Hybrids are half-mortal, half-unveiled creatures. And as they come in many different shapes and varieties, it's hard to put a solid lock on them. Suffice to say, however, they are generally weaker than their fully unveiled parent, and physically (and/or magically) stronger than both humans and watchers, though they do share some of the same abilities as the latter, not including the ones bestowed by their unveiled side. Hybrids, for the most part, don't usually "fit in" anywhere; it's up to them to set up shop and let roots grow. Pirn is such a place that Hybrids like to settle down.
Like watchers, Hybrids have a natural resistance against fey subtleties and vampiric compulsion, and they often sport similar, superior survival instincts compared to mortals.
Common Hybrids:
Practitioner Witches | With their witches blood so far removed, practitioner witches are those who can use ritualistic practices to produce very limited effects, sometimes even faulty ones. Street psychics and Wiccans who produce limited magic by means of the natural magic around them. However, they lack the innate active powers that witches do.
Demon Hybrids | Is your mom or dad a demon? Did he seduce your mother under the guise of a rich tycoon and vanish into thin air until you came into your powers? Did she even bother to show and explain your newfound abilities? As there are a variety of classifications of demons, their actual skill set will vary. Usually, however, demonic offsprings will inherit dematerialization that allows them to freely travel to the lower and material planes, and some kind of active power in regards to their demonic heritage. Depending on the type, sunlight sensitivity may incur.
Dhampir | The rarest of the three most common hybrids, dhampir's are of mortal and vampiric descent. They have sunlight sensitivity, but are not destroyed by the sun's rays when fully submerged within it. The "purity" of the vampiric blood within a Dhampir will usually decide how uncomfortable they are in the sun, ranging from mild irritation to severe sunburn. They have enhanced instead of superhuman physical abilities, though well above a human's, and like vampires, the older one gets, the stronger they become. Oddly enough, for the rare few Dhampir, their ability to Compel is quite strong; it's said that a special dhampir whose only a century old could out-compel a vampire of the same age.
Rare Hybrids:
Changelings | It's taken the fey awhile to catch up to our modern ways, and as such, changelings that make it back to the material plane happen about once per century. Due to their time
elsewhere changelings are trapped in a reality flux, where they neither age nor deteriorate by natural means. They are, however, weak to ashwood and iron, and while they are supernaturally
fast and
agile (rivaling shifters), their bodies are quite frail. Changelings don't remember anything from their time in
elsewhere and simply remember waking up in the mortal plane, with a natural desire and a will to survive. Most are fully grown by the time they arrive.
Changelings are innately capable of changing their physical form, morphing into someone else. With this ability, however, comes the unfortunate side effect of taking on the personality traits of the person they're morphing into. Before 1103, when changelings were somewhat common, it was a shared belief that ancient changelings created a new life with every shift, as they weren't bound by the same consequences current changelings are. In addition, changelings have a singular ability, halfway between a spell and an active power, that grants them minimal control and manipulation over one of the following: mists, plants, storms, and animals.
Fairies | Fairies on the Material Plane are the descendants of
Aes Sí— powerful fey guardians that protected the wild whims of nature and the natural wellsprings of the Old World. When the Many Realms threw shut it's doors, most of the ancient fey left, the wonder and glory not worthy of never being able to return home. There were a few who decided to stay and those that did came together and gathered their remaining strength. In 703, they simultaneously fractured themselves enough times over to be able to guard as many natural wonders as they could, no matter how big or small.
The Fairies you encounter nowadays are much more humanlike in appearance than the startingly beautiful allure of the
Aes Sí. Due to the nature of being guardians of the natural world, there are many different kinds of fairies; their forms adaptive and transformative, taking on aspects from the environment in which they guard. Fairies are innately capable of magic, though their magic is relatively weak when compared to a witch.
When they reach maturity, however, Fairies gain the ability to
transform, granting themselves more power and mastery over their abilities. It also gives them wings, turning their innate levitation into flight. This transformation does eat up a lot of energy, but similarly to a shifter, the more time they spend transformed, the less energy it will require to maintain in the long run.
To an extent, fairies are quasi-immortal, not ever truly dying.* When their sacred environment becomes nonexistence, they will simply fall asleep and wake up elsewhere, with no memories but the drive and desire to protect the space they're in.
Unless they're impaled with ashwood or iron, in which case, the elsewhereness inside them implodes.
Fairies are incredibly
agile, being able to
levitate or hover a foot or two off the ground almost indefinitely. While all fairies have the potential to learn all three of the following abilities, they usually specialize in one:
Glamour | The ability to create simple to complex illusions, based on the fairy's innate but subtle manipulation over light. Like shifters, they can also affect other unveiled creatures. Glamour can span anywhere from going invisible to changing wardrobes, or completely changing the interior of a room.
Tongues | The ability to speak and understand any language, almost unconsciously or without thought. This includes human languages, animal speak, and though it's shattered countless of eardrums, the language of gods.
