Races of Undara: Harpy, Hsien-Shao, Pixie, Siren

# Preface

This document provides race options from the dark and fantastical world of Undara: Harpies, Hsien-Shao, Pixies, and Sirens. Harpies are winged humanoids with a reclusive nature and a knack for heights and marksmanship. Hsien-Shao are sinister catfolk cursed by a dark god, able to wield terrifying powers. Pixies are magical sprites whose very nature is tied to the flow of natural power. Sirens are forsaken performers who communicate with the world with lyrics and poetry, instead of speech.

> ##### **This Is Playtest Material** 
>
>The material in this article is presented for playtesting
and to spark your imagination. These game mechanics
are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not
refined by full game design and editing. They aren’t
officially part of the game and aren’t permitted in D&D
Adventurers League events.
>
>If I decide to make this material official, it will be
refined based on your feedback.
 
## Creating your Character
At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race in this chapter, follow these additional rules during character creation.

### Ability Score Increases
When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

### Languages
Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

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### Creature Type
Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race in this chapter tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

### Life Span
The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race in this book can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description.

### Height and Weight
Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Player’s Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

## Changelog
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- Version 0.0.1: Creation date: 14 Feb 2020 (Initial creation of document)
- Version 0.1.1: Reformat date from Homebrewery to GMBinder, addition of optional rules.
- Version 0.2.1: Revisions to the new **Monster of the Multiverse** race format. Marduka name changed to Hsien-Shao

## Credits
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Images:
- Dmitry Prosvirnin aka D8P (https://www.deviantart.com/d8p/about#about)
- kamidarehime (https://file.toyhou.se/watermarks/6381897_vXHRSWZhN.png)
- poofkaboom (https://i.redd.it/ig96sxfoqtnz.png)
- Renee Biertempfel (https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-nq6l4syi/images/stencil/608x608/products/7418/7918/32991-1024__62403.1464847331.jpg?c=2)

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# Races of Undara - New options

<img 
  src='https://file.toyhou.se/watermarks/6381897_vXHRSWZhN.png' 
  style='width:325px; mix-blend-mode:darken' />
Credit: kamidarehime - *toyhou.se*

## Harpy

Harpies are a race of winged humanoids who live in forsaken rocky spires and treacherous mountain peaks across the Material Plane. Grisly tales told by the local human population has made them the target of much hatred and fear; in truth, the harpies wish mainly to be left alone.

### Born to Fly, Forced to Crawl

Harpies resemble humans in size and build, but are distinguished by their their 12-foot, raven-like wingspan, and their strange facial features - mainly the notable crest of feathers that protrude from the crown of their skull. Harpies have pointed ears and eyes without pupils which, due to their large size, appear to glow in the half-light of the evening. Their eyes are fixed within their head, so to look around they have to move their entire head making them look either slow and sombre or jerky and skittish depending on how fast they move. Harpies stand just over six feet tall, but considering their size, are quite light, weighing on average around 170 pounds.

Despite the impressive size of their wings, Harpies lack the ability of flight. Their wings are simply too weak to support their bodies, and are instead used as efficient gliders, capable of lessening the effects of a fall or extending the range of a jump.

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### Marksmen of the High Mounts

Harpies have an extraordinary accuracy, a result of their eyes and exceptional stability granted from their wings. This accuracy is a critical advantage of the harpies; they can use ranged weapons to hunt effectively, and can take advantage of their rocky terrain to keep safe from most forms of harm.

### Small Families, Tight Bonds

Harpy society is small and isolationist, and as a result is very tight knit. While they would like nothing more than to dwell peacefully amongst the rocky heights of their homelands.

Harpies who leave the comfort of their home do so for a variety of reasons. Harpies make close friends with other races who live at one with nature. Some harpies leave seeking the vengeance of their people, seeking to right hundreds of years of wrongdoing. Still others have nowhere else to go, their wings being far too broken to effectively travel their mountainous homes.

