The Hive (5e Race)

This page is of questionable balance. Reason: Does chitinous defense interact with shields? The base race looks ok, but it's entirely knocked off balance by ver powerful subrace traits. Being able to spam a 1st-level spell at-will even at 5th level is kind of ridiculous for a race, when you look at innate spellcasting constraints in official content. Hive wizard has that and 40 feet of flying as well as 2 more cantrips, which are very powerful. The knight has a spammable bonus action and an extra 20 feet of movement in addition to more AC bonuses. For a race out the gate, that's a bit much. And Hive acolyte has spammable heals AND teleport with no recharges, which is enough said on how powerful that is. You can help D&D Wiki by better balancing the mechanics of this page. When the mechanics have been changed so that this template is no longer applicable please remove this template. If you do not understand balance please leave comments on this page's talk page before making any edits. Edit this Page | All pages needing balance

The Hive

The Hive are a eusocial species, similar to Earth colonial insects. Several castes or "morphs" of Hive exist, each representing different stages of growth.

Hive originate as eggs or cocoons laid by a special caste of Wizard known as a Brood Queen. Upon hatching, newborn Hive swallows a Worm larva whole, becoming symbiotic with the Worm inside them. These newborn Hive grow into Thrall, and Thrall that survive into maturity become Acolytes. Acolytes who have proven themselves can become Knights, who in turn may become Princes leading their own broods.

Hive are capable of sequential hermaphroditism; Oryx, born the female Aurash, became the male Auryx after assuming the unique "king morph", while Knights are capable of either sex as evidenced by Xivu Arath remaining female despite being a Knight. Ogres, meanwhile, appear to be not a stage of growth in the Hive life cycle, but a mutation brought upon Thrall by Wizard rituals.

Physical Appearance

Grown members of the Hive are pale, sinewy, and vaguely humanoid, with varying levels of musculature and armor. Acolytes and Knights have three eyes, whereas Thrall appear to be eyeless. Wizards would seem to be eyeless as well, but their eyes are really concealed behind the helmets they wear. The ancient armor many of them wear has fused with their skin, becoming part of it. When most Hive are killed by a body shot from a typical weapon, they disintegrate into ash, while suffering a headshot causes them to burst into green flames and embers before disintegrating into nothing, in both cases leaving parts of their armor behind.

The Hive may also differ in appearance and form according to the individuals that spawned them; the Hive Sect belonging to Savathûn, the Witch-Queen appear different from the broods of both Oryx, the Taken King, and Crota, Son of Oryx, sporting a more muscular, bulkier and organic appearance.

The Hive are known to constantly adapt and evolve, generating new mutations as effortless as breathing. They also described to be rather like their own living-component-containing Warships; a terrifying amalgam of predator genetics, arcane bio-energetics, and what is considered as Darkness incarnate.

Hive fangs grow in rows, with grooves on their roots, and are continually shed, much like those of Earth sharks; when one fang is lost, another moves forward to replace it.

History

The Hive trace their origins to a gas giant named Fundament. Long ago, the Krill crashed their homeworld into Fundament, ostensibly to hide from something unknown. The shards of this homeworld became a number of continents that floated upon a sea called the Fundament Ocean within a layer of the gas giant's atmosphere, and the Krill eventually built a meager civilization upon them and forgot their old history. In addition to the Krill, Fundament was home to hundreds of other intelligent species.

Life was quick and harsh for the krill. Their natural lifespan rarely exceeded ten Fundament-years, though females who ate "mother jelly" became able to spawn and live longer. In terms of environmental hazards, Fundament was almost inhospitable. The Fundament Ocean was toxic, the skies were eternally stormy, the rain poisonous and sometimes corrosive, lightning had enough power to vaporize anyone it struck, "living clouds" called Stormjoys would prey on the populace, and the Krill frequently warred with each other.

