Paphagos (5e Race)

Paphagos

“

I appreciate every last bit of what I eat, down to the last drop of magical blood.

”

Physical Description

Paphagi appear as large, tubby humanoids. Their bodies are bulbous and rotund, particularly around the center. They have relatively short arms and legs. Due to their smooth white appearance, paphagi are sometimes called cloud people, or even people of cream. Their bodies are rather soft and billowy despite appearing solid. Their heads are usually circular, attached to the top of their body without a neck. A paphagos' face is like indentations in a cloud, with two for the eyes and a puckered line for the mouth. At the ends of their pudgy hands are four stubby fingers. They lack toes. Despite their appearance, paphagi can be relatively light, weighing no more than 40 pounds. This is when they are hungry. At their heaviest and most well-fed state, they are about the weight of an adult human. Paphagi are known to be tall as well as wide, and can reach up to seven feet in height. Their white exterior can change colors according to the food they love to consume most: magic.

History

The paphagi are said to have spawned as residue from the Spellplague. Supposedly they came to be from Mystra's death. At the moment the goddess died, some clouds were said to disappear from the sky itself and plummet to earth as though they were rocks. Upon landing, the paphagi emerged from the cumulus mist. They thus have an uncanny appetite for magic and other things in general. Their gluttony is a parallel to the dearth of magic in the world at the time. But when the Weave was repaired, the paphagi remained, ravenous as ever. Their initial landing recorded them as thin, twig-like beings. Now, with their large stature compared to then, some theorize that they represent of magic in the world. When they are fat and happy, there is ample magic. When they are thin and starving, magic is less common. Their name is a portmanteau of the sound of the word "puffy" and the word "phage" meaning "to eat."

There is some fears that the paphagos are actually a type of nishruu, but they have entirely different temperaments, and the paphagos resent Outsiders. Paphagos seem to eat and expel magic rather than inhale it like a vacuum. Therefore it is possible they are like magic recyclers who release the essence of magic from physical forms back into the pure ether.

Society

The paphagi populations are unknown in their exact numbers. They have been sighted in places like the Spire of the rilmani, as well as the jungles of Chult. But they are almost never seen in places like the Underdark. In populous nations, they wander around like good-natured drifters, looking for work and food to fill their bellies. They tend to look for quick work so they can eat faster, but are not so impatient to be entirely lazy. People see them as strange yet amicable people without a united race. Paphagi do not mind this, as they are largely indifferent to their own kind, preferring the company of other races, particularly those who are innately magical. This is possibly dangerous since paphagi are known to eat magical beasts.

Paphagos Names

Names for the paphagi are short and friendly, without gender. They are equally nonsensical to a degree.

Paphagi Names: Sunny, Bowl, Greenie, Pinky

Paphagos Traits

Magic eater puff people
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Paphagi mature fully at 40 years old. They do not age nor can they die of old age.
Alignment. Most paphagi are neutral or good. their appetite can make them chaotic.
Size. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Magic Sensor. Paphagi have a natural affinity for magic. You can cast the detect magic spell once, without material components. You regain use of this spell via this trait after you finish a short or long rest.
Magical Devourer. During a short or long rest, you can choose to devour the corpse of up to one Medium sized creature nearby. This fulfills your food and drink requirements for the day. If the creature you devour has any spellcasting or innate magical abilities, you gain the benefit of your magic bulk trait. Additionally, you may consult the Magic Property table to determine one benefit you gain. This benefit lasts until you use this trait again. Once you use this trait, you need to finish a long rest before you can use this trait again.
Magic Bulk. You eat and store magic inside you. After you have eaten a creature with innate magical ability or spellcasting with your magical devourer trait, but before your next long rest, you bulge up with magic energy brimming in your being. As a bonus action, you can channel this magic inside you and exude it in the form of power, transforming into a different color. This transformation lasts up to 1 minute, until you are knocked unconscious or if you revert to your normal form as a bonus action. While this transformation is active, you gain a flying speed of 30 feet, though you cannot fly above 5 feet off the ground. If you do not use this trait before a long rest after you devoured a creature with magical devourer, you slim back down a bit as the magic is eventually dissipated from your body.
Arcane Knowledge. You are proficient in the Arcana skill.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.

Magic Property

For the traits below, Creature refers to the creature you have eaten. This table is used by the Magical Devourer trait above.

Trait requirement	Trait Gained
Creature was a dragon type with a breath feature.	You turn a deep maroon color. You gain the dragon breath trait from the dragonborn race, and the type of the breath depends on the creature you ate.
Creature was a dragon type.	You turn a light beige color. You gain resistance to the damage type that corresponds to that dragon's scales.
Creature was a dragon type that did not have a breath feature or scales.	You gain one movement speed or vision that the creature had.
Creature has innate spellcasting.	You gain one random cantrip from the creature's spell list.
Creature was a spellcaster.	You gain the ability to cast the highest level spell on the creature's spell list once. Your spellcasting modifier for this spell is your Charisma.
Creature was fey type.	You gain a +1 bonus to your Intelligence score.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 6''	+2d8	40 lb.	× (2d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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