The Draconid Strain

Draconid is the Umbrella Term used by outsiders to refer to the Descendants of Tiamat, the Mother of Dragons, they themselves referring to each other as Tarosh, meaning “Fellow Child” in their Ancestral Tongue, The Nald.

Homeland:

Draconids are native to the Desert Region towards the far east of the continent. It goes by many names, depending on who you ask: The people of Ashuur mockingly refer to it as The Dustbowl, while the people of The Conflux Tripact refer to it as The Land of Sand and Ruin and others have different names for it still. The Draconids however know it as Dracoris, the Ancestral Homeland of the First Dragons.
Some of them still live in the crumbling remains of their once great civilization, either seeking refuge in Sacromas, the Capital and last remaining City of the old Draconid Empire, or make due as nomands, traveling between the few scattered oases that stretch from the north to the south of Dracoris. The majority however have abandoned their homeland hundreds of years ago, now living as minorities in the cities of other civilizations or as migratory clans in search of a new place to call their own.

Faith and Culture:

The faith practiced by most Draconids is The Ruumush Amat, meaning “the Words of the Wise ones”, though it is also referred to as “the Creed of the Allmother” or simply the “Dragon Cult” by the uninitiated. According to this Faith, the World and all that inhabit it were created by Tiamat and her First Children, the Dragons, who were destined to rule over her creation. The faith puts a heavy focus on performing ones duties, honoring ones family and respecting the Draconid Blood.
Cultural Practices of Draconids vary from place to place, but one thing almost all of them have in common is The Code of Flesh, a practice of ritualistic cannibalism during which an Elder will give their life and body to nourish their children and children's children, as this is believed to be the act which let’s their families Draconid Blood maintain its strength and purity.

General Appearance:

As this is really much more of an Umbrella term than anything else, Draconids physical characteristics vary greatly from individual to individual:
They have 2 arms and 2 legs. They average out at just above 6ft. (180cm) in height, though some tower over others with their immense heights of up to 8ft. (240cm) and others are as small as 3ft. (90cm).
Some are heavy and bulky, while others are thin, graceful and sometimes almost serpentine. Most tend to have tails, although there are also some rare Draconids that have several or none at all. Some have great jagged teeth and claws, others breathe toxic gasses, lightning or scalding vile acid.
All have protective scales covering most, if not all of their body, but there are some rare Variants with coats of fur or even feathers on parts of their body and even rarer Variants who’s scales display mineral-like qualities.
Finally, Some have heightened and supernatural senses and a select few blessed individuals even have wings.

Sexual Dimorphism:

Female Draconids generally are slightly taller and a bit thinner than their male counterparts, their scale patterns also tend to be a bit less vibrant.

Average Lifespan:

Draconids tend to live around 1 century, though there have been some individuals which greatly exceeded that lifespan.

Ancestral Blood:

According to Legend, Draconids once held the same Form their ancient ancestors had, that of a true Dragon. However, through the generations their bloodlines weakened, until they now possess the bipedal forms they have today.

Strain Abilites:

When choosing Draconids as your Primary Strain, you get the following abilities for free:

+2 to any one Ability Score and +1 to any other Ability Score

Proficiency in The Nald and one other Language.

Draconid Scales:

While wearing no armor, your AC equals 11 + your Dex. Modifier.

Draconid Arsenal:

Your unarmed Strikes deal 1d4 + your Str. Modifier in Damage

The exact appearance of varies widely, from sharp claws and Talons dealing Slashing Damage, reinforced Knuckles or a club at the end of your tail dealing Bludgeoning Damage or jagged teeth dealing piercing damage, feel free to get creative.

Draconid Resistance:

Your Ancestral Heritage grants you resistance to one Damage type of your choice excluding Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, Fire, Force and Psychic.

Should you choose the Draconid Breath ability, this also determines the damage type of your breath attack. This does NOT determine the color or pattern of your scales, as that part is supposed to be purely cosmetic. If you want to play a Gold-Red-Black Draconid that has resistance to Poison Damage that is absolutely possible.

