I'm back! Thank you for your patience, y'all! Winter kinda threw me for a loop in a big way and I didn't do much writing or even really communication for a few months. I appreciate your patience. That writer's block was broken through with my sensual psychedelic mythopoeia D&D setting demanding my attention, so do please expect more posts about that setting for a bit, starting with this one.
I'm especially grateful to my patrons Keeper, Ferny, Dave, and Darius. Their generosity keeps me going! You can join them at my Patreon, or find me on all the social medias by means of my Linktree!
Moonstones Moonwalking on the Skin of the World
The moon is a decapitated head. An ancient goddess's head, and she had lice or fleas or whatever it is the gods have when she lost her head. Over the course of centuries, these creatures have grown to become one of the three dominant races on the lunar surface. They look like humanoid elephants from the waist up, with ribbed and webbed ears and a long trunk. This trunk, from before even their hatching, terminates in a grasped gemstone that stays with the chauxog, as they are called, for its entire life. From the waist down, the chauxog's bodies most greatly resemble that of a flea, high-arched legs primed for leaping, gleamingly smooth chitinous armor taking the place of rough hide. Their bodies are built upon the geometry of a right angle, the vertical aboce and the horizontal behind, much like a centaur's.
The chauxog live monastic lives of meditation and any number of devotional practices, and they look upon the distant world with a wistfulness born of knowing their goddess's body was left behind to lay upon its dirt. They long ago discovered that the byakhee laid their eggs upon that corpse, hatching their larval form to feast upon divine flesh. These larvae are known to the peoples of the world as "dwarfs". In their enlightened mourning, the chauxog have determined that it is their fate, in the place of the goddess who for so long fed them with her divine blood, to protect and guide the world from their selenic fastnesses.
Accordingly, the chauxog have discovered that certain meditative states lend themselves to a generative release of sorts. In these delicate, fleeting states of enlightenment, they can release the gem their trunk grew grasping, ejecting it gently to float away and fall towards the surface of the world, so far away from the meditating chauxog. As it flies through the skies of day and night, dawn and dusk, that gemstone gathers light in all its myriad colors, the same light that in ancient times broke and gave rise to the first dragons, who rule their city-states to this day. The gem will lie dormant in the dirt for a while, as it learns how to shape that light around itself and into what shape it should sculpt it, how to harden it into something resembling flesh.
Upon the realization of a person-like form, the gem will rise and set out, guided only by the vaguest of mental communications from the chauxog who formed them, to do the work of improving the world. Of course, the definition of "improve" in the mind of so alien a being as a chauxog, even when born of centuries' worth of meditation and enlightenment, often diverges from its definition in the minds of the mortals who walk the world. Also, as stated, their instructions come vague and interpretable to their erstwhile crystalline agents.
Often, they seem to involve the alteration of those mortals in some way. It can be difficult for beings who fashion their bodies from light to understand why changing physical flesh is so repugnant to many. This raises questions, questions which join a host of other questions, that can drive gems to dedicate themselves to forging a clearer channel of communication with their makers. To this end ~ and perhaps in line with the schemes of those makers ~ gems have had a hand in the formation of numerous peoples, such as vampires. After all, when the gem leaves the trunk of the chauxog, it reveals a tooth-rimmed disk and sparks an even greater hunger for the divine blood than that which had sustained the chauxog before.
Gems generally avoid having much of an overt presence in the politics of the world, though the race possesses more than its fair share of legendary heroes and villains. The Munavar Urdefhan in Presterjho might be the only mark they have made on the map. Most gems merely live their life, wandering or settled, doing what they determine is necessary. A few have spent decades pouring effort into constructing ornate, expensive idols of the chauxog and scribing rituals which dissolve these statues into the physical form of the chauxog which created them. This is a thing that has occurred.
