Greydwarf (5e Race)

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Greydwarf

“	Let all who read me beware of the Greydwarves, the skulkers in darkness, the soulless ones. They are born from rot and rainfall, they spring like mushrooms from the smoking soil. There is nothing on their tongues or behind their eyes, those who fear nothing should still fear them. When the soul of a murderer or a great sinner rots under the ground, it makes a hollow cyst which draws rock and wood and moss to it. It gathers up the peat into flesh, braids reeds into bone and takes rags for skin. It should not walk but when the night comes it walks. Should you who read this see one with a sword to your hand, lance it and let it out. Or put it to the torch, for it fears the flame.	”
—Information from a lone runestone, author unknown.

Physical Description

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Considering most creatures, a greydwarf has to be one of the weirdest. Earth, stones, and twisted tree roots comprise the body, sometimes having a leaf sticking out here or there. Some parts of the wooden body are covered in moss. More unsettling, though, the head of a greydwarf has two empty but glowing eyes, usually blue but can be any color. Most greydwarves stand just under the height of the average human, but can be significantly taller in some circumstances. Some have twigs growing out of themselves with leaves, some have beards of moss, and some may even have uneven numbers of fingers and toes. Above all, however, most look like small, dirty trents without their leaves.

History

With any and all intelligent species, as long as there are wars, famines, and disease, the greydwarves are likely to follow. One is created when the body of a tormented soul is buried. There, over the years, the sticks and stones of the burial site are drawn to the pain and anguish of the soul in question, but without any trees nearby, this does not amount to much. Only when tree roots become involved is when the body of a greydwarf is formed, housing the soul constructed around it. After four to five years, it wakes up and digs itself out of the ground to wander the world once again. This does not happen every time, but often enough to be disturbingly frequent.

In an event called the Dark Forest War, humans and orcs were battling for a metal-rich area somewhat inside the Feywilds. The war lasted for about 4 years, but could have gone longer if it were not for the greydwarves. This fight turned into a cautionary tale about how not to let one problem overshadow another before this other problem becomes a much bigger one. The humans and orcs were far more interested in fighting each other instead of putting effort into controlling greydwarf populations. This inattentiveness towards them caused their numbers to grow significantly up until the last battle of the war. On this day, the orcs and humans continued battling for control only for a massive horde of greydwarves to attack both sides, quickly overwhelming their forces and driving the survivors out of the Feywilds. After this event, the greydwarves not only gained infamy from both humans and orcs alike, they also became well-known all around the Material Plane. As of today, hardly anyone does not know what a greydwarf is. As for the metal-rich area of the Feywilds, it remains uncontrolled.

Known Facts

With the vast majority of greydwarves, their mentality is based on instinct rather than intelligence, and thus do not have much when it comes to forming their own societies. This is because the soul inhabiting them has experienced too much pain to retain the identity they once had, leading to them uttering nothing more than guttural growls and snarls. What is known is that they can come together to form small bands loosely bound by instinctual mentality, but rarely last long enough to be anything meaningful to themselves. They are also nocturnal, which is extremely unusual for a plant. They spend the day fairly sluggish and slow, soaking up the sun. During the night, however, they are much more active and aggressive. Villages situated near woods where greydwarves are common have unfortunate situations where they face nightly attacks. Since there is no clear greydwarf leader to lead the attacks, getting rid of them is almost as hard as crushing a city-wide rat infestation, especially if there are large numbers of them to begin with. Fortunately, it seems all greydwarves have an instinctual adversion to fire, running off at the sight of flames, or at the least, keep their distance from it.

Greydwarf numbers fluctuate over time, increasing during times of war, disease, or other destructive events and waning when the pain and suffering drops off.

Over the years, many rumors and myths circulate around greydwarves. They vary from race to race, but one of the most common ones is the myth all greydwarves were once criminals executed by the state. This is not true since the tortured soul of a greydwarf can be anyone, but this rumor is so prolific most believe it to be fact.

