Dice-kin (5e Race)

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Dice-kin

“	One who doesn't throw the dice can never expect to score a six.	”
—Navjot Singh Sidhu

Living Dice

By Yanied

Dice-kin, also known as lucky bastards, are a race that appears to living polyhedrons of a specific set of shapes. The two main subraces are the cubes (d6) and the icosahedrons (d20). There rare variations that appear to be triangular tetrahedrons (d4) and octahedrons (d8). The cubes and tetrahedrons are always found in groups of three, while the icosahedrons are standalone. Octahedrons are found in duos. Cubes tend to be white colored, with black dots on each of their sides, from 1 to 6. They have small arms that stick out from their sides and thin legs underneath. Their dominant face appears to just be a line while the black dots form their eyes. Cubes are around a foot to two feet tall, each.

All dice-kin varieties other than the cubes use numbers on their faces rather than dots. Tetrahedrons are unique in that their heads appear to be the pyramid-like dice, while their actual body is a blob-like shape underneath with vague arms, legs, and torso. They are only a foot tall, each. Octahedrons and icosahedrons have their limbs sticking out from their dice body, like cubes do. Icosahedrons are the largest, being up to 4 feet tall. Octahedrons are usually only around 2 feet tall.

Dice-kin are so-named for obvious reasons. They are basically sapient dice beings. True to their nature as a tool of chance, dice-kin like to throw themselves and each other to make decisions and also cause all sorts of strange havoc due to the odd forces of luck infused into their very existence. Despite their limbs and other bodily irregularities, they will always function as normal dice do when thrown. So, even if a tetrahedron dice-kin looks odd, with its blob body, it will toss and land fine as a dice.

Gamblers of Fate

Dice-kin are natural but extremely rare occurrences born of nothing more than sheer luck in the most unlikely of circumstances. Exactly what that means is up to interpretation. One could say that when something with such a small chance of occurring happens, that it spawns a dice-kin somewhere in the world. For example, let's say that a virgin human woman gives birth to a baby despite being a virgin. That improbable event would fall under the categories of statistical impossibility that spawn a dice-kin. Why is that? Supposedly, luck sometimes manifests multifold when something truly miraculous and likely impossible happens in the world. A larger event, like some blind, elderly beggar singlehandedly taking down an illithid nest with nothing but a rotten pumpkin as a weapon would possibly birth multiple dice-kin due to the magnitude of impossibility. Strange things have happened enough in history that enough of these little dice creatures came to exist in a small, but decent number.

As a result of their odd birth, dice-kin are known to be omens of luck. They have the ability to manipulate fate itself with their bodies. However, when a dice-kin accrues too many "bad rolls," they risk being retired to a dark place, banished from existence by the same fortune that spawned them, but now turned into misfortune. This, to dice-kin, is their form of death. This doesn't deter dice-kin, however, from rolling with their all and hoping for the best.

The Perfect Sphere

Dice-kin have a unique religion not tied to any known deities of fate. They pray to the legendary D1; a dice that always has luck in its favor, for is a perfect sphere that has no flaws. The sphere also represents the three-dimensional shape of life for dice-kin, as well as the single one thing that is a constant in the world: chance. Spheres and orbs are thus a sacred shape for dice-kin, and these will usually decorate their spaces of worship. Dice-kin adventurers may also be drawn to random perfect spheres, like the orb of a fortuneteller or the globe in a headman's study. Not necessarily all dice-kin are religious, though. Some believe the D1 is actually a perversion of chance, as it is perfect, which is antithetical to their existence based on gambling against odds.

Opposite the D1 is a vague interpretation of dice-kin afterlife. As mentioned before, dice-kin "die" when they accrue too much bad luck rolls. Where they go is a mystery, known colloquially by multiple names like "the bad bag," "bad luck box," or just "the box" or "the bag." The idea is that they taken "out of play" for being too unlucky. Their physical existence is entirely removed when they are banished to this place, hence their death. Some witnesses say they literally saw some bad luck dice-kin get scooped up by some detached hand that throws them into some interdimensional bag from which they are never seen or heard from again. The hand and bag then inexplicably vanish. Perhaps that is the concrete manifestation of the world's true deity of luck and fate. Who knows.

