Invicta (5e Race)

Invicta

“	You do not understand us. Look at that fella over there. He's the only one here sitting, cause' his legs are slowly giving up. His face all but wrinkles now, his hands gnarled by arthritis, even partially deaf. He is my son, the youngest of all of us here. And I watched him get old for the past 60 years, and I will watch more, till he dies. You may think now, "well, now I understand". No, you do not. Nothing age did to him can compare to his true scars. Because this is the only one of us here who lost wings, cut long ago in battle. He lost part of his soul, part of his mind. You do not understand us. You cannot.	”
—Piedro Rokos, carpenter of Sullen hill, to some unknown elf archmage

Physical Description

By Yanied

Invictas roughly resemble humans, sharing multiple similarities with them, yet one glance at an adult invicta makes no room for mistaking those two. Two pair of wings are most prominent difference between two races, one pair being birdlike and broad, originating from between shoulder blades, second pair devoid of feathers and skin, covered in bone plating and more akin to those of bats with five long "fingers" spreading at about half of their length, originating form lower back. Children of invictas do not possess those wings. It is around the age of 22 that bone structure on their back starts to greatly amass and reconfigure itself to sprout wings and accommodate for their weight. This process is not instantaneous however, usually taking about one month of discomfort and occasional pain. There are other key differences, like invictas irises being colorful and semi-translucent and with varying geometrical shapes, giving their eyes a semblance of gems. Other are their bone plates under muscles of the abdomen, protecting internal organs from damage and overall bigger bone mass, which makes them also heavier than most humans of the same posture. Contradictory to common belief, not every invicta can fly. This ability is not tied strictly to their biology, but is magical in nature, and requires long and hard training to be fully used. Another is their usual big posture, tightly connected with their frequent trainings, in name of their motto: "Be always prepared for the unknown". Yet invictas have genetic tendency to mutations, so it is not that uncommon to see one with, for example, green skin, scales instead of feathers, and thin tentacles instead of second wings. It is broadly common to find an invicta with many tattoos covering their bodies, as per their customs. Rarely do invictas grow horns, but this is a variant of the "common" ones.

An invicta can intermingle with other races, though it is not an easy task. Because of their natural tendency to genetic alterations, conception is harder to achieve than, for example humans or dwarves, and miscarriage is more likely, bringing far more grief for an invicta parent, because of their upbringing and society standards. What's more, because of their very specific biology, the child will either be an invicta or a race mother originates from, if a father is an invicta. A female invicta can give birth only to an invicta when father is from another race, and the child will always be a girl. It is wort noting that horned variant, even though usually rare, are still more common in mixed families.

Sometimes you can find a bit different invictas; those, known as the inflamed ones, lack any wings and emanate an absurd amount of heat, their tattoos appearing like yet red-hot castings. They usually dress in fire-resistant clothes, some form of metallic ornaments, that glow strongly under the effect of their high temperature, or do not wear any at all, living naked and in seclusion from other of their kind, and any intelligent races at all. Scorching to the touch, many got burned trying to get into any kind of physical interaction with them.

History

Invicta is a relatively young race, created by old archmage some thousands of years ago. Creator of invictas spent long years researching multitude of mundane and myriad beings, some as simple and common as tri-kreen or duergar, others far more deadly like death knights. The goal of their creator was to make a race inclined to do good and capable of waging wars, both defensive and offensive, across many planes on multiversal scale. But simple implements of flesh could not equal the power of planar beings. How teeth and claws pair to incorporeal or indestructible body? How hide or bone could oppose mind control and magic? Pursuing "normal" growth could never be enough, so old, sly mage figured his people should be armed. Not with stone and steel, but with their own mind and soul. Forging their immaterial aspects and binding them to material form, shaping it in image of two sets of wings. This was the advantage they needed to make a change. And thus, invictas was born.

Throught years, and with active support and tutoring from their creator, invictas has spread across upper planes. They did also venture to prime material plane, but it is rare to see them making a significant part of a word's population. Because of their unusual flight, they could travel from one world to others inside crystal spheres, and quite profoundly settled on variety of moons. With time clans of invictas begin to form, each one having slightly different ideals and vocation, some for example exceling in shipbuilding, while others travelling around the world as monks, counselors and mediators.

