D&D Race Guide: How to Play Reborn
As we get closer to Halloween, you may want to play a character with slightly more monstrous lineage. Like the undead Reborn.
Coming from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, the Reborn are a playable D&D lineage right out of classic horror. Mostly inspired by stories like Frankenstein, this is a character choice for somebody who wants something a little weirder, a little more spooky, or even just has a very interesting backstory in mind.
“Reborn suffer from some manner of discontinuity, an interruption of their lives or physical state that their minds are ill equipped to deal with. Their memories of events before this interruption are often vague or absent. Occasionally, the most unexpected experiences might cause sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back.”
Reborn Traits
Reborn are a newer option in playable races, so their ability score increases are more fluid than some of the more classic options. Players are able to increase a single score by two points as well as a second score by one point. Or, three separate scores can be increased by one point each. Reborn are considered ‘humanoid’ creatures and can either be small or medium, depending on the player’s preference, and they have a very standard walking speed of 30 feet.
Reborn is a ‘lineage’ that you can play alongside another race and ‘Ancestral Legacy’ allows you to keep some of that race’s elements and skills. For example, if your character is a Reborn Aarakocra, you can retain the ability to fly. Or, you can choose not to retain this element of your character’s lineage and instead take proficiency in two skills of your choice.
‘Deathless Nature’ means that your character has escaped death once and is in a sort of ‘undead’ state. This gives them advantage against disease or poison and on death saving throws. These characters also don’t need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep as much as other people, plus they can’t be put to sleep magically. Finally, a Reborn character has some faded memories of their former life.
Reborn Origins
During character creation, players can have one of six randomly selected ‘lost memories’ and eight ‘reborn origins.’
A few examples of lost memories are “You recall a childhood memory. What about that event or who you were still influences you?” and “you recall enjoying something that you can’t stand doing now. What is it and why don’t you like it now?” They are helpful, interesting questions to build a more dynamic character… and maybe give your DM a little extra angst fuel to use later on in the game.
Origins include things like, “You were magically resurrected but something went wrong,” and “Stitches bind your body’s mismatched pieces, and your memories come from multiple different lives.” Once again, these are helpful flavor text in explaining who your character is. But your character’s origin is part of the story of how they came to be Reborn in the first place.
Best Classes
With a character this weird and with this much freedom, there are almost endless good options for your class. Personally, I would lean into something a little tanky. The Reborn character’s deathless nature means that they’ll be just a little harder to kill, more likely to keep going and worry less about any potential risks. Barbarian, Paladin, and Fighter may all be great picks for this.
Tips & Tricks
If I decided to play a Reborn character I would be very invested in finding out more about their past. If you think that you’d feel a similar way as a player, this is definitely a linage pick that requires a chat with your DM. Will you come up with your own backstory? Will the DM write one and surprise you with it later on? How tragic are you okay with it being? We’re talking about D&D, so probably pretty darn tragic.
Have you played a Reborn character? Has there been one in any of your campaigns? What was their story? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