The progenitors of the contemporary Hive were Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash, the three daughters of the Osmium King who ruled the continent called the Osmium Court. When the Osmium King was ten years old, he fell to madness, fearing an event called the Syzygy wherein Fundament's fifty-two moons would align and create a massive tidal wave, the God-Wave, that would destroy Fundament's civilizations. Taox, a sterile mother who served as the teacher to the King's daughters, feared the King's daughters were too weak to succeed the King and invited a rival kingdom, the Helium Drinkers of the Helium Court, to invade the Osmium Court, kill the royal family, and allow Taox to rule the Osmium Court as their regent. The Helium Drinkers invaded and slew the Osmium King, but the three sisters, two years old at the time, escaped on a ship and vowed to take their revenge against the Helium King and Taox.

After a year of traveling the sea, the sisters salvaged an ancient, high-tech ship they called "The Needle" from the Shvubi Maelstrom. Xi Ro wanted to sell it at the Kaharn Atoll, a gathering place of Fundament's many species, in order to raise enough money to hire a mercenary army, but Aurash wanted to take command of the ship. Sathona sided with Aurash, goaded on by a worm that their father had kept; the worm had washed up on the Osmium Court's shores and was seemingly dead, but Sathona could hear it speak.

Deep within the Fundament Ocean, the sisters encountered the Worms, who drew their power from the Darkness itself: Yul, the Honest Worm, Eir, the Keeper of Order, Xol, Will of the Thousands, Ur, the Ever-Hunger, and Akka, the Worm of Secrets. The Worm Gods claimed that they had lived and grown in Fundament's depths for millions of years. They had called many species to Fundament, hoping one would be tenacious enough to find them. They offered Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash immortality if they would allow themselves to be hosts for the Worms' larvae, with the caveat that if the sisters ceased to obey their natures (Xi Ro's desire to test her strength, Sathona's cunning, Aurash's inquisitiveness), their Worms would consume them. Furthermore, the stronger the sisters became, the greater their Worms' appetites would be.

The sisters accepted the pact. Xi Ro took the knight morph and became Xivu Arath, the God of War; Sathona took the mother morph and became Savathûn, the Witch-Queen; and Aurash took the king morph and became Auryx, the King of the Hive. Over the following years, the siblings returned to their people and spread the Worms among them, creating the Hive and enabling them to liberate the Osmium Court, then drive Taox and the other species of Fundament to Kaharn Atoll, and finally to build spaceships and break free of Fundament.

The Hive Society

The Hive have a complex religious system based around profane rituals and the worship of a pantheon of Ascendant Hive gods in the style of an absolute monarchy. These Hive Gods exist in the Ascendant Realm, described as a "higher plane of misery" associated with the Darkness (known to the Hive as the Deep) locked outside of physical reality, not unlike the Vex realms locked out of time. Dwelling within are "cyst universes" known as throne worlds of their own creation. Each world houses its respective god's Oversoul, which protects them from permanent death should their corporeal bodies be destroyed.

The Hive Prince Crota is introduced as one of the youngest Hive deities. Known as the God-Knight and the Hope-Eater, he and his broods precede the coming of Oryx when they invade worlds touched by the Traveler and its Light. Oryx is Crota's father and the central figure of their religion as well as the God-King of the Hive; through his shrines he maintains contact with his force spread across the universe. Other deities include Oryx's own sisters Savathûn and Xivu Arath, and the greater Worm Gods Eir, Ur, Xol, and Yul. Like Crota and Oryx, they have disciples named after them. A fifth god, named Akka, is recorded in the Books of Sorrow and it is from his remains that the Dreadnaught is built.

All of Oryx's broods hold a special holiday called Eversion Day, which celebrates the creation of The Taken King's Dreadnaught by turning things inside-out in the same way Oryx merged his throne world with his ship.

The Hive use a unique writing system, based on runes and glyphs which they describe as a "viral language". Hive runes draw their power from a different dimension, where there's no difference between a word and its meaning. When the Hive erode the barrier between our dimension and theirs, the rune for 'death' brings literal death. They also employ it for their forbidden Hive rituals

Popular Hive Names

The Hive name their young after different phenomena and popular figures.

Male: Crota, Baxx, Sardok, Sardon, Phogoth, Oryx etc.

