Curse of Sedrak Template

Lurkers of forgotten places and benders of shadow and sporadically appearing across the clans, Draelish that channel Shadow Essence are known by their Affinity name as Sedrak. With tanzanite-colored eyes and purplish/dull or shiny grey with a hint of blue scales, da'Sedrak often channel their essence using shadow weave, chthonic fire, and other enigmatic forces.

Gameplay Traits

• Ability Score Increase. Draelish are known for their Strength and Constitution, exerting great physical force and having high resilience at the cost of lower flexibility. You increase your Strength and Constitution ability scores by 2 each, but you decrease your Dexterity ability score by 1.
• Creature Type. You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a Wand for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a Wand.
• Size. Your size is Medium. Draelish are taller and heavier than other humanoids, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging over 250 pounds.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Drael and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character, such as Regional (a catch-all term for the region's main language, also known as Common in 5e).

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• Core Affinity. You have resistance to the Fire damage type.
• Affinity Attribute: One with Shadows. You can hide using a bonus action if you are in dim light or darkness, with creatures having disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to see you even if they have darkvision.
• Subspecies Morphology. Choose one trait listed below to represent a Shadow Affinity's unnerving sense of observance.
• 1. Shadow Sight. You have superior darkvision, allowing you to see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were in dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
• 2. Fleeting Darkness. You have unnatural eyesight. You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 60 feet.
• Descendant of Terrible Might. Draelish possess ancient power, bending the world subconsciously to their will. You gain a bonus equal to half your proficiency bonus rounded down to one Saving Throw of your choice (choose which one when you select this template).
• Essence Channeler. Draelish have many powerful abilities locked inside themselves, unlocking them through intense training and strong resolution. You can cast the Shadow Bind* spell with this trait. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the Infernal Shackles* spell with this trait. Starting at 5th level, you can also cast the Mounting Paranoia* spell with it. Once you cast any of these spells with this trait, you can't cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this template).
• Curse of the Shr'keldar. You have disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed by Dragons.

Roleplay Traits

Below are additional traits called Talents and Restrictions that players and GMs can use when playing as a Draelish or Wildling or planning out an encounter. Designed to be more roleplay-centric in order to inspire the use of lore, players and GMs are encouraged to go beyond these traits when playing by using their knowledge of the world for problem solving. When playing as a Draelish, you must choose at least one Restriction of your choice. You can also pick up two Talents of your choice for each additional Resitriction you pick up beyond the initial one (For those who have played GURPS 4e and are familiar with Advantages and Disadvantages, this has been designed with that in mind).

Restriction: Bulky

• You have a harder time squeezing into smaller spaces (the Squeezing rules can be found in the PHB, page 192). You must spend 4 extra feet for every foot when moving inside a space that requires you to squeeze. If you are wearing heavy armor, you fail to move into the space unless your GM has you make an ability check or saving throw (the GM determines the DC).

Restriction: Hardline Traditionalist

• You have an innate resistance to change, especially when it comes to innovating technology or moving away from old customs. You have disadvantage on any ability check that involves understanding new forms of magic, tinkering with advanced machinery, or when convincing another Draelish to change or completely disregard a long-held tradition or way of life.

Restriction: High Metabolism

• Though you are naturally good at regulating your body temperature and can run with an extra burst of speed, you are not as efficient when traveling over a long period of time. You have -1 Stamina Points but when you dash, you can move an extra 10 feet.

Restriction: Intrinsic Opposition

• If you are a Kasniska/Sankara and are in relative proximity to a Sankara/Kasniska, make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, you feel compelled to either disregard them completely, act haughty or spitefully, or become angry.

Restriction: Intraspecies Dependency

• You gain disadvantage on all Charisma saving throws when you haven’t been around another Draelish or clan in more than a month. If you roll a critical failure on any Charisma saving throw while the Restriction is active, you immediately gain this Long-Term Madness for the next 1d10 hours: "The character feels compelled to repeat a specific activity over and over, such as washing hands, touching things, praying, or counting coins, especially in regards to a familiar activity." If you are without contact with another Draelish or clan for over a year, it is considered Indefinite Madness unless cured.

