Dvati
Dvati pairs are a single soul born into two separate bodies. They are born primarily to humans, or when human ancestries combine. They are as varied in appearance and temperament as humans are, though a pair is typically identical in every way. A set of twins is referred to as a dvati pair, while a single member of a pair is referred to as a dvati.
Traits
All dvati pairs share the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age. Dvati mature at the same rate as humans and live just as long.
Alignment. Many dvati pairs tend toward lawfulness, as a result of their inherent cooperation.
Size. Dvati have the same range of height and weight as humans. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Each dvati can move up to 30 feet in a round.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, as well as Dvatish, a balanced language that can only be spoken by two people working in concert.
Focused Movement. Dvati pairs' connection to each other grants them some odd abilities. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double the speed of one of your dvati until the end of the turn. The other dvati cannot move this turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until your pair moves 0 feet total on one of your turns.
Mental Connection. Using an action, one dvati can enter the mind of their twin and see through their eyes. While this effect is active, both dvati see and hear through only one of their senses. The other is considered blind and deaf in respect to their own surroundings. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Fortitude. If only one dvati in a pair concentrates on a spell, and the other takes damage, they have advantage on the Constitution save made to keep concentration.
Special Rules
Single Mind. A dvati pair is considered one character. As such, they share ability scores, experience points, levels class features, feats, racial features, actions, hit points, proficiency, skills, resistances, immunities, vulnerabilities, and all other bonuses and drawbacks. They do not share an AC score or equipment.
Damage. Dvati pairs share their hit points. Between both of them, there is only one pool of HP, calculated normally. When one takes damage, the other feels an echo of it, and their shared hit point pool drops.
If both are targeted by an attack roll each (e.g. Magic Missile or two separate attacks), they take damage more than once, as specified by the effect.
In this way, a dvati pair is slightly more vulnerable than a character of another race, by having one HP pool able to be targeted in multiple places.
Saves. If a dvati pair is targeted by an effect that requires a saving throw, magical or nonmagical, that would naturally affect both of them (i.e. both are in the area of effect), they only make the save once, and any damage is subtracted from their HP once.
Dying. When a dvati pair drops to 0, both dvati become unconscious and make death saves as one character. When one dies, the other dies as well.
Conditions. Most conditions affect the single dvati they target. However, some conditions (especially mind-affecting) affect the pair. If a dvati pair is separated by 120 feet or more, even the conditions marked "both" below only affect the targeted one.
| Condition | |
|---|---|
| Blinded | One |
| Charmed | Both |
| Deafened | One |
| Exhaustion | Both |
| Frightened | Both |
| Grappled | One |
| Incapacitated | One |
| Invisible | One |
| Condition | |
|---|---|
| Paralyzed | One |
| Petrified | One |
| Poisoned | One |
| Prone | One |
| Restrained | One |
| Stunned | One |
| Unconscious* | One |
*Unless caused by the pair's hit point pool dropping to 0 |
Actions. A dvati pair has one action, one bonus action, and one reaction between them. If they can make multiple attacks (e.g. through the feature Extra Attack), either or both may make them.
If one dvati uses an Attack action, the other may use their bonus action to also Attack, though they do not get to add their ability score to the damage of the second attack. This functions exactly like Two-Weapon Fighting, and may be affected by fighting styles and feats.
If one dvati uses their action to Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, or Search, the other may use a bonus action to do the same.
Spellcasting. A dvati pair may only cast one spell per turn, as per normal rules. They can only concentrate on one at a time, though one can be designated the concentrator. If the concentrator takes damage, concentration ends as usual. If the non-concentrator takes damage, the Constitution save made to keep concentrating is made at advantage.
Either dvati may provide the components for a spell, and the spell may originate at either dvati. The originator of the spell need not be the concentrator.
Equipment and Attunement. Each dvati must have their own equipment. Each has their own AC affected by their own armor (though class features will still affect both). If relevant and allowed by the DM, a dvati character may start with twice the amount of equipment or gold.
A dvati pair still only has three attunement slots. Any magical item a dvati carries only affects the one who carries it, though items that affect any shared abilities affect both. (E.g. A Belt of Storm Giant Strength will affect the pair's Strength score.) Other specifics will have to be determined case-by-case.
Miscellaneous. A single dvati requires the same amount of food, water, and rest as a human. A dvati's twin does not usually count as an ally for the purpose of flanking. (DM dependent.) Effects that cannot target self do not target or affect a dvati's twin.
Detect Balance Score Breakdown
- ASI +2 — 8
- Choice of ASI +1 — 5
- 30 feet movement — 0
- Common +1 Language — 0
- Focused Movement (same as Tabaxi's Feline Agility) — 4
- Mental Connection* — 4
- Fortitude (advantage on a situational to common roll) — 3
- Single Mind* (shared HP vulnerability) — -2
- Conditions* (can still act even if affected) — 4
Total Score: 26
26 is also the score for Firbolgs. The average score for officially-published races is around 28.