Madman (5e Race)
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Madmen[edit]
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| “ | And so, on this day, Our Hero had slain thirty men, and he would later admit to having a good time while doing it. | ” |
| “ | Thirty-Two people actually, if you count the Zombies. | ” |
Somewhere in Nevada, a great many people have succumbed to a strange state of mind. They fight endless battles, perform many mighty feats of strength, and - in some cases - Perform acts that seemingly defy or alter reality itself. They form groups, trade, use tools for purposes other than murder, and seem capable of thought outside fighting, but from their most devastating warriors to their lowest grunts, all have one thing in common. They're Madmen.
Physical Description[edit]
These bizarre people resemble a training dummy more than they do an actual human. They have corpse-grey skin, short, stubby legs, and, for the most part, look nearly identical to one another. More notably however, almost all Madmen do not appear to have arms - only hands, seemingly floating free of their torsos. Despite this, their limbs appear to be fully functional, and hold a similar range of motion to humans, including expressions of pain if the hand is stretched to far from the body.
But all these strange details pale in comparison to their most uncommon feature - their faces, or rather, Lack thereof. Despite having an internal anatomy identical to humans(including skulls, jaws, ears, and eyes), almost no Madmen actually bear any facial features - the face is an empty grey board, with a single darker "cross" of flesh dividing the head into four quadrants. Though Madmen "eat" by putting food where there mouths should be, and have even been seen smoking and drinking, and do appear to sense with the same five basic senses as most humanoids, it is unknown how they do so.
It is worth noting that some madmen do have some of these facial features, usually in exaggerated proportions. Such Madmen "Heroes" are often favored in groups and become great fighters, though it is unclear if features develop with experience or if some Madmen are born greater than others. Those Madmen who have been returned from the dead still bear wounds that never seem to heal, though this doesn't seem to actually affect their physical capabilities.
History[edit]
Madmen began appearing in the last twenty years, and are largely too busy killing people to sit down and relay their history to some random schmuck who interrupted their important killing. from the few reports available, Madmen come from the land of Nevada, an arid desert land heavily molded by man to support life. As of yet, no mention of this land has appeared in any atlas to date, nor has any person other than the Madmen themselves ever claimed to have seen or visited it. they have most often worked as plain paid mercenaries most notably in the war in the Cher'Vahn plains, which gave them their name "Madmen". It is notable that these people refer to themselves as normal humans, and do not react strangely to humans of other backgrounds and lands. They accept them, as well as most other species, with acknowledged indifference, with the exception of the Orcs, with whom they often become wordlessly amiable. Madmen are so rare that a common racial reaction to them has yet to be developed.
Society[edit]
Madmen often group together in groups based off of standard army structures, and claim to be teams. reference is made to "Agencies," seemingly their towns and governments, who send these individuals out for information of the outside world, but no Agency has yet been seen by other races. Madmen are often quiet, preferring gesticulation and facial expression to verbalization. "Grunt" madmen, the lowest caste among thier groups, are seemingly incapable of speaking, or, at least, have never spoken to an outsider. Grunts serve as menial workers and, rarely, mass throwaway soldiers. They dress in plain grey clothes, similar to their skin tone. The next Lowest caste are the Agents, who act as standard footman troopers. they wear red eyepieces and black uniforms, and are the most numerous in battle. Above Agents are the rarer "A.T.P." caste, dressing similar to Agents, but bearing more complicated yellow headpieces. The A.T.P. caste seems to be divided into "Soldats," superior fighters to agents, and "Engineers," who surpass their Soldat brethren in intelligence and Perception while maintaining the physical abilities of the Agent caste. strangely, this caste, in addition o their yellow visors and headpieces, have yellow blood, as opposed to the standard red of the other Madmen. Another caste is referred to by the Madmen, in an hushed manner, of an elite caste of soldiers, terrible creatures more beast than man, known as Mag Agents. Very little is directly said about them, and it is with fear in their voices. Apparently, Mag Agents are a giant breed of Madmen, with monstrous, inhuman features and abilities. These creatures are apparently guardians of their home bases, and almost never sent out to battle. Unique from the castes, there are individuals the madmen refer to as "Heroes", Madmen far stronger than all but the strongest of their kind. Heroes are the only Madmen seen to have external facial features other than the universal facial cross. while not every Hero has facial features, all have some distinctive visual trait, be it a special article of clothing, red eyes, or something even stranger. Heroes seem only to come from the Grunt caste, albeit very rarely, which may be the only reason Grunts are kept around.
In combat, the Madmen range from frantic, flowing combat to clinical, detached butchery; These styles seem equally prevalent in all their castes. no standards or discipline seem to be instilled below the A.T.P. rank, though most Madmen understand basic combat tactics and maneuvers. odder still is their lack of formal arms or martial arts - Madmen tend to fall into one of two fighting styles: Skirmishers, who flow from using one weapon to the next with equal ease, dropping a spent cross bow to pick up a fallen enemy's Pike, or the rarer Specialist, who devotes himself almost exclusively to one weapon with notable potency.
Madmen Names[edit]
Madmen "Heroes" are the only madmen Madmen who have offered names to outsiders, but it is assumed all madmen have a name. Use the humans naming system.
Madmen Traits[edit]
Madmen live for combat, die for combat, and then revive to do it all over again.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increases by 2, and your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. Madmen age as regular humans do, though almost none of them make it to old age due to their nature for battle.
Alignment. Madmen are almost exclusively Chaotic in nature.
Size. Madmen vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Crystal Minds. You are particularly hard to stop once you get going. You are immune to the frightened and charmed conditions.
Hold Strong. Madmen seem to come back to life with startling ease. When you are reduced to or past 0 hitpoints, you may instead choose to drop to 1 hitpoint. You may do so once, and regain the ability to after a long rest.
Wrought Primitives. Not only are they hard to keep down, it's hard to put them down in the first place. When you gain a level of exhaustion, you can choose not to. You can do this again after finishing a long rest.
Languages. You can speak(even if you hardly do), read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Subrace. Madmen fall into two major categories, Skirmishers and Specialists.
Skirmisher[edit]
Skirmishers focus on killing. Bare hands, bows, clubs - It's all fair game.
Do What Comes Natural. You gain proficiency with improvised weapons. Additionally, the first attack you make with an improvised weapon can be made with advantage.
Specialist[edit]
Specialists wield one weapon with devastating skill, using it's properties to the fullest.
Expurgation. Choose two weapons you are proficient in. You can add half your Proficiency bonus(rounded down) to damage rolls for these weapons.
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