Children of the Far Realm
Travel into the insanity of the Far Realm is never advisable, even to powerful heroes. The plane is a nightmare of amoebic oceans, spontaneously generating creatures and horrors far beyond the comprehension of mortal minds. Beyond the obvious dangers of being devoured, being driven mad or simply disappearing without a trace, the plane also has more insidious ways of spreading its corrupting influence throughout the multiverse.
On rare occasions, travelers may find themselves mysteriously pregnant hours, days or years after a trip to the Far Realm. This strange event may even delay for generations, striking the original traveler's descendants. The children that eventually arrive are eccentric, to say the least. Even the most normal of these weirdlings is 'a little bit off'. Prone to madness, yet inexplicably charismatic, they live short, tumultuous lives.
Some people don't believe that weirdlings are as insane as they let on, and that their behavior may be driven unconsciously by the whims of some great intelligence within the Far Realm, or perhaps the plane itself. Indeed there are some that would see the race, as rare as they are, exterminated like vermin.
Weirdlings
Children of unfortunate travelers that found themselves in the Far Realm at one time, weirdlings just about the most normal thing to come out of the plane of madness. Emotionally unstable and prone to fits and other bouts of insanity, they nonetheless possess a certain charm, even if they aren't quite right. Weirdlings are feared by some for their connection to the Far Realm and for the possibility that they may be attempting to further some alien design from within the Material Plane.
Personality: Weirdlings are anything but stable individuals. The touch of the Far Realm brings madness, and weirdlings suffer greatly for it, almost always suffering from some form of insanity. Those that have the misfortune of being hunted due to their heritage often develop strong persecution complexes or extreme paranoia. While they are surprisingly susceptible to madness, they are strangely resilient to sights that would send ordinary people cowering in fear.
Physical Description: Weirdlings appear more or less human, but have a trait or two that single them out as something different. This may be as simple as an unnatural eye or hair color, or something more such as extra fingers or toes, patches of reptilian scales or fur, or even additional, non-functional appendages, such as stunted and warped wings or tails.
Relations: Weirdlings are often shunned for their behavior and appearance and most lead solitary lives as a result. Weirdlings that possess some magical ability, may find themselves permitted to live near a human community and provided with basic necessities in exchange for the occasional spell or assistance. Larger, more cosmopolitan cities may host a few weirdlings that may live on the streets as vagabonds, and are generally ignored by the populace at large. Weirdlings in planar cities generally have a much easier go of it, and are better able to integrate with their extremely diverse populations, as long as they aren't too disruptive.
Groups that target denizens of the Far Realm for destruction are known to turn their wrath on any weirdlings that they discover. For this reason, most weirdlings are extremely cautious when in the company of strangers or when near druids, rangers and other defenders of nature.
Alignment: Weirdlings are overwhelmingly chaotic in nature due to their connection with the Far Realm. They are given to neither good nor evil by nature, but most have a neutral or slightly evil bent.
Weirdling Lands: Weirdlings as a rule are too rare a race to hold any lands of note. Those that do possess small parcels of property often have chosen their plot due to some planar significance, even if the choice was subconscious. The land may have a destroyed portal on it, or may have been the site of multiple planar summoning, but there is almost always a connection with the multiverse at large.
Religion: Weirdlings as a rule to not take up religion. If they do, it's generally in service to a chaotic or monstrous deity. Strangely enough, particularly charismatic weirdlings are sometimes given to starting up cults dedicated to fictional gods, drawing in worshippers and turning them to their own purposes.
Language: Weirdlings speak Common, and generally learn to speak other languages as well. In this respect, they are most like humans.
Names: Weirdlings usually have human names, as they are almost always raised in human societies. Some may adopt pseudonyms later in life, usually in an attempt to hide their past.
Adventurers: Weirdlings take to adventuring fairly well, and travelling tends to bring out the most of their positive qualities. Those few that take to travelling beyond the Material Plane find themselves more at home than ever. They are still attracted by all the usual benefits of adventuring: treasure, exotic locales and fame, but the actual travel itself appears to be the greatest draw.
Weirdling Racial Traits
Weirdlings have the following traits:
- -2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma: Weirdlings have strong personalities and are very persuasive, but they have fragile mental states and often descend into madness.
- Humanoid (human): Weirdlings are humanoid creatures with the human subtype.
- Medium: As Medium creatures, weirdlings have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
- Weirdling base land speed is 30 feet.
- Low-light Vision: A weirdling can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
- +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against animals and plants: Weirdlings are strangely adept at destroying the natural world.
- +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear: Weirdlings are naturally desensitized to sights and sounds that would leave most quaking.
- -2 racial penalty on savings throws against compulsion spells and spell-like effects: Weirdlings are given to madness and are susceptible to abilities that alter their minds.
- Weapon Familiarity: At 1st level, a weirdling selects a single exotic weapon. Thereafter, they treat this as a martial weapon rather than an exotic weapon.
- Automatic Language: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages such as Druidic). Since weirdlings are mostly human, they have the same exposure to languages.
- Favored Class: Warlock. A multiclass weirdling's warlock class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. Weirdlings are somewhat magical in nature and this often manifests in dark ways.
