New 5e Race: Spirit-Blessed

# New 5e Race: Spirit-Blessed
Spirit-blessed are not born, but made. They are curious entities who house twinned souls within their bodies, one mortal, one... other.

There exist across the realms many wisp-like entities who mirror the powers of the gods, though their nature is often more Fey than Celestial. When a person entreats with such a spirit, a deal can be struck, granting the mortal magical powers and thousands of years of memory, in exchange for allowing the spirit to see the world through mortal eyes, for a time.

The resulting creature is called a spirit-blessed, who possesses the souls of spirit and mortal both, fused into one personality. Where spirit-blessed form their own communities, the new spirit-blessed is treated as an entirely new person, as they exhibit an amalgam of traits and ideals from both their souls.

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 ##### Spirit-Blessed and Death
 A spirit-blessed's souls remain fused until they die, at which point the mortal soul enters whatever afterlife it is destined for, and the Fey spirit returns to the world. Many spirit-blessed families bond with the same handful of spirits down the generations.
 
 Resurrection magic works normally in most cases, however if the player and GM wish, a resurrected spirit-blessed may replace their Power Within trait with the following until they are able to locate their spirit and reforge the bond:
 
 **Emptiness Within.** As an action, you touch a creture within 5 feet of you and force it to make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + whichever ability modifier you chose for Power Within). On a failure, it loses one spell slot of a level equal to your proficiency bonus or lower. Once you have used this feature, you may not do so again until you have finished a short or long rest.
 
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### Marked By Change
Spirit-blessed can come from any mortal race, and their children in turn are members of their parents' original race(s), not spirit-blessed themselves (though a child of a spirit-blessed will likely seek out their own spirit in turn). Bonding with a spirit does leave its mark however, and this often takes the form of faint tattoo-like patterns across their flesh. When a spirit-blessed uses their powers, or the spirit within gets particularly agitated, these markings tend to flare with ethereal light; scholars are still unsure whether the colour of this light is affected by the spirit’s nature, the mortal’s outlook, or even if it can change over a spirit-blessed’s lifetime.

### Twinned Souls
Spirit-blessed society, where it exists, honours the spirits that give them power. A spirit’s advice carries far more weight than a simple person’s, and social standing often revolves around the strength of one’s bonded spirit. They are, on the whole, accepting of just about anything, for every spirit has a part to play in the flow of the world. Spirits of death tend to cause wariness in their societies however, and one who bonds with such is likely to be treated with respect, rather than compassion.

### Spirit-Blessed Names
If an individual becomes spirit-blessed on their own, the new entity is likely to use their old mortal name. When members of a spirit-blessed society (or those with knowledge of their customs) make the bond, they tend to take new names that denote their composite selves. For instance, if a human named Westra bonded with a spirit named Guǐjì, her spirit-blessed name might be Westra-Guǐjì.

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 ##### Becoming Spirit-Blessed
 Spirit-blessed age and mature at the same rate as their previous mortal ancestry, however most see themselves as having finished mentally maturing (the equivalent of a human's late teens / early twenties) whenever they forge the bond, since the spirit grants them centuries of experience to draw on. Most make the bond around adolescence, but there is nothing stopping an older individual, such as a player character, making the bond with a spirit they encounter. In such a case, they replace their previous racial traits with the following spirit-blessed ones.
 
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<div class='footnote'>Design by Lexi Abbey | Made with GM Binder</div>

### Spirit-Blessed Traits
* **Ability Score Increase.** You increase one of your ability scores by 2, and another by 1.
* **Languages.** You can speak, read, and write Common, Sylvan, and one other language of your choice.
* **Creature Type.** You are a Humanoid.
* **Size.** You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you become spirit-blessed.
* **Ancestral Legacy.** If you are replacing a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that ancestry: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it. If you don't keep any of those elements or you gain this lineage at character creation, you instead gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.
* **Twinned Souls.** A spirit-blessed and their spirit are, more or less, one single entity after the joining, however each retains an amount of uniqueness that allows them to assert their own will in tense situations. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.
* **Power Within.** The only physiological sign that an individual is spirit-blessed are the faint tattoos that cover their body. The exact design of these tattoos is unique to every spirit-blessed, but always reflects the powers of the spirit they bonded with, which can be roughly classified along the divine domains of gods. These tattoos flare with colourful light when the individual uses their powers, or when they experience intense emotion such as joy or shock. This trait grants you certain spells, as described below.

#### Power Within Spellcasting
You know one cantrip at 1st level, determined by the classification of your spirit. When you reach 3rd level, you learn a spell which you can cast at 2nd level once with this trait. When you reach 5th level, you gain the final spell which you can cast at 2nd level once with this trait. None of these spells require material components, and you may choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your spellcasting ability for them. You regain the ability to cast each spells with this trait when you finish a long rest.

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 ##### Spiritual Natures
 The powers granted by spirits are often reflective of the divine domains of the gods, and are named such for this feature. A spirit-blessed's personality often shapes, or is shaped by, the spirit they bonded with; spirits of Trickery are likely to be far less lawful than those of Order, for instance. However, feel free to change these classifiers to suit your setting, for instance "Death" might be changed to "Vengeance" and "War" to "Bravery" in settings where the spirits are more reflective of humanity.
 
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<div class='footnote'>Design by Lexi Abbey | Made with GM Binder</div>