Dryt (5e Race)

Dryt

As the meeting room becomes tense with disagreement and anger, a softly featured, the green-skinned individual stands and calms his companions with fascinating ease as he speaks in soft word and gentle lulls.

The orc has fought long and hard against the plant man he duals but despite the numerous successful strikes with his greataxe and his own grievous injuries from the man's blades of bone, the plant man stands unharmed his flesh knitting itself back together.

The green-skinned mechanic finishes modifying his creation, while the battle rages on, knocking a bolt into place here, tightening a screw there, and commanding the archers that they should strike about 20 feet further north, before eyeing the perfect spot for his creation to take the spotlight.

The large worker, green of skin, is struck thrice in the back by purple bolts of energy. Barely fazed, she looks back, gently places the crate half the size of a house, and turns to fight.

Physical Description

The dryt are a largely social plant-people, with more-than-adequate natural adaptations that form the divides in their species. Overall, their visible body structure is similar to most humanoids, which varies depending on their sub-race. Beyond their chlorophyll-coloured skin, the most differentiating features are found at each dryt's head. To start off, they have wholly black, almost vapid eyes, which constantly seem to stare directly at you. They also have wide jagged mouths and look not dissimilar to a rough cut-out of a jack-o-lantern. Their noseless visage should, by all means, come across as scary and ward people away, however, due to their innate psychic prowess and naturally social nature, they are a friendly and often initially misunderstood race. They possess full heads of hair, usually of a darker green than their skin, though this sometimes varies into other natural colour that resembles fauna, due to having retinal instead of chlorophyll. In their hair, dryt have small flowers, differing in colour from dryt to dryt, which give off a fragrant smell at certain times of the year.

Dryt have a fundamentally different internal anatomy compared to that of humans, or most humanoids. They do not possess lungs, instead relying on oxygen and other vital gasses to diffuse in and out through their skin. This has the knock-on effect of having a single-circulatory system, meaning the blood only goes through their heart once per full cycle of the body. Also, instead of having hormonal glands at one designated point in their body, dryt have hormonal glands all around their body, especially adrenaline and anaesthesia, however, the bahst subspecies is said to be able to use this to regenerate at a rapid rate at the cost of their future natural regenerative ability.

The psionic capabilities of the dryt are unusually high for a race, especially that based which is plant-based. All dryt are known to be able to convey messages telepathically and some are able to psionically monitor creatures brain waves as well as scramble them.

Among the dryt, there are four sub-races; Ambren, Bahst, Coares and Droi. Each one has their own unique natural adaptations.

The ambren function as the ambassadors of the dryt, being the most charismatic and 'normal' among them. They have softer features, and their mouths are not quite as jagged. Though they do not have any direct natural weapons built-in, they do possess a greater psionic ability to 'read' and disrupt others minds. They also speak the most formally and politely. In the language of the dryt, 'ambren' means 'social'.

The bahst are the perfect bodyguards. When protecting their friends, they have absolutely no sense of self and are almost capable of being exactly where they need to be. Their muscles are much more efficient than others in both strength and speed. Their affable aura is still just that, affable, though this time it warns of serious consequence should one mean harm. Their natural weaponry is most impressive. The possess retractable blades of durable bone, which extend just before their wrist and remain along their arm to minimise accidental damages. In the blink of an eye, these blades can be rotated to face forwards through spontaneous, painless severing and regeneration of their muscles. They also possess an equally as impressive regenerative ability that allows them to quickly close wounds and injuries in the heat of battle at a cost of longer natural regeneration. In the language of the dryt, 'bahst' means 'bastion'.

The coares are the wise strategists of the dryt. They have a vast mind and often obsess over deciphering or improving technology for weeks at a time, and even repair the so-called unrepairable for equal lengths of time. Beyond this, they are known for the speed at which they process information, moving quickly and without a moment's hesitation even in the tensest situations. Naturally, coares assume the role of commander in most cases. They possess knowledge on most subjects and are a quick study of their opponents as well as sharper more finely developed claws. In the language of the dryt, 'coare' simultaneously stands for 'correct' and 'intrigue'.

The droi are the working class of dryt, and are more than happy for it. They are the ones who do the heavy lifting and such because of this, they have well-developed bodies with strong muscles and are generally a head taller than their kin. Just beneath their skin lies a durable natural plating that protects their internal organs, similar to the natural weapons the bahst have, which double up as support for lifting, and armour against blows. In the language of the dryt, 'droi' means 'strength'.

History

No-one knows the history of the dryt; they just appeared one day. What is known, is that the bahst initially met other beings with caution, and constantly eyed them. A natural interaction, considering the protective nature of the bahst. It was not long, however, before a stable trust was set in place between the dryt and the other races through trade, diplomacy and other practices nations value.

Society

The dryt live in a give-to-get society among their own cities and have the same state of mind when living in other cities. Generally, the positions dryt hold correspond to their natural instinct; a bahst will usually take up guard duty, a coare will usually be lead some form of military, etc. Regardless of this, almost every single employment region will have one of each dryt working at the site; The bahst on guard duty will have a coare to coordinate them, an ambren to attempt diplomacy if possible (or maybe to haggle a little extra pay) and a droi to bring supplies or act as a blocking force. In a sense, every dryt city is made up of ecosystems of jobs, which, in turn, are made up of ecosystems of good friends.

