Pot Fiend (5e Race)

Pot Fiend

"A... mysterious creature, to say the least" - Ecologist Eldormé

Physical Description

Pot Fiend concept art by Quel

"The 'turtles' of the lower planes"

Pot fiends are small half-fiends that live inside a piece of pottery. They bear resemblances to that of a turtle, except their shell is a piece of pottery, and on the inside a creature of pure evil darkness resides. Their pot/shell is a part of their body that is indistinguishable from a normal piece of pottery. They come in various sizes, depending on the their ancestry. With the rule often being; powerful demons usually breed bigger pot fiends. The pot itself can resemble a large variety of materials, from jade and porcelain to clay and stone. But it is actually bones from the pot fiend that grow outwards and harden. The pottery does not come with a lid. Contrary to popular beliefs, pot fiends are not born with lids, but they find objects or things they deem fitting as lids, and sometimes even go as far as to craft a lid via improvised methods and tools. The fiend itself that's inside it's shell is a shadow-like creature, that can manifest a physical body out of solid darkness many times bigger than the inside of their pot. Their pot gives them a sense of security, and as such pot fiends do not like leaving their shell. They will instead grow hands that stick out of the top or out of holes/cracks in their pottery, and they use these arms to walk and feel. If a pot fiend were to fully show their body outside their pot, there is no telling what their physical structure would be, as it can both change as they age, and varies greatly from fiend to fiend. For example, they might have multiple arms or legs, and/or be wildly disproportionate. Pot fiends do have eyes and mouths to see and speak, and these can be manifested anywhere on the body at any time. Pot fiends are also considered to be hermaphrodite, and there is no distinct difference between each fiend that suggests a specific gender. Upon death their bones are left behind, and usually don't begin to deteriorate for a very long time, meaning that they turn into a normal piece of pottery if left alone for long enough. You would have to wait a long time however, since they can easily get more than a couple of hundreds of years old.

History

"The halfest half-fiends"

Pot Fiends are half-fiends. Due to their magical nature, fiends are capable of breeding with most other creatures. The resulting offspring is called a half-fiend. Some such hybrids could breed true. Notable varieties of half-fiends included cambions, and draegloths.

However, pot fiends are a rare occurrence, since they are not a product of two magical creatures, but rather the "love" between a fiend and a piece of curvy magical pottery. The result varies from time to time, but they all share the same trope of being rather unmotivated and/or ambition-less-ness half-fiends. Pot Fiends were also not present before the Blood War between demons and fiends, and as such do not feel the natural need to meddle in the business of turning mortals evil for the sake of their fiendish armies. They are not a part of that "culture" as such, but their fiendish instincts make them troublemakers and pranksters. Truly evil pot fiends are rare. They are often unintelligent and "Child-like" in their mentality, and therefore only "Evil" as children can be.

Society

"To be, or pot to be"

Pot fiends often share the same trope of being rather unmotivated and/or ambition-less half-fiends. Leading them to be rather neutral beings. Pot fiends live in a hidden society, and tend to live as quiet a life as possible. Due to their unnatural physique and build, they are often not sought out by evil-does or as servants, since they are thought of as useless in comparison to other higher ranking fiends. It as been recorded that they've been kept as "pets" by other higher ranking fiends or summoners, but never really to perform any function or bidding. And as such pot fiends tend to get abandoned or forgotten by their masters. These are called "wild pot fiends", and they tend to gather in groups to form a stack or pile of pots, indistinguishable from a normal heap of old dusty pottery. They gather in places where magic is present, or in cold dark places. Here they begin to hibernate... Until they die... If possible. Pot fiends often lack free will or any will/ambition at all, and they simply exist just to live. Some practitioners of dark arts believe that pot fiends bear curses that infect the homes/areas they reside in, leading them to be a tool of hexing and cursing others. This use has led them to be spread throughout many lands, as they are traded as goods either intentionally or accidentally. It wouldn't be the first time a piece of fine pottery starts to move around on it's own inside a nobleman's household.

Pot Fiend Names

Fiends have true names that grant them power, and so do pot fiends. Knowing the true name of a fiendish creature grants you power over them or power over themselves, acting as a double-edged sword. Knowing the true name of a pot fiend is however not that big of a deal, to say the least. They do not strive for power or dominion. And even if a pot fiend were to know it's true name and gain power, it is highly unlikely that they would have the knowledge needed to unleash their full pottential. When picking a name for your pot fiend you are not picking the true name of your fiend, only the GM knows this name. Pot fiends are kept as pets commonly by other fiends, and therefore are named in a similar fashion to mortals' pets, but with a fiendish dialect. These names are often short and easy to call out.

