Homunculus (4e Race)

Homunculi

By Lorenn Tyr

"Wherever we are, whatever size, we homunculi are the type of creature you have to try twice to trust."

Racial Traits

Average Height: 5'-5'11"

Average Weight: 120 - 210 lbs

Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Strength or Dexterity.

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: Low-Light

Languages: Common, choice of one other

Skill Bonuses: +2 Acrobatics, +2 Streetwise

Natural Liar: Homunculi live through tricks and lies. You may treat Bluff as a class skill.

Lifestone: Homunculi have a lifestone as their core that grants them excelled healing. Your healing surge value is equal to one-quarter your maximum hit points plus your Charisma modifier.

Living Construct: You are a living construct. You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You never make Endurance checks to resist the effect of starvation, thirst, or suffocation. All other conditions and effects affect you normally.

Arcane Heritage: When your homunculus character gains a class utility power after 1st level, you can forgo taking a power granted to you by your class. Instead you gain a homunculus utility power of the same level or lower.

Play a homunculus if you want...

• to be part of a race that runs by clans and alliances.
• to be immensely faithful and trustworthy to friends.
• to be kind of random and okay with it.
• To be a member of a race that favors the Rogue, Bard, and Warlock classes.

Physical Qualities

Homuculi are best described as fair-skinned, dark haired creatures that come in two types: large and small. Small is most common, they tend to either look feminine and fair, masculine and handsome, or somewhere in between, especially in regards to the Fourth Clan. Large tend to be either fatty or muscular. Small homunculi are often actually the heavier of the two races, because much of their power is successfully condensed into their small bodies, but far more flexible and quick. This is not the case with the large homunculi, who are often clumsy and bad at containing the immense power they possess. Both types tend to have nearly black or totally black hair and red-violet, indigo, or violet eyes. They also wear mostly black clothing. Natural homunculi must keep a red lifestone (a Philosopher's Stone) with them. Some homunculi prefer their clothing to armor, but the armor they do don is often black or dark brown and armor made by them is often said to be of remarkable craftsmanship, and their weaponry tends to look daunting and frightening.

Each Clan has an emblem which each member wears as a clearly visible tattoo (listed below) that's big enough that they can be identified easily. These emblems, like most tattoos on a homunculus, tend to glow red or violet when they use psionic powers (generally it glows the same color as their eyes). Some hominculi, under rare occasion, are fused with or are, animals. The ones fused with animals have physical traits of the fused animal. This often results with the homunculi also having some symbolic attributes of the animal. Natural homunculi after age 17, do not age at all. Homunculi with lineage in another race age just as their race did. Artificial homunculi are like their offspring, unaging. Also, homunculi die uniquely, crumbling into dust sometimes and others disappearing in a flash of light as their power is released across the world. This is a protection against necromancy the first homunculi's creators devised, however, they can be revived, but are unable to be brought back through necromancy. As an added note, Homunculi are especially vulnerable to regular fire.

Playing a Homunculus

Homunculi were created by a large merchant empire called Xerxes. At that time, there were 14 homunculi, 7 named for Vices, 7 for Virtues, 7 were female, 7 were male. Because of this, there are 7 clans of homunculi, each with a different relation to the other. In Xerxes, the homunculi were taken for granted, treated as slaves and livestock, and sold off as such. Finally, members of the Third and Fourth Clans (the Mammon and Leviathan Clans respectively), sick of their horrid treatment (and envious of the lives of the humans in the Leviathan Clan's case), called together all the homunculi in Xerxes to hold a revolt. They overthrew the human emperor of Xerxes and took their place as the 7 Lords of Xerxes. After a long debate about who did the most in the revolt, the 7 clans finally voted that the Lucifer Clan had led them and done the most, despite the Leviathan Clan being the ones who called the homunculi to revolt and the Mammon Clan being the ones to overthrow the emperor. This decision sparked a fierce hatred between the Lucifer Clan and the Mammon and Leviathan Clans, with the other clans having to scramble to chose sides. Only one clan stood firmly by the Lucifer Clan, the Iblis Clan, and this made them enemies with all the other clans. During this fight, two empires who were close allies of the Xerxian Empire began to war against each other, both empires called on Xerxes for assistance, but because of the upheaval, the clans kept sending soldiers to both sides and confused the two empires. The empires would inevitably be destroyed in their conflict, but not before destroying Xerxes for betraying them, and the empire itself. By the end of the destruction, only three of the original homunculi lived, the head of the Leviathan Clan, the head of the Mammon Clan, both of which had fought alongside even enemies during the attack, and the female homunculus of the Belphegor Clan, who had been disallowed to join into the battle.

The remaining homunculi quickly reorganized themselves and blamed the clan the stood by the Lucifer Clan for the attack, except for the Lucifer Clan itself, who blamed the Mammon Clan, claiming they did nothing (when in actuality, the Lucifer Clan had only been trying to keep the Belphegor Clan from choosing a side). The Clans again split.