The actual gemstones that are what the gems are are effectively immortal, and their bodies are made of light. The body can be shifted and transformed into various shapes, but the gem itself is immutable. Gems will often have their physical form reflect the fashion of their time and region, and some features of the gem remain relatively unchanged regardless of their form. For instance, a gem whose physical form has blue skin will appear in some shade of blue regardless of what form they take. A gem’s physical form also often reflects the coloration of their gem, meaning that an Amethyst will appear a shade of purple, a Pearl will appear a pale color, and a blue Sapphire will appear a shade of blue.
(These stats are adapted from combining two sets of rules I found on the internet, one on D&DWiki, and the other on DMsGuild ~ the idea of playing the gems in D&D appears to be quite common, and these rules may shift and change as I research how other folk have modeled them)
Humanoid (Shapeshifter)
Powerful Race. Much like elfs (for whom I use the rules in EN5ider 202), the gems are somewhat more powerful than many other races. If one is in your adventuring party, every character who does not have this trait should gain a bonus feat.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increases by 2.
Age. Gems emerge fully formed and therefore do not mature. Their gem is immortal, and their physical form is mutable.
Size. Gems come in various shapes and sizes depending on the purpose they were made for. For instance, quartz gems tend to be larger and more muscular, as they were produced for battle.
Languages. Gems can speak, read, and write one lingua franca of the area where they work, and they can read and write Chauxag, the runic native language of the chauxag on the moon whose agents they are intended to be.
Gemstone. A Gem's gemstone functions as the core of the Gem's being and the focus for their magical traits. It has its own set of hit points, separate from those of the physical body though the same as regards its maximum hit points. Your gemstone is large enough to fill an average humanoid’s palm and protrudes from one specific section of your body, such as your shoulder or forehead. It is of middling-to-high quality, comparable to gems worth between 50 and 100 gold pieces, but it cannot be used as a spell component. Which gemstone you have is determined by your subrace. If you'd like to randomly determine the size of your gemstone, roll 1d4+3 to determine its length in inches, and multiply the result of the die roll by .75, adding the result to one pound to determine its weight.
Gem Physiology. Though you are a construct, you are a living creature. You are immune to poison, diseases, and the effects of aging. You do not need to eat, breathe, or sleep, though you may choose to ingest food and drink if you wish. Any Wisdom (Medicine) check involving you is instead an Intelligence (Arcana) check, possibly in addition if the check involves you and an organic being somehow.
Mutable Appearance.
As gems' body and appearance are a manifestation of light, Gems can ~
and, in fact, must ~ change their cosmetic appearance every time they
are poofed (see Gem Recovery below). They cannot change color, cannot change their size to the
point where they become a different size category, and they cannot gain
or lose any physical benefits from this change. The change is purely
cosmetic.
Antimagic Susceptibility. You are stunned while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or be stunned for 1 minute.
Gem Recovery. When a gem’s hit points reach 0, their physical form dissipates, or “poofs,” and their gem remains. After a gem’s form has been destroyed in this way, they must wait 1 hour to reform with full hit points with no penalties. Once per long rest, a gem can forgo this wait and reform on its next initiative with half their maximum hit points and with disadvantage on all attacks, saving throws, and ability checks. The disadvantage goes away after a short or long rest. Magical healing that affects a gem’s hit points does not affect a gem whose physical form has dissipated, and gems stabilize automatically when they reach 0 hit points.
Fragile Crystal. When a gem takes damage after their physical form has dissipated, or when they take damage from certain weapons that target the gem rather than the physical form, their gem cracks. Depending on the amount of damage to the gem itself, certain effects will begin to plague a gem’s physical form. Once the gem has taken damage equal to or greater to your maximum hit points, it shatters. Certain death-reversing spells will have different effects on a gem than on organic creatures, the details of which follow the paragraph about cracked gems. A gem can only be healed by spells like regenerate or a Pink Diamond’s healing powers.
