Alien Grey (5e Race)
Alien Grey
Look up... Among the stars... Now look around you... They're among you... Hiding in the corners of your eyes...
Physical Description
The Alien Grey earn their name due to their grey skin. They are humanoids, around 4 feet tall, with slender limbs and a large head. Their bodies are smooth, with no hair, and no outer nose, ears or sexual organs. They have large almond-shaped eyes coated with a black membrane. There are minor variations of the general appearance as some look similar to that of a child, some looking more like the elderly, and even some looking somewhat 'demonic', all while still conforming to the general basic grey forms as noted above.
History
They have been around, so is said, even before we were here. For centuries, they have visited, they have instructed, they have probed, and they have mutilated. It seems that there are several clans or species among these beings. Some with no intent of interfering, and some with nothing but ill intent. Through history, they have not been known to help or do any good among the populace.
Your ship has crashed, leaving you stranded here on this foreign planet. Despite your best efforts, you can't get it operational. Now you must venture forth, cautiously. You have either cannibalized your ship or hidden it in such a way that no one is likely to run across it for a considerable amount of time. If it has been cannibalized, you gain starting equipment. If Hidden, it is locked up and impenetrable until you return in later levels.
Society
Supposedly, there are several clans warring against each other, for reasons unknown to us. What sightings have been reported, are that there appears to be variations, but each meeting the descriptions as mentioned prior.
You know your own frailties and thus don a disguise. Depending on your preference, the disguise type may vary from a large common robe to a "change self" ability to even a doppelgänger form.
Alien-Grey Names
Names are for the slow and narrow minded... They have bypassed such limited communications long ago. They know to whom they speak and whom they speak of without the need for names.
Alien-Grey Traits
Alien Greys are from a distant, advanced civilization. You have crash-landed here.
Ability Score Increase. Your intelligence increases by 2 and your wisdom increases by 1
Age. Greys are adapted for long space travel and can live for hundreds of years.
Alignment. A grey's original mission is usually nefarious, so they tend to lean towards neutral or evil alignments.
Size. Alien Gray stand around four feet high. Your size is small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25.
Psionics. You know the friends cantrip. This innate spellcasting trait has the psionics tag.
Polyreactive Tapeta. You can see in dim light as though it were bright light. In addition, you are immune to attacks against you that rely on your sight, such as a medusa's gaze.
Techno-Tinkerer. You have proficiency with artisan's tools (tinker's tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny high-tech device (AC 5, 1 hp). Construction also includes electrical or photonic components you are assumed to carry on your person. The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices at a time.
When you create a device, choose one of the following options:
Drone. As an action, you can remotely move this device which has a fly speed of 10 feet (hover). You can only control it if it is within 30 feet of you. If it moves outside this range, it falls softly to the ground. It has a tiny grabber with which it can pick up items weighing less than 1/2 lb.
Noisemaker. When placed on the ground, this device waits for 1 minute and then makes loud beeping and clicking sounds that can be heard up to 90 feet away.
Dreamcatcher. When placed on the forehead of a sleeping creature, this device records the creature's dreams. It can store 1 hour of data. It plays back the dream in a psionic format that only an alien grey can understand.
Alter Mind, Hide self. You are not stealthy by normal understanding. When you make a Stealth check, you can use your Intelligence modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier.
Grey Outsider. You are unaccustomed to the ways of this world. You must complete five levels in the grey outsider class before you can take levels in any other class.
Languages. Through observation of the races of this world, you have learned to speak, read, and write common.
Random Height and Weight
| Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3′ 8″ | +2d4 | 65lbs. | × (2d4) lb. |
Background
You are a product of genetic engineering and cloning; designed to withstand long space travel and to perform experiments on planets far different than your own.
Skill Proficiencies: Investigation
Downtime Activity Proficiencies: Researching
Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (flying), doctor's tools
Equipment: A handheld holographic e-reader containing your mission dossier, a flight suit, a pouch of alloy discs worth 20 gp.
Mission
You were sent to this planet for a reason. Perhaps this mission is still your firm priority, or maybe you have become disillusioned with your homeworld's goals. Work with your DM to determine the nature of your mission, or roll on the following table.
| d6 | Mission |
|---|---|
| 1 | Obtain genetic material to improve your dying race. |
| 2 | Prepare for invasion: corrupt important political or military leaders. |
| 3 | Mark the position of useful resources such as fresh water, minerals or animal herds. |
| 4 | Insert your own genetic code into selected races of this world, to create hybrids. |
| 5 | Harvest organs from a variety of species, for food to send back to your homeworld. |
| 6 | Find and destroy the hidden records of your race's involvement in the history of this world. |
Feature: From the Stars
Objects of high technology sometimes find their way to this world, fallen from the far future or astronomic distances. Laser guns, robots, computers, energy cells and so forth may seem like magic items to the primitive creatures you live among now: but no manner of magical knowledge will comprehend them.
Whenever you find such a high-tech item, you are able to identify its function and how to operate it (although you may or may not be proficient with it). In addition, you are able to comprehend alien languages otherwise unknown on this planet.
