Lost Child (5e Race)
Lost Child
Named after their appearance, a lost child does a good job at pretending to be human. They certainly look the part, and they act like a child who has lost their parents; shy, nervous, and slow to open up to others. There are, however, some red flags. A child who speaks using archaic terms, for example, is suspicious. Performing feats of magic that should be impossible for a child is another clue. However, there currently exists only one surefire way to determine whether an individual is actually a lost child: when they're alone, when they think no one is watching, or when they simply forget to control themselves...
...they float.
Physical Description
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| From Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs |
In appearance, lost children are identical to human children, with the same ranges in height, weight, skin tone, hair color, etc. Most lost children appear to be about 10 years old, but do not age beyond that. When they speak, they mostly use archaic dialects, often in such a manner that appears oddly natural. So, they often sound a bit out of place with their settings. They are also rather light in weight despite their appearance, though this can vary, as lost children may appear skinny or plump.
A lost child will typically always wear the same clothes, but changes in clothing have been observed. These clothes tend to be loosely fitting and in muted colors to blend in. Many lost children will also wear a hat or hood to further conceal themselves.
History
Once thought to be a subrace of spectrals, it was later proven that they are unrelated. While a spectral is essentially a ghost with physical form, lost children never died. In fact, they were never alive to begin with. There are some spirits, called ga'ast, which simply exist within and with the world. They were spirits from when time began, and they remain spirits until vanquished. But no death led to their creation. Lost children are ga'ast that have been granted, through unknown means and for unknown reasons, a physical form. Like spectrals, lost children are incredibly rare, and most who meet one do not know it. In the continent of Kara'Tur, there have been similar sightings of these children, though accounts vary wildly. Some believe them to be zashiki-warashi or utsuki-warashi, which are spirits that manifest in forms of children to interact with the material world. They are associated with the omens of good family or ill poverty.
Society
A lost child, upon physical manifestation, will almost always find the nearest village and integrate themselves quietly. They tend to be found in orphanages, or living alone in a alleyway. In rare cases, a lost child can even be found with a small family. This can often be the case where they have insinuated themselves into a household, sometimes filling a gap which was left by a previous child that was lost. This is rare due to lost children usually preferring some solitude and privacy, which allows them to float as they please without reproach.
Lost children are typically very shy and quiet, and will try to avoid speaking with strangers. All known lost children have only ever intentionally revealed their true nature to those they sincerely trust. Gaining this trust is not an easy task, as lost children are typically shrewder than normal children and less gullible.
Lost Child Names
The ga'ast are not given names. Instead, they tend to try and avoid contact with others. However, for convenience, and to fit in, a lost child will often take on the typical names of the races they are most surrounded by.
Lost Child Traits
Physical manifestations of immortal spiritual beings, which look and act like human children.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom or Dexterity score increases by 2 and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age. Lost children do not age physically or mentally. They endure the eons in quiet, not dying of age.
Alignment. Lost children tend to be fairly polarized. They can have any alignment, but neutral good and neutral evil are most common.
Size. These children never go over 5 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 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.
Spiritual. As an action, you become intangible and transparent until the start of your next turn. While intangible, you are immune to nonmagical damage and have resistance to magical damage. You cannot attack, cast spells, or regain hit points while intangible. Your base walking speed increases by 10 feet until the start of your next turn. You cannot become intangible on consecutive turns.
Levitation. You float gently just above the ground. You ignore difficult terrain or hazards that require you to touch the ground, such as caltrops. You always take the minimum possible damage from falling: 1 bludgeoning damage for each d6 that would be rolled.
Elusive Face. You can cast the disguise self spell once, without material components, using Wisdom as your spellcasting ability. Once you cast this spell, you can't cast it again with this trait until you finish a short or long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Abyssal and one additional language of your choosing.
Random Height and Weight
| Base Height | Height Modifier* | Base Weight | Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4′ 4″ | +1d6 | 58 lb. | × (1d16) lb. |
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*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
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