Roserade (5e Race)
Roserade[edit]
| “ | "Let the aroma of my flowers relax you." | ” |
| —Roselia, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red/Blue Rescue Team | ||
Physical Description[edit]
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| A roserade after having performed a "petal dance". Source |
Roserades are bipedal creatures that appear to be a combination of roses and masquerade attire. Its "hair" is actually made up of white rose petals, and its left and right hands are made up of clusters of red and blue roses respectively, giving it the title, "The Bouquet Pokemon". A leafy, green cape-like growth with a yellow collar extends from its neck, reaching down its back. Males have a shorter cape than the females. It wears a dark green mask not unlike those worn at masquerade balls, which covers its red eyes, the lids of which are yellow. Its limbs, torso, and the lower part of its face are light green, and its feet end with yellow tips.
While it is unknown why this occurs, some roserades have a more yellowish-greenish skin color on its body. Even more mysterious is the change in the colors of its flower-hands, which, instead of red and blue are purple and black respectively. Because a roserade's aroma is based on the potency of its toxins, it is believed that these specimens are so unusually powerful that it changed their color, but another theory suggests it may be caused by drinking exceptionally rich water. Whatever the case may be, studies into this phenomena are still ongoing.
History[edit]
Roserades, along with its young known as budew, were first discovered in the Sinnoh region. Roselias, a roserade's adolescent stage, however, were first discovered on the tropical island of Hoenn.
Budews, which are small, arm-less bipedal flower buds with short, stumpy legs and a bud on its head, tend to live near clear, clean water bathing in the sunlight and spreading pollen from its bud as it absorbs the sun's rays. The pollen is known to cause harsh sneezing and runny noses, making this ordinarily cute little critter a nightmare for those with allergies. Inside the bud are two pods: one red and one blue. During the winter, it endures the cold until the warmth of the sun shines on it once more. One would think that simply absorbing sunlight, along with time, would cause the budew to eventually grow into a roselia, but, oddly enough, companionship is said to play a major role in a budew's growth. Budew that live in solitude or with very few companions were shown to evolve at a much slower rate than those with many companions. The reason behind this is unknown.
Finally, after absorbing much sunlight, the little budew develops into a roselia. its legs have grown longer and the bud on its head has bloomed, allowing it to develop arms. These arms have a red rose on where its right hand would be and a blue rose on its left, and on its head are three poisonous thorns. Its aroma and its poison are connected - the healthier a roselia is, the stronger its aroma will be as will its poison. Once a roselia has found a stone that radiates a dazzling light, simply referred to as a "shiny stone", the light from the stone will cause it to grow into a roserade.
Having finally grown into a roserade, the singular flowers on its hands have become like bouquets, and its head has bloomed into another rose. This transformation not only allows it to shoot thorny vines out from its bouquet hands, but has also gifted it with an elegant dancing talent. It has even learned how to weaponize its aroma, which it now utilizes to distract its opponents before viciously striking them with its poisonous, thorny vines all while seeming to dance around the battlefield. Each hand has different toxins, which it utilizes to the fullest extent when battling, making the roserade a deadly foe indeed.
Oddly enough, and as mentioned before, roselias were discovered prior to its prevolution, budew. One theory is that the tropical climate of Hoenn affected its growth, effectively causing it to "skip" its budew phase, but the lack of shiny stones on the island prevented it from developing into a roserade. This explanation is the most widely accepted given how budew could not naturally be found on the tropical islands of Alola, yet roselia have been known to appear in the flower meadows of Ula'Ula island, along with the absence of roserade given both the extreme rarity of shiny stones and the fact they can only be found in the Poni Canyons.
Society[edit]
Roserades are extremely rare, so one is more often than not more likely to find groupings of budews and possibly roselias, although even then they will sometimes strike out on their own.
Though uncommon, budews can be found in Alola, having arrived thanks to foreign visitors. On rare occasions, a tsareena might allow budew to live with its colony of steenee and bounsweets, and the colony will treat the small buds as their own. Either way, when the budew evolves into a roselia, it will more often than not choose to strike out on its own, though some have been known to stay with the colony that raised it. However, regardless of whether or not the roselia becomes a roserade, and despite the fact that roserades live longer than tsraeenas on average, only a tsareena can become the leader of a steenee colony. Tsareenas taking roselia or roserade as mates and said mates ruling by their side is not unheard of, but the authority of the tsareena will always surpass that of its flowery mate. The offspring of a tsareena and a member of the roserade line is said to have a scent that causes any who inhale it to feel a sense of pure euphoria.
Should a roselia or roserade choose to live in human society, they can be commonly found aiding gardeners and herbalists, and sometimes poisoners and healers thanks to their potent toxins. Some also choose to work in hospitals, providing aromatherapy to patients. Roserades, due to their high-class appearance and elegance, perform many of the same functions as their roselia brethren but tend to do so among the nobility. However, they are not above working with lower-class individuals so long as they are tended to properly, so they more often than not choose to work with florists or even perfumers, who have found ways to dilute a roserade's poisons and transform the harmful substances into exquisite perfumes called "Le Parfum".
Roserade Names[edit]
Though roserades give off an air of femininity about them, they are not a female-exclusive race. In fact, you are just as likely to run into a male as you are a female. That said, roserades more often than not have Elvish names, but will sometimes take Sylvan names if they are raised by a tsareena or Common names if they choose to live among human society.
Roserade Traits[edit]
A bipedal bouquet of roses that is just as deadly as it is beautiful.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma scores each increase by 1.
Age. Roserades live on average for 35 years.
Alignment. Roserades are generally neutral or good natured.
Size. Roserades stand just shy of 3 feet tall. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Plant. Your creature type is considered to be both plant and humanoid.
Natural Cure. You can cast the cure wounds spell once with this trait, requiring no material components, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
Toxic Leaf Guard. You have advantage on saving throws against poisoned and you have resistance against poison damage, but you are vulnerable to fire damage.
Petal Dance. You have proficiency in the Performance skill.
Spike Whip. You can produce thorny vines from your flower-hands, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength or Dexterity modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Poison Point. When you score a critical hit with a melee attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit. This extra damage is always poison damage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and Sylvan.
Random Height and Weight[edit]
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
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| 2′ 11'' | +2d4 | 32 lb. | × 1 lb. |
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*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
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