TEXT: EN World EN5idEr | Faces of the Kindred
   
  writing Kiel Chenier
   color art Kim Van Deun
   
  editing James J. Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  T
  he varied fantasy races 
  of the world are distinct 
  in their appearance and their 
  cultures when compared to one 
  another: Elves have pointed 
  ears and sharp facial features, 
  dwarves are known for their 
  beards and stocky stature, orcs 
  have tusks and mottled skin, 
  tieflings are distinguished by 
  their horns (and a variety of 
  other odd features, depending 
  on your take on them), and hu-
  mans for their tabula rasa faces; 
  blank canvases that hide their 
  true intentions.
   W e  A l l  W e A r  M A s k s–
  Faces of the 
  Kindred
  
  Faces of the Kindred | EN World EN5idEr
  Open Game Content | The game rule information 
  in this article is designated Open Game Content. All other 
  material in this article, including maps and illustrations 
  (including illustrations in the public domain), in-character 
  and out-of-character narrative and descriptive text, 
  character and place names, trade dress, “EN Publishing,” 
  “EN World,” “EN5ider,” EN Publishing product 
  and article titles, and  EN World and EN Publishing 
  logos, are designated Product Identity.
  The ceremonial, tribal, celebratory, or war-
  like faces of each race have been fashioned 
  into masks, and imbued with the races’ most 
  distinct traits and inborn talents. Whatever 
  original purpose these masks served to 
  their creator race, they now bestow their 
  boons to any who wear them. Passed on as 
  treasure or trinkets, these faces of the kin-
  dred are worn by those who claim them.
  This article features five new magic items: five 
  masks inspired by the fantasy races of 5th edition. 
  These masks are for characters of any level, race, or 
  class. Each mask lets its wearer wield a different ra-
  cial power, perfect for any kind of campaign.
  Each mask features the following rules and 
  worldbuilding details, useful for both players and 
  Game Masters:
  •	This history of the mask.
  •	The mask’s powers and benefits to the wearer.
  •	Places where the mask might be encountered, 
  and NPC’s who might be wearing them.
  All of these magic masks are considered very rare 
  wondrous items. Each requires attunement to use. 
  A character cannot be attuned to more than one of 
  these masks at a time. They each take an action to 
  don or wear, adjusting the eyeholes or fit. They can 
  be removed as a bonus action. 
  If a character of the same race as the mask dons it, 
  they gain no benefits from the mask. 
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  New Magic Items
  Mask of the Feychild
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
  While wearing this mask you feel your senses 
  heighten, shifting to accommodate new input to 
  the brain as you see the world through the eyes of 
  an elf. You gain the following benefits and powers 
  while wearing the mask of the feychild:
  •	Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 
  60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in 
  darkness as if it were dim light.
  •	Fey Tongue. You can speak, read, and write 
  Elven.
  •	Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving 
  throws against being charmed, and magic can’t 
  put you to sleep. Your type is also humanoid 
  (elf) in addition to your current creature type.
  Appearance
  The Mask of the Feychild is a full-faced alabaster 
  mask held over the face by a cord of interwoven 
  birch tree leaves. It has holes for the mouth and nos-
  trils, but only a slit for the mouth. Despite this, the 
  wearer’s speech is as clear as if their mouths were 
  exposed. A pair of elegant elf ears extend from the 
  sides of mask’s face.
  Background
  This mask was created by elven craftspeople at 
  the behest of a high elf noble. The noble’s adopted 
  daughter was a half-orc, and the mask was made 
  to help her better adjust to elven life without the 
  risk of persecution from other elves based on her 
  appearance. In time, the mask was abandoned as 
  the half-orc daughter found acceptance among the 
  elves for who she truly was. 
  The mask is often found in elven settlements close 
  to passages to the Feywild, or in human-owned cu-
  rio shops. While elves tend to find the mask gaudy 
  or comical, many humans and halflings think the 
  mask is elegant in its sylvan design.
  
