Diabolus 5E conversion
by pawsplayI don't know how useful this is for many campaigns, but sometimes my mind won't let go of an idea. Here is a version of the diabolus. It's probably a little strong for low levels, but I wanted to capture all their essential characteristics, and I don't think it's unbalanced.
Diabolus
Diabolus (plural Diaboli) are very rare, and would not exist on Mystara at all but for over-curious magic-users and meddling Immortals. In legend, they are often portrayed as the fiendish servants of evil Immortals, although in truth they are a vibrant and diverse people, not so different than humans.
Most are involuntary exiles, stranded on Mystara once they no longer serve a purpose to their summoner. However, a colony has established itself in Norwold.
Diaboli are humanoid, over all, in appearance. They have skin that ranges in color from crimson to purple, a pair of vestigial horns, vertical pupils, and a twitching, lashing tail that ends in a sharp barb. Their hands have three fingers, and their feet end in split hooves.
The nature of their homeland, due to its physical and metaphysical differences from Mystara, is not well understood. It is known variously as the Dimension, Plane, or Demiplane of Nightmares. Their society is very Chaotic, with ever-changing laws and customs. They have no rulers, instead following leaders of the moment, the will of the mob, or their own personal inclinations. Whereas in a human city, a valuable library might be kept by an avowed group of sages, a diabolus library might be staffed by volunteers, who might stay for a decade, or for a week, depending on where their passions direct them. Entities of Entropy and the Outer Realm are subjects of interest in the Diabolus world. Although the diaboli are not necessarily evil or reckless, they regard fiends and aberrations with something more like curiosity and caution than instinctive fear.
Other than the diaboli themselves, the forms of beings native to the diabolus world are obscure to Mystarans. On Mystara, their only real relations are with the spellcasters and Immortals who summon them, apart from their colony, Redhorn, located in Norwold. Because of the differences between their own homeland and Msytara, diaboli find Mystarans a little maddening and vice versa.
Diabolus Traits
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age: Diaboli mature at the same rate humans do and reach adulthood around the age of 20. They live somewhat longer than humans, often exceeding 100 years.
Alignment: Diaboli are largely Chaotic. They are creative, largely anarchic, and spontaneous. Members of other races may find them whimsical or terrifying depending on what attitude they are exploring in the moment. There are both good and evil diaboli, with the majority adopting a live-and-let-live philosophy.
Size: Diaboli are about the same size as humans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision: Living in the dimness of the so-called Nightmare realm, you 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.
Weird Mind: You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
Weapon Familiarity: You are proficient with the trident. You can use a trident in place of a spear for any action, bonus action, reaction, feature, or feat that specifies it can be used with a spear.
Barbed Tail: When you make an unarmed strike, you can choose to attack with your barbed tail. When you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to attack with your tail, you can make only one attack, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make. Your tail deals piercing damage instead of bludgeoning. In addition, a target that is hit by the tail must make a Constitution saving throw, with a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed saving throw, the creature is poisoned until the end of your next turn.
Diabolic Agility: You can move with carthwheeling, racing abandon. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of your turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you move 0 feet on one of your turns.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and Diabolish.
Racial Feats
Heart-Seeking Barb
Prerequisite: diabolus
Benefit: You are able to use your tail with great ferocity. You gain the following benefits:
You can use your bonus action to make one barbed tail attack, but not in the same turn you use it with the Attack action.
If a target fails its saving throw against your barbed tail attack, it takes 1d10 poison damage. If the poison damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way.
Diabolic Resilience
Prerequisite: diabolus
Benefit: Your otherworldly nature acts as a defense against magic. You gain advantage on all saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and you have resistance to the damage of spells and magical effects.