The Shadow Realm twists beings with its magic, and in the case of the umbral humans, this influence can have radical effects. These umbral folk are not merely humans corrupted by shadow but rather slowly transformed by their exposure to shadow over generations, gradually becoming inured to it. These are the changelings.

Beyond shadow’s natural and inevitable influence, the shadow fey have long experimented with the shadows and its effects on mortals, whether to punish the foolish or to create better servants—or just for fun—and some umbral humans, those that survive, are the result of these rituals. These twisted souls are often labeled as the gifted by others, but they rarely if ever think of themselves in such terms.

Umbral Human Traits

Your umbral human character has certain characteristics in common with all other umbral humans.

Ability Score Increase. You may choose one score to increase by 2 and a different score to increase by 1.

Age. Your natural aging process slows and becomes similar to that of an elf or shadow fey.

Alignment. Umbral humans have often walked a troubling path to become what they are. This tends to push umbral humans toward neutral or chaotic alignments, but all variations exist.

Size. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet as though it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Dark Infusion. You have resistance to cold damage.

Fade Away. While standing perfectly still, you can use an action to become invisible. You become visible again if you move or take an action. You can use this feature a number of times per day equal to your proficiency bonus.

Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Umbral.

Subtypes. The generational infusion of shadow manifests itself in different ways, but two especially noteworthy categories of umbral humans exist: changelings and the gifted. Choose one of the two subraces presented below.

Changelings

Changelings are the natural result of humans adapting to a life in the shadows over multiple generations. Originally, humans were stolen from the mortal lands to serve their shadow fey masters—or just on a whim—and many more humans simply got lost on a shadow road or abandoned and ultimately became stranded in the Shadow Realm. And that new life in shadows must ultimately change a mortal.

Changelings resemble their cousins from the mortal lands but with the hallmarks of a life in the shadows, similar to how shadow fey differ from other elves. Their skin color tends toward alabaster white, ebon black, or subtle grays. Some have even grown rudimentary horns, like shadow fey. Their appearance may change further in generations to come—perhaps constantly evolving and even drastically diverging in some ways.

Changeling Names

Changelings typically take on the naming customs of the dominant peoples in the communities they grow up in. Where umbral humans are concentrated, the newcomers will often retain naming customs from the mortal lands from whence they originated—if their memories remain—while long-settled umbral human families use an amalgam of naming customs. For those communities of long standing within shadow, the naming follows a blend of styles in a linguistic melting pot.

Male Umbral Human Names: Abradal, Dalid, Haggar, Hosano, Juns, Korim, Masoosh, Obrax, Ulaf, Woldemar.

Female Umbral Human Names: Analinda, Breck, Cloria, Helgamet, Linnet, Maswen, Nuriam, Ranna, Siffar, Soffy, Ulsa.

Changeling Umbral Human Traits

You are a changeling, a human adapted to the shadows, thriving in its embrace.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Cover Story. You gain proficiency in the Deception or Persuasion skill.

Shadow Glamour. You can use an action to cast the disguise self spell at will.

The gifted

Dealing with the fey is dangerous, and the gifted are living proof. These broken souls are those umbral humans that have drunk a bit too deeply, too quickly, of the shadows. This transformation is often initiated by the shadow fey, though not always, for there are many dark powers in the shadows. It could be an unwilling change, forced upon an unfortunate soul, or it could be in payment for some fey pact, whether as boon or bane.

The gifted can vary widely in their physical appearance, depending on the nature of the change. Sometimes they appear as “normal” umbral humans and sometimes they’ll appear as shadow fey. Still other times, the change can cause minor cosmetic changes or even more dramatic and severe changes: tails, hooves, vestigial wings, and the like are not unknown—not to mention the mental and emotional alterations that can accompany them. No matter how small the physical change though, a gifted always bears some sign visible to at least themselves.

Occasionally, the change robs the individual of their memories.

Gifted Names

Gifted umbral humans typically follow the same naming customs as changelings. However, many take the opportunity to completely reinvent themselves, if their change comes later in life, in name and even in personality traits.

Gifted Umbral Folk Traits

You are of the gifted, granted potent fey abilities.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Cursed Infusion. You have resistance to necrotic damage.

Shadow Gift. You struck a bargain with a shadow fey to receive a gift, but it came at a terrible price. Choose one of the options below to determine the benefit and penalty you possess (or discuss other options with your GM):

• You become proficient in one skill of your choice and always roll ability checks made with that skill at advantage. Choose a second skill, and always roll ability checks made with that skill at disadvantage.
• You no longer need to eat or breathe to survive and require only 4 hours for a long rest. Gain one level of exhaustion. This level of exhaustion cannot be removed by any means magical or non-magical.
• Cut your current base movement speed in half. Gain a fly, swim, or climb speed equal to your newly halved base movement speed.
• Increase one of your ability scores by 6 (up to 20). Reduce two different ability scores by 2.
• Each day at dawn, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution score. You are no longer able to spend hit dice to heal during short rests.