Raiju (5e Race)

Raiju

Lightning beasts who have fused with mortal bloodlines and taken humanoid form.

Physical Description

The Raiju were originally animals made exclusively of lightning, jumping from the clouds to land upon trees, buildings, and in open fields. These Raiju eventually passed their looks on through humanoid bloodlines creating the Raijukin, or as they are commonly known, Raiju. The Raiju generally look like a human but with a pair of animalistic ears and tail, generally those of a wolf or dog, furred forearms and lower legs, and a lightning shaped birthmark on their torso, all colored in vibrant, neon blues, grays, and black. The Raiju often also have grey or blue eyes that glow during a lightning storm.

History

The Raiju were at first the companions of the Shinto god of lightning, Raijin. Over time they fell in love with mortals, melded with their forms, or simply slept in someone's navel and never awoke, imbuing those select few mortals with their traits. These traits have passed down over time creating a race of Raiju with physical forms.

Society

The Raiju tend to live in small family units in areas prone to heavy rains, sheering winds, and devastating lightning strikes. The Raiju care for their children closely, helping them to build up electricity and awaken their natural affinity, as well as passing down knowledge of their ancestry and the god they once served as companions for. When lightning storms pass through the regions they live in, the Raiju become incredibly aggressive and full of energy, often harming any races that live nearby, causing tense relations, and in many places, a habit of staying indoors and warding away spirits, something that, while not harmful, is actually slightly irritating to the Raiju.

Raiju Names

Raiju, being companions to the Shinto god Raijin, tend to have Japanese names, especially ones that relate to storms, lightning, or simply start with the letter R.

Male: Akira, Denjiro, Hikari, Raiga, Shiden Female: Hikari, Reika, Reina, Rui

Raiju Traits

Lightning-blooded beastkin
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age. Raiju mature at the same rate as humans, but will often live for twice as long.
Alignment. Raiju are almost always chaotic, becoming increasingly more so whenever a thunderstorm sits overhead.
Size. Raiju 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, and your climbing speed is 20 ft.
Lightning Thief. You are resistant to lightning damage. Whenever you take lightning damage, you build up a resource known as charge, gaining a number of points equal to the damage taken before resistances or immunities. When you are hit by a melee attack from a creature within 5 ft., you can expend all of your charge to electrocute the creature. As a reaction, you force the target creature to make a Dexterity saving throw against your Raiju DC, dealing 1d8 lightning damage for every 10 charge spent on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Your Raiju DC is calculated as 8 + Charisma + proficiency bonus. Your charge is reset to 0 upon completing a short or long rest.
Volatile Emotion. You know the shocking grasp cantrip and use Charisma as your spellcasting modifier for this trait.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 8''	+2d10	110 lb.	× (2d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

5.00

(one vote)

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