Necron (5e Race)
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Necron[edit]
Physical Description[edit]
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| A Necron Lord marches into battle alongside his warriors. From Codex Necrons |
Necrons take the forms of large metallic skeletons, with fused ribs and long skulls, with deep pulsing light sprouting from the gaps in their bodies. They are broad shouldered and tall, even with most of them hunched over. In the center of their chests sits a small intricate sigil, featuring either the mark of the triarch, or the dynastic emblem (generally reserved for royalty).
Past this, the different dynasties of the necron race feature unique coloration to set each other apart. As most lords are too prideful for tactical advantage, they tend to put their people in flashy metals, decorated well to show other courts how well off they are.
History[edit]
The history of the necrons, or necrontyr, is as ancient as it is tragic. Far before even humans started to exist, the necrontyr empire was on the rise, if struggling heavily. The planet on which they evolved orbited a horrid star, the entire race now naturally plagued by cancers and other illnesses, leading the entire race to short, uncomfortable lifespans. This went in direct contrast to those of the old ones, a race of nigh immortal psychic demigods, with incredibly fast space travel. They refused to share the gifts of immortality with the necrontyr, leading to the start of a race wide resentment and jealousy.
Over time, many rulers of the dynasties that made up the empire became disappointed in the Silent Kings and his two phaerons, wishing to influence, or take over, the position. Eventually, this expanded beyond politics into all-out war, these conflicts were dubbed the Wars of Succession. Knowing this could tear his own race apart, the Silent King decided that the best way to restore his fractured empire was by uniting them against a common enemy, but only one seemed a credible enough threat to do so.
While the necrontyr themselves were incredibly advanced technologically, they paled in comparison to the sheer power of the old ones. This lead to great failure, the once great empire being pushed back into the halo stars near their homeworld. Bitter, angry, and with nothing left to unite them, the second iteration of the Wars of Succession began, the necrontyr in such a state at this point where, if the old ones so chose, they could wipe them out with ease. Then, somehow, the necrontyr came into contact with the C'tan: massive, powerful beings of energy, discovered to be older than all life in the universe, even the old ones. After a long, almost suicidal war against the old ones, they had found their star gods, their super weapon, and with this, they believed they could eliminate their greatest enemy. They built material forms for them out of necrodermis, to allow them to better understand the world and communicate with the necrontyr who found them. By the time they were properly acclimated, the Deceiver, a name not known to the necrontyr, came to the silent king, and was granted an audience. It said they too were once defeated by the old ones, and went into hiding, hoping one day to find allies that could assist them. The Deceiver promised that, if the necrontyr assisted the C'tan, they could assure them that they could give them everything they craved. After a year of discussion and consideration, the necrontyr agreed.
Armed with god-like weaponry, and starships which could cross the universe in seconds, their war with the old ones began again. However, the c'tan had one last gift to the already grateful necrontyr, immortality and physical stability. They agreed, and entered the great cyclopean furnaces, where their souls had been stolen and their forms had been replaced with constructs made of the same material they had built their star gods from, necrodermis. The Silent King, horrified by what he had done to his people, felt nothing. He had been robbed of his illness, frail form, and emotion. With an iron grip over the constructs that became of his people, now called Necrons, they battered the old ones into near extinction.
During the time of the Necron Empire and its iron grip on the entire Milky Way galaxy, the C'tan, through means or reasons unknown, began to fight amongst themselves. Some believe Cegorach, the laughing god of the aeldari, tricked them into turning on each other en masse. Others believe they realized how little flesh and blood remained they could consume, and turned on each other to gain the rest. None can say for certain. However, during this time, the races created by the old ones for the war in heaven still remained, and had grown in power during these times.
The silent king hated the C'tan for many reasons. They reduced his entire race to soulless constructs, and feasted on the byproduct, only to use them to consume more. Szarekh had enough of his star gods. While they were weak from trying to kill each other, he ordered great weapons to be built, in order to destroy or shatter the beings of energy. The infighting was grueling, and the necrons only hardly won.
With their gods enslaved, their empire in shambles, the aeldari empire rising and the krork menace becoming further unhinged, the silent king knew what he must do. He ordered his people, or at least what was left of them, into great tomb worlds to enter a great sleep, to return and reclaim what was once theirs. Szarekh saw his actions as great mistakes, from uniting them against the old ones, building bodies for the C'tan, and most importantly the bio-transference, believing himself a large part in the downfall of his race. In his final act as the supreme ruler of the necrons, he ordered that every dynasty was no longer under his control, as he left the galaxy in shame.
Society[edit]
To better understand necron society, understanding the past helps. Way back before they were robbed of their souls, the necrontyr lived in strict, rigid monarchies. Due mostly to the short and cancer riddled nature of their lives, these positions had high turn-over rates. However, after the replacement of flesh with cold hard metal, these positions quickly became permanent. So while it still is technically a monarchy, there isn't much in the way of succession.
Necron society is split into dynasties, overruled by a phaeron. This phaeron manages a royal court, containing overlords and crypteks who advise and have tasks delegated to. These overlords rule over a small sect of planets, and their own royal court of lords, and the lords manage individual planets and their own small court of those who help to manage the tomb world. In this system, the phaeron holds absolute power over the dynasty, with the lower rungs of lords and overlords having less and less freedom to act outside of orders as it goes down.
There isn't much to these societies past the nobility, as only some of the elites of the army, immortals, deathmarks, and lychguard namely, have kept some form of sentience.
