A curse does not always fall on a single individual. In Krevborna, a curse may effect an entire family, altering their lineage or bloodline into something fundamentally inhuman.
DhampirDhampir are the children born of vampires and living humans. They are recognizable by their morbid pallor and sharp fangs. They often possess supernatural abilities inherited from their vampiric parent, such as peerless night vision and the ability to heal themselves when they consume blood. Dhampir are extremely long-lived; they develop as humans do normally until they reach their early twenties, at which point their physical aging ceases and they remain in the flower of youth.
Suggested stats. Ixalan vampires.
DiavoloIn the ancestry of a diavolo is a progenitor who fornicated with a devil. This blasphemy manifests as a potential family inheritance of diabolic traits that include horns, a tail, a forked tongue, and cloven hooves. However, not every child in a tainted line of descent is born a diavolo; the curse occurs arbitrarily within a family, often skipping generations only to reappear seemingly at random with the arrival of a new birth. Diavolo tend to be born into families with dark reputations, such as families associated with infernal cults or families that have made fell bargains for wealth and power.
Suggested stats. Tieflings.
The first kathars were accursed by the gods for heresy. Their heirs still bear the mark of their forefathers’ trespasses; they are born with bestial bodies that resemble a cross between man and beast. Some are cursed with corvid forms, others with bodies that are insectile, leonine, or turtle-like. Modern kathars tend to live far from humanity, favoring isolated mountain communities of their own kind. Some kathars seek absolution and forgiveness for their ancestor’s crimes, but others have embraced the sin of their accursed lineage and seek to spread ruin.
Suggested stats. Kenku, leonines, lizardfolk, minotaurs, tabaxi, tortles.
ShaeShae are descendants of the immortal fey who trysted with mortal men and women. The appearance of a shae can vary greatly. Some are ethereally beautiful elves, some are squat and burly dwarves, and some are sharp-toothed goblins—but those are only the most common forms the shae can take. Although some shae live among humans, most feel drawn to live in isolated communities of their own kind in Krevborna’s wilds; dense forests, deep vales, dark caves, and high mountains are the likely sites to find shae who shun contact with mankind. Sometimes shae are left behind when a fey abducts a human child from their cradle. Some shae belong to the Vivörka League, a militant secret society that wishes to organize the shae into fearsome warbands that will clear humanity from Krevborna.
Suggested stats. Bugbears, dwarves, elves, firbolgs, gnomes, goblins, half-elves, halflings, hobgoblins, satyrs.
VarcolaksLycanthropy can be passed down through a family in a minor form; familial bloodlines that carry the curse are known as varcolaks. Varcolaks frequently have bestial traits, such as sharp teeth, yellow eyes, or hair as thick as a shaggy pelt. Wolf-like features are most common among varcolaks, but other animalistic aspects have also been noted—their forms are dependent on the nature of their family’s particular curse.
Suggested stats. Shifters.
VexlingsVexlings are a people with the uncanny ability to flawlessly mimic physical appearances. Vexlings are most often found hiding in plain sight as humans—they sometimes even steal the identities of specific people they have encountered or that have gone missing. The most heartless among them have no qualms about assassinating a man or woman and replacing them in the world. Vexlings have no villages or homelands of their own and seem to rarely associate with others of their kind.
Suggested stats. Changelings.
