Dreamlings are small creatures born of peoples dreams. Driven by a defining emotion. They feed on positive emotions that match their genesis, and have the ability to meld into friendly mindscapes.
No mouths, large expressive eyes, skin of vibrant color reflecting their genesis emotion.
Core theme: Quest for individuality. Completely defined by the emotion that spawned them, they yearn to be separate from what defines them and be true individuals.
Dreamlings are born when humans of Kerebra have especially intense dreams. The nascent dreamling forms as an egg-like brightly-colored orb somewhere near the dreaming human, which grows into a fully developed adult dreamling in two or three days. They are "born" complete with personalities and innate knowledge about the world of Kerebra and it's societies, a fact that most scholars attribute to a natural connection to the Worldmind that all dreamlings share.
Dreamlings are naturally curious and playful, and their personality is colored by their core emotion much like their flesh. A dreamling born of sadness will have a gloomy outlook on life, while one born of joyful dreams will be cheerful and sociable. Most dreamlings don't change much as they age, staying relatively true to their core emotion, but at one point or another many experience a form of existential anguish when they come to realize that they are inextricably bound to a single personality trait. While a lot of dreamlings accept this fate, some choose to rebell against it by purposefully acting in ways that run counter to their core emotion. Even these dreamlings cannot completely escape their fate, but trying to become a complete being can become a sort of obsession for them.
Nevertheless, most dreamlings are cheerful, even childlike in their demeanor. Even the gloomiest of sadness dreamlings has an unquenchable thirst for life and new experiences, and they delight at the simple wonders of Kerebra.
Physically a dreamling stands just under 4 feet tall, and have brightly colored skin that reflects their core emotion. They have lithe, hairless bodies and oversized heads, and though they have no mouth, nose or ears their large eyes are very expressive and can convey a wide array of emotions. Their hands and feet have four fingers and toes each, and they are quick and agile creatures. All dreamlings are genderless, and the concept of gender confuses them endlessly.
Despite lacking a mouth, dreamlings can speak common perfectly and learn any other spoken language a human could learn. Scholars believe they produce their speech psionically. Dreamling voices are always high pitched but pleasant, and the creatures love to talk, laugh and make jokes. Many dreamlings are accomplished storytellers, even if their stories tend to be improvised and have many childlike qualities.
Dreamlings are defined by their core emotion. This does not mean that a sadness dreamling is always depressed or that a fear dreamling is constantly fearful, but these emotions influence their outlook and personality.
The defining emotions of dreamlings are fear, anger, sadness, joy, surprise and trust.
When a human on Kerebra has a particularly strong dream featuring one of these emotions, a dreamling may potentially be born from it. A dream of fear does not need to be a nightmare, and in fact nightmares have been known to spawn a different, darker dreamling who has little in common with ordinary dreamlings and quickly run away into areas afflicted with the Rot.
Fear dreamlings are a deep, rich purple color, and though their personality is no less cheerful and bubbly as other dreamlings they are always tinged with a certain restraint and caution. These dreamlings will not be the first to rush into unknown places or situations, and their slightly reserved nature means that they are not as quick to make true friends as other dreamlings are.
The dreamlings spawned from anger are bright red in hue, and have a tendency to be contrarian, though rarely hostile. They have strong opinions and may get annoyed and impatient if things don't go their way. In their own way they are perhaps the most childlike of the dreamlings, quick to anger but with an innocence that makes even their tantrums endearing.
The emotion of sadness gives birth to light blue-skinned, quiet, thoughtful dreamlings prone to introspection and philosophy. For dreamlings, that is. Compared to humans even these dreamlings are beacons of cheerfulness, but it's easy to notice their more introvert nature in groups of dreamlings.
Surprise dreamlings are bright white, the color of clouds in a blue sky. Filled with amazement and wonder, these nimble dreamlings dart to and fro, admiring flowers and trees and looking at clouds with equal awe. A bit scatterbrained, even for a dreamling, surprise dreamlings have a deep desire to explore and wander, to be amazed and see all the world has to offer.
The emotion of trust spawns dreamlings with a deep love of people. Their skin is bright green, the emerald color of fresh grass. These dreamlings are extremely social, and the inquisitive nature of dreamlings makes them exceptionally curious and very good listeners. They have a deep fascination with people, and will go to great lengths to make friends and stay close to their adoptive family.
Racial Traits:
Dreamlings come in six different varieties, each shaped by a core emotion. This emotional core influences their physical stat adjustments and racial traits.
Core Emotions:
Fear: +4 Dexterity, -2 Strength, -2 Intelligence
Anger: +4 Strength, -2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom
Sadness: +4 Intelligence, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
Joy: +4 charisma, -2 Strength, -2 Intelligence
Surprise: +4 wisdom, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
Trust : +4 Constitution, -2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom
Outsider (native Kerebran): Dreamlings are humanoids with the Outsider (native Kerebran) subtype
Small: Dreamlings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a -1 penalty on their CMB and to CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Base Speed: 30 feet
Natural Mindwalkers: As a move action, a dreamling may physically enter the mindscape of a willing target as a psi-like ability a number of times per day equal to their Hit Dice. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The dreamling disappears from the physical world as per the Cerebral Gatecrash power, except that the target must be friendly and willing.
In addition, dreamlings act as if under the effect of a continual Detect Active Mindscape power, and may spend 1 power point to peer into a mindscape as if they had augmented the power.
Inborn Aptitude: A dreamling has a +2 racial bonus on two skills, as determined by their core emotion:
Fear: Disguise, Perception
Anger: Intimidate, Disable Device
Sadness: Bluff, Sense Motive
Joy: Diplomacy, Handle Animal
Surprise: Acrobatics, Survival
Trust: Linguistics, Heal
Core Emotion: Each dreamling gains a racial trait based on their core emotion.
Fear: Dreamlings with a core emotion of fear are always alert, and are thus harder to surprise. Fear dreamlings gain a +2 racial bonus to their initiative in the first round of combat. After the first round, their initiative is adjusted back to normal.
Anger: A dreamling with Anger as their core emotion is easily agitated, headstrong and determined. These dreamlings gain a +2 racial bonus to Will saves made to resist fear effects.
Sadness: Dreamlings with sadness at their core are melancholy, introspective individuals (for dreamlings, that is). A sadness dreamling gains a +4 racial bonus to a single Knowledge skill, and considers all Knowledge skills as class skills.
Joy: Joy dreamlings are extremely social and curious creatures, even as dreamlings go, and most people find this endearing. A joy dreamling treats all creatures they meet as if their attitude was improved by one step, and may shift a creatures attitude by 3 steps instead of 2 with a successful Diplomacy check.
Surprise: Dreamlings with surprise as their core emotion are wild and energetic creatures even by dreamling standards, and gain a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue and exhaustion as well as any other ill effects from running and physical activity.
Trust: These dreamlings are loving creatures, quick to form bonds of friendship and love. A trust dreamling may choose one friendly creature or player character as the focus of their trust. As long as they are adjacent, the trust dreamling may use the aid another action as a free action for his trust focus a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1).
No Mouth, No Hunger: Dreamlings do not need to eat and drink, which is fortunate since they have no orifices at all. They absorb nutrition from being near sleeping creatures, feeding off their dreams.
Naturally Psionic: Dreamlings gain the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. If a dreamling takes levels in a psionic class, they instead gain the Psionic Talent feat.
Psionic Aptitude: When a dreamling takes a level in a favored class, they can choose to gain an additional power point instead of a hit point or skill point.
Language: Dreamlings begin play knowing common. A dreamling with high Intelligence may learn a number of additional languages from those available in Kerebra.
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