Second god in their pantheon, Anauel, The Light of Lights, was a horned invicta, who managed to free her family and clan from inprisonment in one of the dread domains, a foul ploy of ancient coven of hags to taint those from this race, break their will and make yet another lives miserable; to make new monsters walking the surface of worlds. Anauel outwitted the hags, allowed her people to run to safety, and then gathered forces and enforced justice upon her would-be torturers and masters. Through massive fame and veneration that followed her after those events, she ascended, joining Casimir as a goddes of conviction, tenacity and protection of purity.

Society

Invictas are divided in clans. A child belongs to a clan determined by the father, that's why on rare occasions elves or other races live with invictas and title themselves as fully fledged member of particular clan, and are treated as equals by others in it. The most wise and intelligent, not neccesairly oldest, members of a clan form a council, that oversees mundane tasks, and makes choices regarding the well-being of community. Because of their biology invictas tend to form their own settlements and live together, but it is fairly common for individuals or their families to settle in other settlements. Invicta welcome guests with open arms, and encourage to settle among them, provided interested party is willing to abide by Invicta law. This laws are strict and seldom allow any form of scam where one of the sides is left as a victim. This laws, carefully made by ruling councils, take the priority over any other laws they may be subjected upon, which sometimes leads to frictions and even military conflicts, as for example when the city state of Sporta was almost entirely destroyed by nearby invicta settlement; this time humans from city took some of the invictas and other races as slaves, sold them and forced to fight in different tournaments. Ruling council demanded abolishment of slavery and returning captives to freedom. Humans denied, and invicta went to war.

In times of an armed conflict or a great threat, invictas choose a leader from amongst them, which need to overpower other contenders, either is unarmed combat or a battle of wits, decided by a roll of a die. The leader then gains rights to lead and command all local population. Many great leaders went down in invicta's history, like Anton the Redeemer, Merciful Zeta or Wingless Styopa. Usual tactics include use of their flying members and guerilla fights, while people not able to fly organise themselves into land units. They mostly organize in squads of 10, and platoons of 100, to best utilize their innate magical power of collective casting. Both man and woman take up the arms, and considering invictas usually do not age, great armies can arise in short span of time, attack swiftly and end the threat before regular war could even start properly.

In their everyday lives invictas tend to various tasks alone, polishing their skills and sharing work with others only when needed. There is no rush in their society - after all, time is one thing they do not lack. Worth noting is fact that any employee working for an invicta will have their work day shorter than "normal", and any invicta will expect his employer to let them finish sooner. It is because of their motto: "Be always prepared for the unknown", said to be one of only few directives their god expects them to follow, so any indvidual short of amsll kids will undergo their daily training, alone or with friends and family, strenghtening their body and focusing on their individual skills. After training is the awaited time of rest, when friends meet for chat or some cold beverage, young play, philosophers ponder, lovers love and day meets his end. Invicta rarely directly pray, making their lifestyle an act of worship of their god creator, Casimir Lovataar, who ascended after their numbers increased, and they spread across the multiverse.

Children take an important role in invicta's society, as well as their upbringing. Usually a pair will have one not yet adult child, and both parents will teach their offspring all the basic knowledge and more complicated skills, focusing on history, laws and development of a healthy body. Parents spend large amount of time and effort in preparations to birth, and focus strongly on educating their young, up to their coming of an adult age in the day of 19th birthday. Birth of twins, or even bigger pregnancy is considered a great honour for the parents, as it is believed that their god sees them as competent and wise enough to handle more work involved, without decreasing quality of their parenthood. When a child becomes a young adult, a great ceremony is held, and he or she tattoos their clan's symbol, and any previously chosen tattoos onto their body, accompanied with everyone from family and friends. It is a rarity for an invicta to make any more tattoos for himself throught their lives, but preparations, practice and knowledge leading to making their tattoos is never lost.

Horned invictas are seldom born, always making a great fuss among local population. Because of Anauel, The Light of Lights, any invicta that grows horns have her blessing upon her, casting away bone wings, granting them steel-like minds, fueled by their mind and their shared magical spellcasting. Great expectations are set before horned ones for this reason, usually making them exceptional among other of their kind, believed to be the light to pursue in darkness.