  EN World EN5idEr | Faces of the Kindred
  Stoneborn Death Mask
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
  While wearing this mask you feel implacable and 
  hardy, imbued with the deep knowledge of stone 
  innate to dwarves. You gain the following benefits 
  and powers while wearing the stoneborn death mask:
  •	Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 
  60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in 
  darkness as if it were dim light.
  •	Language of Stone. You can speak, read, and 
  write Dwarvish.
  •	Knowledge of Stone. Whenever you make 
  an Intelligence (History) check related to the 
  origin of stonework, you are considered profi-
  cient in the History skill and add double your 
  proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your 
  normal proficiency bonus. Your type is also 
  humanoid (dwarf) in addition to your current 
  creature type.
  Appearance
  This full head mask is made of cast iron, with 
  dwarven features and a braided beard design. It 
  fits over the head in two pieces like a knight’s hel-
  met, clasping shut at the sides. Its eyes are slits, but 
  its mouth is a gaping maw of teeth, exposing the 
  wearer’s mouth. 
  Background
  These masks was made as funerary coverings for 
  ancient dwarven warriors. The dwarves feared that 
  their greatest and most powerful warriors in life 
  might turn against them in death. This mask was 
  made to weigh down the heads of these warrior 
  dwarves (where their soul is believed to reside) to 
  keep them still if their souls ever became restless or 
  undead. As centuries passed, these masks absorbed 
  much from the dwarves they were fitted on, slowly 
  becoming magical.
  As dwarf empires and enclaves fell to ruin, their 
  burial sites were plundered and the death masks sto-
  len by other races. Now, these masks can be found 
  in museums, among the goods of dwarven antiquity 
  dealers, while some still remain on the faces of dead 
  dwarven warriors in ancient tombs and crypts. 
  Jawbreakers’ War Mask
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
  While wearing this sturdy bone-and-wood mask, 
  your vision reddens, your mouth tastes of blood, 
  and you are imbued with the indomitable strength 
  and rage of the orcs. You gain the following benefits 
  and powers while wearing the Jawbreakers’ war mask:
  •	Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 
  60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in 
  darkness as if it were dim light.
  •	Language of Rage. You can speak, read, and 
  write Orcish as a language.
  •	Warmonger. When you are reduced to 0 hit 
  points but not killed outright, you can drop to 
  1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature 
  again until you finish a long rest. In addition, 
  as a bonus action you can move up to your 
  speed toward a hostile creature you can see. 
  You can’t use this feature again until you finish 
  a short or a long rest. Your type is also human-
  oid (orc) in addition to your current creature 
  type.
  Appearance
  This half-face mask is made from a sturdy piece 
  of wood, bent and shaped over generations of use. 
  It is stained in blood and adorned with jaw bones. 
  The mask has slits for eyes, but leaves the mouth 
  exposed. It is held in place on the face by a leather 
  strap. The jaw bones are positioned to create the 
  look of an orc’s tusks. 
  Background
  The mask is a cultural artifact of the Jawbreaker 
  Warband, an all-female tribe of orcs made up of 
  orc women who had been ousted from, abandoned 
  by, or exiled from other orc tribes. The Jawbreak-
  ers fashioned their own tribe apart from other orcs. 
  While just as brutal and warlike as any other orc 
  warband, this orc matriarchy discarded the tra-
  dition of tribes being made up of only orcs and 
  half-orcs. In time their ranks swelled with human, 
  half-elf, and even halfling converts. The Jawbreaker’s 
  war mask was used to grant these converts the en-
  during strength of their orc sisters.
  