Due to their hermaphrodite nature, gender isn't really considered when naming pot fiends. Names are usually just genderless or of choice between masculine or feminine depending on preference.

Popular pot fiend names in the lower planes: Wiea'an, Topf, Potter, Gorshok, Aoe, Maḍake, Ipuhao, Kalam, Tembikar, Toki, Ma'ceta.

Pot Fiend Traits

Half-fiends that live inside pottery. The turtles of the lower planes.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score decreases by 1.
Age. Pot Fiends are fully developed as soon as they are born. They live for a very long time, usually for more than a couple of centuries.
Alignment. Pot Fiends tend to be very neutral, but are evil in nature.
Size. Pot Fiends' size is determined from the size of their pot. Their size and shape varies greatly from each individual. Your size is determined by your subrace.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet, and you have a climbing speed of 25 feet. You cannot swim, as your hollow body causes you to sink in liquid as it fills the pot, and you cannot gain a swimming speed by mundane means.
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.
Literal Pot. You can withdraw into your pot as an action. Until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, and you have advantage on Constitution saving throws. While in your pot, you are prone, your speed is 0 and can't benefit from increases to speed, you have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, and you can't take reactions. The only action you can take is a bonus action to emerge from your pot on your turn. While withdrawn you are completely indistinguishable from an ordinary piece of pottery and have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) rolls made to hide in plain sight.
Pot Armor. Due to your pottery shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your pot provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn't affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield's bonus as normal.
Hollow Vessel. Your pot is significantly larger on the inside than on the outside. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity.
Adaptable Body. You materialize your physical form as needed, stretching out of your pot as a long shadowy limb. When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal. In addition, you automatically succeed on any Strength (Athletics) check made to climb difficult surfaces or along the underside of them. Climbing in this way leaves your hands free.
Hibernate. Pot Fiends don’t need to sleep. Instead, they relax in a state of hibernation within their pot, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Abyssal.
Subrace. Pot Fiends' traits and physique vary based on their ancestors. Choose between; Pot of a Powerful Fiend, Pot of an Average Fiend, Pot of a Lesser Fiend.

Pot of a Powerful Fiend

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.
Larger Pot. Your ancestors are more powerful compared to other fiends, granting you a noticeably larger pot. Your base height is 5 to 6 feet, and you measure up to the size of a tall fat/muscular human. Your size is Medium.
You know what they say about large pots?. Larger pot, and thereby also a larger fiend inside the pot. You can quickly manifest a large portion of your body outside your pot, making you appear bigger and scary. You gain proficiency in Intimidation.
Snatch. You are large enough that most creatures can fit inside your hollow pot. When grappling a medium or smaller sized creature, you can use an action to make a special grappling check against it. On a successful check, the target is dragged into your pot and considered restrained. A creature can try to break free of the restraint at the start of each of their turns, repeating the check to escape your grapple as normal. When a creature is restrained this way, it is protected by full cover from all creatures other than you, and you have both your hands free. You can restrain only one creature in this way at a time.

Pot of an Average Fiend

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Average Pot. Your base height is 3.5 to 4.5 feet, that of a pretty large pot. Your size is Medium.
Tridextrous. You've adapted to using 3 hands. Your third hand is relatively thin and weak, and cannot be used to wield shields or attack with weapons. You can use it to perform other actions such as casting spells, but the hand cannot lift more than 10 lbs. on its own.
Fiendish Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the warlock spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

Pot of a Lesser Fiend

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Small Pot. Your size makes you nimble and fast because of your lighter weight, without many drawbacks. Your size is Small, and your base height is 2 feet. Your base walking and climbing speed is also increased to 30 feet.
Unnoticeable. You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill.
Potapult. Your small size allows you to launch yourself out of harms way when threatened. When you use the Disengage, you can make a jump up to 30 feet away to a space that you can see. If the space is occupied, you can roll to make a special unarmed strike on the object or creature occupying the space, dealing 1d8 bludgeoning damage on a hit, and landing in the space in front of the object or creature.

Random Height and Weight

Please refer to your chosen subrace for height and weight.

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
between 2´0, 4´0, 5′ 5''	+1d4	between 70, 200, 350 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

5.00

(3 votes)

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