Slender (5e Race)

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Slender

“

Fear him, the no face, who brings suicide in droves. Find his eight pages lest you be trapped in the forest of your madness forevermore.

”

Physical Description

By Dave Dick

Slender are humanoids that are almost unnaturally tall and lanky, differentiating them in stature from humans in a distance. Their skin is bleach white and completely hairless. Perhaps most unsettling about them is their lack of visible facial features or orifices. Despite having no apparent eyes, the slender retains an uncanny ability to find prey and stalk with precision. Their arms are typically never used. Instead they favor the tentacles that grow out of their back, using them to snare and strangle. To contrast their white skin, they typically wear black, formal looking attire.

History

For the longest time, slender served as watchmen, wardens, horrors and even guardians. Some believe they are something foul, arisen from the darkest areas of Shadowfell. They were forgotten for a long time until recently when fleeting sights of them in wooded areas became more frequent. It turns out their history is quite long, as people find them hidden in many illustrations in history books. They were often feared to be a lurking threat within the woodlands by elves, who believed the slender spirited children away to be eaten. Other cultures closer to nature like ents lived beside the slender who walked under their branches and often protected the forest from unwanted visitors. Throughout history, many have ventured into the woods and found cryptic scrawls of writing supposedly left by slender to mark their territory. These poor souls would often never see daylight again, as those who met slender were slowly enveloped in madness, leaving many to wonder if slender were real at all, or just a figment of hallucinations.

Society

Slender are solitary creatures, though it is highly speculated that they possibly have family units. There is a popular horror story about how children that go missing are turned into slender to continue their race. This remains unverified. It is rare to see slender with another, as there seem to be very few of them. They are always silent when spoken to and often creep people out. For this reason, they are often despised in contemporary society as a disruptive nuisance, not that anyone can do anything about their being anywhere. Hunts against the creature often result in missing people or worse, madness. The slender remains an elusive creature that likely will never be found lest the entire forest be razed. It is not uncommon for slender to be quietly floating among the fringe of crowds in other societies, seemingly looking for children.

Slender Names

Slender take names for themselves, but if discovered by a settlement may be given a title.

Male: Steve, Donovan, Gaster, Wraith, Spectre

Female: Lucy, Siobhan, Nyx, Viridi, Umbra

Titles: Slender Man/Woman, He/She/They Who Skulk, The Phantom, The Guardian

Slender Traits

The stuff of nightmares.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Age. Slender have no known life spans, so it is assumed they live forever without aging.
Alignment. Slender are often alone and thus tend toward chaotic neutral.
Size. Slender are tall and lanky, ranging from 6 to 8 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 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.
Tentacles. You have long, black, prehensile tentacles that sprout from your back. You may use your tentacles like you would an extension of your arm. As an action, you may extend and manipulate one of your tentacles to mimick the effects of the mage hand spell. This tentacle is nonmagical.
Teleportation. You have the uncanny ability to surprise creatures by popping up just where you need to be to frighten the daylights out of them. As a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Once you use this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Silent Horror. You have no eyes or mouth. You make no noise. When people stare, they can feel unsettled even without you staring back. You are proficient in the Stealth and Intimidation skills.
Otherworldly Being. You are a being few know of in the world, with capabilities and biology beyond understanding. Your creature type is fey and aberration. You gain the following benefits:
•When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.
•You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep.
•You don't need to eat, breathe or drink. However, you must feed on the mental sanity of a humanoid creature every 24 hours or take a stack of exhaustion. To feed, as an action, you may extend your psionic mind-altering powers and force a creature within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against a DC equal 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. On a failed save, the creature is afflicted with short term madness due to you consuming part of their sanity. When rolling for the madness duration, if the result is a 10, then the creature is instead inflicted with long term madness. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all uses when you finish a long rest.
Languages. You can read and write in Common. For the purpose of verbal spellcasting, you can emit powerful psionic shrieks.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
6′ 5''	+4d6	150 lb.	× 1 lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Suggested Characteristics

When creating a Slender 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 enjoy scaring the heck out of people.
2	I don't talk very much, often fading into the background.
3	Sometimes I forget that my appearance scares people.
4	I am unyieldingly genuine, and laugh, scream or cry without restraint.
5	I remember things better when I write.
6	People being afraid of me... just makes me angrier!
7	Most of the time, I'm not listening.
8	I just want to be loved!

d6	Ideal
1	Rest. I want to go to sleep someday from all this... (Neutral)
2	Family. People look so much happier with them. (Any)
3	Privacy. Just get out of my forest and leave me alone! (Chaotic)
4	Order. There is a duty to be carried out for one as horrendous as me. (Lawful)
5	Death. I want to kill, I want to murder, I want... blood. (Evil)
6	Guardian. This place is not meant for other kind. I will guard it. (Good)

d6	Bond
1	I will always protect my home over anything else.
2	Once, a person gave me a chance rather than running away, they are the reason I had the courage to leave my home. I will never forget them.
3	My daughter drew these nice pictures for me. I display them throughout the forest but someone keeps taking them down!
4	My significant other was taken from me. I will hunt down those close-minded captors.
5	Good and evil... I will stand above that.
6	Children are so... precious.

d6	Flaw
1	I must eat children.
2	I have no temper control.
3	I like scaring people to a fault.
4	Crowds put me at unease.
5	............................................................................. (I hope you're not expecting me to answer)
6	I can be a Debbie Downer.

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Racial Feat: Slender Nightmare

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