Astralborn

The **astralborn** are a mysterious people, believed to have been birthed by the fleeting thoughts of a mad, fallen deity. They are made up of pure astral essence, given life through some arcane or divine means. Humanoid in stature, their bodies are made from an incorporeal essence that moves in a fluid nature, appearing like a star-filled sky and fringed with wisps of essence that range in color. Astralborn appear spontaneously in areas with high concentrations of arcane or divine energy, such as Astralis, the Astral Plane. They are born without heritage, and they die fairly young, giving astralborn no time to form societies, civilizations, cultures, or significant legacies. Aware of their inevitable ends, astralborn make the most out of their lives, often living for glory, fame, and love.

Although their true origins are shrouded in mystery, many scholars believe that the fallen deity, Urundishen, created the astralborn while he was imprisoned within the Astral Sea, and his fleeting power is reason for their short lifespans. Some astralborn similarly believe this, and draw connections with the god's descent into madness with the astralborn's fragile minds and common disconnect with deities.

Astralborn are unpredictable and exceptionally talented, though their mental state is rather unstable and their strange, inhuman appearance often leaves the wandering eye wary of an astralborn's presence. Of the astralborn that incorporate themselves into a society, few find themselves among the company of friends, even those that seek out the attention specifically. Because of an astralborn's love for revelry and their eccentric lifestyles, they are looked down upon by all except those that share their particular tastes, seen as nothing more than immature and pretentious.

Astralborn do not take on conventional names, owing to their lack of ancestry, parentage, and their belief that such a thing is unnecessary due to their short lifespans. They will, however, adopt a nickname to use in their interactions with other living beings. Such nicknames reference something that can be easily related to the astralborn, such as their favorite activity, their favorite kind of gemstone, or a signature personality or style.

## Astralborn

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* ***Ability Scores.*** Con +1, Cha +1, Choose any other one +1
* ***Size.*** Medium. Astralborn are the same height as humans on average, though they rarely weigh over 30 pounds.
* ***Speed.*** 35 feet.
* ***Age.*** Astralborn are considered mature as soon as they are "born", and their personalities typically reflect this. They live no more than 15 years, breaking down into a shower of sparkling dust upon their death day.
* ***Alignment.*** Astralborn are beings born from what's left of an ancient, fallen deity, who had been lost to insanity after being banished to Astralis for all of eternity. As such, Astralborn are almost always chaotic, and because of their minimal understandings of most things in the world, they are more likely to be neutral than they are to be good or evil.
* ***Phase Distortion.*** As a reaction, you can force an attack roll made against you to be made with disadvantage. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of once), and you regain spent uses when you finish a long rest.
* ***Displacement.*** As a bonus action, you can magically turn invisible until you attack, make a damage roll, or cause something to make a saving throw. While you are invisible in this way, you may take the Dash action as a bonus action. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
* ***Naturally Talented.*** You gain proficiency in three skills of your choice.
* ***Astral Being.*** You have resistance to necrotic and poison damage, you are immune to the petrified and poisoned conditions, and magic can't put you to sleep. However, you have vulnerability to force damage, and every time you gain a level of exhaustion, you gain an additional level of exhaustion.
* ***Restless Form.*** Astralborn don't need sleep. Instead, you can perform a light, focused activity for 4 hours a day, such as reading a book, tending to armor or weapons, or practicing cantrips. After performing such an activity in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
* ***Language.*** You can speak, read, and write Common.

## A Lost People, Brought Together

Astralborn lack culture and heritage, with only few of them becoming heroes or side characters in legends or stories among small communities. The world at large rarely knows of the existence of the astralborn, and even an astralborn themselves wonders if they're the only one of their kind. Astralborn that meet with one another, however, form strong, sibling-like bonds, and larger collectives of astralborn have formed social hierarchies based on their short lifespans, most commonly mocking other cultures or traditions that they have heard about in their travels.

A commonly shared belief among astralborn is that when their inevitable deaths come, it is only a doorway into a new life, as they will reincarnate into a new astralborn. More primitive gatherings of astralborn take this belief a step further, going so far as to seek out astralborn to indoctrinate into their beliefs, keeping record of notable members of their people and their appearances and attempting to draw heritage between recently deceased astralborn and younger ones based on their interests, experiences, and even essence color.

## Appearance

Astralborn appear like star-filled silhouettes of humans, with chromatic wisps emanating from their bodies gently. These wisps are usually only one color, though it is possible for an astralborn to have two or three essence colors. Astralborn have very few facial features, those being slight suggestions to a human's face, such as eye sockets, noses, and even the idea of hairstyles, as astralborn manipulate the malleable, flame-like wisps into what resembles hair, in an effort to differentiate themselves between other astralborn and to acquire a unique identity for themselves.

With their appearances already mimicking that of existing humanoid races, it is believed that the deity that resulted in their creation had envisioned its own species that it wished to birth into the world, but was unable to complete the vision before their demise, and so their thoughts were scattered across the Astral Sea. The space around an astralborn seems to distort slightly, and as they move around, they leave fading strands of their wispy essence trailing behind them, only adding to their mystical and otherworldly appearance.