APRIL FOOLS - Dhampurr: Half-Catfolk, Half-Half-Vampire, All Badass

Yes, this was an April Fool's joke.  Please do not use this race in your games.  Check out d20 Despot's past April Fools Day posts, like this one about GMing for your significant other, or this one that featured the incredible Bismuth Behemoth and a sneak peak into the Expanded Elemental Bestiary!  Actually, those two are the only others so far.  Happy 3rd anniversary to me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dhampir, the enigmatic race of half-vampires (or vampyres, if you prefer) that make for great brooding anti-heroes.  Catfolk, the agile, spunky race of free-spirited rogues and tricksters.  Both are great race options for players that love to stand out from the pack at every turn.  But what happens when a dhampir and a catgirl fall in love?  Well, in celebration of d20 Despot's 3rd anniversary, I'm bringing you the dhampurr, half-catfolk, half-dhampir.  The dhampurr is a rare and special race that is bound to be a fixture of every adventuring party from now on.  Whether you are a player looking to make that perfect special character or a GM creating an awesome GMPC to carry your party through an epic adventure, the dhampurr is sure to keep everything revolving around you, just as it should be.

Phoenix Rain Nightshade, Priestess of the Dark Garden (Dhampurr Cleric/Druid)

One of the great things about the dhampurr race is that half of their ancestry is catfolk and half is half-vampire, but what's the other half-half? (That's a quarter for you math nerds.)  It adds a sense of mystery to an already great race, and leaves open a great opportunity for spicing up your character's backstory.  Are they one-quarter drow?  Tiefling?  Kender?  Could they even have the blood of a god running through their veins?  When you play a dhampurr, your destiny is what you make it!

Dhampurr

Mysterious by nature, dhampurr are a truly gifted race of talented, special individuals.  Most dhampurr come from humble origins, often orphaned and living on the streets until a wise mentor figure notices their inherent greatness.  

   Physical Description: Dhampurr are excellent physical specimens, combining the most attractive features of their parent races.  All dhampurr have heterochromia, and many have unusually colored hair that makes them stand out from the crowd.  

   Society: Dhampurr have no society to truly call their own because few can understand their deep complexities and flighty, emotional natures.  

   Relations: Despite their constant brooding and dark pasts, dhampurr make friends easily since most mortals find themselves strangely drawn to them.  

   Alignment and Religion: Most dhampurr are evil, but a small minority (roughly 85%) are Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Good adventurers struggling with their dark pasts and trying to atone for their race's reputation.  

   Adventurers: Dhampurr naturally excel at a life of adventure, as most of them are fated for great things.  Dhampurr tend to be bards, rangers, rogues, or sorcerers, or a multiclass combination of all four.

   Male Names: Darkness, Lestrade, Nightclaw, Phoenix, Raven, Shadow, Wraith

   Female Names: Ali'iah, Buba'astis, Ilya'zir'el, Jezerya'el, Nix'ana, Quilor'ra, Ysh'rell'a'na

Dhampurr Racial Traits

+2 DEX, +2 CON, +2 INT, +4 CHA: Dhampurr are nimble, clever, extremely funny and sexy, and maddeningly hard to kill.

Medium: Dhampurr are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Fast Speed: Dhampurr have a base speed of 40 feet.

Darkvision: Dhampurr can see in the dark up to 60 feet.

Low-Light Vision: Dhampurr can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. 

Heterochromia: All dhampurr have this rare trait that makes each eye a different color, granting them a +4 reaction bonus on all interactions with characters that are (or could be) attracted to them.  

Perfect Factotum: A dhampurr who spends one round observing an ally that is performing any action (including making a skill check, casting a spell, or making an attack) can then perform that action as much as they want for the next 24 hours with an added +4 bonus, even if it is an action that the dhampurr couldn't normally perform.  

Alter Style: As a free action, a dhampurr can change the appearance of their clothing, armor, and/or hairstyle, as per the spell disguise self.  This is an at-will spell-like ability.  

Gift of Fate: Dhampurr are blessed by fate and receive a supernatural boon.  This can take one of two forms.  The first is an ancestral weapon.  This can be a magic weapon of the player's choice, but must cost no more than the player's starting wealth x100.  

   The second option is to form a close bond with an animal companion.  The dhampurr selects an animal companion from the following list: Bear, Cat (big), Cat (small), Dinosaur (deinonychus, velociraptor), Horse, Pony, or Wolf.  This ability functions like the druid's animal companion ability, except that the dhampurr gains a telepathic bond with their animal companion and the animal companion can cast spells as a 5th level sorcerer.

Destined for Destiny: Any time a dhampurr fails a skill check, saving throw, or attack roll in a way contrary to that character's ultimate destiny (as determined by the player), they can re-roll until they get it right.  

Languages: Dhampurr begin play speaking Common and Dhampurrsian.  Dhampurr with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Abyssal, Draconic, Druidic, Infernal, Sylvan, Undercommon, or telepathy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The illustration of Phoenix Rain Nightshade was done by my friend Jane (who plays the bard Kat in the Graverobbers campaign), who has an ongoing fascination with special snowflake characters and Mary Sues.  I asked her at the last minute to do an illustration for my April Fool's post and gave her a rough outline of the concept.  She came back to me with the picture you see above, plus a backstory she couldn't resist writing: "This is my original character Phoenix Rain Nightshade, priestess of the Dark Garden.  She's a cleric/druid multiclass.  And she channels negative energy OBVS, because she's super dark and mysterious, but that's just because she was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery as a teenager [Phoenix has no PTSD or any other lingering consequences from her time as a sex slave except when it is useful to the story at hand].  Eventually she escaped and discovered her love of growing plants, but soon realized that the only color of flower she ever grew was black."  So perfect!

-your special snowflake d20 despot