⅘ max Hit Points: Your gem has begun to crack, resulting in a moderate loss of control over your physical form. One feature of your form will be enlarged or reduced, and there should be at least one accompanying penalty. For instance, if you lose control over your eye, you should have disadvantage on sight-based Perception checks. ⅗ max Hit Points: The crack in your gem is exacerbated, and you begin to lose control over certain mental faculties. Your speech becomes unintelligible, even to creatures who share the language you are speaking. ⅖ max Hit Points: Your gem is beginning to appear more cracks than solid gem, causing significant loss of control over your form. Your limbs may begin to swap or stretch with wild abandon. You have disadvantage on Athletics and Acrobatics checks, as well as attack rolls, if you did not already. Your speed is also halved if one or more of your legs change location. ⅕ max Hit Points: Pieces of your gem may begin chipping off, and you are in serious danger of your gem shattering. You have lost all control over your physical form and many of your mental faculties. You suffer disadvantage on all rolls, and you can no longer forgo the wait on your Gem Recovery feature. Your physical body's maximum hit points are reduced to ½ of its total.
- Revivify. The revivify spell, rather than bringing a gem to life with 1 hit point, revives them with 0 hit points and halfway through the one hour wait of Gem Recovery.
- Raise Dead. Every single shard of a shattered gem is a body part integral for the gem’s survival. If you have lost pieces of the gem while traveling in a state where that is possible, this spell will fail as it would if cast on a decapitated organic creature.
- Reincarnate. This spell can be performed, as on an organic creature, with as little as one shard of the gem. However, the fewer pieces of the gem present for the casting of the spell, the fewer memories from their life the gem will have in their new form. At your DM's discretion, the gem can only be reincarnated into a new gem form rather than rolling on the table in the spell description.
- Create Undead. Due to the fact that a gem’s physical body is merely a projection of light, this spell has no effect on a shattered gem.
- Regenerate. The hit points restored by this spell affect your gem’s hit points rather than those of your physical form. This spell can heal missing pieces of a gem that has been reduced below ⅕ of the gem’s maximum hit points. At your DM's discretion, half of the recovered hit points can also be restored to the gem’s physical body if the gem has used its recovery ability.
- Resurrection. This spell requires that you have at least half of the pieces of the shattered gem to be resurrected. The pieces of the gem account for half of the material cost of the spell for this reason.
- True Resurrection. This spell requires at least one shard of the gem being resurrected. For this reason, the material cost of the spell is also halved when casting it on a gem.
- Mending. This cantrip can be used to heal 1d2 + the appropriate ability score modifier of the gem's hit points.
Gem Weaponry. Each gem has a unique weapon which they can pull from their gem while their physical form is uninhibited. Regardless of your class proficiencies, you are proficient with this weapon. The weapon is decided upon at character creation but can be modified while outside the gem using either tinker’s tools or smith’s tools, with a DC set based on the complexity of the modification. As a bonus action, the gem can pull the weapon out or store it in their gem, and the unmodified weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances. Ranged Gem weapons do not require ammunition to fire, and gem weapons that are no longer being held by their owner, such as ones that have been dropped or thrown, will disappear at the end of each turn ready to be summoned again from their gemstone. Gem weapons can gain enchantments, either through more standard magic item creation processes (mutatis mutandis) or as a result of an intense and long practice of meditation.
Gem Glow. As an action, all gems can produce a cone of light which emanates from the location of their gem. This cone is bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for another 20 feet.
Selenic Transmissions. Gems are always in mental contact and communication with the chauxog who made them. However, this communication is often vague and garbled, lending itself to interpretation and confusion therefrom. Every gem experiences this communication differently, and their experience of it isn't always consistent. Sometimes, they may merely feel strong and alien emotional impulses; other times they might hear a voice or see things others don't. Of course, there are a nigh infinite number of ways the communication may come through. Meditative practices and other such things can improve the reliability of the communication, as negotiated in the moment with your DM, but the communication can never be shut down or stopped.
This constant mental contact can be leveraged by the chauxog, the gem, or some third party, and while there are certainly gem warlocks with any of a wide variety of patrons, their special connection with their chauxog does lend itself to the lunar monk becoming the gem's patron.
