Darakhul
Race
Basic Information
- Size:
- Your size is determined by your Heritage Subrace.
- Speed:
- walk 30
- Age:
- An upper limit of darakhul age has never been discovered; most darakhul die violently.
- Alignment:
- Your alignment does not change when you become a darakhul, but most darakhul have a strong draw toward evil.
Abilities & Senses
- Ability Score Increase:
- Your Constitution score increases by 1.
- Languages:
- You can speak, read, and write Common, Darakhul, and a language associated with your Heritage Subrace.
- Vision:
- You can see in dim light within 60 feet as though it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Description
## Darakhul Traits
Your darakhul character has certain characteristics in common with all other darakhul.
Traits
Description.
***Hunger for Flesh.*** You must consume 1 pound of raw meat each day or suffer the effects of starvation. If you go 24 hours without such a meal, you gain one level of exhaustion. While you have any levels of exhaustion from this trait, you can't regain hit points or remove levels of exhaustion until you spend at least 1 hour consuming 10 pounds of raw meat.
Imperfect Undeath.
***Imperfect Undeath.*** You transitioned into undeath, but your transition was imperfect. Though you are a humanoid, you are susceptible to effects that target undead. You can regain hit points from spells like cure wounds, but you can also be affected by game effects that specifically target undead, such as a cleric's Turn Undead feature. Game effects that raise a creature from the dead work on you as normal, but they return you to life as a darakhul. A true resurrection or wish spell can restore you to life as a fully living member of your original race.
Powerful Jaw.
***Powerful Jaw.*** Your heavy jaw is powerful enough to crush bones to powder. Your bite is a natural melee weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with it, your bite deals piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Sunlight Sensitivity.
***Sunlight Sensitivity.*** You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
Undead Resilience.
***Undead Resilience.*** You are infused with the dark energy of undeath, which frees you from some frailties that plague most creatures. You have resistance to necrotic damage and poison damage, you are immune to disease, and you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or poisoned. When you finish a short rest, you can reduce your exhaustion level by 1, provided you have ingested at least 1 pound of raw meat in the last 24 hours (see Hunger for Flesh).
Undead Vitality.
***Undead Vitality.*** You don't need to breathe, and you don't sleep the way most creatures do. Instead, you enter a dormant state that resembles death, remaining semiconscious, for 6 hours a day. While dormant, you have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Heritage Subrace.
***Heritage Subrace.*** You were something else before you became a darakhul. This heritage determines some of your traits. Choose one Heritage Subrace below and apply the listed traits.
Derro Heritage.
**Derro Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a derro before transforming into a darakhul. For you, the quieting of the otherworldly voices did not bring peace and tranquility. The impulses simply became more focused, and the desire to feast on flesh overwhelmed other urges. The darkness is still there; it just has a new, clearer form.
Dragonborn Heritage.
**Dragonborn Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a dragonborn before transforming into a darakhul. The dark power of undeath overwhelmed your elemental nature, replacing it with the foul energy and strength of the undead. Occasionally, your draconic heritage echoes a peal of raw power through your form, but it is quickly converted into necrotic waves.
Drow Heritage.
**Drow Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a drow before transforming into a darakhul. Your place within the highly regimented drow society doesn't feel that much different from your new place in the darakhul empires. But an uncertainty buzzes in your mind, and a hunger gnaws at your gut. You are now what you once hated and feared. Does it feel right, or is it something you fight against?
Dwarf Heritage.
**Dwarf Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a dwarf before transforming into a darakhul. The hum of the earth, the tranquility of the stone and the dust, drained from you as the darakhul fever overwhelmed your once-resilient body. The stone is still there, but its touch has gone from a welcome embrace to a cold grip of death. But it's all the same to you now.
Elf/Shadow Fey Heritage.
**Elf/Shadow Fey Heritage.** Your darakhul character was an elf or shadow fey (see *Midgard Heroes Handbook*) before transforming into a darakhul. The deathly power coursing through you reminds you of the lithe beauty and magic of your former body. If you just use your imagination, the blood tastes like wine once did. The smell of rotting flesh has the bouquet of wildflowers. The moss beneath the surface feels like the leaves of the forest.
Gnome Heritage.
**Gnome Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a gnome before transforming into a darakhul. The spark of magic that drove you before your transformation still burns inside of you, but now it is a constant ache instead of a source of creation and inspiration. This ache is twisted by your hunger, making you hunger for magic itself.
Halfling Heritage.
**Halfling Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a halfling before transforming into a darakhul. Everything you loved as a halfling—food, drink, exploration, adventure— still drives you in your undead form; it is simply a more ghoulish form of those pleasures now: raw flesh instead of stew, warm blood instead of cold mead. You still want to explore the dark corners of the world, but now you seek something different.
Human/Half-Elf Heritage.
**Human/Half-Elf Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a human or half-elf before transforming into a darakhul. Where there was once light there is now darkness. Where there was once love there is now hunger. You know if the darkness and hunger become all-consuming, you are truly lost. But the powers of your new form are strangely comfortable. How much of your old self is still there, and what can this new form give you that your old one couldn't?
Kobold Heritage.
**Kobold Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a kobold before transforming into a darakhul. The dark, although it was often your home, generally held terrors that you needed to survive. Now you are the dark, and its pull on your soul is strong. You fight to keep a grip on the intellect and cunning that sustained you in your past life. Sometimes it is easy, but often the driving hunger inside you makes it hard to think as clearly as you once did.
Ravenfolk.
**Ravenfolk.** Your darakhul character was a ravenfolk (see Midgard Heroes Handbook) before transforming into a darakhul. Your new form feels different. It is more powerful and less fidgety, and your beak has become razor sharp. There is still room for trickery, of course. But with your new life comes a disconnection from the All Father. Does this loss gnaw at you like your new hunger or do you feel freed from the destiny of your people?
Tiefling Heritage.
**Tiefling Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a tiefling before transforming into a darakhul. You are no stranger to the pull of powerful forces raging through your blood. You have traded one dark pull for another, and this one seems much stronger. Is that a good feeling, or do you miss your old one?
Trollkin Heritage.
**Trollkin Heritage.** Your darakhul character was a trollkin (see *Midgard Heroes Handbook*) before transforming into a darakhul. Others saw you as a monster because of your ancestry. You became inured to the fearful looks and hurried exits of those around you. If only they could see you now. Does your new state make you seek revenge on them, or are you able to maintain your self-control despite the new urges you feel?