### Harpy Traits
As a harpy, you gain the following traits and features.
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- **Creature Type**: You are a Humanoid.
- **Size**: Your size is Medium.
- **Speed**: Your base movement speed is 30 feet.
- **Darkvision**: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- **Empowered Long Jump**: Thanks to your gliding abilities, the distances for all long jumps are tripled. In addition, you do not need to spend any movement to make a running or standing jump.
- **Harpy Training**: You gain proficiency in two weapons or skills of your choice selected from the Player’s Handbook.
- **Vestigial Wings**: You are granted a pair of large wings. While they do not have enough strength to support your weight, they can help break your fall. You reduce any falling damage you receive by an amount equal to your level. If the damage is reduced to 0, you may use your reaction and move half your speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
- **Windsong Arrows**: The winds themselves grant your ranged weapons a trace of air energies that keep their projectiles aloft. The normal range for all ranged attacks is increased by 10 feet. The long range for all ranged attacks is increased by 30 feet.
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## Hsien-Shao

A long time before the days of the Asura, Gaïa and Deva, the Amazons, Alfen and the Zions populated the world. The Hsien-Shao, a savage feline race, were the sworn enemies of the Amazons. The Hsien-Shao were excellent warriors, naturally skilled in combat owing to living in a hostile environment for hundreds of years.

They were phenomenal hunters and prospered in the jungle by hunting monsters that no one else could defeat. They enriched themselves by selling their loot for high prices to the Alfens, who used them to craft powerful jewelry and artifacts.

The Hsien-Shao worshiped nature, and any use of magic or advanced technology was strictly forbidden in their society. The Hsien-Shao kingdom dominated the jungle for hundreds of years, resulting in the extinction of many races, including the Amazons.

### Divine Magic

Many centuries later, the gods decided to give the knowledge of the divine magic to a race of humans called the Ancients. They were very intelligent and the preferred race of the gods. However, this magic was so powerful that the Ancients became a threat to the gods themselves.

Any race that used it was ultimately doomed. But before any of this happened, the Ancients used the divine magic to conquer the world, including the vast jungle of the Hsien-Shao kingdom. Due to their religious beliefs, the Hsien-Shao could not use this magic and were quickly outclassed by the Ancients' armies.

### Kleinkacmo's Deed

Kleinkacmo was the king of the Hsien-Shao, and a wise and highly respected leader. After losing many battles, resulting in the Hsien-Shao population being reduced by half, he secretly came up with a plan to use the divine magic against the Ancients.

To do so, he asked his faithful champion Rayash to steal the 18 divine tablets. Those who held these tablets would be able to learn the divine magic and use it against their enemies.

Rayash was the most powerful Hsien-Shao warrior, renowned for drinking the blood of his enemies to steal their power. For this reason, he was always looking for stronger opponents and harder challenges to overcome. Without surprise, he accepted the challenge that Kleinkacmo had laid before him.

Even if using the divine magic was against Hsien-Shao law, the power was more important to him. He successfully stole a copy of the tablets from the Ancients and brought them back to Kleinkacmo, who began studying them as fast as he could.

Kleinkacmo knew the high priests would reject the use of any kind of magic as heresy. This is why he decided to disguise it as an ancient shamanic practice that he called 'Gaïa's Fury'. With the help of his champion, Rayash, he deceived the high priests and convinced them that 'Gaea's Fury' was a divine intervention of Earth itself to help the Hsien-Shao in their distress. Seeing it as their only chance of survival, the Hsien-Shao accepted 'Gaea's Fury'.
 
<img 
  src='https://i.redd.it/ig96sxfoqtnz.png' 
  style='width:325px; mix-blend-mode:darken' />
Credit: poofkaboom - */r/DnD: Catfolk Ferus*

### The Great Punishment

Kleinkacmo managed to protect his people with the divine magic, until the gods began to see it as a threat. They decided to send Schumacher, the God of Death, to destroy anyone who would dare challenge the gods with the divine magic.

With dismay, the Hsien-Shao discovered Kleinkacmo's betrayal of their sacred laws. The entire Hsien-Shao kingdom was destroyed. The great jungle was burned to the ground, becoming the desert we know today.

The gods thought that death was a fate too soft for Kleinkacmo and Rayash, so they decided to send them to Devildom to suffer for eternity. After a millennium of torment in Devildom, Kleinkacmo and Rayash became wild beasts ready to kill anything in their paths.

### The Hsien-Shao Today
 
Today, the Hsien-Shao are only a shadow of their ancestors. They are gathered in small tribes, which can mainly be found in the region still known as the Kingdom of Hsien-Shao. Some others immigrated to the Veiled Island and adapted to their new environment."