Gem Names. Gems do not traditionally have individualistic names and are usually referred to by the name of their gem. However, in moments of confusion, gems who associate with humans are known to give one another nicknames, and gems who do not are known to refer to similar gems by the slight differences in their color, or by the color of the diamond they were made to serve.
Subrace. You can choose Aquamarine, Bismuth, Diamond, Half-Gem, Lapis Lazuli, Pearl, Peridot, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Zircon, or any of an unknown number of other gem types as your subrace.
Variant: Overcooked Gem
An overcooked gem is one who did not emerge at the time they were meant to. These gems are one size category smaller than other gems of their subrace, and their speed is reduced by 5 feet.
Gem Durability. The overcooked gem gains one of the following boons.
- Hard as Rocks. Your gem is harder to crack. It has resistance to all nonmagical damage. Your physical form does not gain this resistance.
- Shine Brighter. Your physical form is more durable than that of other gems. You have 4 additional hit points per level.
- Arms Master. You are able to summon a more powerful weapon from your gem. Before modification, the weapon you gain from the Gem Weaponry feature is a +1 weapon.
Aquamarine
Aquamarines
are scouts and bounty hunters, they use their power of flight to get
around swiftly and scout the world to find its weaknesses and prepare it
for a possible invasion
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence scores increase by 1.
Size. Your size is Small. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d4+52 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 2d4, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 70 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Butterfly Wings.
As a bonus action you may summon watery butterfly wings which give you a
flying speed of 35 feet and can be dispelled as a bonus action.
Good Memory. You have an exceptional memory and are proficient on History Checks.
Bismuth
Bismuths are natural crafters and artisans, whose hard-light forms are durable enough to forge tools and carve stone structures.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Medium. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 2d2+70 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 1d6, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 210 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Durable Form. You have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning damage while you are not poofed at level 5 and above.
Metalworker.
You are proficient with smith’s tools. At level 3, you can use your Gem
Weapon as smith's tools. At level 5 and onward, you are immune to fire
damage from nonmagical sources.
Diamond
Diamonds
are the rarest gems of all, and are often revered by gems as mortals revere demigods, and are hated by others as they are
seen as a source of oppression. Typically they don't
directly intervene with affairs and have subservient gems handle the
problem.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom scores both increase by 2
Size. Your size is Medium. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d8+80 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 3d4, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 200 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Diamond's Strength. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift
Unique Power.
You choose one of the abilities listed to perform as an action. They
all, except Calming Presence, can only be done up to a number of times
equal to your Charisma Modifier (to a minimum of 1) and you regain the
uses of these features on a long rest. Only Choose ONE Ability:
- Calming Presence.
You may touch another creature to remove a condition affecting another
creature's emotions, as an action. You may do this once, and regain use
of this trait after you finish a long rest.
Additionally, you may subconsciously inspire a creature within 60 feet
other than yourself by telepathically giving them words of
encouragement, giving them
advantage on their next skill check or attack roll. You may do this a
number of times equal to half your Charisma modifier, rounded up, and
you regain all uses on a short rest
- Disrupt Hard Light Body.
Make a ranged spell attack with a range of 10 foot. On a hit, the
targeted gem must make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus) or be stunned for 1d4 rounds.
- Recruit.
Make a ranged spell attack with a range of 90 feet. On a hit, the
target must make a Charisma saving throw (DC = 8 + your Wisdom modifier +
your proficiency bonus) or be charmed by you until the end of your next
turn.
- Superior.
Make a ranged spell attack with a range of 90 feet. On a hit, the target must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC = 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus) or be frightened of you until the start of your next
turn.
Half-Gems
Offspring
between organic humanoids and gems is extremely rare and results in the
death of the parent gem, whose gemstone is passed to the offspring.
Ability Score Increase. One of your ability scores increases by 1, as appropriate for your organic parent's race. Negotiate which with your DM.