Sometimes, as rarely seen as a horned one, an invicta becomes an inflamed one. Invicta can undergo a process, called Excruciation, that retracts their mind and soul back into their body, offering their very being in exchange for a flame, that burns fueled by their soul and psyche. Physical characteristics of an invicta change, their wings start burning, and burn till not even stubs are present, greatly taxing mental health of anyone undergoing the procedure, caused by unspeakable amounts of pain. This process takes a few hours to undergo, and is utterly irreversible, inflamed resisting even the most powerful magic that could undo it, because not only body, but entire being of an invicta changes. In theory, anyone with fully grown wings could burn their wings to ashes and transform, but hardly any ever do. This act is not something you just wish to happen, strong emotions, concentrated will and a lot of time is all needed to start the excruciation. Some invicta decide to inflame themselves after a loss of one pair of their wings, sacrificing what they have left, to reclaim their lost immortality, as inflamed ones do not age similarly to the normal invicta. Fear of death, pain after losing sanity, creativity, love, and other things that are impaired when an invicta loses its wings can push some to this act. Some, after commiting a grave crime decide to cast themselves away from the society, burning wings as a sign of self-punishment or penance. Long ago, an old invicta burned his wings, ashes of which, infused with an astonishing amount of power, were used to create a magical item, known as Eye of the Storm, saving many lives in the process. Whatever the case, inflamed ones are treated with respect and support, for they must have endured a lot to bring themselves to this state. They are also seldom ever living with their bretheren, leaving to settle in remote regions, or searching for salvation, whatever it may be.

Invicta Names

Invicta has a name given to him by parents and a clan name. Usually clan names are associated with space and voyages their race underwent, trials they endured or their founders and their nicknames. Their first name is typically Slavic.

Male: Anton, Arron, Jan, Kasimir, Nikolai, Pjotr, Sagan, Vladimir

Female: Danica, Nadezhda, Vesna, Radinka, Yarmilla

Clan: Fractured Moon, Sun Soul, Hollow Void, Iron Ship, Fire Tide, Great Rift, Split Toril, Crystal Star, Wingless Mountains

Invicta Traits

Race created by infusing the very flesh of a creature with strength of their soul and mind, made to battle forces of planar evil.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1, and two other ability scores of your choice both increases by 1.
Age. Invictas grow up like humans until the age of 22, when they start sprouting both pairs of their wings. While winged, invictas do not age, as their innate magic infuse them. However, if an invicta loses even one pair of it's wings, the aging process resumes and carries on for around 60 years, until the day of natural death, just like for humans.
Alignment. Invictas do not portray strong incline to neither law or chaos, but their creator infused them with strong affection for goodness, making them hardly ever evil, and even in those rare cases individuals struggle to reject their strong morals.
Size. Invictas vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to even 7 feet tall. Their feathered wings have wingspan usually fare according to their physique, from little over 18 feet to impressive 26 feet, but sometimes small representatives of their race have unproportionally large wings. Their bone wings' reach usually do not exceed 10 feet, with average being 7 feet. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
My Very Soul. You have a set of bird-like wings in which resides a part of your soul, that are usually brightly colored and feathered. You know the prestidigitation cantrip, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Once you reach 5th level, you gain flying speed equal to your walking speed. This trait does not work in areas affected by Antimagic Field, or otherwise devoid of magic. When dispel magic is cast on you, this trait does not function for the next minute.
My Very Mind. You have a set of bone wings in which resides a part of your psyche, that are sturdy and ends with pointy tips, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike, and their reach is 5 feet greater than normal. Once you reach 5th level, unarmed strikes made with your bone wings count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Innately Magical. You can partake in a ritual alongside other members of your race to collectively cast a spell. 10 or more invictas can together cast one spell choosing from the wizard or cleric spell lists that is 1st level or lower. Level of which the spell can be cast increases with more member of your race: 2nd for 50 invictas involved; 3rd for 100; 4th for 500; 5th for 1000; 6th for 5000; 7th for 10000; 8th for 50000; and 9th for 100000 invictas. After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Born tattoo artist. You are proficient in Tattooist's Tools.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.