Optional Strain Abilities:

The Following are Strain Abilities available to you by choosing the Draconid Strain: (As all other Strains, Draconids get 5 Strain Points (SP) and can get additional additional points by spending 2 Ability Score Points per Strain Point).

Gigantism: (1 SP)

Prerequisites: minimum +2 Strength from Strain, Class and Background.

This Ability Cannot be chosen with the Pygmy Strain Ability

There are Individuals amongst the Draconid Strain, who’s physical prowess greatly exceed that of others. These Individuals tower over their kin, wield greater power, carry greater burdens and are naturally much more intimidating. According to some, these Draconids still hold a greater connection through their Ancestral Bond to Tiamat, the Mother of Dragons.

Your Height Increases to anywhere between 7-8ft. (210-240cm).

The Damage Die of your Draconid Arsenal Increases by 1 stage to a maximum of 1d12.

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

You gain proficiency in the Intimidation Skill.

The Amount of Food and Water you need to Consume per day is doubled.

Pygmy: (1 SP)

Prerequisites: minimum +2 Dexterity from Strain, Class and Background.

This Ability Cannot be chosen with the Gigantism Strain Ability

Choosing this Ability Decreases the Cost of Draconid Wings by 1 point
Conversely, there are some Individuals amongst the Draconid Strain who are much lesser in stature than others. Seen as a deformity by some, the reality is that these Draconids are much better adapted to the reality of their current environment, a vast desert with little water and even less food. A small body requires less maintenance, and what they lose in raw power, they make up for in other ways.

Your Height Decreases to anywhere between 3-4ft. (90-120cm), your size category becomes small and your carrying capacity is halved.

You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Your base movement walking speed is set to 25ft.

You gain proficiency in the Stealth Skill.

The amount of food and water you need to consume on a daily basis is cut in half.

Bloodline of Ruu: (1 SP)

Prerequisites: minimum of +2 to Wisdom from Strain, Class and Background

Legends tell of the Ancestral Dragon Ruu, a direct descendant of Tiamat which never sired any children. There are some amongst the Draconid Strain which are born with strange features, distinguishing them as beings blessed by Ruu. Crystal scales and Psionic capabilities being most prominent amongst them.

While wearing no armor, your AC equals 12 + your Dex. Modifier. Furthermore, while wearing any armor type other than heavy armor, you gain a +1 Bonus to your AC. Your Scales grown from precious crystals are better at deflecting attacks than those of other Draconids and can even bolster the defenses of armor you are wearing, providing additional protection as long as that armor doesn’t cover your entire body.

You may choose Force or Psychic Damage for your Draconid Resistance Strain Ability and for the Draconid Breath Strain Ability.

You wield limited psychic abilities. You can use your action to mentally communicate with any creature within 30ft. of you. You do not convey actual words, but rather concepts and ideas, things such as Danger, Friend, Stay Back etc. As this communication does not require actual words, it can not only be performed with people, but anything capable of processing thoughts, such as animals.

You can also use an action to manipulate objects up to 5lb. (2.25kg) within 30ft. of you that you can see and are capable of moving them up to 5ft. in one turn. Examples of uses for this would be things like turning a key, opening a latch etc. You are however not capable of complex control which would be required for things like, writing, tying a knot or playing an instrument.

Advanced Psionics: (1 SP)

Prerequisites: The Bloodline of Ruu Strain Ability.

Your control over your psionic abilities is much more refined than those of most other Children of Ruu.

The Range of your psychic abilities increases to 60ft.

You can now use your telepathic skills to engage in conversation with any creature within range you can see that shares a language with you.

The weight you can move with your telekinetic abilities increases to 20lb. (9kg) and the distance you can cover within 1 turn increases to 15ft. You also gain finer control of your telekinetic abilities, letting you do things such as writing short messages, drawing a simple image or tying a knot.