Despite the known facts, this does not mean all greydwarves are mindless savages. It seems every few years a greydwarf rises who is able to retain its original identity, but usually only parts of it. Greydwarves of this nature are able to speak the languages of their past life and are capable of complex conversations. However, due to the infamy greydwarves have among the residents of the material plane, they are reclusive, and are almost never found within the limits of any settlements. Any that try are much more likely to be killed by the residents than have any meaningful integration. As for themselves, they unfortunately are too few and far between to get together at all. In fact, they are more likely to be burned by the local public than to find another individual with intelligence. Despite all the hardships intelligent greydwarves face, it may not stop them from trying to find out who they truly were in the past.

Greydwarf Names

Names of a greydwarf are not racial-based, or even gender-based. Intelligent greydwarves can retain their old name if they so choose, but the rest are given nicknames by the public, usually to those who have been bigger problems than the usual individual, and the names given to them can be a bit odd.

Barkley, Creaky, Doorstop, Foot, Grumpy, Konker, Moan, Panhandle, Smash, Twig, Vent...

Greydwarf Traits

Earth, stones, and tree roots twisted together to form a body housing a tormented soul. Most are mindless savages; however, you are a more intelligent specimen.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Constitution scores increases by 1. See subraces for more ability scores.
Age. As of now, it is unknown what maximum age greydwarves can reach. Since they are held together with living wood, the age they can attain might be reflected in the type of tree it grew from, but it is always the case they are killed before they ever reach such an age.
Alignment. Due to the fact most of them are mentally instinctual, greydwarves tend to be chaotic neutral, usually lashing out at any non-forest creature. If the specimen in question has intelligence beyond instinct, they can have any alignment depending on who they once were.
Size. Most greydwarves, save for the brutes, stand between 4' 10" and 5' 8". Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light as if it were bright light and 60 feet in no light as if it were dim light. You cannot discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Dead but Alive. Despite your soul being dead, the body it inhabits is comprised of living wood. In this instance, you count as a plant.
Part Tree. Since your being is held together with tree roots, you have the ability to soak up the sun with your moss and what few leaves you have. Standing for about 4 hours under direct sunlight is the equivalent of having eaten for the day.
Wooden. Because you are made of wood, you are vulnerable to fire and slashing damage from axes. Although you are not as afraid of axes, fire is a debilitating fear of yours. Upon being faced with fire, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. If you get set on fire, you make this save with disadvantage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Subrace. Greydwarves come in several forms: Greyling, Greyroot, Shaman, and Brute.

Greyling

Greylings tend to be smaller than the rest of their kind, but they are faster and more nimble. They form from halflings, and despite being small, they can keep up with an elf.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Highly Maneuverable. You are skilled in the Acrobatics skill.

Greyroot

These are the most common versions of greydwarves. Tougher than greylings, they are able to hold their own in a fight, and can even throw stones with deadly accuracy.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Living Sling. Due to an instinctual behavior in yourself, you can throw stones with great accuracy (advantage). This has a range of 25 feet. Upon a hit, you deal 2d4 bludgeoning damage. Upon a critical hit with this attack, you also knock the target prone.

Shaman

Shamans are a bit of a rarity among greydwarves. They form from the bodies of mages and wizards, giving them the ability to cast spells. They also have the ability to heal nearby allies.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Forest Magic. You know one cantrip of your choice from the druid spell list. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the healing spores spell with this trait. Once you cast healing spores with this trait, you 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 of the appropriate level. Constitution, Intelligence, or Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this race).

Brute

Brutes are even rarer than shamans, rising from the bones of giants. With this lineage, they have the strength to match it.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.
Size. Greydwarf brutes stand much taller than other greydwarves, usually around 8 to 9 feet tall. Your size is Large.
Heavy Blows. Once per turn when you hit a creature with a melee attack that uses Strength, you can choose to shove that creature (no action required).
Antlers. Brute Greydwarves have antlers, when you hit with these antlers you deal 1d6 piercing damage.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 10''	+1d10	300 lb.	× (3d12) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
8′ 1''	+2d8	700 lb.	× (4d12) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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