Necron Names[edit]
Necrons don’t seem to take last names, however, many in positions of authority tend to take titles.
Male: Anrakyr, Imotekh, Orikan, Trazyn
Female: Xun'bakyr, Hasokh, Osovet, Tarekh
Titles: the Infinite, the Diviner, the Stormlord, the Night Haunter, the Insane, the Brutal, the Merciful, the Carrion Lord, the Executioner, the Undying, the Ancient
Necron Traits[edit]
An ancient race of undying skeleton robots.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. While they can degrade over time, necrons are biologically immortal, as they have no biology. Almost every necron is well over sixty million years old, however most of this time has been spent in stasis.
Alignment. While the rank and file of the necrons tend to lack personalities and as such alignments, and Immortals and Destroyer Cults are almost always lawful evil, the rest can vary heavily, if sticking to a lawful bend.
Size. While somewhat hunched, most necrons are about the same size as humans, however those of higher ranks tend to be much larger. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Construct Form. Your creature type is construct, instead of humanoid.
Machine Body. You are an intelligent machine, but a machine regardless. You are immune to diseases and poison damage, and you do not need to eat or breathe. Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.
Reassemble. As an action, or a bonus action if you took damage last round, you may spend one hitdie and gain that many hitpoints.
Necrodermis. Your body is made up of some of the strongest material in the known universe, which can literally put itself back together. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Necron.
Random Height and Weight[edit]
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5′ 11'' | +3d12 | 500 lb. | × (1.5) lb. |
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*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
Suggested Characteristics[edit]
When creating a necron 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 take my time to assess the situation and react accordingly. Giving into impulse is suicide. |
| 2 | I default to the opinions of my superiors, they know better. |
| 3 | Some say I have a short fuse. I do not take lightly to such insults. |
| 4 | You say dishonorable, I say viable strategy. |
| 5 | I have well-set plans for everything. Everything. |
| 6 | Fighting is a trivial manner I wish not to participate in. Such action are for those of lesser stature. |
| 7 | My respect must be earned. It is not a baseline, nor is it free. |
| 8 | I am grateful for this world, and the time I have in it. |
| d8 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Honor. To serve and protect is my life. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Progress. I have been gifted eternal life, and all the time in the world! Not using this for scientific progress should be a crime. (Any) |
| 3 | Annihilation. The lesser beings hold no right to existence. I will prove this, singlehandely if I must. (Evil) |
| 4 | To Be Whole. This soulless metal shell is a prison. I will become as flesh again at all costs. (Any) |
| 5 | Perfection. With all this time to practice, I will become the greatest. (Any) |
| 6 | Savior. With my unique situation, I am the greatest shepard, the other races my sheep. My duty is to help them. (Good) |
| 7 | Rebuild. With a shattered empire, we are like headless chickens. Only through unification will we be whole. (Lawful) |
| 8 | Domination. I am the strongest, and all will be subject to my rule. (Evil) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My liege is my life, I would rather die than allow harm to come to him. |
| 2 | An entire race has personally wronged me. They’ll regret it. |
| 3 | While trying to rise in power, I may or may not have angered a few powerful people. |
| 4 | I have made... uneasy allies with others in the past. Even if they may be lesser, my word is everything. |
| 5 | I was exiled from my royal court by the phaeron. I still hold a connection to one of my old colleagues. |
| 6 | My brethren are strange and cruel at best, my kinship lies with the less sentient machines. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Paranoia? WHAT paranoia? I’m not paranoid! |
| 2 | I am the greatest being, of the greatest race! To deny my power is a fool’s errand! |
| 3 | Living for millions of years can leave some people bored. I’m one of those people. |
| 4 | What do you mean I’m “made out of metal”? I’m just like you! |
| 5 | To interrupt my work is a death wish. |
| 6 | I haven’t felt an emotion in forever. |
Racial Feats[edit]
Eons of Study[edit]
Prerequisite: Intelligence 13
The sheer amount of time you have spent learning the secrets of the universe has left you knowledgeable, if slightly insane.
- Choose two skills you are proficient in. You double your proficiency bonus when making checks with these skills.
- Roll once on the Indefinite Madness table. You now suffer from this.
Destroyer Cult[edit]
Prerequisite: Strength 13
Whether recent infections, or corruption during the great sleep, you are geared towards absolute obliteration.
- Whenever you make a melee attack, you may use a bonus action to make one attack with the same weapon.
- Whenever you land a critical hit with a melee weapon, you may roll one additional damage die, of the same kind as your highest damage die for that attack.
Hyperspace Hunter[edit]
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13
You are specially trained in following those who do not wish to be followed, even through hyperspace.
- Your Dexterity score increases by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- When a creature you can see teleports, you can use your reaction to travel with them, appearing up to 20 feet away from them. If they are unwilling, you must make a Charisma saving throw against their Spell Save DC they used for the spell that allowed them to teleport. If they didn’t cast a spell to do this, the DC is equal to 8 + their Charisma modifier + their Proficiency bonus. If they were unwilling, as part of the same reaction you can make a weapon attack against them.
Lord’s Frame[edit]
Prerequisite: Constitution 13
Your body has been enhanced even further with necrodermis, allowing you to take blows that would kill other fleshy beings.
- Your unarmored AC from Necrodermis changes to 13 + your Constitution modifier.
- When you use Reassemble, you add your Constitution modifier to the result.
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