Ruin-Touched Lineage
When the great catastrophe struck, armies were obliterated, volcanoes arose, and the land itself was bleached of life. Those in the middle of the blast were annihilated, but on its edges, there were survivors.
These survivors were changed - touched by the magical explosion and altered by it. It is unknown whether the blast itself caused this, or whether some mysterious god of ruin claimed their bloodline amidst the chaos, but those known as Ruin-Touched are cursed. Ill fortune follows them wherever they go, their crafts fail, and those around them experience minor calamity with a grim inevitability.
Harbingers Among Us
Ruin-Touched may come from any species, and at a glance, are difficult to tell apart from normal members of their kind. But telltale signs reveal themselves, with close attention. A Ruin-Touched, when wounded, may leak a pallid, prismatic light. Their eyes gleam in the dimness, with a rainbow iridescence like an oil slick on water. And of course, things break around them. Machines fail, food stales, and wine sours.
When identified, Ruin-Touched are typically hounded out of their homes, cast out as cursemongers or witches. A not-insignificant number embrace this, putting their uncanny powers to service alongside darker arts.
Rumors abound that an entire society of Ruin-Touched lies across the western ocean - survivors of that first disaster, who fled en masse until they found safe harbor. Intrepid sailors who brave that storm-tossed sea sometimes claim to have seen corsairs whose skin leaks light.
Creating Your Character
When you create a Ruin-Touched character, select an existing species in your campaign world as your parent species. You have that species's size, speed, and superficial physical traits.
Ability Score Increase
You use your parent species's Ability Score Increases, but may freely move 1 point of those increases to another score of your choice, as long as that does not push an Ability Score Increase above a +2.
Type
You are a Humanoid.
Age
You have the same lifespan as your parent species.
Alignment
Ruin-Touched who live among other societies tend towards chaotic alignments, as order tends to break down around them. Ruin-Touched from across the Sea of Storms are inclined to law, as strict rules are necessary for their constantly-decaying civilization.
Size
Your size is the same as your parent species (either Medium or Small).
Speed
Your base walking speed is the same as your parent species (maximum 30 feet).
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and 1 other language of your choice.
Shifting Resistance
After every long rest, roll 1d8 on the below table to select a damage type. You have resistance to that damage type until you complete your next long rest.
| d8 | Damage Type |
|---|---|
| 1 | Acid |
| 2 | Cold |
| 3 | Fire |
| 4 | Force |
| 5 | Lightning |
| 6 | Poison |
| 7 | Psychic |
| 8 | Thunder |
Ruinous Magic
Starting at 3rd level, you learn the bane spell. You can cast it once with this trait, and can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast this spell using any spell slots you have.
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells (choose the ability at character creation).
Destroyer
You have advantage on ability checks or attack rolls to damage or destroy objects.
Limited Magic Resistance
Before you make a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, you can choose to have advantage on the roll. You can use this ability a number of times equal to 1 + half your proficiency bonus, regaining all uses after completing a long rest.
Chaotic Variation
Your chaos-tinged bloodline expresses itself in unpredictable ways. Choose one of the following traits.
Darkvision
You gain darkvision to 60 feet.
Swiftness
Your walking speed is increased by 5 feet.
Crumbling Touch
Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 force damage instead of the usual bludgeoning damage.
Voidgazer
You have advantage on saves to avoid being frightened or to end the frightened condition.
Surge of Misfortune
As an action, you may choose to intensify the chaotic energy that hangs around you. Every creature within 30 feet must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Ruinous Magic save DC or have disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks until the end of your next turn. You may designate a number of your allies equal to your proficiency bonus (but not yourself) to be immune to this effect.
You can use this ability once, regaining its use after a long rest.
Species Feats
The following are options for feats which can be selected only by ruin-touched characters.
Controlled Chaos
You gain more control when harnessing your innate chaotic impulses. You gain the following benefits:
- Increase your Constitution or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- When you roll to determine your Shifting Resistance, you may roll twice and keep both results. If both results are the same, you gain immunity to that damage type instead of resistance.
- You may select an additional trait for your Chaotic Variation feature.
Boundless Misfortune
You can afflict your enemies with ongoing misfortune. When you use your Surge of Misfortune, its lasts for 1 minute, and requires you to maintain concentration (as if concentrating on a spell). Targets can make a Wisdom saving throw to end the effect at the end of each of their turns, with a DC equal to your Ruinous Magic spellcasting DC.
In addition, your Surge of Misfortune now recharges after every short or long rest.
Changelog
v1.0
- Updated art and license
- Tweaked language in a couple spots
v0.5
- Fixed DC on Surge of Misfortune
v0.4
- Nerfed Boundless Misfortune
v0.3
- Nerfed Surge of Misfortune
v0.2
- Added species feats
- Fixed leftover language in Surge of Misfortune
v0.1
- Initial Release
Credits
Ruin-Touched Lineage created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon In collaboration with idbn
Art
Ruin-Touched Druid, by David Kovačič
Background Stains
License
© 2024 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.