Vistani (5e Race Variant)
Human Variant: Vistani
The vistani are humans found within the Curse of Strahd adventure module based on the Romani people and commonly referred to as gypsies. They are wanderers who live outside of civilization, traveling about in horse-drawn, barrel-topped wagons called vardos, which they build themselves. They are flamboyant in their discourse, dressing in bright clothes, laughing often, and drink heartily.
Welcoming mystical travelers of the mists with a strong oral tradition and deep-rooted hospitality.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1 and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age. Vistani are human despite their gifts, reaching adulthood in their late teens and living less than a century.
Alignment. The vistani culture is centered around freedom, hospitality, tradition, and integrity. As a result, many of them have strong inclinations towards chaotic good. Despite these traditions, the worst can still be found among them normally lurking as Mortu, outcasts of the family.
Size. Vistani have the usual variances that most humans have in both 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.
Bonds of Family. Your family comes first and foremost, they are not just your blood but the people around you and their families. You have advantage on saving throw against being charmed or frightened while an allied creature is within 10 feet of you.
Evil Eye. You can cast either the animal friendship, charm person, or hold person spell once with this trait, at will. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. If the target succeeds on the save, you are blinded until the end of your next turn. Once used, you can't use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest.
Natural Storyteller. Your people are renowned storytellers whose oral traditions pass down all manner of fable from ages past. Whenever you make a Charisma (Performance) check to tell a story or a Intelligence (History) check to recall one, you are considered proficient in that skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Threads of Fate. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can re-roll the die and must use the new roll.
Languages. You can read, speak, and write Common and one other language of your choice. Vistani typically learn languages of color, joy, and mysticism. Like many human cultures, they are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Halfling jingles, Elven musical expressions and so on.
Racial Feat: Blessed with the Sight
Prerequisite: Vistani female
Some Vistani women are blessed with prescience which can take years to awaken fully. Regardless of when your gift came to light, you gain the following benefits:
- Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- When a creature you can see hits you with an attack roll, you can use your reaction to force that creature to reroll. Once you use this ability, you can't use it again until you roll initiative at the start of combat or until you finish a short or long rest.
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