Psionic Awakening: (2 SP)

Prerequisites: The Advanced Psionics Strain Ability.

You are a Psionic prodigy. Individuals which display such control over their psionic abilities are so rare, that there are no more than a handful born every 100 years.

The Range of your psychic abilities increases to 120ft.

Your telepathic communication skills no longer require a line of sight and can be effortlessly maintained meaning it no longer takes an action to use as long as your target is within the abilities range. You also no longer need to share a language with the target, but creatures without the intelligence to understand speech still only understand simple concepts or images.

The Weight you can move with your telekinetic abilities increases to 100lb. (45kg) and the distance you can cover within 1 turn increases to 30ft. You are also capable of manipulating objects with extreme precision, allowing you to write long texts in beautiful calligraphy, paint and draw complex images and operate complex mechanisms.

Finally, you gain Access to the Following 2 Abilities:

Fling: Allows you to spend your action throwing a light object (5lb. or less) that isn’t being worn or carried at a target within 30ft. of the object. The Target has to succeed on a Dexterity Saving throw (DC = 8 + your Wisdom Mod. + your proficiency bonus) or take 2d8 points of Damage of the most appropriate type (bludgeoning, piercing or slashing).
Kinetic Grapple: Allows you to spend your action trying to take a hold of any creature within 30ft. of you that is of medium or smaller size and that you can see. The target has to succeed on a Strength Saving Throw (DC = 8 + your Wisdom Mod. + your proficiency bonus) or be grappled.
You have to spend your action on subsequent turns to maintain this grapple, otherwise it ends automatically.
The target may use an action on its turn to repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. While you need to be within 30ft. of the target creature to use this ability, you can maintain it as long as you remain within 120ft. and keep a line of sight on the target.

Enhanced Arsenal: (1 SP; Can be taken multiple times)

Prerequisites: The Draconid Arsenal Strain Ability.

Some Draconids display especially dangerous natural weapons, be they long jagged claws and talons, vicious teeth, spiked tails or whatever else you can think of.

The Damage Die of your Draconid Arsenal Increases by 1 stage to a maximum of 1d10.

If taking this ability would increase the damage die of your Draconid Arsenal to 1d10, you also gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Hardened Scales: (1 SP; Can be taken twice)

While all Draconids have scales that grant them additional protection from attacks, there are some who’s scales have grown to be especially hardy, providing better protection than even certain types of armor.

While not wearing Armor, your AC Increases by 1.

Draconid Wings: (3 SP)

Legends say that the Dragons lost the ability to fly when Zargoran, the Thief of fire stole the divine flame of creation from them. Even today however, there are still Draconid Born that possess the capability of flight, though it is exceedingly rare. Being born with Wings is seen as a great blessing by many Draconids, a sign of prestige, pedigree and great destiny.

You have a pair of great Wings on your back, granting you a flying speed equal to your walking speed.

These wings are however a far call away from the wings of your true Dragon ancestors. As such, you cannot take flight while you are wearing medium or heavy armor and your flying speed is halved while you are above half your maximum carrying capacity.

True Draconid Wings: (2 SP)

Prerequisites: The Draconid Wings Strain Ability

You possess the Wings of a True Dragon, a symbol Power and Prestige unrivaled within Draconid society. It is said that those closest to true Dragonkind are destined to be great leaders.

You can fly even in medium and heavy armor and you fly at normal speed, as long as you remain under your maximum carrying capacity, even while carrying other creatures.

You gain advantage on all skill checks made to impress or gain favor with other draconids.

Draconid Breath: (1 SP)

Prerequisites: The Draconid Resistance Strain Ability.

Some Draconids have a special Organ within their body that allows them to generate a powerful discharge from their maw. What exactly it is varies from Individual to Individual, but acid and poison are the most common.

You can use your action to Discharge an elemental Blast from your maw, the damage type of which is based on your Draconid Resistance It just determines the Damage type, the visuals are up to you. If your Damage Type was acid for example, you could just be spitting a scalding jet of acid, or perhaps a green cloud of acidic gas, or something else entirely.

