Soul Forged (5e Race)

Soul Forged

The feeble woman garbed in a black cloak sits across from you in the booth at the tavern. Her shriveled hand reaches out towards you and her palm is open, in the center of it, a coin of silver, unlike anything you've encountered before. Produced in a custom mint? The face of the coin paints the picture of two dragons intertwined with one another while they descend from the Heavens. “I will tell you what you wish to know,” her hand closes around the coin and for a moment you can see a faint magical aura envelope that hand. Once the aura dissipates, she opens her palm once more. Rather than the coin, there is a flickering image of two warriors standing side by side, each a perfect mirror of the other. “Prestidigitation can be quite useful.” She clears her throat for a moment, the sound of her old decrepit lungs echoes throughout the tavern. She must be on her last legs, giving you this information is probably her last will. “They are a rare people. It is widely believed that a pair of the Soul-Forged are only born when there is a betrayal in the Heavens when two bound souls are cast out and sent spiraling back to the realm of man. A bound soul is practically the same soul, having spent Eons reaching a level of understanding that many couldn't begin to comprehend. When they fall to Earth, they are apart of the same existence but they're split between two bodies. A cruel fate that they must suffer, they strive to be whole once more but are unable. They are two sides of the same coin.” Once she finishes her sentence, one of the warriors falls, turning to dust before the eyes of the other. Then, the living warrior slowly begins to fade into dust while mourning her twin. “But if one side were to perish. The broken-hearted sibling would soon follow behind.” Suddenly the coin falls onto the table, resting on a pile of ash. The woman, gone.

Physical Description

By Michel Donze

For a time, the soul-forged were only born from human parents. Then a pair of gnolls were observed fighting along one another with unerring proficiency, and when one was struck down, the other exhibited grief, refusing to eat the corpse of the fallen. The soul-forged can be birthed by any race, but humans are the most commonly known. The twins will almost always resemble one another perfectly if they are the same gender, but if they are different genders then their heights will match. They will almost always share the same characteristics when it comes to eye-color, hair-color, and even birthmarks. Naturally, Scars and Hair length will differ between the pair unless they choose to bear the mark inflicted upon their sibling. It isn't uncommon for one Twin to lose an arm in combat only for the twin to lop off that same arm. Such an extreme action hardly decreases their effectiveness in combat, since they rely solely on one another.

Society

The Soul-Forged tend to be reclusive, they prefer to keep to themselves and will rarely be spotted in highly populated cities. The sibling pair prefer jobs in which they can work hand in hand due to their natural synergy with one another. A famously popular pair of Soul-Forged happened to be Chefs, they dazzled Kingdoms with their Teppanyaki style of cooking. Some Soul-Forged form small tightly-knit communities that work hand in hand with one another, finding that the only people that can understand them, are others of the same kind. This lead to the invention of their Language, Bonded Tongue. It is essentially a language that revolves around speaking simultaneously and finishing the sentences of the sibling. It is a language that relies on the Twin nature and others can't easily understand it unless they are a Soul-Forged themselves.

Soul Forged Names

The Soul-Forged are always born in pairs, thus their names tend to reflect that fact, typically starting with the same letter.

Male: Bo-Bolin, Chen-Cheng, Fang-Feng

Female: Jia-Jiao, Jingfei-Jinjing, Lin-Ling

Soul Forged Traits

Twins but you're a race.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1.
Age. Since they are two separate bodies sharing half of the same soul, the strain that the soul places on the body is lessened for them. They reach maturity at age 16 but can live to be 90 before starting to show the effects of old age and typically dying at 110 years old.
Alignment. They do not follow the path outlined by the Heaven's that betrayed them when one decides to walk a path, the other will surely follow. This means that previous allegiances can easily be broken if the pair decides, which is why many consider them to be of the Chaotic alignment.
Size. A Soul-Forged pair tend to resemble one another perfectly. Men and Women alike tend to stand shoulder to shoulder with little to no differences between them.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet. Which is split between the twins.
In Unison. The Soul-Forged are a pair but they prefer to work as 'one'. Their fates are bound to one another and thus their prowess in combat comes not from one's single skill but from them acting as a pair, fighting in unison. In combat, they act on the same turn but with a few differences compared to a normal character.
Actions. The Twins have one action, One movement action, one Bonus Action, and two reactions that can be used by either twin. When you take the attack action, each twin can attack once. If you're able to make multiple attacks due to class features, you can divide these additional attacks between the twins. In addition, if you take the Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, or Search actions, both twins perform the action and gain its benefits.
Spellcasting. A pair of Soul-Forged twins can only concentrate on one spell at a time, however, only one of the twins needs to concentrate on a spell to maintain it. When you cast a spell that requires concentration, you choose which twin is concentrating on it. When casting a spell, either twin can provide the spell components, and the spell can originate from the twin of your choice. Additionally, as a reaction or a bonus action, the twin's can swap concentration with one another.
Encouragement/Transferrence. If a spell or magical ability attempts to Charm or Frighten one of the twins, and their partner is within 20 feet, the targeted twin has advantage on the saving throw. In addition, Conditions that affect a person whether that is positive or negative effects both twins. These include spells such as Bless, Magical healing, or temp hit points this also means that if one twin is blinded, poisoned, or deafened the other is. The only thing that doesn't affect both twins is physical things like traps, grapples, etc...
Death. When one Twin is reduced to 0 hit points and begins to make death saving throws, its twin is unable to take any actions except movement actions and is only able to move half speed. If the twin dies, the other twin quickly begins to deteriorate and perishes 24 hours later if his partner does not return to life. The surviving Twin usually doesn't survive for twenty-four hours, the trauma of losing one so close will often drive them mad and many will commit suicide soon after.
Link. As long as they are on the same plane, the Soul-Forged can sense the other's emotional state. Each Twin knows when the other takes damage. Additionally, although communication between the twins is not telepathic, it is highly nonverbal and intuitive. The Soul-Forged Twins can communicate with half the words and twice the speed of other creatures, even in combat. They can also communicate simple ideas such as who's an enemy, if they're attacking, and other such details.
Echo Strike. If the twins have an enemy flanked and one twin strikes the enemy, the other can expend their reaction to attack once, this attack is affected by flanking rules. You can use Echo Strike up to your proficiency mod per short or long rest.
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**
5′ 4''	+2d8	100 lb.	× (1d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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