Gathered Bundles of Chance

Dice-kin gather only among their own shapes. So, only icosahedrons will gather with icosahedrons, and only cubes will gather with cubes. They are highly avoidant of mixing, as it does not provide "proper chance" per the D1's teachings. Of dice-kin, cubes are the most numerous and common. However, there exists only one known settlement of theirs, and it exists within a human city. Their enclave within this city is seen as very strange and built around a temple to the D1. Other dice-kin are largely wandering groups in smaller numbers, with the icosahedrons being the rarest of them all and with the most wanderlust. As such, icosahedrons do not form any cohesive groups, unlike the other dice-kin groups.

Natural Gamblers

The personalities of dice-kin vary based on the dice base. Icosahedrons (d20) are individualistic and highly volatile. They are capricious and like to change their mind as they see fit. One day, their favorite hobby is knitting; the next, kickball. Another thing is that they are heavily drawn to risk. The saying of "high risk, high reward" applies best to their mindset. This makes icosahedrons very difficult to get along with, as they can even turn on allies if they so feel like it. Because of this, icosahedrons statistically have some of the highest amounts of possible bad luck and are most prone to being wiped from existence. However, they also can reach the highest value of dice-kin. If nothing else, icosahedrons consistently look at wins and losses equally. To them, a loser that bet big and lost big is at least admirable for not being a coward from probability.

Cubes (d6), octahedrons (d8), and terahedrons (d4) are never alone, unlike an icosahedron. They are known as grouped dice-kin, since they are never solo. Cubes and tetrahedrons travel in trio; each one in a trio is supposed to have a distinct personality that, when put together, make a balanced whole. For example, one in a trio might be an eager beaver and another is a cautious person, with the last trio member being mellow and lackadaisical. Octahedrons travel in duos and have a similar dynamic where the two dice balance each other out. These grouped dice-kin become volatile and irritated when separated from their group. It is believed some kind of link exists between those of a group that cannot be broken, leading some to suspect they are actually a single entity split into parts. Due to the balancing act formed by their groupings, these dice-kin tend to be more stable and accrue more "mediocre" rolls, as the icosahedrons like to say.

Dice-kin Names

Dice-kin names are based on chance, as that is the crux of their lives. Roll a d8 to determine how long your name is. Then, roll a d20 a number of times equal to the result, having each number correlate to a consonant in alphabetical order (B=1, C=2, D=3, etc). Y is considered a vowel here. Roll a d2 to see if you are allowed any vowels (1=yes, 2=no). If you are allowed to use vowels, roll a d4 to see how many you get to add to your name, then roll a d6 a number of times equal to the result to determine which vowels you can use (A=1, E=2, I=3, O=4, U=5, Y=6). To figure out the placement of these vowels, roll a d2 after each consonant to determine if you will place the vowel there. If you end up not using all your vowels because the d2 deems it so, then you discard your remainder. And now you have a name!