Sight | Due to the innate connection to nature and the earth, some fairies have the ability to sense out a location's history, often revealing old wounds and trauma. This is another reason even modern fairies stay to themselves and their sacred groves; free of the residual thoughts and emotions of all those who passed through.
Berserkrs | With tragic origins, the Berserkrs are one of the rarest races of Hybrids to exist-- as they shouldn't be able to. Kidnapped by a Keeper of the Flame, a dhampir woman was bred, experimented upon, and brutalized to produce heirs who could fulfil the prophecy of the ancient order.
And thus Berserkrs were born.
They are fierce and fearless warriors who wield the magic of Witches and the innate strength and savagery of Dhampirs. Their token and prized ability is their innate
Rages, a trance-like state of mind similar to a vampire's unchecked
Thirst, that boosts their physical capabilities sevenfold. Within this state, Berserkrs have access to their victim's most vulnerable points, thought to be an unintential boon of the latent dhampir ability to compel.
Raging takes years to master. Entering a rage at will isn't something done before adulthood, and even then, depending on the temperament, could take several decades to be able to enter and exit it at will. Young Berserkrs have a hard time controlling their volatile emotions and often fall into Rages that knock them out for hours, as the process is incredibly hard on the body. While it does become easier with experience, it will nonetheless cause the body to lag regardless of age.
Berserkrs are incapable of feeling pain whilst in a Rage, causing undue amounts of damage to themselves. Thankfully, for smaller fights and shorter Rages, their Dhampir healing is oft good enough, but Berserkrs are known for killing themselves; going and going and going until finally, once they exit their Rage, they fall dead and lifeless, bones broken, body emptied of blood.
While half-Witches by blood, the magic that was used to create Berserkrs caused a quirk within their ability to produce and expel magic. Berserkrs (and only some at that) are only capable of casting magic through a written medium: wards, signs, runes, etc. A novice Berserkr would have 2 or 3 wards they've created or learned, while masters (rare, as they often die before reaching the title of master) have anywhere between 6 to 9.
---- if you're interested in playing a hybrid, please attach this to your full sheet ----
hybrid classification: name your classification (if something other than the 3 listed)
define your unveiled parent, who and what are they (if you wish to reveal this in character, pls attach to the pm you send me)
racial features
list any features that your character gains from their otherworldly parentage. for example, dhampir's and certain demon hybrids have sunlight sensitivity. some demonic hybrids may have another form they shift into; while this could be a part of their power set (and listed under both), it stems from their infernal ancestry. do they have horns or unusual colored eyes?
power set
please include a description of your characters power(s), including any sensory details, including any visual effects, if applicable. as well as ways you think the power can grow. include strengths and weaknesses in regards to this ability: are they a demon hybrid who doesn't quite have mastery over their dematerialization or are they a dhampir struggling to learn how to compel? be creative! even if they're experienced, what are some quirks your characters have in regards to using them?
changeling specific // what is your ability? what is your natural desire? what are your characters thoughts about elsewhere?
how do they use it? what visual and sensory clues, if any, happen upon its use? what are its strengths and weaknesses as a power, and what are your characters strengths and weaknesses using it? are they comfortable with it? the natural desire can be anything; as your characters have little backstory prior to their "reawakening" (they're basically amnesiacs) where they're but hollow shells with a singular burning desire. up to you to decide what their natural desire is and how far they've come to fulling it. and along the way, what kind of person have they become? timid, shy and easily confused? readily startable and prone to bouts of paranoia? someone meticulous in remembering everything from here on out? to an extent, all changelings know about their time in elsewhere but something makes it incapable of actually being communicated, be it through thoughts or words or written languages. how does your character feel about this?
fairy specific // which is your dominant ability? what 'natural wonder' or grove do you reside in? how up to date with the modern times are you? fairies prolly have 1 or 2 spells they learn over the course of their lives, what have you learned?
whats the easiest way for them to use their abilies? why? what are its visual and aesthetic cues? how modernized are you? why are you stuck in the past or why are you staying up with the times? have you created a botanical garden, becoming a taboo and allowing others to witness its natural wonder or are you secretive, frolicking in the woods alone? similiarly to vampires, who can use all 3 of their mental abilities, so too do fairies, they're just usually really good at one and not so great at the others. how does your character feel about this? have they tried to mitigate it in some way?
berserkr specific // what are your wards/signs? how easy/hard is it for you to enter your rage? similarly to dhampirs and vampires, berserkrs have a 'specialty' in one of the physical enhancements (strength, speed, agility, durability, healing, and senses), which is yours?
did you create the signs yourself or were they passed down to you? what was your training like? did you escape the keepers or are you still there? are you still with the keepers of the flame or are you someone who grew up outside of their domineering grasp? do you like them? do you want to escape? include any sensory details of your signs or how your berserkrs rage appears.