Equinoi of Myth and Legend

“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

-William Shakespeare, Othello

Playtest Version

This material is still in the process of being playtested. It is fully usable as written, but may be refined or changed in later versions. As always, this content should only be used with GM permission.

New Equinoi Subraces


The following are additional subrace options for the equinoi species found Here.
While nearly all equinoi resemble some ordinary variety of horse or zebra, in some remote parts of the world there are some equinoi with much more exotic forms. Scholars have debated on what the relationship these folk have with magical beings, but for the most part, they are isolated enough from other equinoi populations that most scholars have not realized that they are the same type of being as either the more common equinoi or each other.

Sovereign of Knowledge

Sovereigns of Knowledge have two immediately obvious differences from typical equinoi. First, they have four arms, and second, their coats bear vibrant and exotic colorations. Most commonly they are light blue, but some may be purple, green, royal blue, blood red, pink, yellow, or other colors. They are natural scholars and usually keep large libraries of written texts.
    Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence and Wisdom scores each increase by 1.
    Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
    Four-Armed. You have four arms and can take the Use an Object action as a bonus action during your turn. Your arms do not grant you additional attacks, but you can wield weapons and shields held in them normally, including for the purposes of two-weapon fighting. (Note that a character can only benefit from one shield at a time, no matter how many are held)
    Well Read. You have advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks to look things up in books or scrolls.
    Languages. If you choose, you can speak, read, and write Celestial in place of Halfling.

Champion of Virtue

With their gleaming obsidian black, pure white, opalescent or iridescent coloration and the single straight or upwardly curving horn that grows from their forehead, comparisons to unicorns are inevitable. Combined with their innate magic and ties to nature, there is considerable debate even among the Champions of Virtue themselves whether they are directly related to the creatures.
    Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
    Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
    Magic Horn. You learn one cantrip of your choice from the wizard, cleric, or druid spell list. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.
    Grove’s Blessing. You can cast Heroism without using a spell slot once. You regain the ability to cast the spell in this way when you finish a long rest. At third level, you also gain the ability to cast Speak with Animals without using a spell slot once. You also regain the ability to cast it in this way when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting attribute when you cast these spells in this way.
    Languages. If you choose, you can speak, read, and write Celestial in place of Halfling.

Master of Winds

Lighter weight than even the hotbloods but twice as proud, the Masters of Winds are able to fly using their massive birdlike wings. Their coloration tends towards whites and grays, colors that can be seen among the clouds, but any natural equine coloration is not uncommon either.
    Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and Charisma scores each increase by 1.
    Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
    Flight. You have a flying speed of 30 feet. You can only use this speed if you are not wearing medium or heavy armor.
    Languages. If you choose, you can speak, read, and write Celestial in place of Halfling.

Sovereign of Knowledge Names

The actual name of a Sovereign of Knowledge is a secret, known only to the individual and their immediate family. For public use, they have an epithet used with with their title (Master Bala, Archmage Rukmini, Apprentice Prabhu, Chief Librarian Rajani, etc). The epithet is typically an adjective in celestial that describes the individual or the nature of their life’s work.

Example Androgynous Epithets: Ananta, Aruna, Bala, Chanda, Durga, Isha, Jaya, Kamala, Kanti, Mohana, Padma, Radha, Rajani, Shyama, Sushila, Uttara, Vijaya

Example Feminine Epithets: Arushi, Bhumi, Damayanti, Gauri, Indira, Kalyani, Maya, Priya, Reva, Rukmini, Savitri, Sumati, Sunita, Tara, Ushas, Yami

Example Masculine Epithets: Agni, Aniruddha, Arjuna, Bhaskara, Dinesha, Dipaka, Girisha, Hari, Lakshmana, Madhava, Nagendra, Pitambara, Prabhu, Raghu, Shankara, Vasanta, Yama

Champion of Virtue Names

Each Champion of Virtue has a hyphenated pair of personal names (For example, Lutisse-Petronille, Roland-Cateline, or Oriel-Rodin). The only specific convention with these names is that no one in the same community will have the same pair of names in the same order.

Example Androgynous Names: Adelin, Adri, Aimable, Bénigne, Calliste, Crescence, Dorice, Évangèle, Esprit, Exupérance, Floride, Gaudence, Gentile, Isée, Jordane, Louison, Morgann, Nymphodore, Oriel, Philaé, Rodin, Sandre,

Example Feminine Names: Aalis, Amée, Ava, Bartholomette, Braimimonda, Cateline, Ermengarde, Fabrisse, Genevieve, Huguette, Isabeau, Jehanne, Lutisse, Melisende, Mirabelle, Oriabel, Petronille, Rosemonde, Sybille, Vuissance, Willelma

Example Masculine Names: Abelard, Adhémar, Beaudonnier, Caschin, Durand, Estienne, Fouchier, Geoffroi, Gris, Hervisse, Josse, Landri, Mercadier, Namus, Onfroi, Prades, Roland, Roul, Tuncrede, Varocher, Wigayn, Yon

Master of Winds Names

Masters of Winds tend to be glory-seekers and their culture cares greatly about legacies and scribing one’s name upon the face of history. As such, they have countless distinct names in their historical records and names are almost never re-used.

Example Androgynous Names: Adrasteia, Aether, Agistis, Agon, Aion, Alexis, Anatolê, Arktos, Auge, Bia, Caeneus, Cypris, Dysis, Elete, Eplis, Gymnastikê, Helikon, Hemera, Hesperis, Kalos, Leucippus, Mesembria, Mousikê, Nikephoros, Nymphê, Pallas, Phanes, Podarga, Sponde, Themis, Thrasos, Zelus

Example Feminine Names: Alcyone, Andromeda, Audata, Bassaris, Celaeno, Chrysothemis, Dynamis, Electra, Eos, Galatea, Halcyone, Hippolyta, Iola, Kleio, Laodice, Lipara, Maia, Merope, Nyssa, Olympias, Penthesilea, Phaedra, Roxane, Sappho, Sterope, Taygete, Thalestris, Urania, Xanthe, Zenobia

Example Masculine Names: Ajax, Apeliotes, Argestes, Astraeus, Bellerophon, Boreas, Calaïs Chrysaor, Demophon, Eurus, Gyges, Hector, Hyperion, Iobates, Jason, Kaikias, Laertes, Meleager, Militades, Notus, Orion, Paris, Perseus, Rhexenor, Sarpedon, Tecton, Thales, Theseus, Vettias, Xeonophanes, Zephyrus, Zetes

Random Height and Weight

Subrace Base Height Base Weight Height Modifier Weight Modifier
Sovereign of Knowledge 4’10″ 160 lbs +2d12 x(2d6)
Champion of Virtue 4’10” 140 lbs +2d12 x(2d6)
Master of Winds 4’10” 100 lbs +2d8 x(2d4)

Legal Appendix

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System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Equinoi of Myth and Legend Copyright 2019, Malachite Idol; Author Patrick Johnson.

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