Size. Your size is that of the race of your organic parent.
Speed. Your base walking speed is that of your organic parent.
Organic Body.
Your organic lineage affects you in a variety of ways. You gain two racial features from your organic race, to replace the benefits of
Gem Physiology and Gem Poofing. If your gem is shattered, you are
killed and it must be repaired and returned to your remains before you
can be revived. In antimagic fields, you cannot call upon any of your gem racial traits. If you are separated from your gem and it hasn't yet been
shattered, you gain a point of exhaustion for every 3 turns you are
separated from it. Also, while your gem is separated from your human
body the gem may take a form identical to your human form, requiring you to
use an action to "fuse" your human and gem halves. When you regain your
gem you lose all exhaustion incurred by being separated.
Growing Up.
Your subrace is that of your gem parent, but you get its racial traits at a slower
rate. Your abilities as a gem manifest over time as you age become more
skilled with them. At 3rd level, you develop all the racial traits (other than Ability Score Increase, Size, and Speed)
your gem parent receives from their subrace at 1st level; at 5th level, you develop the racial traits your gem parents receives from their subrace at 3rd level; and at 10th level, you
develop the racial traits your gem parent receives from their subrace at 5th level.
Lapis Lazuli
Lapis Lazuli are gems capable of using water to shape the landscape around them.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Medium If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d6+66 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 2d4, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 150 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet
Hydrokinesis. You know the shape water cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast create or destroy water
as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do
so when you finish a short rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast
the wall of water spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a short rest.
Flight.
Starting at 5th level, you can manifest your Hydrokinesis into wings of
water that give you a flying speed of 35 feet. As a bonus action, you may summon or dispel these wings. You cannot fly in medium
or heavy armor, or in extreme heat unless some appropriate source of water is
accessible.
Pearl
Pearls are often considered made-to-order trophy servants but can learn bravery as much as they can obedience.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Medium. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d10+66 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 1d4, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 170 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet
Fleet Footed.
You have proficiency in Dexterity saving throws, and you may substitute
your Dexterity modifier for your Charisma modifier for most uses of
Performance.
Gem Space.
Pearls have a limited storage space in their gem which can be used to
hold any mundane item of size Medium or smaller. The storage capacity
of this space is 60 pounds (this weight is not counted against your carrying capacity), and it takes a bonus action to call an item
from it. Your gem weapon does not count toward the capacity of the
space.
Holo-Pearls.
You can project from your pearl a holographic duplicate of yourself.
During your turn, you may use your action to create a hologram anywhere within 120 feet, and may
not create another until you complete a long rest. This hologram is
functionally identical to the force that is created by the unseen servant
spell, though it appears fully visible if semitransparent and as your default form and
uses your stats. You may use a bonus action to dismiss it. At 5th level, you may use the mirror image spell once without using a spell slot; you regain this use of Holo-Pearls when you finish a short rest.
Light Constructs. Your gem can produce images from your memory and project them for others to see. You can cast major image
to visually and aurally reproduce any scene from your memory. You can
use this ability a number of times equal to 1 + your Intelligence
modifier (minimum of 1). You regain all uses of this ability
on a long rest.
Natural Singers. Pearls have advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks when singing.
Peridot
Peridots are highly logical technicians, capable of making metals do their bidding.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Small. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d6+56 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 1d8, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 90 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Durable Form. You have resistance to nonmagical piercing damage while you are not poofed at level 5 and above.
Ferrokinesis.
You can lift metallic objects off the ground and move them as you
wish. You may use your action and concentration
to lift 20 lbs, and you may lift up to 2 lbs with an action but no concentration. At
5th level, the maximum weight increases to 200 lbs, and you may lift up to
20 lbs without concentration.
Proficient Improviser.
You gain proficiency with tinker’s tools. You can also gain
proficiency with any tool you touch a number of times equal to 1 + your
Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). You lose these proficiencies and
regain expended charges on a long rest.