Suggested Characteristics
| d8 | Personality Trait. |
|---|---|
| 1 | I am standoffish, preferring to observe before intervening. |
| 2 | I like to be imposing and to take the lead, through subversion if necessary. |
| 3 | I am prudent, taking time to clean and improve my personal equipment. |
| 4 | I'll always find something to investigate, which I would prefer to do clandestinely. |
| 5 | I am fascinated with the music of different cultures. I cannot help dancing when I hear something new. |
| 6 | I am obsessed with collecting and categorizing natural and cultural samples. |
| 7 | I spend the twilight hours staring up at the stars above, homesick. |
| 8 | I collect spores, molds and fungi. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery. (Any) There are fascinating locations, creatures and artifacts out there, to be discovered through adventure. |
| 2 | Knowledge. (Any) Reading and learning are the most important undertakings of any civilized race. |
| 3 | Experiment. (Any) With thoughtful and practical observation and measurement I can accrue power; although I must decide what the ethical limits are. |
| 4 | Invention. (Good) Design, construction and improvement of technology leads to true advancement; principles I may even share with the primitive creatures of this world. |
| 5 | Conquer. (Evil) These primitive races should be subjugated and treated like cattle. |
| 6 | Self-enlightenment. (Lawful) To know myself is to know the multiverse. I am a microcosm of all that exists. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My tools are my only connection with home, so I take great care with them. |
| 2 | I must be careful of a dangerous group of aliens, the Reticulans, with whom my race has a million-year-old rivalry. |
| 3 | My ship landing was witnessed by one young rock gnome. I decided to share my secret and teach her about my technology. |
| 4 | I will walk the ley lines of this world and meditate at important loci. |
| 5 | Apparently a guild of alchemists are hunting me, for vivisection and study. |
| 6 | I have two pet cats, Bastet and Ra, who I am training as spies. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I know my physical limitations: I am craven, always prepared to turn and run. |
| 2 | My sense of superiority sometimes results in foolhardy or irresponsible actions. |
| 3 | I can't quite connect with the people of this world, so I am reclusive and anti-social. |
| 4 | Strong, cheap perfume makes me feel sick. |
| 5 | I am self-serving, and I won't help if there's a chance I might need my abilities for myself later. |
| 6 | I am overly charitable and often overextend myself. |
Grey Outsider
This class can only be taken by an alien grey. You must complete all five levels of this class before you can take a level in any other class. It represents you acclimatizing to your new world: learning about magic, deities, war craft and other "primative" aspects absent from your original planet.
Creating a Grey Outsider
As a Grey Outsider you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per Grey Outsider level
Hit Points at 1st Level: + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + Constitution modifier per Grey Outsider level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: None
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills: Choose three from Stealth, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival or Deception
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- Tinker's tools
- Common clothes
- (a) 2 vials of acid or (b) a flask of alchemist's fire
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Spells Known | Spell Slots | Slot Level | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | 2 | 1 | 1st | Spaceship, Psionics, Psychic Defense |
| 2nd | +2 | 3 | 2 | 2nd | Telepathy |
| 3rd | +2 | 4 | 2 | 2nd | Grand Scheme |
| 4th | +2 | 5 | 2 | 2nd | — |
| 5th | +3 | 6 | 2 | 3rd | Outsider Specialization |
Spaceship
You arrived on this planet in a spaceship, and for whatever reason, it cannot yet leave. Maybe it was deliberately a one-way trip and you have expended its irreplaceable fuel. Or perhaps you crashlanded, and vital systems are wrecked. You can choose to cannibalize the ship to make some adventuring equipment, or keep it as a hideout and begin repairs.
- Cannibalized Ship
You begin with two of the following pieces of equipment. The remains of your ship are irreversibly destroyed such that nothing useful remains.
- Recharging Plasma Pistol, with which you are proficient.
- Bio-probe. 2 lb. You can use your action to insert the probe into a willing or incapacitated living creature. This deals 1d4 piercing damage. By doing so you obtain that creature's genetic material. You gain double your normal proficiency bonus on Medicine checks made on the creature from whom you have obtained genetic data.
- Psi-band. 1 lb. When you wear this headband, the range of your psionic spells is doubled.
- Alloy armor. 3 lb. This is a light suit of armor with which you are proficient. It is so thin that it can fit under normal clothing. It gives you an AC of 12 + your Dexterity modifier.
- Survey Pack. 5 lb. This is a backpack with various sensors for environmental analysis. While wearing it, you can add your proficiency bonus to Wisdom checks made to predict weather, navigate or to find food. In addition, you can detect poisons and disease within 5 feet of you as though you were under the effects of the detect poison and disease spell.
- Hidden Ship
Your ship is hidden in a location that you and your DM agree on. It is disguised such that a DC 20 Perception check is required to spot it. It provides a workspace and living area roughly 30 by 30 feet. It indefinitely provides warmth, shelter and food for up to 5 Medium creatures.
You can repair your ship as a downtime activity. This requires 25,000 gp worth of construction materials. You make progress in 25 gp increments, spending that amount for each day of work, assuming you work for 8 hours each of those days.
