Gourgeist (5e Race)
Gourgeist
Physical Description
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| A gourgeist in an eerie forest. Source |
Gourgeist is a ghostly plant-like pokemon whose body resembles a dark brown pumpkin with a glowing, yellow-orange face carved into the front consisting of two triangular eyes and a grinning mouth; on top of the mouth is a small, triangular cutout for a nose. Two nubby legs stick out from below the body. Poking out of the top of the pumpkin is its slender brown-orange head, which has bright yellow eyes and a small mouth but no visible nose. Gourgeist has long, light pink hair with arm-like tendrils framing its face and bangs that usually cover one eye. On top of its head is a crescent-shaped tuft that is brown on top, resembling a pumpkin's stem.
Some gourgeists have been known to have purple hair and a dark brown, almost black, colored pumpkin body.
History
Gourgeists, and their pumpkaboo young, were first discovered in the Kalos region and don't seem to appear naturally in any other region. The place they can be commonly found is known as the Mélancolie Path.
Pumpkaboos are small pumpkin-like ghosts with two glowing holds on it's pumpkin body, which glow brightly after dark. Unlike their gourgeist elders, a pumpkaboo's upper half is shadowy-black, with two glowing eyes and a small mouth with two small fangs. It is said that a lost spirit inhabits a pumpkaboo and, with it's glowing eyes, leads other souls to the afterlife, although it's own soul is trapped in the physical world. Sometimes travelers will use the light of a pumpkaboo's eyes to find their way. Pumpkaboos, as well as gourgeists, have been known to come in four distinct sizes: Small, Average, Large and Super Sized. It is believed the size of the pumpkaboo is determined by the age of the soul when it first inhabits it, as small pumpkaboos are not known to grow into average size, average into large, and so forth.
At some point, a pumpkaboo will develop into a gourgeist. Unlike pumpkaboos, gourgeists are feared by most people. On moonless nights, these ghostly gourds will wander through the streets while singing an eerie, unintelligible song. Those who hear the song are said to be cursed, with the curse varying in intensity depending on how much the person hears of the singing. Its hair is prehensile, and will sing joyfully as it observes the terror of prey it has captured in its hair-arms, as if feeding off of its fear before killing it. Because these creatures are pumpkins, and one is feared while the other is, for lack of a better term, tolerated, people will often say, "Beware the trick-or-treaters", regardless of the time of year.
Pumpkaboos that choose to stay in human society, though rather uncommon, only develop into gourgeists when given from one person to another. It is unknown why this occurs, and it is an even bigger mystery as to how these creatures develop into gourgeists in the wild.
Society
Gourgeists will sometimes stick together in groups known as "patches". Most of the time such patches consist of three gourgeist and any number of pumpkaboo. Because of this, pumpkaboos and gourgeists are thought to have been created by hags as either familiars or as a means of storage for souls, and it is believed the reason only three gourgeists are commonly seen in a single patch is because they are emulating a hag coven.
Gourgeist Names
Gourgeist names are usually Deep Speech. Despite appearing feminine, you're just as likely to find a male as you are a female. Those that choose to live in human society, although rare, might choose a Common name.
Gourgeist Traits
Ghastly gourds known for their curse-bringing songs and love of terrorizing their prey.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Because gourgeists are ghosts, they are thought to be immortal.
Alignment. Gourgeists lean towards evil alignments, with most being chaotic. However, a pumpkaboo raised in human society might lean towards good or neutral alignments when it becomes a gourgeist.
Size. Gourgeist are known to be anywhere between 2 - 5 feet tall, but they are most commonly around 3 and a half feet tall. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 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 can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Aberrant Plant. Your creature type is considered both aberration and plant.
Insomnia. You don’t need to sleep. Instead, you meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Frisk. You have proficiency in the Investigation skill.
Entangling Hair. You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to grapple creatures.
Eerie Voice. As an action, you can attempt to sing a haunting song. Other creatures within 30 feet of you that can hear you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. You regain use of this trait once you complete a short or long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Deep Speech.
Random Height and Weight
| Base Height | Height Modifier* | Base Weight | Weight Modifier** |
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| 2′ 11″ | +1d4 | 27 lb. | × (1d4) lb. |
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*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
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