Quartz
Quartzes are strong, diverse soldiers whose only major commonality is their wide builds and back-length hair.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Medium. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d8+72 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 3d4, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 200 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet
Durable Form. You have resistance to nonmagical slashing damage while you are not poofed at level 5 and above.
Natural Soldiers. You are proficient in unarmed combat and do 1d4 bludgeoning damage with your fist and with improvised weapons.
Relentless Endurance.
When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can drop to 1 hit point
instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Scrappy. You have advantage on rolls made to grapple another creature, and you count as one size category larger for the purpose of grappling.
Ruby
Rubies are often common soldiers that fight in groups to compensate for their smaller stature.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Small. If you'd like to randomly
determine your height and weight, roll 1d4+52 to find your height in
inches. Roll another 2d4, multiply the result by the result of the
previous die roll, and add the product to 70 to find your weight in
pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet
Best in a Squad. When flanking with a Ruby, allies do 1d4 bonus damage with melee weapon attacks; this damage is of the attack’s usual type.
Heat Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage at level 5 and above.
Pyrokinetics. You know the create bonfire and produce flame cantrips. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast burning hands as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the flaming sphere spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Sapphire
Sapphires are aristocratic gems whose powers of future vision make them useful advisors.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Small. If you'd like to randomly determine your height and
weight, roll 1d4+51 to find your height in inches. Roll another 1d4,
multiply the result by the result of the previous die roll, and add the
product to 60 to find your weight in pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet
Cold Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage while you are not poofed at level 5 and above.
Cryokinesis. You know the frostbite and ray of frost cantrips. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast ice knife
as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do
so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast
the Snilloc's snowball swarm spell once with this trait and
regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your
spellcasting ability for these spells.
Precognition. Sapphires are produced to see the future. Each day you may have 1 portent roll, much like a diviner wizard. This roll can be used in place of any ability, skill, or tool check, but it can not be used in place of an attack roll or saving throw.
Spinel
Spinels are jesters, fools, and playmates, using the power of entertainment to distract from the present.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Medium
Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Elastic Constitution. You can rebound from attacks easier and so gain an extra hit point for every level you gain.
Fool at Heart.
You are a natural tumbler and entertainer, gaining proficiency in
Performance. When using Acrobatics to entertain at
least one non-hostile humanoid, you may add double your proficency
bonus to the roll (replacing your usual proficiency bonus, if present).
At 5th level, you gain Expertise in Acrobatic, as the rogue class
ability.
Stretching Attack. As a bonus action, you may increase your attack range by an extra 5 feet until the start of your next turn.
Zircon
Zircons are typically lawers and other jobs of that nature, using their power of reason and emotional control to bring the truth to light.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma increases by 1.
Size. Your size is Medium
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Emotional Control.
You have advantage on any saving throw to resist acquiring the charmed
and frightened conditions, or to resist having your emotional state
altered in any other way, such as being forced to calm down, cry, feel
joy, etc.
Hard Copies.
You can project any images and/or information that you have seen (or,
in the case of text, heard) before into a physical space the same size
as a piece of paper. These papers can be conjured at will and dismissed
at will.
Professional Smoothtalker. You are proficient in Persuasion and Insight.
Suggested Characteristics
When creating a gem character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.