The completed ship is a Huge object that grants total protection to you and four passengers. It has an AC of 19 and 150 hit points. It has a cruising flight speed of 200 mph requiring no fuel. Work with your DM to decide if the ship is capable of leaving the planet, and if so what special fuel is required.
Psionics
This feature refers to spells and spell slots for mechanical purposes. This feature, and spells cast through it, have the psionics tag.
- Spell Slots
The Grey Outsider table shows how many spell slots you have, and what level those slots are; all your spell slots are the same level. To cast one of your grey alien spells, you must expend a spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
- Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the grey outsider psionics list.
The Spells Known column of the Grey Outsider table shows when you learn more grey alien spells of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell you choose must be of a level no higher than what's shown in the table's Slot Level column for your level.
Additionally, when you gain level a level in this class, you can choose one of the grey outsider's spells you know and replace it with another spell from the grey outsider psionics list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
- Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your grey outsider spells, so you use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a grey outsider spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence bonus.
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
- Eschew Materials
You do not require material components when you cast a grey outsider spell.
Psychic Defense
While you are wearing no armor and wielding no shield, your AC is 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
Telepathy
Starting at 2nd level, you can communicate telepathically with any creature that knows a language within 30 feet of you that you can see.
Grand Scheme
At 3rd level you have developed the means by which you intend to complete your mission. Choose one of the following.
- Divine Ori
You seek to cultivate a sect of followers. When a nearby humanoid prays to a deity, you can attempt to answer in the guise of that god. You must be able to communicate telepathically with that creature, who must be of CR no greater than 1/2. You make a Charisma (Deception) skill check contested by the creature's passive Wisdom (Insight) check.
If you succeed, you telepathically send a short message to the creature in a way that is indistinguishable from divine instruction. If your message is at odds with the deity's doctrine, the creature may make an Intelligence (Religion) check, opposed by your Deception result.
If the creature wins either contest of skills, it notices the subterfuge. If it won by 5 or more, it knows that you are the source of the deception. Most creatures will react with hostility at this invasion of personal invocation.
Deceived creatures will attempt to follow the instructions insofar that they do not break bonds they might hold dearer (to family, to state, etc.) If instructed to follow your commands you have advantage on Persuasion and Intimidation checks against them until they no longer believe you to be divinely sanctioned. Acts that might break this status include successfully communing with their true deity; successful counter-instruction by that deity's clergy; or further commands from you that contradict that deity's doctrine (forcing a contested Deception against Religion check as above).
- Observer
You seek to observe major events in this world's timeline. There mere act of your observation is important enough to effect the future in a manner that is conducive to your race's goals.
You can cast disguise self once without expending a spell slot. You can use the spell to appear to be any Small or Medium humanoid race that you know. You can only adopt the most average form of that race, wearing the simplest common or fine clothes appropriate for that race's culture. This feature has the psionic tag, and you regain the use of it after you finish a long rest.
In addition, when you are able to observe the conclusion of an important event (such as a major natural disaster, a government toppled by revolution, the assassination of a world leader) you receive a glimpse into the past and future. You have advantage on Intelligence (History) and Wisdom (Perception) checks for 1 day. For you to gain this benefit, you must not be directly involved in the conclusion of the event (although you may have had a hand in orchestrating it).
- Divine Ambassador
You seek to enlighten all the sentient races of this world, and spread teachings of galactic peace; in return you hope to receive knowledge in goodwill to help complete your mission.
You can use your Intelligence modifier instead of your Charisma modifier when using the Persuasion skill. In addition, you can cast calm emotions once without expending a spell slot. You regain the use of this spell when you finish a long rest.
Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of you choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Outsider Specialization
At 5th level, choose one of the following options.
- Improved Telepathy
The range of your telepathy increases to 120 feet, and you do not need to be able to see the creature. You must still be able to infer the creature's location (such as through a successful Perception check to hear them.)
- Psionic Speciality
Choose one grey outsider spell that you know. You can cast your specialty spell once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
- Gadgets
Prerequisite: Techno-tinkerer racial trait. When you create a device you can also choose one of the following. These devices require 100 gp of materials, and only you can use them.
Beacon. A coin-sized transmitter that can stick to any surface. You always know the exact location of the beacon relative to you, with unlimited range. It also informs you of its velocity; environmental temperature, pressure and humidity; and which plane of existence it is in.
Blanker. You can use an action to flash this at a non-hostile creature within 10 feet. That creature must pass a DC 15 Constitution check or lose all memory of the past 1 minute. The blanker must spend 1 hour recharging before you can use it again.
Phase Glove. When you wear this glove, you can use that hand to reach through 1 inch of metal, 6 inches of stone, or 1 foot of wood.
Grey Outsider Psionics List
- 1st Level
- Charm Person
- Comprehend Languages
- Detect Poison and Disease
- Detect Weapons
- Ray of Sickness
- Shield
- Sleep
- Witch Bolt
- 2nd Level
- Blindness/Deafness
- Blur
- Darkvision
- Detect Thoughts
- Find Traps
- Hold Person
- Locate Object
- Ray of Enfeeblement
- See Invisibility
- Suggestion
- 3rd Level
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