**Source:** [Pretty pictures, but can't copy the text](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xyua69gbizafmv9hcwgap/PP_02H-NedrazNoCopy.pdf?rlkey=82n1ktidjq08d3x99xbbzs406&st=d1rih0ka&dl=0) _In a time beyond recounting, beyond the living memory of many worlds, reality was old beyond words. And in that time between times, between the first flaring of stars and the rise of the first elves, countless animals and peoples and plants formed, rose up, and perished to the last, leaving little more than imprints in sand and stone. Such were the Nedraz._ In their lost time they created empires and warred and sought to know all that could be known under very different stars than we now see. And with their strange sciences they sought to change the world to suit themselves, to make the beasts of the world their servants, to change the very face of the world. In time their pride grew beyond their abilities and they made a mistake that could never be forgiven. Most were destroyed. Their great empires burned across the world. Some fortunate few managed to sequester themselves in stone or cast their fates into other planes of existence in the hopes of salvation. Some, however, some terrible few, threw themselves forward in time itself. What will happen to the world, to all the worlds, when those few return? When the sequestering of stone ends? Only you can say. Nedraz stand near to six feet in height, though a not insignificant portion of that height is their elongated neck which often curves forward when interested or while running. Humanoid for the most part, their whole form is covered in scales and they possess a sinuous tail which tapers to a point. In color they range from reds and greens to blacks and browns, and may even appear iridescent purple. Their eyes, large and forward-set on their snakelike faces, have a similarly massive variety, though half or more have yellow eyes with thin slit pupils. While devoid of hair, some Nedraz have upward curling scales on their heads, necks, and backs which look like horns, spikes, or ridges. # Nedraz Heritage ### Nedraz Traits Characters of the Nedraz heritage share the following traits. **Age.** While Nedraz may be considered almost ageless through the stone sequestering, their people actually age at a rate similar to humans, though they reach their full height by fifteen or sixteen, after their twelfth or thirteenth shedding of skin, they don’t reach physical and mental maturity until the early 20s after their final molting. **Size.** While comparatively slender and sinuous, the addition of a tail causes nedraz to weigh about as much as humans of their height. Your size is Medium. **Speed.** Your base Speed is 30 feet. **Darkvision.** Ancient Nedraz engineered themselves to have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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. **Heightened Senses.** Ancient Nedraz also used their strange sciences to manipulate their population’s ability to taste and sense the world around them. With a flicker of tongue or the tilt of your head towards or away from heat, you may spend a bonus action to gain an expertise die to locate food or creatures, including dead ones, with perception or survival checks. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus and regain all uses at the end of a long rest. **Sinuous.** You gain an expertise die on saving throws against being grappled, bound, or targeted by effects which limit movement with physical objects. ### Nedraz Gifts While the nedraz possess several traits their ancestors selected for, some of their traits are tied to specific castes or lineages lost to the ages. #### Mesmerist Locking eyes with your target, your swaying head and soothing voice disarm their defenses and allow you entry to their mind. You gain the following benefits: - You gain the Empathic Interference power - At 3rd level you gain a reservoir with a single 1d4 psi die - At 5th level you gain a second 1d4 psi die - Your manifestation ability is Intelligence or Charisma, chosen at level 1 #### Serpentine Unlike the majority of nedraz you do not possess separate and distinct legs, but instead your entire lower body is a serpent’s tail. You gain the following traits. **Coiled Strikes.** By expending your bonus action you can increase your reach by 5ft until the start of your next turn. **Slither.** Your base speed becomes 40ft and you gain a climb and swim speed of 20ft. #### Enhanced Form One or more of your ancestors were engineered to have powerful reserves of strength. It takes more to fatigue your muscles and you can use short bursts of power to accomplish your goals. You gain the following traits. **Burst of Effort.** You may spend a bonus action to gain an expertise die to the roll of any strength based ability or skill check. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus and regain all uses at the end of a long rest. **Carrier.** You are able to carry an additional bulky item, and add your proficiency to your strength score to determine your carrying capacity. **Enduring.