d8 Personality Trait
1 I'm unsure if my own actions are right.
2 I take comfort in providing support to my friends.
3 I'm eager to please those around me.
4 I despise the company of other Gems.
5 I'm withdrawn from everyone.
6 I'm happy to see my friends do well.
7 I'm chipper and well-natured.
8 I feel as if I have to prove myself to everyone.
d6 Ideal
1 Gems and organic life should live in harmony.
2 The abandoned colony should be re-established.
3 The war never concerned me.
4 Every being should choose its own path in life.
5 I would like all Gems to be united, one way or another.
6 I wish to know more about this land and those that dwell in it.
d6 Bond
1 I fought with the Crystal Gems and value Earth.
2 I stayed loyal to Homeworld, and wish to start up the Kindergartens again.
3 I fled Homeworld and the war, and just want my freedom.
4 I came to Earth to root out any remaining rebels.
5 I got trapped here after the war and want to go home.
6 I'm looking for proof a friend was shattered here.
d6 Flaw
1 I start to panic when I see a shattered Gem.
2 I get uncomfortable in barren Kindergartens.
3 I don't trust other Gems.
4 Organic life forms are beneath me.
5 Some common terms are completely foreign to me.
6 I believe Earth cultures are simple and barbaric.
Fusion
A fusion of two gems is more than the sum of those two. A fleshed out fusion should have the higher stat of the two who make it up for each of its six stats. The fusion should be a multiclass of the two gems’ classes, but it should have 150% of the sum experience of the participating gems, for campaigns that function on experience point leveling. For campaigns that function on milestone leveling, the DM may choose the number of levels above the participating gems combined level the fusion should be to begin with. In this case, for each level the gems gain, the fusion should gain those levels plus one more.
In Combat. Two willing gems can fuse in combat if they have established a fusion character sheet with their DM. The two gems must be in melee range of one another. Fusing takes an action, the resulting fusion rolls a new initiative, and the fusion is treated as a separate character for the purposes of Hit Points and spell slots.
Out of Combat. Out of combat, gems can practice fusion for various tasks that the individual gems would not be able to perform. However, any fusion who does not have a character sheet made already can only fuse outside of combat, and when making skill checks, they will use the higher bonus and have advantage on the roll.
Permafusions. If a player wants to play a permafusion, or a gem who is the product of two gems so in love that they remain fused at all times, that player must keep a character sheet for each of the gems who makes up the fusion, and if the permafusion reaches 0 hit points, each of the gems will regenerate separately and have to fuse again. If they do this within the same combat, the permafusion will have the same penalties as a regenerated gem who has forgone the 1 hour wait.
Gem Racial Feats
Caught. You must be a gem of the aquamarine subrace to gain this feat. You may summon a wand from your gem that allows you to cast the spell telekinesis without using a spell slot a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. You regain all uses of this ability when you finish a long rest. The wand may be knocked out of your hand; if it is, you cannot use the spell and if you are holding something or someone thereby, it is dropped. The wand must be held to work, and it functions as if it were being concentrated on without requiring your concentration.
Gemgineer. You must be a gem of the peridot subrace. You have figured out how to use mundane materials to create complicated mechanical wonders. Using tinker's tools, you may spend 1 hour and 30 gold pieces' worth of metals to create a Tiny device (AC 5, 1 hit point). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless 1 hour of repairs is performed) or if you dismantle it to reclaim any metal. You may only have one such device active at a time, and may pick from the following options:- Robonoid. This device is a small sphere that walks on four cylindrical legs. When placed on the ground, the sphere walks 5 feet across the ground in a random direction.
- Noise Trap. This device is a small cylinder capable of producing a shrill, high-pitched noise at moderate volume. The noise may be triggered mechanically or be active as long as the device functions.
- Light Cannon. This device produces a narrow beam of light in front of it. This light is capable of projecting dim light in a cone up to 15 feet.
Gem Holder. You must be a gem of any kind to take this feat. When you get this feat, you can use your gem to carry items and even creatures. This works as a natural "bag of holding" in the way of space for items, but still counts to your carrying capacity. The space inside your gem is a room that represents your character's personality. (E.g., a gem with no real personality will have a bland room with a table and a bed, while a gem with a short temper will have a lot of fragile pottery or a narcissistic gem would have a mass of mirrors.) You can have as many creatures inside as your proficiency bonus. Creatures will not count to your carrying capacity, but you cannot summon your gem weapon while there are creatures staying within your gem or if you become overburdened by items within it; your speed is reduced by half (round down) during this time, as well. Creatures can only enter and exit your gem as you allow them to. Attempting to trap creatures in your gem requires you to make a grapple check against the targeted creature when they make an attempt to leave. If you are poofed and there are creatures inside your gem, they can see you as you manifest in the room, and can interact with you until you are able to remake your physical form. If you are brought down to 0 hit points within the room or you die, everything you have put in your gem is released.