Dryt speak a language is called Drytian, made up of subtle clicks, gentle screeches and difficult word-like iterations. The written script uses a syllable-based alphabet, as opposed to a letter-based alphabet. The language also only allows for a base 9 numeracy system.

Dryt Names

Dryt are normally given names based on their actions and behaviour before maturing. While these names seem interesting to those who don't know the language, they ultimately mean rather basic things

Male: Thil (Stout), Yl (Clever), Rhell (Quick), Ark (Warrior), Falkn (Alert)

Female: Thel (Stout), Ehl (Clever), Rrill (Quick), Arc (Warrior), Faknl (Alert)

Dryt Traits

Plant based creatures that possess psionic abilities and a rich culture.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2.
Age. Dryt mature after about 14 years, and live to about a century and a half.
Alignment. Dryt are usually good-natured and follow rules to a fault. They are almost always lawful good, though some stray towards chaos, and, incomprehensibly rarely, turn evil.
Size. Dryt vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Plant. Your creature type is considered to be both humanoid and plant, however, you are vulnerable to fire damage.
Photosynthesis. You can photosynthesise for nutrition. While in bright sunlight, you do not need to eat. You are considered 'full' after a short rest while in an area of bright sunlight, and every hour after that provides an extra hour without needing food when out of direct sunlight up to a day. Dim sunlight requires a long rest and as such requires it to be twice as long for these effects to occur. Other light sources will only give the benefits of dim sunlight and must be bright non-magical light.
Psychic Ability. You have an innate telepathic ability that allows you to communicate with creatures within 60 feet of you. As an action, you can exert an aura of a particular emotion on all creatures within range forcing them to make a Charisma saving throw with a save DC equal to 10 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier; a creature can choose to fail this saving throw if it wishes. If a creature fails its saving throw, you can calm, heighten or tweak its current emotional state and you can focus this sensation on either allies or enemies. For example, you may calm a creatures irritation towards you, heighten their indifference towards something or tweak their currently uncooperative attitude to a more cooperative attitude. You are only able to effect a creatures emotions within one stage of another as such you can't make an angry creature affectionate towards you but you can calm their anger to some extent, though this is largely up to the DM. Telepathic creatures and creatures with resistance to psychic damage have advantage on this save and creatures with immunity to psychic damage are immune as well as those that are immune to being charmed.
Languages. You can read, write and speak Common and Drytian. Drytian is a rough language of harsh tones and clicks, its writtings look much like a strange mix between the Dwarvish and Elvish scripts that leans towards the Slyvan and Primordial languages.
Subrace. Choose one from Ambren, Bahst, Coare or Droi.

Ambren

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Natural Diplomat. Of all sub-species of Dryt your is particularly good in the art of diplomacy and social encounters come easily to you. You have proficiency in the Persuasion skill and when you engage in acts of diplomacy you add double your proficiency bonus when rolling Persuasion checks to do so.
Mental Tell. While a creature is within range of your Psychic Ability trait you can passively monitor them for any mental errant. You have advantage on Insight checks to know if someone is lying.
Scramble. Once per short or long rest, you can let out a psionic wave, heavily disrupting effected creature's brain waves as an action. Every creature within a 15-foot-cone must make a Intelligence saving throw with a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier. On a successful roll, affected targets continue on as normal. On a failed save, the affected creatures feel an agonizing mental pain and have disadvantage on attack rolls. This effect lasts for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Bahst

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Bone Blades. You have a set of durable retractable blades each attached just behind your wrist. You are considered proficient when you use them and each blade deals 1d6 slashing damage. These weapons can be dual wielded and have the finesse and light property.
Regenerative Tissue. You have the innate ability to rapidly regenerate damaged tissue at the cost of your natural regeneration. On your turn you can spend hit die as a bonus action, regaining hit points. In addition, during a short rest, if you spend hit die while in an area of bright sunlight, you regain extra hit points equal to you proficiency bonus per hit die spent.

Coare

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Vast Mind. Your mind is sharper and better at recalling information than other Dryt. When you make a Intelligence check for which you aren't proficient in you add half your proficiency bonus on to the roll, rounded down.
Strategist. During combat as you can make a Insight check against your opponent contested by their Deception check to gain insights into their defences and potential weaknesses. If you pass you may gain knowledge of any damage vulnerability, resistances, immunities as well as any conditional immunities or traits the target has, up to the DM's discretion. You regain use of this trait after a long rest.
Claws. You have sharper claws than most other Dryt. Your unarmed strike attacks deal 1d4 slashing damage and you are considered proficient in unarmed strikes.

Droi

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Natural Athlete. You are a natural athlete and are proficient in the Athletics. In addition, you count as one size larger for the purposes of determining your push, pull, lift and carrying capacity.
Working Talent. You gain proficiency in one tool of your choice.
Bone Plates. Under your skin is a durable plate of bone. When unarmored, your Armor Class is equal to 12 + your Dexterity modifier.

Random Height and Weight

Table: dryt Random Height and Weight

Sub Race	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Droi	6′ 2″	+1d8"	200 lb.	+(10*1d6)lb.
Others	5′ 8″	+2d4"	160 lb.	+(10*1d4)lb.

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Races