** You do not take penalties when you gain your first level of fatigue, and delay the effects of fatigue by one level. I.E. you cannot sprint or dash at fatigue 2, and your hit dice are halved at fatigue 6. You still become doomed at fatigue 7. ## Nedraz Paragon When you reach 10th level you are an exemplar of what it is to be a nedraz. And you gain one paragon gift from the following list. #### Mind of Mayhem You have been exposed to such strange thoughts on your journey and it has altered the way you think, to some degree. - You gain the Telepathy power. - You gain the Warp Perception power. - It is impossible to read your mind against your will. #### Strange Sciences - Your experiences in the realms of psionics and mortal forms has granted you significant insight into modifying yourself, and others. - You gain the Body Manipulation power and can target other creatures with it. - You gain two d4 psi dice in a reservoir or added to your reservoir. - Your manifestation is Intelligence or Charisma, chosen when you gain this gift. # Nedraz Cultures While a Nedraz could be raised in practically any culture, the following culture is meant to specifically fulfill the fantasy of being a character out of time and place, which the Nedraz often exemplify. ## Sequestered by Stone When cataclysms fall and the world is reforged, there are some who choose to hide from the end of all they have known by taking the stone. Their body, their spirit, becomes sequestered within a specially prepared trapezohedron that glows with the light of all those trapped within, waiting to be released across countless ages and aeons. Until a ritual is performed, or more likely the stone breaks and all within are released. You were raised within such a gemstone or other device meant to contain souls and beings in safety for extended periods of time. Surrounded only by those others also trapped within the stone, you did your best to live a normal life through the mindscape. In ancient times, the mindscape resembled the world your ancestors once knew. City streets they recalled formed its basis, dizzying towers, shadowed forests. But with each successive generation, the impressions have grown more and more indistinct, until what once was is lost to time, and imagination reigns. Living in such a way creates a deeply insular culture where bonds must be held and divisiveness must be quashed. After all, there’s nowhere else for you to go to escape the people who live in your stone. You gain the following traits. #### Easygoing Appearance Even within the mindscape it can be difficult to discern your emotional state, or what might upset you. You gain an expertise die on deception and performance checks to hide your emotional state and intentions, including Deception based Initiative checks. #### Conflict Resolution It pays to be able to calm tempers quickly in a relatively closed environment. After spending at least 1 minute observing a creature within 60 feet you can use an action to make an Insight check against a DC equal to the creature’s passive Deception score. On a success, you learn the following information about the creature: - Whether their Wisdom score is lower than your Charisma - What method of approach is most likely to placate the creature, if only temporarily - How to mimic the creature’s mannerisms and accent. #### Mindscape Schooling Taught by the elders in the mindscape, who were able to imagine into existence anything required to show you how things work or worked, you learned your lessons well, and easily. You gain proficiency in any two of Acrobatics, Engineering, or Investigation. #### Languages You are able to read, sign, and write the Draconic language and one other language of your choice. ## Temporal Displacement Cast forward in time, you find yourself a stranger in a strange land. The places you once knew, the streets you once roamed, are little more than ruins, if even that. Just as likely you’ve appeared in a trackless waste, or the settlement of a people that you do not know, that you could scarcely have imagined existing mere hours before. And it is into this new world that you must adapt yourself. Have spent years trying to adapt. To take what you learned in your earliest memories and combine them with this strange new world’s teachings. The world your parents built is gone, and they may be, as well. But the lessons they shared still hold some weight. Some resonance. Some truths continue into this new world. #### Adapted Education Choose one trait from the dominant culture of the region you landed in at the end of your temporal displacement. You gain this trait as if you were a member of that culture. #### Lived the Past You gain proficiency in the Arcana or History skill, and expertise in either Forbidden Knowledge or Legends. #### Temporal Refugee Choose one trait from any culture to represent your family’s culture before your displacement. You gain this trait as if you were a member of that culture. #### Languages You are able to read, sign, and write the Common tongue, or an appropriate dominant language for the region you arrived in, one language of your choice, and one dead language that only members of your people ever spoke aloud.