Female: Oriis, Savathûn, Xivu-Arath, Omnigul, Telthor etc.

Hive Traits

The Hive are born with unnatural powers and affinity for using the Darkness. This gives them enhanced abilities thanks to growing up in harsh environments.
Ability Score Increase. Based on your subrace
Age. Most Hive mature at the age of 2 years and the average life span is about 15 years. Although there are some special cases where this can change.
Alignment. Hive tend to be Chaotic Evil but there are some cases that Hive defect and become Chaotic Neutral and become loners that choose self exile.
Size. Their size varies but most are humanoid and Medium.
Type. Aberration
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Cave Born. You can see in darkness up to 120ft and dim light an additional 60 feet.
Chitinous Defense. You have natural armor thanks to your chitin covered exoskeleton. Your AC is now 13 + your Constitution modifier when not wearing armor.
Predatory Instincts. You have heightened senses of smell, hearing, and sight. You have an advantage on checks that involve Perception and Investigation.
Hive Weapons Training. You have proficiency in longswords, greatswords, halberds, shields, and martial ranged weapons.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Abyssal/Hive.
Subrace. Choose between Hive Wizard, Hive Knight, and Hive Acolyte.

Hive Wizard

Ability Score Increase. Wisdom score increases by 2 and Intelligence increases by 1.
Speed. You gain a flying speed of 40 feet. but lose your walking speed.
Hive Magic. You can choose two non-damaging cantrips on the wizard spell list. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability score. At 7th level you can cast the magic missile spell at will.
Hive royalty. You gain advantage on Intimidation and Persuasion checks against those at a lower social standing than yourself.

Hive Knight

Ability Score Increase. Strength increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1.
Knights Pride. You have a base walking speed of 40 feet and can use an action to taunt hostile creatures within 60ft of you (they must succeed on a DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + Constitution modifier Charisma save or focus all attacks on you for 1 minute) at the end of their turn they may reroll the save.
Front Line Fighter. You may add half (round down) your Strength modifier to your Chitinous Defense AC.

Hive Acolyte

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increases by 2 and Intelligence by 1.
Powerful Faith. In dangerous situations your devotion to your gods gives you protection. You can as an action heal a creature within 30ft of you 2d4 + your Constitution modifier hit points.
Shadow Travel. You can teleport up to 15ft as a bonus action at 5th level this can be done as part of an action.

Random Height and Weight

Hive Wizard

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
6′ 5''	+1d10	50 lb.	× (1d12) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Hive Knight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
7′ 0''	+2d12	300 lb.	× (3d12) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Hive Acolyte

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 5''	+2d6	100 lb.	× (2d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Racial Feats

Herald of Darkness

Prerequisites: Acolyte

Champion of Night

Prerequisites: Level 4, 16 Intelligence

• Gain +1 to Intelligence or Wisdom
• Gain the mending and mind sliver cantrip
• You can as part of an action cast mending on constructs within a 30ft range

That Wizard came from the Moon

Prerequisites: Level 8, Champion of Night

• You gain +1 to Intelligence or Wisdom
• Choose 3 1st level spells you can cast them at-will
• Gain the sending spell

Dark Rituals

Prerequisites: Level 10, That Wizard came from the Moon

• You choose 3 2nd and 3 3rd level spells you can cast them at will
• Other spells you gain access to or know are now at-will

Weapons of Darkness

Prerequisites: Level 18, Dark Rituals

• Gain +1 to Intelligence or Wisdom
• You can cast gate at-will
• You know Dimension Door

Brood of Oryx

Prerequisites: Level 18

• Gain +1 to Charisma
• Wen, you kill a anything it will become a taken variant that you can control, If in battle it will take its initiative

Brood of Xivu Araath

• Gain +1 to Strength
• Your martial melee weapons deal additional damage equal to your str + con mod
• You treat two handed ranged weapons as having the finesse property

Brood of Savathun

• Gain +1 to Intelligence or Wisdom
• You can add your Int or Wis, to your charisma skills or deceptions
• You can cast invisibility, alter self, and disguise self at-will.

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