Aberrant Mutations and Dark Gifts - Homebrew
Continuing the wonderful month of Halloween, we are going to talk about the strange and horrifying. While Curse of Strahd (2016) and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (2021) have Dark Gifts detailed in their pages, I think we can take that a bit further. These abilities often rely on just casting spells or feel convoluted for the power that it gives, and I can’t imagine that in a long campaign, the abilities are still used, remembered, or just hand-waved away. Instead, let’s look at creating aberrant abilities that could be used as Dark Gifts, or just simply tack them onto a monster to give it a bit more horror.
Aberrant Mutations and Dark Gift
The following are supernatural abilities that twist, morph, and augment a creature’s natural abilities. Each mutation and gift provide a benefit and a drawback. Often this drawback is a visual signifier that you have made dark deals or been the target of an experiment. In addition, the more powerful a benefit, the greater the drawback.
For some, a mutation or dark gift could be acquired on their journeys from cruel and evil creatures. For other creatures, they may have always been born with the power, a cruel twist of fate giving them unnatural abilities that scared and frightened their home. Perhaps they became an outcast because of their abilities, or their family hid them away, ashamed of what their child was.
Cursed by Darkness
If the GM so wishes, a suitably powerful entity could curse a character while fighting them. Perhaps as a death curse, a desperate attempt to extend their life, or some other trickery, curing the creature with a mutation or dark gift. Typically, the DC to resist this is equal to the entity’s spellcasting DC, or if they don’t have one, the DC is 8 + Proficiency Bonus + Charisma modifier.
Awakened Power
Some of the powers listed below have awakened abilities that are only unlocked when a character has met the requirements. This could be as simple as gaining a high enough level, or complicated, like killing a powerful undead villain. When a character gains the Awakened power for a mutation or dark gift, their power is permanently changed, granting them greater power and greater setbacks.
Attack Bonus and Save DC
If your granted power requires an attack roll or saving throw, you use your Constitution as your mutation or dark gift ability.
Save DC = 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Constitution modifier
Attack modifier = your Proficiency Bonus + your Constitution modifier
Per the GM’s discretion, you might be able to use a different ability score to determine your save DC or attack modifier, but these powers are typically fueled by your physicality, not your mental abilities.
The Powers
Bone Growth
Your body is covered in small, boney nodules.
Benefit. As a bonus action, you can cause the boney nodules covering your body to suddenly grow, creating large, protective bone spikes. When a creature within 5 feet of you hits you with a melee attack, it takes 3 (1d6) piercing damage. In addition, if a creature starts its turn grappled by you, it takes 3 (1d6) piercing damage. These bone spikes last for 1 minute before they shrink back into your body. Once you use this ability, you must finish a short or long rest before you can activate it again.
Drawback. Many find your appearance unsettling, as you are covered in bone nodules that give you a grotesque appearance. In addition, when you activate your bone spikes, it rips and tears your skin, creating ragged scarring across your body.
Chitinous Armor
Your skin has mutated, transforming into thick chitinous plates that is constantly molting.
Benefit. While you are wearing no armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Constitution modifier + half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down). You can use a shield and still gain this benefit. In addition, you can spend 1 minute in concentration, as if concentrating on a spell, to cause your chitinous plates to increase in thickness. For the next hour, piercing and slashing damage that you take is reduced by by an amount equal to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down). You must be wearing no armor to gain this benefit. At the end of the hour, you molt the excess growth off. Once you use this ability, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.
Drawback. You are covered in thick chitinous shells. When you increase the thickness of your chitinous plates, your Speed is reduced by 10 feet and your have disadvantage on all Dexterity ability checks and saving throws.
Destructive Gaze
Your eyes are the source of your power, allowing you to bring destruction to your enemies with a gaze. When you focus your sight for too long, it ends with the destruction of whatever your are gazing upon.
Benefit. As a bonus action, you can stare at a target within 30 feet of you and make a ranged attack roll against the target’s AC. On a hit, you deal a number of d6s equal to half your level (rounded down) in fire damage. If you use this on an object, it takes double damage. Once you use this gaze, you can not use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Drawback. Your eyes are filled with flames, though at rest, they are just embers. After you have used your power, but before you have rested, the fire has grown so large that your eyes only appear as orbs of crackling fire.
Enhanced Speed
When the time calls, you can increase your speed, moving faster than any thought possible.
Benefit. As a free action, you double your speed and your movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. At the end of your turn, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw, with a DC equal to half the number of feet you moved during the turn. On a failed save, you become fatigued and gain 1 level of exhaustion. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, regaining expended uses upon finishing a long rest.
Drawback. Your frenetic speed means you can never stay in one spot for very long, pacing back and forth. People find your uncomfortable to deal with, growing nervous the longer they talk to you.
Incorporeal Appendage
You sometimes feel as if you are a step away from death, that the borders between the opposing forces are flimsy at best.
Benefit. As an action, you can cause a single arm to turn incorporeal for 1 minute. While it is incorporeal, it affects incorporeal creatures, like ghosts, as if they were solid creatures. Attacks made with this incorporeal arm ignore the incorporeal creature’s resistances, if any, and you can grapple, restrain, or shove an incorporeal creature.
In addition, you can move your arm through other creatures and objects. You take 2 (1d4) force damage every turn you enter or start your turn in a creature or object.
Drawback. Your body is unsure of its place in life and death, and it often appears translucent, like you are a ghost.
Awakened. Once per short or long rest, you can turn your entire body incorporeal for 1 minute instead of just your arm. You ignore an incorporeal creature’s damage immunities while you are incorporeal. Because you are so close to death now, when you regain hit points, like from a cure wounds spell, hit dice from resting, or similar effect; the number of hit points you regain is reduced by an amount equal to your Proficiency Bonus if you’ve used this power in the last 24 hours.
Awakened Requirement. To awaken the power, you must have been close to death. You must be reduced to 0 hit points and have failed two Death Saves with no successes before returning to life.
Prehensile Tentacles
You have additional appendages, but they are of tentacles that writhe from your back, stomach, or under your arms.
Benefit. Your tentacles is a natural weapon weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes or grapple with. The tentacles have a reach of 10 feet, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier on a hit. In addition, you can use your tentacles to hold objects, including weapons, so long as they do not have the heavy property and are 5 lbs or less.
Drawback. Your tentacles are constantly writhing, grabbing and pulling on random objects around you. You are unable to use the tentacles for fine motor controls, like picking a lock.
Awakened. Your tentacles now deal damage equal to 1d8 + your Strength modifier, and can either deal bludgeoning or psychic damage (your choice on each hit). In addition, your tentacle’s reach extends to 15 feet.
Awakened Requirements. To awaken the latent powers in your tentacles, you must feed on the psionic brain of an aberration, like an aboleth. This awakened power only remains for a number of days equal to the aberration’s Challenge Rating before it fades away. You must feed on additional psionic brains to re-awaken this power.
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