Holoshifter. You must be a gem of any kind (except half-gem) to take this feat. You have learned how to manipulate your projected form into that of other creatures. As an action, you can assume the form, appearance, size, and shape, but not coloration or voice, of any creature you have seen before. You will gain this creature's size and physical abilities, such as winged flight or claws, but not magical race traits, proficiencies, ability scores, or legendary actions. The shapeshift may be held for 10 minutes and takes your concentration, though this time is halved for every size class the creature is above your own. You may use this ability twice and regain all uses on a long rest.
Holosummoner. You must a be a gem of any kind to take this feat. Through a combination of meditation and focus, you have learned to summon a second type of armament from your gem. Choose one weapon, armor piece, or shield. You may use an action to summon an armament of this type and a bonus action to dispel it. These armaments follow the same restriction as your standard gem weapon.
Malachite's Chains. You must be a gem of the lapis lazuli subrace to take this feat. You learn that water does more than heal and bring life, gaining the ability to use the shape water cantrip to bind a Medium or smaller creature within 300 feet to the ground. The target must make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC, or fall to the ground if flying and become bound to the ground until they make a successful saving throw (which they get to make at the end of every one of their turns). When used in this manner, the cantrip requires concentration. At 15th level, the maximum size affected by this feat increases to Large, though targets of that size gain advantage on the saving throw. At 18th level, Large targets no longer receive advantage on the saving throw.
Radiant Emotions. You must be a gem of the diamond subrace to gain this feat. You have learned how your aura can manipulate the feelings of nearby beings. Using your action, you may create a 60-foot sphere of pure emotion centered on your gemstone. Everyone beginning their turn within this sphere must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier) or be overwhelmed with whatever emotion you are experiencing. Treat this as the frightened condition. This effect lasts up to 1 minute or until you lose concentration. You may use this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier + 1 (minimum of one use), and you regain all uses of this trait when you finish a long rest.
Rolling Rusher. You must be a gem of the quartz subrace to take this feat. You have determined the most direct way to damage your opponents. During combat, you may duck into a ball and roll to strike an enemy. If there is at least 10 feet between you and this opponent that is both clear and unhindered, you may use this ability to close the distance and perform a single melee attack. You have a +2 bonus to this attack roll. On a hit, your opponent takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage, and you make opposed Strength checks. If you beat the opponent, they are pushed back 5 feet. Use of this special attack takes your entire turn. Once you use this feat, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
Ruby Squad. You must be a gem of the ruby subrace to take this feat. You have learned how to use numbers to enhance your attacks. Flanking no longer requires you to be on the opposite side of your foe as an ally; merely both being adjacent is sufficient. In addition, when flanking, you can reroll any damage die for a melee attack that comes up a 1 or 2. You must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. If a similar effect applies (like the great weapon fighting style), you may do this twice.
Sapphic Sight. You must be a gem of the sapphire subrace to take this feat. You have mastered your ability to see into the near future, and can predict the most likely outcome of events. You may use this trait to gain advantage on a skill check or attack roll, or to impose disadvantage on an attack roll targeting only you. This may not be used on saving throws. You may use this feat three times, regaining all uses on a long rest.
Zircon's Deductions. You must be a gem of the zircon subrace to take this feat. As a zircon, you have a natural inclination to deduce and infer about your opponents and allies alike. Gain proficiency in Investigation. You can use a bonus action to make a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by a Charisma (Deception) check made by a single humanoid within 30 feet. If you succeed, you gain an uncanny insight into their actions, giving you advantage on attack rolls and ability checks against the target until the end of your next turn.
