The kalashtar are a compound people, created from the union of humanity and renegade spirits from the plane of dreams—spirits called quori. Kalashtar are often seen as wise, spiritual people with great compassion for others. There is an unmistakable alien quality to the kalashtar, though, as they are haunted by the conflicts of their otherworldly spirits.
Bound to Spirits
Every kalashtar has a connection to a spirit of light, a bond shared by other members of their bloodline. Kalashtar appear human, but their spiritual connection affects them in a variety of ways. Kalashtar have symmetrical, slightly angular features, and their eyes often glow when they are focused or expressing strong emotions.
Kalashtar can’t directly communicate with their quori spirits. Rather, they might experience this relationship as a sense of instinct and inspiration, drawing on the memories of the spirit when they dream. This connection grants kalashtar minor psionic abilities, as well as protection from psychic attacks. All of these quori dream-spirits are virtuous, but some are warriors and others are more contemplative. Work together with the GM to determine the nature of your linked spirit. Typically, a kalashtar knows the name and nature of their spirit, but some may know nothing of their spirit or the source of their psychic gifts, such as an orphan kalashtar raised among strangers.
The bond to the spirit can cause some kalashtar to display unusual quirks. Consider rolling or selecting a trait from the Kalashtar Quirks table.
Hunted by Nightmares
The virtuous spirits tied to the kalashtar fled from the dream-realm of Dal Quor to escape evil spirits that dominate it. The rebel quori believe that through meditation and devotion, they can change the fundamental nature of Dal Quor, shifting the balance from darkness to light. Most kalashtar communities focus on acts of devotion known as the Path of Light. But the dark powers of Dal Quor have their own plans. Through the force known as the Dreaming Dark, these creatures manipulate people to eliminate kalashtar whenever possible.
Many kalashtar defend themselves from the Dreaming Dark by focusing on devotion to the Path of Light. Others, though, seek out the agents of the Dreaming Dark and oppose their plans, or protect the innocent however they can. Still other kalashtar grow up isolated, knowing nothing about Dal Quor or the Dreaming Dark. Such orphans might use their abilities for personal gain or otherwise act against the virtuous instincts of their quori spirits; this can cause internal conflicts and violent mood swings.
Kalashtar Names
A kalashtar name adds a personal prefix to the name of the quori spirit within the kalashtar. Such names have no relation to the kalashtar’s gender. Kalashtar orphans are unlikely to know the name of their spirit and take names from another source.
Quori Names: Ashana, Ashtai, Ishara, Hareth, Khad, Kosh, Melk, Nari, Tana, Tari, Tash, Ulad, Vakri, Vash
Kalashtar Names: Coratash, Dalavash, Dolishara, Halakosh, Khoratari, Koratana, Lanhareth, Molavakri, Nevitash, Sorashana, Torashtai, Valakhad, Vishara
Quirks
Kalashtar often display an odd personality trait or two, given how new they are to the world. The Kalashtar Quirks table contains example quirks.
Kalashtar Quirks
| d10 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You try to understand the motives and feelings of your enemies. |
| 2 | You prefer using telepathy over speaking aloud. |
| 3 | You feel a strong drive to protect the innocent. |
| 4 | You apply dream logic to mundane situations. |
| 5 | You discuss things out loud with your quori spirit. |
| 6 | You suppress your emotions and rely on logic. |
| 7 | You are strongly influenced by the emotions of those around you. |
| 8 | You prefer to find nonviolent solutions to problems whenever possible. |
| 9 | You are driven by a warrior spirit and will fight for any noble cause. |
| 10 | You are obsessed with Dreaming Dark conspiracies. |
Traits
Your kalashtar character has the following traits.
Creature type. You are a Humanoid.
Health. Your health increases by 8.
Size. Your size is Medium and you stand between 160 centimeters and 200 centimeters tall.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 5 meters.
Age. Kalashtar mature and age at the same rate as humans.
Dual Mind. You have advantage on all Will saving throws.
Mental Discipline. You have resistance to psychic damage.
Mind Link. You can speak telepathically to any creature you can see, provided the creature is within 10 meters. You don’t need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
When you’re using this trait to speak telepathically to a creature, you can use an action to give that creature the ability to speak telepathically with you for 1 hour or until you end this effect as an action. To use this ability, the creature must be able to see you and must be within this trait’s range. You can give this ability to only one creature at a time; giving it to a creature takes it away from another creature who has it.
At 13th level the range of your telepathy changes to 20 meters.
Severed from Dreams. Kalashtar sleep, but they don’t connect to the plane of dreams as other creatures do. Instead, their minds draw from the memories of their otherworldly spirit while they sleep. As such, you are immune to spells and other magical effects that require you to dream, like dream, but not to spells and other magical effects that put you to sleep, like sleep
Languages. You are proficient with Linguistics (Common), Linguistics (Quori), and Linguistics (one language of your choice).