Fully finished my Petalia race (renamed them from Plantea), typed out their description, and tried to make it as close to the book races are possible while making them unique. (Lots of help and balancing from @kinghtofninjas and others.)
Kinship and beauty, two ideals the Petalia found strange to not be stronger in other races. Family bonds and tribal unity come natural to a race that tends to have a multitude siblings and family members that make the tribes. So when a Petalia wants to further their species, they either try to enhance their lives within the tribes, that or they leave to examine the world and the other races for helpful knowledge to take back home.
Short by Design
Taking on their features from both plants and their elven creators, they were made to clean and work the city, often the first things seen when visiting the great elven cities they were designed to be pleasant to the eye. The Petalia shed their luminescent petals as they work, littering the streets with them and making their dim streets glow. The petals growing and falling off their vine-like hair and out of their leaf-sheathing. They vary in their plant-like features, bred together for specific traits to suit their tasks in the city.
The ever youthful race tends to put off most, standing only about 4 foot tall and only weighing between 60-80 pounds, to the longer lived races they appear as children. The Petalia keep their young appearance for the majority of their short 40-some year lives, rapidly wilting in the late stages of their life.
The Great Bloom
Once they separated themselves from the elves, the Petalia questioned there existence and creation. Once they started to explore out into the world they then realized they were unsatisfied with their short existence; they believed their race could have been more but their creation was stunted to suit the elven needs and now look for ways to further their race's growth as a species. Many of the Petalia cultivate their magic within the tribes to accomplish this goal, others explore the world to find ways to do the same since the elves sealed the knowledge when they disowned them.
Tribal Hierarchy
The Petalia knew little of the world outside the great forests, so when they were disowned they retreated further into the forests, creating tribes and living with the fey. Since they were created through magic and the Petalia with magical prowess glow more beautifully than others, they are seen as the closest to unraveling their ascension and often raised to be one of the leaders of their tribes. Those who do not possess magical gifts tend to be traders and the working class of the tribes; more often than not they join the Shadowthorns, the agents and protectors of their race.
⦁ +2 Wis
⦁ Profieciancy in Nature and Medicine
⦁ Speed of 30ft
⦁ Iedetic memory
⦁ Photo Synthesis: As long as you bath in 5 hours worth of sunlight, it provides you with energy and refills you as a long rest would. In addition to this sunlight, if you drink 2x as much water, the sunlight provides you the energy you would require from eating.
⦁ Heat sensitivity: Whenever you are in extreme heat or hit by fire, you take extra damage. When taking damage by fire you add aditional damage equal to your level, and in areas of extreme or dry heat you gain vulnerablity (2x damage) to fire.
⦁ Variant: Due to the vast diversity of the Petalia, they are very adaptable to most situations. They can instead add +1 to Wis and gain a feat.
The blossoms were bred to be the faces seen and the magical servants for the elves, often traveling with them to assist with their experiments. Magical Petalia glow more intensely and express more pretty colorful features than the rest of the race. Through selective breeding and segregation of class within the tribes, the sub-race remains distinguished even today.
⦁ +1 Cha
⦁ Druidcraft (Cantrip)
⦁ Magical Petals: Once per short rest the Petalia can concentrate to produce one type of petals at a time: Salve(1/2 of your casting stat modifier rounded down, 1/con modifier if one is not available): Pulling off it's own petals it can use one of it's own hit dice to heal another player (touch). Toxic: The Petalia can produce and use toxic petals, making the Petalia toxic itself and gaining the use of the acid splash cantrip.
Many of the Petalia are not physically strong but limber like the elves they were made after. Those with dim-lit petals tend to be the working class of the race, that or the protectors and agents of the tribes.
⦁ +1 Dex
⦁ Mask of the wild (You can attempt lo hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage. heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena)
⦁ Magical petals: Once per short rest the Petalia can concentrate to produce one type of petals at a time: Toxic: The Sylvari can pruduce and use toxic petals, making the Petalia toxic itself and gaining the use of the acid splash cantrip. Poison (2/con modifier): Shadow thorn can produce their own poison, rubbing or mixing their petals to add the effect of a lesser poison.
Though the majority of the Petalia chose to live above ground, trying to reclaim and discover the secrets of the species, other feared reprisal from the elves upon their liberation as slaves. The Pilea ran to hide underground and adapted to life without sunlight, relying more on their elven side to live rather than their plant side. Growing moss and spreading their glowing petals as guiding lights. Taking after plants that burrow into rocks, they tend to be more reseliant than their other sub-race counterparts.
⦁ +1 Con
⦁ Move speed reduced to 25ft, they can move freely through loose soil for 5ft.
⦁ Lesser Darkvision (60ft)
⦁ You loose your Photo-Synthesis ability and the vulnerability part of heat sensitivity. You are now required to eat and drink like normal and meditate for 4 hours a day.
⦁ Magical Petals Once per short rest the Petalia can concentrate to produce one type of petals at a time: Poison: Pilea can produce their own poison, rubbing or mixing their petals to add the effect of a lesser poison. Bioluminosty (2/con modifier): Gain the use of the light cantrip.
⦁ Spores (1/day): The Pilea use the moss growing upon themselves and create a dust cloud in 5ft radius centered around you for 1min, creatures caught in the cloud are blinded while they remain in the cloud. The cloud does not move and in windy envirmoents or use of the any gust like spell harmlessly dispereses the cloud.
Design Notes and rulings:
Magical petals: Since the petals pulled off relate directly with the well being of the Petalia, their petals go off of their constitution; more healthy Petalia can produce more potent petals and can stand to pull more of them off at a time. (min of 1 use for each for low scores)
⦁ Petals fall off the Petalia like loose hair, but the magical effects can only be cultivated in a few petals at a time, the others are too diluted to have any immediate effect.
⦁ Poison (2 uses per con modifier): The Petalia can produce their own poison, rubbing or mixing their petals to add the effect of a lesser poison. (Petalia Poison Rub: The rub lasts 1min, enemies hit must make a Con check((Save DC= 8 + Profiency Bonus + Con modifier) potency of the poison relates to how healthy the plant is), failed save: Creature is poisoned till start of your next turn and takes an aditional 2 (multiplied by con modifier) poison damage
⦁ Toxic: The Petalia can pruduce and use toxic petals making the Petalia toxic itself, the petals melting in your hand hand and slinging it like the acid splash cantrip gaining the use of it. (Spell Save= 8+Prof Bonus +Con mod)
⦁ Bioluminosty (1 use per con modifier): The Pilea are adapt at using their petals as light sources, before developing their darkvision they learned to better use their petals for this purpose. They gain the use of the light cantrip.
⦁ Salve (1/2 (rounded up) of your casting stat modifier, 1 use per con modifier if spellcasting is not available): The potency of the Petalia's petals stems from their magical prowess, allowing them to heal others with them like a bandage. Pulling off it's own petals it can use one of it's own hit dice to heal another player.
