Hexbloods

**Hexbloods** are the spawn of hags, created through the strange magics unique to their kind and hidden amongst mortals until they mature. They are directly descended from the Mother of All Witches, and eventually transform into full hags over the course of their adulthood. There are no male hexbloods, as hags are exclusively female.

## Description

Hexbloods appear entirely normal for much of their childhood, even beautiful and healthy for their kind, with their true nature often a mystery even to themselves for most of their lives. They can belong to any humanoid race, and grow up believing themselves to be a normal part of that race.

However, once a hexblood reaches their 13th birthday, her fey heritage begins to manifest. The changes are internal at first. The personality begins to sour. Bullying tendencies and other bad habits begin to take root, though at first none are extreme enough to make her appear like anything but a particularly brutish member of her kin. With each passing year, she turns cruel, revelling in the misery and despair of others more and more as she grows. The feelings come and go, and hexbloods can be wantonly cruel at one moment, and deeply empathetic another. Many realise that a strange transformation is afoot, and attempt to fix it, but no way is known to undo the hexblood's true nature. The transformation can take longer for some, and less for others.

Eventually, the hexblood begins to notice strange mishaps around her as her weird magic manifests untamed. Physical changes come next: nails grown long, hair grown scraggly, flesh grown gaunt. The changes happen quickly, like a feverish illness, and are said to be excruciatingly painful. Finally, the change almost complete, the hexblood is compelled to slaughter those she holds closest in a dark ritual. In the misery she wroughts, the final step of the transformation occurs, and the hexblood turns into a full hag.

## Culture & Society

When a hag wishes to reproduce, she will seek out a mortal family of some latent magical prowess that has just had a female child. In the dead of night, the hag steals and devours the child, giving birth to an exact physical hexblood replica and returning it to its cradle, unbeknownst to anyone. Hags do this exceedingly rarely, though the reason for why is not known. It is believed that the rapid birth greatly reduces the strength of the hag for a time, rendering them into a state of torpor for nine months after.

While they grow, hexbloods share the culture they are born in, and are completely indistinguishable from another of their race. Even spells that can detect fey cannot discern their nature until the transformation begins in earnest.

## Properties

* ***Ability Score Increase.*** You have the Ability Score Increases of the race you are born into, but none of their other traits.
* ***Size.*** Your size depends on your original race.
* ***Speed.*** Your base walking 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 discern colours in that darkness as shades of grey.
* ***Eerie Token.*** As a bonus action, you can harmlessly remove a lock of your hair, one of your nails, or one of your teeth. This token is imbued with magic until you finish a long rest. Once you create a token using this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, at which point your missing part regrows. While the token is imbued in this way, you can take these actions:
	+ ***Telepathic Message.*** As an action, you can send a telepathic message to the creature holding or carrying the token, as long as you are within 10 miles of it. The message can contain up to twenty-five words.
	+ ***Remote Viewing.*** If you are within 10 miles of the token, you can enter a trance as an action. The trance lasts for 1 minute, but it ends early if you dismiss it (no action required) or are incapacitated. During this trance, you can see and hear from the token as if you were located where it is. While you are using your senses at the token's location, you are blinded and deafened in regard to your own surroundings. When the trance ends, the token is harmlessly destroyed.
* ***Horrify.*** As an action, you can make your already somewhat deformed appearance become truly terrifying. Target one creature within 30 ft that can see you; it must make a Wisdom saving throw. The DC is 8 +your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. On a failed save, the target becomes frightened of you until the end of your next turn. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
* ***Hex Magic.*** You can cast the *disguise self* and *hex* spells with this trait. Once you cast either of these spells with this trait, you can't cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells (choose the ability when you gain this lineage).