Restriction: Unusual Physique

• Due to your unconventional form (such as having additional appendages, a tail, or wings), armor costs and weighs 1.5x more than normal when made to fit you. Armor already made to fit a standard-sized humanoid must be resized to fit you, costing 0.5x its base value to adjust it to your physique.

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Talent: Carnivorous Stomach

• You can eat cuisine that others may find unappetizing or difficult to stomach, including bugs and raw meat (but not rancid). [Draelish have no qualms about eating the flesh of other creatures, though it is generally frowned upon to eat the flesh of a sentient, especially that of another Draelish. Typical Draelish meals include spicy curry, savory snacks such as salted bugs, or pungent, meaty stew.]

Talent: Duma's Law

• Essence fills you, protecting you from the Wilds and its interference with your Aspects. You experience no innate consequences for journeying through or living in the Wilds, but can still be affected by its Surges. [It is notoriously difficult for Hearts to travel across vast stretches of land or sea without encountering adverse effects, with most travel between the Northern and Southern Continent being nigh impossible because of it. Draelish, on the other hand, have far less difficulty.]

Talent: Lifeblood

• You can detect the direction of any area infused with Essence within 6 miles of you, and you can identify the potency (if it is a Spring, Pool, or Hotspot) when you are within 3 miles of it. If you are a Draelish, you only need 6 hours of sleep in order to gain the benefits of a long rest when you are within this area and a clan is not already present.

Talent: Low-Frequency Detection

• You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing if you are trying to detect the distance and/or direction of a large seismic activity such as an earthquake, volcano, tsunami, large thunderstorm, an approaching army, a roaring waterfall, or other sources that emit infrasound.

Talent: Relentless Spirit

• If you would take Exhaustion due to a spell, a magical effect, or natural circumstances, you can choose to make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw with advantage. If you pass, you do not take a level of exhaustion, regardless of the initial effect or natural circumstance. Once you use this ability, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Talent: Rudimentary Tools

• If you have natural weapons, such as a beak, fangs, talons, or claws, you can use them as makeshift tools, such as when digging or carving. You gain half proficiency when making an Ability Check when using your natural weapons if it makes sense to use them in the scenario provided.

Art by Sam Santala at artstation.com/samsantala

• Eye Color: Tanzanite
• Scale Color Scheme: Purple (Kasniska) or Lead Ore (Sankara)
• Essence Channeled: Shadow (Volatile form: Chthonic)

Click here to return to the Draelish Ancestry page.

Fun Fact:

• Shadow Affinity Draelish (along with Light) are the rarest type of Core Affinities found. The clans say that one is born a Light or Shadow Affinity depending on how their ancestors lived, with heroic deeds attracting Light Essence and dark deeds attracting Shadow Essence.

Spells with an asterisk (*) next to them come from KibblesTasty's Casting Compendium, which is found here.

Sedrak Spell Theme

If you are playing as a Sedrak Draelish spellcaster (Drael: "Duumarle") and would like to theme your spells after your Affinity (or see what would most likely be their in-universe essence expressions in 5e), the following spells would act as forms of channeled Shadow Essence:
Cantrips:

• Shadow Lash*

1st-Level Spells:

• Arms of Hadar
• Hellish Rebuke
• Shadow Bind*

2nd-Level Spells:

• Darkness
• Infernal Shackles*
• Shadow Blade
• Unholy Wave*

3rd-Level Spells:

• Animate Shadow*
• Hungering Void*
• Hunger Of Hadar*

4th-Level Spells:

• Devour Shadow*
• Evard's Black Tentacles
• Shadow Of Moil

5th-Level Spells:

• Divide Self*

6th-Level Spells:

• Tasha's Otherworldly Guise

7th-Level Spells:

• Hellfire Pit*

8th-Level Spells:

• Illusory Dragon