### Hsien-Shao Language

The Hsien-Shao tongue is often hard to pronounce, involving feline trills and accents that are simply too difficult for humanoid tongues to annunciate properly. While some have adopted the Common tongue, it is rarely used, mainly for infiltration and espionage practices.

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When scribing the names of known Hsien-Shao, researchers use an apostrophe to denote when a trill is used.
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- **Male Hsien-Shao Names**: Ar'Rgos, Miho'O, O'Orur'ri, Shan, Shur'Ra, Tar'Rgen.
- **Female Hsien-Shao Names**: Astr'Rid, Br'Randia, Istor'Ra, Ma'Asha, Sava'Anna, Yar'Rsha.

### Hsien-Shao Traits
Players who choose to play a Hsien-Shao gains the following traits, honed from the hundreds of years of turmoil within their - now desolate - sacred grounds:
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- **Creature Type**: You are a Humanoid. 
- **Size**: Your size is Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
- **Speed**: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
- **Claws**: You are armed with two sets of powerful claws - one on each of your hands - which an be used for unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike, and your unarmed strikes are considered to have the light property for weapons.
- **Schumacher's Curse** When you reach 3rd level, choose one of the following curse options: Curse of Dark Sun or Curse of Dark Moon. Thereafter, you gain the benefits and drawbacks of the curse as listed below:

#### Curse of Dark Sun
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- **Dark Sun's Talent**: You may learn one cantrip and one 1st level spell of your choice from the druid spell list. You can cast the chosen 1st level spell once at its lowest level before needing to take a short or long rest. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability when you cast the chosen spells (choose when you select this race).
- **Dusk's Curse**: Because of the punishment dealt to the Hsien-Shao by the God of Death: Schumacher, if you are affected by a spell that deals Necrotic damage, you have disadvantage on the associated saving throw.

#### Curse of Dark Moon
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- **Dark Moon's Talent**: You may learn one cantrip and one 1st level spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. You can cast the chosen 1st level spell once at its lowest level before needing to take a short or long rest. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability when you cast the chosen spells (choose when you select this race).
- **Dawn's Curse**: Because of the punishment dealt to the Hsien-Shao by the God of Death: Schumacher, if you are affected by a spell that deals Radiant damage, you have disadvantage on the associated saving throw.

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<img 
  src='https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/fe420866-92a6-43c5-8911-9a28546cb7cd/d5w9ufo-e6459423-e382-4f8d-a3fc-6f2700e4385a.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ZlNDIwODY2LTkyYTYtNDNjNS04OTExLTlhMjg1NDZjYjdjZFwvZDV3OXVmby1lNjQ1OTQyMy1lMzgyLTRmOGQtYTNmYy02ZjI3MDBlNDM4NWEuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.wKZxp71-Hjg5Gm6tmbioPk39Xvt09113gX85duqNjFU'  
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Credit: Cold Fey Sprite by D8P

## Pixie

Drawn by a feverish wanderlust from deep within the wilds of Tier na Nog, Enigmatic forces of nature known as Pixies emerge from their magical hiding places, enjoying the whimsy of the physical world. As creatures of living magic, they are almost magnetically drawn to powerful faunts, supping on the flow of mana like water from an oasis.

### The Faerie Kingdom

The concept of enchanted beings interacting with the mortal world goes back pretty much as far as there have been stories. Elves, goblins, hobgoblins, bogies, sprites, pixies, brownies, barghests—the list goes on and on for fairies, wee folk, and other hidden people that have populated folk tales for ages.
Many tales tell of two majestic courts: One of Blazing Summer, and the other of Freezing Winter. In both courts, the folk known as Pixies flit around, their magics flickering like capricious waves or fickle flames. The faerie magics of Creation and Destruction bend to their forms like coats of green.

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### Spiritual Sprites

As beings of living magic, the Pixies live lives differently than those of other races. Though they lack any sort of particular diet, the little folk use their penchant for drawing out natural mana to sustain and manifest their spritual forms. As such, their powers are influenced wildly my the magics of the realms around them.
There are two distinct kinds of Pixies: the Fiery Pixies of the Blazing Summer Court, and and the Water Pixies of the Freezing Winter Court. Their temperaments match their magics like a glove to a hand, with fiery tempers or capricious moods - respectively. All Pixies have a near-indefinite lifespan, often only meeting the end of their lives due to due to natural causes or unfortunate predators of magical power.