(Variant) Horned Invicta

Blessing of The Light of Lights (replaces My Very Mind and Innately Magical racial features). You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

(Variant) Inflamed Invicta

A Penance (replaces My Very Mind racial feature). Every time a creature makes a physical contact with you, at the start of every turn the creature touches or holds you, or hits you with a meele weapon attack within 5ft of you, you deal 1 fire damage to that creature.
Burning Angel Wings to Dust (replaces My Very Soul racial feature). You are resistant to fire damage. You are also naturally acclimated to extreme heat and extreme cold found in natural environments.
Burning Soul (replaces Innately Magical racial features). You know produce flame, control flames and Green-Flame Blade cantrips. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for those spells.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 10''	+3d8	100 lb.	× (2d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Random Mutations Table

When creating an invicta character, you can choose to have a random, cosmetical mutation. pick one from table below or roll a die to determine an outcome.

d12	Random Mutation
1	Your body is covered in fish-like scales, and feathers on your wings are replaced with long, thin scales.
2	Your skin, hair or feathers have an uncommon colour, like yellow or green.
3	You do not posess normal hair. Instead, segmented bone structures grow on your head, similar to your bone wings.
4	Your eyes have colored whites, like green, black or a mix of different colours.
5	Your teeth are longer and thinner, interlocking with one another.
6	Your body does not store resources in fat but in muscle mass instead, giving you bulky and massive posture.
7	Your skin is hard and harsh, imitating bark of a tree.
8	You have bat-like wings instead of your feather wings, and tentacles or tendrils instead your bone wings.
9	Your ears are longer and pointy, or your earlobe is fairly longer and dividing into 3-5 tendrils.
10	Your pupils are of different shape, like star, rectangle, sickle and hammer or heart.
11	Your skin is covered in slim, shallow trenches that arrange in some shapes, like rings, locks or other symbols.
12	Your bones and insides can shift and arrange themselves differently, making room for you to retract your wings into your body.

Suggested Characteristics

When creating an invicta character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I idolize a particular hero of my race, and constantly refer to that person's deeds and example.
2	I feel most at peace during physical exertion, be it exercise or battle.
3	I like to experss myself with my whole being: my clothes, my hairstyle, my speech and my actions.
4	I can help everyone and I will, I have all the time in the world to do that.
5	I will traverse the deepest pits and the highest mountains, I will see all the world has to offer.
6	I do everything slowly, but thoroughly, and even my speech is unhurried, every word is carefully planned.
7	I eat the best food, drink the best drinks, sleep in the most comfortable beds, and do everything to maintain my peak strength.
8	I'm sure anyone would host me in my journey, any invicta would do this, so others must be similar.

d6	Ideal
1	Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge. (Neutral)
2	Self-Improvement. Be always prepared for the unknown, both physically and mentally. (Any)
3	Justice. I can't stand people being treated unjustly. I do whatever it takes to stop injustice and those who flout the law. (Lawful)
4	Adventure. The world is simply too big to be left unexplored. (Any)
5	Freedom. My wings grant me freedom, one that not many could ever feel, could ever partake in. (Chaotic)
6	Misdirection. I do everything in my power to keep my weaknesses and flaws from ever being seen by other people.(Chaotic)

d6	Bond
1	I will never forget my parents, what they taught me about the world and its workings.
2	Losing my wings is a test. A test I will gladly struggle through, and pass.
3	From everyone I have ever met, none was more valiant and just than an inflamed one I once met. A hero in my eyes.
4	I wil live up to the expectations of my family and friends, and reach heights many only dream about.
5	Anyone should be allowed to express themselves, for example by tatoos, so I will help any in that regard.
6	I will give my life for my gods, correcting any who strays from righteous path.

d6	Flaw
1	I am better than you, just look at me. Could you ever compete with such a perfect creation?
2	I won't trust you with my life, I could not be trusted with it either.
3	I often find myself spending lots of my time flying, even when responsibilities beckon.
4	I will not lose my wings, I'll avoid that, whatever the cost.
5	There's right and there's wrong, and there's no gray area in between.
6	I'm but a one lone being, and I don't believe whatever I do will change the outcome of bigger things.

4.67

(3 votes)

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