If you have the Extra Attack Class feature, you can replace one of the Attacks with your Draconid Breath, but you can do so no more than once per round.

When taking this action, you spend one of your Hit Dice, to emit a blast of energy in a 15ft. Cone or 30ft. line. Any Target within that area has to make a Dexterity or Constitution saving throw to be chosen when you pick this feature, taking 2d8 points of the chosen damage type on a failed save and half as much on a successful one.

You can Increase the Damage of your Breath Attack by spending additional Hit dice at a ratio of 1 hit die per additional damage die. If you spend 4 or more hit dice on a single Breath attack, its range increases to a 30ft. Cone or a 60ft. line, if you spend 8 or more hit dice, it increases to a 60ft. Cone or a 120ft. long 10ft. wide line.

Enhanced Draconic Breath: (1 SP; Can be taken twice)

There are some Draconids who’s Breath attack possesses a truly terrifying capacity for destruction. These Draconids possess acid breath that can eat through metals easily, poison breath which even affects those without the need to breathe or lightning breath that turns those killed by it to dust.

The Damage Die of your breath attack increases by one stage to a maximum of 1d12

If this ability causes your breath weapons damage die to increase to a d12, you also ignore any resistances of the target to your breath weapon and treat immunities as if they were resistances.

Diversified Resistance: (1 SP, can be taken twice)

Prerequisites: The Draconid Resistance Strain Ability.

Some Draconids have natural resistances that cover a much wider range of threats than those of others. Characteristic for these Draconids are special, eye-catching scale-patterns, but this is not a hard rule, just a general trend.

You gain resistance to an additional damage type you have not yet chosen for your Draconid Resistance Strain ability.

If you have the Draconid Breath Strain ability, this also gives you the ability to choose between your available damage types every time you use your Breath Weapon.

Perfect Adaptation: (3 SP)

Prerequisites: The Draconid Resistance Strain Ability.

Legends tell of a rare kind of Draconid, which not only imitates the protection the scales of true Dragons provide, but emulates it, granting them the ability to replenish their energy by consuming their element. These rare Draconids are said to hold the blessing of Neneth.

You now have immunity to the Damage Type you had resistance to through your Draconid Resistance Strain ability. If you picked the Diversified Resistance Strain ability, this only applies to the original damage type

Furthermore, you can now regain lost vigor by absorbing sudden bursts of the type of damage you are now immune to. for every 10 points of Damage you would take of this damage type from a single instance of damage, you regain 1 of your spend hit dice.

this means that if your damage type was cold, you would regain hit dice from being hit by a cone of cold, but not from standing in a snowstorm naked. This is an example, I'm sure people will test the limits of this plenty.

Nighttime Adaptation: (2 SP)

Some Draconids have developed the ability to see in total Darkness.

You gain Darkvision out to a range of 60ft.

Enhanced Senses, Smell: (1 SP)

Some Draconids have developed greatly advanced senses of smell.

You gain proficiency in the perception skill.

You gain advantage to all perception checks relying on smell.

Second Sight: (1 SP)

Prerequisites: The Enhanced Senses, Smell Strain Ability

A rare subset of Draconids has developed a sense of smell so sophisticated that it allows them to reliably pinpoint the location of certain smells around them.

You gain Blindsight out to a range of 30ft., as long as your sense of smell is not impeded.

Dragon Soul: (2 SP)

The Dragons Spirit is indomitable, unbroken and unbowed.

You are Immune to the Frightened Condition.

General Strain Abilites:

These abilities are available to all Strains.

Potential: (2 SP; Can be taken multiple times)

Increase 1 of your ability Scores by 1 to a maximum of 20.

Experience: (1 SP; Can be taken multiple times)

Gain proficiency in 1 skill, tool or language, or expertise in a skill or tool you already have proficiency in.