### Pixie Traits

As a Pixie, you gain the following traits:
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- **Creature Type**: You are a Fey. You are also considered a Spirit for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a Spirit.
- **Size**: Your size is Small.
- **Speed**: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed, provided you aren't wearing armor or carrying a medium or heavy load. 
- **Darkvision**: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- **Energized**: Because of your magical physiology, you do not need to sleep, and magic cannot put you to sleep.
- **Spirit Nature**: The magical source of your geneology provides several benefits. You do not need to eat or drink, sustaining yourself instead on the natural energy from the world around you. You must spend a minimum of 1 hour per day within 5 feet of a source of energy to maintain your spiritual form, which is specificed in your subrace traits.

### Subraces

Two main subraces exist for the Pixies: the Fiery Pixie and the Water Pixie, the racial features of both subraces are presented below.

#### Fiery Pixie
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- **Fire Dependency**: As a part of your *Spirit Nature*, you must spend a minimum of 1 hour within 5 feet of an open, nonmagical flame, consuming it to sustain your spiritual form. 
- **Fire Affinity**: You have resistance to Fire damage.
- **Innate Spellcasting**: You know the *fire bolt* cantrip. At 3rd level, you can cast the *burning hands* spell once at its lowest level before you need to complete a long rest. At 5th level, you can cast the *scorching ray* spell once at its lowest level before you need to complete a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability when you cast the chosen spells (choose when you select this race).

#### Water Pixie
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- **Water Dependency**: As a part of your *Spirit Nature*, you must spend a minimum of 1 hour within 5 feet of a natural water source, consuming it to sustain your spiritual form. 
- **Water Affinity**: You can breathe air and water, and you gain a swim speed equal to your walking speed.
- **Innate Spellcasting**: You know the *shape water* cantrip. At 3rd level, you can cast the *healing word* spell once at its lowest level before you need to complete a rong rest. and at 5th level, you can cast the *healing spirit* spell once at its lowest level before you need to complete a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability when you cast the chosen spells (choose when you select this race).
___

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## Siren

Sirens are creatures of enchanting beauty and enticing magic, their songs spinning tales of splendour and wanderlust, while their serene features charm audiences with but a look. Delicate bodies hold aloft mighty harps and flowing locks of voluminous hair, like the cresting waves of a waterfall.

### Silent Singers

A powerful curse laid upon the Sirens by the Crystal Queen - Likirus - stripped the Sirens of their speech, trapping their beautiful voices within their wiry frames. Though they retain their ability to sing, they can only do so to perform.
To communicate, Sirens write lyrics to one another with their harps, their silent voices echoing across the coasts and valleys in which they dwell.

### Vocal Empaths

Like some Sea Elves, the Sirens' ability to speak in song stems from their innate powers in empathy. They can transmit emotions through the sound waves they create, projecting pain onto the minds of others, or creating reverberating waves of joy for the audiences. Their ballads can soothe even the fiercest beasts, while their jigs can inspire even the most cowardly men to take arms in a fight.

It's this emotional power that led to the Sirens' terrible curse. By betraying the inner emotions of Likirus to her suitor Aurumis, they inadvertently created an opening for the Wonderbringer to steal away Likirus' most prized possession. To ensure that they never speak of her thoughts again, she rendered the entire race mute for their crimes.

### Siren Traits

As a Siren, you gain the following traits:
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- **Creature Type**: You are a Humanoid.
- **Size**: Your size is Medium.
- **Speed**: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
- **Natural Performer**: You are proficient with the Performance skill, as well as with one musical instrument of your choice.
- **Silent Voice**: You can fulfill the verbal components of your spells by singing or playing a musical instrument, and you can communicate with others through song.
- **Siren's Lyrics**: You know the *friends* cantrip. At 3rd level, you learn the *dissonant whispers* spell, and can cast it once at its lowest level before you need to complete a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

<img 
  src='https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-nq6l4syi/images/stencil/608x608/products/7418/7918/32991-1024__62403.1464847331.jpg?c=2' 
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  Credit: Renee Biertempfel - *Breaking Waves*