  Faces of the Kindred | EN World EN5idEr
  This mask is currently in the possession of Teela 
  Anklecleaver, a halfling warrior of the Jawbreaker 
  Warband. She currently leads the Jawbreakers after 
  many of their orc sisters were killed or captured in 
  a raid by the Elf Ripper Warband. She seeks to save 
  her captured orc sisters and avenge those that were 
  killed, and may gift the Orc War Mask to adventur-
  ers who would help her in this quest. 
  Mask of the Infernal Offspring
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
  While wearing this mask you feel a ferocious heat 
  work its way through your body, out to your limbs. 
  This heat is unpleasant at first, but soon it subsides 
  and you’re left with a sense of infernal righteous-
  ness. You gain the following benefits and powers 
  while wearing the mask of the infernal offspring:
  •	Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 
  60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in 
  darkness as if it were dim light.
  •	Hellspeak. You can speak, read, and write 
  Infernal as a language.
  •	Gifts of the Nine Hells. You have resistance to 
  fire damage. In addition, once per day you can 
  cast hellish rebuke as a 1st-level spell. You can’t 
  use this feature again until you finish a long 
  rest. Your type is also humanoid (tiefling) in 
  addition to your current creature type.
  Appearance
  This half mask is made of red porcelain, flecked 
  with lines of gold. Protruding from the forehead 
  are two long ebony horns. The mask is held on by a 
  crimson silk band, tied in a knot. The mask is warm 
  to the touch, and smell faintly of cloves and spices.
  Background
  This mask was a boon given to a human warlock 
  by his infernal patron, granting him hellish pow-
  ers. The more the warlock grew in power, the more 
  his appearance began to match that of his mask. By 
  the time his warlock pact was complete, the war-
  lock had become a tiefling. Imbued with the power 
  of the Nine Hells, the warlock discarded the mask, 
  leaving it to be found by another unlikely soul.
  The mask is currently hidden in a treasure chest, 
  along with an unsigned contract written upon vel-
  lum in human blood. The contract holds the details 
  to an infernal warlock pact with an infernal patron 
  named Zevious the Eternal. Reading the contract 
  aloud, or donning the mask without first attuning 
  to it summons Zevious.
  Mask of Humanity
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
  While wearing this mask you feel a tremendous 
  sense of ease and control, as if all of your darkest 
  thoughts and desires are utterly concealed from the 
  world, never to be discovered. To wear this mask 
  is to feel what it means to be human. You gain the 
  following benefits and powers while wearing the 
  mask of humanity:
  •	Human Adaptability. You gain a +1 bonus to 
  two ability scores of your choice and proficien-
  cy in one skill of your choice. Your type is also 
  humanoid (human) in addition to your current 
  creature type.
  
  EN World EN5idEr | Faces of the Kindred
  Appearance
  This mask is a full face mask held in place by a 
  twine cord. Made of treated clay, it is painted to re-
  semble a human face. With its prominent eye and 
  mouth holes, it appears to be an opera mask to ca-
  sual observers. The mask is a tan in color. Closer 
  inspection with a detect magic spell reveals that the 
  mask only appears to made of these materials. In 
  reality, the mask is made from a reshaped shard of 
  unreality from another plane of existence. Purpose-
  fully damaging or breaking the mask causes it to 
  vanish out of existence, transported back to its na-
  tive plane.
  Background
  This mask was created by aberrant creatures from 
  another plane of existence. It was made as a disguise 
  for these creatures, as part of an ill-fated sojourn 
  to the material plane. In their scrying, these aber-
  rations saw that humanity was the most populous 
  race on the planet, their peoples spread to every 
  corner of the globe. They crafted this mask and 
  imbued it with what they thought were humanity’s 
  greatest inborn talents: their adaptability and their 
  capacity for duplicity. No one knows what became 
  of these aberrations, or what transpired over their 
  visit to our plane of reality. The only evidence of 
  their existence is the Mask of Humanity, which they 
  left behind.
  This mask is only found in a small mask shop 
  in a big city. While it is displayed prominently, if it 
  is mentioned or brought up the owner of the shop 
  claims never to have seen it before, and wonders 
  where it came from. Either way, the shop owner 
  will gladly sell it for its resale price. e
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 188 - Faces of The Kindred.pdf