Dice-kin Traits

Living dice!
Ability Score Increase. You do not gain any ASI. What you roll for what your scores are is what you get. Also, yes, you cannot use point buy. You must roll for all your scores. What you roll depends on your subrace.
Age. Theoretically, so long as dice-kin prove their luck, they will live forever, maybe. But since luck is fickle, they eventually retire sooner or later into some dark space that will never see the sun again. D20s have perhaps the largest amount of this issue with volatile rolls.
Alignment. Icosahedrons are chaotic chaotic. Everyone else is just chaotic neutral due to counterbalanced personalities. But, when separated any individual dice-kin is chaotic chaotic. All dice-kin are gamblers at heart and love risk taking to a certain degree.
Size. Your size is Medium, but in a different way depending on your subrace.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
Do I Know This?. When you hear or see a language that you don't know, you can roll a d2. On a 1, you suddenly know the language in both written and spoken form. This knowledge lasts for 1 hour, after which you will no longer understand the language until you roll successfully for it again. You can only use this trait once, regaining use after you finish a short or long rest.
Drop The Dice. You are immune to falling damage. You're dice. Dropping is what you do. Additionally, no matter what position you land in from falling or rolling, you only need to use half your movement speed to stand back up.
Construct. Dice are made from a variety of materials like polyester, wood, metal, etc. Your creature type is construct instead of humanoid. As such, spells like cure wounds don't affect you, and you are immune to spells like crown of madness or dominate person because they specifically target humanoids. You are immune to poison damage, being poisoned, and diseases. You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe. Rather than sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 6 hours each day. You do not dream in this state; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.
Living On Luck. Dice-kin rebrand their exhaustion levels as an unlucky meter. Each dice-kin subrace has a trait that requires them to roll themselves. They must use this trait at least once a day or suffer a level of unluckiness. Additionally, if they roll below a certain result depending on their subrace, they also take a level of unluckiness. The unlucky meter mechanically functions the same as exhaustion. When dice-kin reach six levels of unluckiness, they die and are destroyed for being "unlucky dice." If you roll maximum value on all dice rolled when you use this trait, you immediately clear all levels of unluckiness.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common. See also your Do I Know This? trait.
Subrace. Choose from the icosahedron, cube, tetrahedron, or octahedron.

Icosahedron

This is the all-or-nothing dice. Highest reward, greatest possible pain. You are the most ballsy of the dice, not afraid of being erased for living on the edge.

Ability Score Increase. Roll a d20 for each of your ability scores.
Size. Being the solitary and largest of the dice-kin, you stand alone.
Living On Luck (d20). When you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check, you can roll yourself (d20) as the dice, without any modifiers. If you miss the attack, or fail the saving throw or ability check, you take one level of unluckiness. On a roll of 1, you take 2 levels of unluckiness.

Cube

This is considered the safe dice. The grumpy dice is often at the bottom, carrying everyone. The top dice is the most volatile and eager to bet. The middle one is mellow and mediates between the two.

Ability Score Increase. Roll 3d6 for each of your ability scores.
Size. You are a grouped dice, consisting of three cubes. By standing on top of each other, you barely reach 4 feet.
Living On Luck (3d6). When you roll for damage, you can roll all of your dice (3d6) and add the result to your damage dealt. If more than one of your d6 rolls a result below 3, you take one level of unluckiness. If all three of your dice rolls below 3, you take 2 levels of unluckiness.

Tetrahedron

Tetrahedrons are unique in that they are born in groups of five, but only three will actually exist and be seen. Two of their pentuplet become a "binder" between the other three dice to grant them stability, making them a very unique kind of dice that have great capability to start, and then lower potential afterward.

Ability Score Increase. Roll 5d4 for each of your ability scores. The extra 2d4 disappears into the ether to become a binding glue for the remaining 3d4.
Size. You are a grouped dice, consisting of three tetrahedrons. By standing on top of each other, you barely reach 4 feet. Since your surfaces are not as easy to balance as a cube, you sometimes look a bit lopsided or unsteady. Thanks to the sacrificed 2d4, you at least don't fall apart when walking around disguised in a trench coat.
Living On Luck (d4). When you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check, you can roll one of your dice (d4) and add the result to the roll. If your roll is 2 or lower, you take one level of unluckiness.

Octahedron

Octahedrons are a stable choice of dice, seen in duos that call each other their "halves." They are like inseparable twins.

Ability Score Increase. Roll 2d8 for each of your ability scores.
Size. You are a grouped dice, consisting of two octahedrons. Your two parts are individually larger than tetrahedrons and cubes. Standing on top of your other half, you easily reach a bit over 4 feet.
Living On Luck (2d8). When you take damage, you can roll all of your dice (2d8), and reduce the damage you take by that result. If both of your dice roll 4 or lower, you take two levels of unluckiness.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 0''	+1d4	100 lb.	× (1d20) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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