every passing moon. Elves tend to find them equally fascinating and repulsing - Creatures of magic, impulse and the kiss of the wild, yet so alien and... Impure. Humans tolerate them as well as Humans really tolerate any race, though most of them can't tell a Van'Driin from a Tiefling, nor a Fey'ri from their own thumb, so Van'Driin tend to avoid Humans, the only common race quite possibly more unpredictable than the Van'Driin themselves. Halflings generally accept them, though even the good-natured nomads have a hard time getting used to them. Gnomes find them fascinating, though that doesn't say much, considering the fact that a gnome with nothing better to do could easily be guilty of chasing a single moth around for days on end, simply to count how many times it lands. Orckin and goblinoids dislike them, considering them no better than any other elf - Only good when roasted and drowned in crude beer.

Alignment

Bearing origins both Fey and eldritch, the mind of a Van'Driin is capricious at best, so it is hardly a surprise that a Lawful Van'Driin is as rare as one that worships the sun. While they initially mean well, both their alien origins and the prejudice they encounter tends to make them remain Neutral on the moral spectrum, but of course their are some cases where individuals were raised to be kind, away from the hate; While others still may have suffered their whole lives, breeding a bitter hate in their hearts.

Lands

Creatures to which sunlight is alien and harmful tend to avoid it, so you won't willingly find Van'Driin in the desert or at the beach; They tend to linger near shade and shelter whenever the sun is up. Typically, small Vanzatli'Driin communities can be found underground, or in forests whose canopies are so thick that sunlight never reaches the forest floor.

Religion

More intellectual than religious, Van'Driin tend to hold a healthy respect for nature, darkness and moonlight. Those that do take up religion tend to worship deities associated with nature, travel, the moon, magic, knowledge, shadow, and secrets, but Druids and Rangers are far more common among this race than Clerics and Paladins.

Language

Van'Driin speak Sylvan, though it is a specific dialect of it, with many words borrowed from Draconic and Terran.

Names

Van'Driin have no real naming tendencies, beyond their preference to choose, at adulthood, two or three names or name fragments, each with one or two syllables, and link them together with apostrophes; These are often either names borrowed from other races or just syllables the individual likes. Before adulthood, each Van'Driin have a "baby name" given to them by their parents, which typically only their immediate family is allowed to call them after adulthood; Though sometimes a couple syllables of their baby name end up mashed into their adult name.

Likewise, Van'Driin don't distinguish between male and female names, tending to prefer names that don't imply a gender.

Examples: Astor'Nyx, Calam'Fjor'il, Davn'Yril, Asph'Afodel.

Racial Traits

• Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence: Quick of hand and of wit, the slender, lithe form of the Van'Driin is agile and flexible, but not as robust as the bodies of other races.
• Type: Fey (Elf, Xenoblooded) 
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a vanzatli'driin has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Vanzatli'Driin base land speed is 40 feet.  
• Darkvision: A vanzatli'driin can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and a vanzatli'driin can function just fine with no light at all. 
• Elf Traits (Ex): Like their elven cousins, the Vanzatli'Driin gain a +2 racial bonus on Search, Spot and Listen checks, and may make a search check when within 5 feet of a hidden door as if they were actively searching for it. Search, Spot and Listen are always class skills for the Van'Driin.

Van'Driin are immune to magical Sleep effects, and gain a +2 bonus on Will saves against Enchantment effects. Van'Driin meditate in a trance instead of sleeping, needing only 4 hours of trance to gain the effects of 8 hours of sleep.

Lastly, unlike other elves, Van'Driin are immune to Confusion spells and effects, including the variant of Bestow Curse that prevents them from taking an action 50% of the time. 

• Curse of a Dark World (Ex): Coming from a demiplane with little light, and certainly nothing as bright as the sun present in most worlds, Van'Driin suffer in daylight. When abruptly exposed to bright light, a Van'Driin is Blinded for one round, and Dazzled as long as they remain within bright light. Additionally, effects such as Searing Light treat Van'Driin as if they were undead. Finally, a Van'Driin can remain in natural sunlight for a number of "safe" rounds up to their Constitution score; After that, they begin to take 1d6 nonlethal damage per round,bypassing immunity to nonlethal damage. Staying out of direct sunlight for 2 rounds restores one "safe" round. 
• Child of a Mad Kingdom (Ex): Van'Driin possess two primary Claw natural attacks, dealing 1d4 damage each. They also have a Rake attack, dealing 1d4 damage, plus one and a half times the Van'Driin's Strength bonus. Additionally, while the thick, soft fur on a Van'Driin's body doesn't cover enough to give much protection on its own, but a Van'Driin who is not denied their Dexterity bonus to AC can block with their furry forearms, shins and tail, granting them a +1 Natural Armor bonus to AC. 
• Dark Sight (Su): Upon reaching 5 HD, all Van'Driin gain the ability to see incorporeal and ethereal things as if they were corporeal, though they can tell the difference as incorporeal and ethereal things are hazy and transparent. Additionally, upon reaching 7 HD, all Van'Driin gain the ability to see normally in even magical darkness, such as that created by a Deeper Darkness spell. 
• Androgynous Appearance: Van'Driin have very androgynous features, even moreso than other elfkin. Thus, they all start with the Ambiguous Features trait as a bonus trait.
• Automatic Languages: Sylvan
• Bonus Languages: Common, Undercommon, Draconic, Elven, Abyssal, Infernal, Terran
• Favored Class: Any
• Level Adjustment: +1
• Effective Character Level: 2

Vital Statistics

Table: Vanzatli'Driin Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
150 years	+10d6	+10d8	+10d10

Table: Vanzatli'Driin Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
325 years	550 years	750 years	+12d% years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Vanzatli'Driin Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	7'	+/- 2d8"	200 lb.	+/- 2d12 lbs.
Female	7'	+/- 2d8"	200 lb.	+/- 2d12 lbs.

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