Because of this split, depending on the clan of the homunculus, there may be many homunculi coming after them or very few. The two safest clans are the Leviathan and the Belphegor Clan, because neither have many enemies. Homunculi quickly blended with the humans but were shunned for their abnormal abilities and hated by some for their fair appearances. Because of this, they became close to Tieflings for their similarity in being mistreated for their differences. Even so, Homunculi are slow to trust others, and learned to be skilled liars, concealing their names with alibis and hiding their powers with clever ruses. At first meeting with a homunculus, they tend to be intimidating, hostile, and untrustworthy, but given time they can become fiercely loyal friends that will at times know their allies better than their allies know themselves. They do not fear death, but rather, have a smile or smirk on in almost every situation. During fights they like to annoy their opponents (and sometimes their allies), but are never afraid of a challenge.

The Clans: Lucifer (Pride and Humility, emblem is two wings), Mammon (Greed and Charity, emblem is a circular coin), Leviathan (Envy and Kindness, emblem is an Ouroboros), Belphegor (Sloth and Diligence, emblem is an eye), Beelzebub (Gluttony and Temperance, emblem is a fly), Iblis (Wrath and Mercy, emblem is a wildfire), Asemodeus (Lust and Purity , emblem is a heart).

Clan members tend to wear their emblem on their clothing and bear tattoos with their emblem, given at birth.

Homunculus Characteristics: Playful, loyal, tricky, fun-loving, snarky, energetic, brave, cautious.

Names: Homunculi go by characteristics, concepts, nouns and adjectives, the first 14 were named after 7 Vices and 7 Virtues.

Homunculus Adventurers

Three sample homunculus adventurers are described below.

Envy is one of the original Lords of Xerxes, and a member of the Leviathan Clan. Since the destruction of Xerxes, he has refused to lead his clan. He has since aided his clan as a rogue and used his abilities to help his allies. He wants to make sure he never loses another friend, and often stops to think about the allies he lost during the destruction of Xerxes. He doesn't much like being around others, but has made friends with a tiefling and a halfling and likes traveling with them. His companions, as well as strangers, enjoy his playful attitude and talkative manner, but are often saddened to hear his story. It's rare to hear him speak about it, but enough persuasion might just give him enough guts to tell his story, just listen closely, he likes to throw in jokes to lighten up the mood.

Invention is a bard of the Belphegor Clan. Her imaginative ways and angelic voice tend to make her the center of attention. She's been able to weasel her way out of the prejudice her people have and find a caring group to treat for her like her replacement family. She tends to annoy her enemies a lot, singing random songs during battle and toying with her opponents, but on the inside she wants to be friends with everyone, something she knows isn't possible.

Night is a warlock of the Mammon Clan. She tends to roam alone, switching groups whenever she pleases. She doesn't much like others and prefers the stars to companions. When allied she is fiercely competitive, and will leave her allies if one is better than her. She's disliked by many an adventurer, but her real face is only half the story, she's really just too lonely to stand being around other who aren't her race, and wants to find allies, but can't because she can't seem to fin the right homunculi to trust

Homunculus Utility Powers

Awakening	Homunculus Racial Power
Your mark glows gold and is visible even through clothing. It emits pulsing waves of force.
Daily  Force
Immediate Reaction	Personal
Trigger: You are bloodied by an Elite or Solo creature.
Effect: Until the end of the encounter, you gain an aura 2. Enemies take 5 force damage if they move closer to you and into a square covered by your aura. At the end of the encounter, you permanently lose the awakening power and can never gain it again. You gain one of the following powers: ultimate shield, ultimate shadow or ultimate form.

Ultimate Shadow	Homunculus Racial Power
You conjor three shadows, each of which attacks in unison with phantasmal force.
Encounter  Illusion
Minor Action	Personal
Prerequisite: Used awakening power
Effect: You summon three shadows that occupy the same space as you. You gain a +3 power bonus to damage rolls. Each time you are hit by an attack, one of your shadows disappears and the bonus granted by this power decreases by 1. When the bonus reaches 0, all your shadows are gone and the power ends. Otherwise, the effects last until the end of the encounter.

Ultimate Shield	Homunculus Racial Power
You pull carbon from inside your body and compress it to diamond hardness around your skin.
Encounter
Minor Action	Personal
Prerequisite: Used awakening power
Effect: You gain resist 5 to all damage until the end of the of your next turn. This resistance increases to 10 at 11th level, and 15 at 21st level.

Ultimate Form	Homunculus Racial Power
Your fabricated flesh morphs and shifts into a form more suitable for war.
Encounter
Minor Action	Personal
Prerequisite: Used awakening power
Effect: Your arms become weapons with which you are proficient. They are light blades with a +3 proficiency bonus, a [W] of 1d8 and the defensive and off hand properties.
Special: Level 3: These weapons are treated as +1 and deal D8 extra damage on a critical hit. Level 8: +2 enhancement bonus, 2d8 extra damage. Level 13: +3 enhancement bonus, 3d8 extra damage. Level 18: +4 enhancement bonus, 4d8 extra damage. Level 23: +5 enhancement bonus, 5d8 extra damage. Level 28: +6 enhancement bonus, 6d8 extra damage.

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