New People: The Refined

Not all who wander are lost. Some were left to the wilderness.

Beneath abandoned lairs in rusting manufactories or through the false kindness of a stranger, a waiting nest of hungry looms create a new Refined. Stitched from a dying humanoid, they lose nearly all of who they once were. In exchange, they gain a measure of resilience and a new lifetime full of questions that beg answers. Who are they now?

Form Follows Function. Superficially, the Refined resemble their past selves. Those of fair skin take on dull gray to silvery pallor, while those of darker tones turn a matte or shining obsidian black. They weigh 25 to 40 pounds more than they once did due to the crystalline threads woven into their bodies. Their animation includes all life functions but fertility, even violet blushes or sweetly-scented sweat. The eyes of Refined also glow faintly in softly-hued undertones, brightening in moments of strong emotion. The glow comes with a variety, loosely tied to eye color, but all Refined eyes glow golden-red with anger.

Forgotten and Found. The Refined are rare and tend to keep themselves. A few try to masquerade as part of their former lives, but that tale is bound to end in horror, tragedy, or both. Small covens find homes among the mercenary companies of the Ramparts under the watchful eye of the Devil Captain. Others seek to honor their past selves in some minor ways. These last few become devoted servants, guardians, or protectors to those their ‘parent’ left behind as a form of penance. Not all are appreciated.

The Refined keep silent watch over the monstrous looms that forged their kind. They warn strangers away, but many covens have rules on who to propagate as an opportunity or punishment. Should a loom fall into the wrong hands, these covens try to liberate them without harming them. However horrible, the looms are the source of their creation - few are willing, given time, to consider their lives a mistake.

Pitfalls of Purpose. Essentially newborns with skills, knowledge, and abilities bereft of any context, Refined can seem innocent, direct, or overly emotional to most races. This is not the same as guileless - if a Refined adventurer has a goal, many show a cunning, patient fixation and a cold willingness to take action. They’re prone to take minutiae as seriously as dire threats, but tend to notice others’ logical gaps.

While not truly undead, most people don’t know the difference or care enough to learn. This fear guides their secrecy and was the reason covens formed to rescue their cousins, monitor looms, and to ‘recruit’.

Refined Names. Refined rarely keep the names from their parent lives, but often lack other options early on. After coming to terms with their nature, there are two branches of thought. Many take names from the same culture or even use the same family name as their predecessors. In this way, they bind themselves to the life they once had while making it clear that life continues on in its new form. Others select simple names, perhaps influenced by tiefling “virtue names”. Some choose titles related to their function, order, or rank. Names like Captain, Four, or Thresher of Foes define who you are or wish to be.

Refined or Reborn? Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft introduces the Reborn as a lineage. While similar in appearance and origin, the Refined are still very much alive. They require food, water, air, and rest as much as any other creature - usually. While the Reborn template may be useful for a Refined of a non-standard model or a failed attempt at the process, the Refined are very much unique creatures of the Dream.

Ability	Size	Speed	Innate Feature(s)
Constitution	Small or Medium	30	Counterbalance, Darkvision, Propagation, Residual Talent

Counterbalance. Refined of Small size count as Medium creatures for wielding weapons or grapples.

Propagation. By tearing loose their own vital threads, a Refined may refine a humanoid within one Size category of their own. The subject must have died within 1 minute per Hit Die that the creature once possessed. Spells that prevent undeath also prevent this process. You are reduced to 0 hit points. The subject gains a new series of death saving throws, while you must make your own with advantage. The subject, if they succeed and stabilize, become Refined and lose all memories. The player of the original character or the DM select an appropriate Refined model, as listed below. If the target regains hit points or is stabilized by other means before these death saving throws are complete, they retain their race and full memories. Once a Refined has propagated, they may not do so again until they complete a long rest. Refined may not propagate other Refined.

Residual Talent. You gain proficiency in one skill or tool of your choice. You can speak Common and one other language. Player characters Refined after character creation retain any languages they knew.

Refined Models

Each of the player-character Refined come from a number of models. The following models have been identified by glyphs on the sternum. These glyphs faintly glow at will or if the Refined is at risk of dying. Instead of a cultural legacy and decades of life to draw from, most Refined remain bound to the parameters and complications of their Model.

Known Sapient Refined Models

Model	Ability	Proficiencies	Model Feature(s)
Model 5	Dexterity	Two from disguise kit, forgery kit, or thieves’ tools; one from Deception, Insight, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth	Omniflexible
Model 6	Intelligence	One set of artisan’s tools or a gaming set; one from Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion	Galvanic Exhaust, Galvanic Heart
Model 7	Wisdom	Two from Insight, Investigation, or Perception	Functional Awareness, Retractable Limbs
Model 8	Charisma	Performance or an instrument; two from Deception, Persuasion, or Intimidation	Lost Fragments, Memetic Echo
Model 9	Strength	Two from Acrobatics, Athletics, or Survival	Hardened Frame, Reinforced Flesh

Model 5

Dull-hued and unnaturally flexible, the 5 model can serve as capable infiltrators, assassins, or scouts. Quiet but attentive, these Refined tend to possess a curiosity that extends past polite social boundaries.
Omniflexible. Wire spools through your hollow, segmented bones. You can extend these threads identically to a mage hand spell. You roll with advantage to escape bonds or grapples and count as being of Tiny size when squeezing through narrow spaces, or any gap that fits your skull, if not wearing armor.

Model 6

Eyes flashing with arcs of lightning, the 6 model tends to show brief flashes of insight into some greater purpose. More than any other model, 6s are inquisitive to a fault and will take risks to gain information.
Galvanic Exhaust. You have resistance to lightning damage. When struck by lightning damage, you may use your reaction to absorb it instead, regaining hit points equal to the full damage of the effect. After doing so, you may not do so again until you take a long rest.
Galvanic Heart. You know shocking grasp as a cantrip. Starting at 3rd level, you may cast witch bolt as a 2nd-level spell with this trait without material components and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. At 5th level, you can also cast locate object without material components and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Model 7

Technically adept, the many-armed 7 model is prone to disassembling objects for study or as stress relief. They show genius in many fields, but favor introspection most.
Functional Awareness. You know the mending cantrip. You gain proficiency with a set of artisan’s tools, thieves’ tools, a forgery kit, an instrument, land vehicles, or sea vehicles. You can change this proficiency to another set of tools or vehicles at will, but may not do so again until you finish a long rest.
Retractable Limbs. You have a second semi-independent set of arms that can retract into your primary arms or torso. You roll with advantage on Strength or Dexterity checks that rely on grip or fine control, such as climbing, grapples, or tool uses that would benefit from having helpers or extra hands. The additional limbs lack the strength or full range of motion to wield weapons or to aid in spellcasting.

Model 8

The 8 model gains an unnatural grace, especially in their resonant, melodic voices. Many people find them unnerving after an initial infatuation. In turn, they’re often extremely slow to trust others.
Lost Fragments. If suffering from the frightened, charmed, or stunned conditions, you may use your reaction to end those conditions, suffering psychic damage equal to 1d4 per condition you opt to end.
Memetic Echo. You know the friends cantrip. You roll with advantage on Intelligence checks to recall information you’ve heard since your Refinement, reciting any speech within the last hour without a roll. You can perfectly mimic any voice you’ve heard. You also roll with advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks to gauge the emotions or intent of creatures you can hear, even if you don’t know the language spoken.

Model 9

Denser than most other Refined, the 9 model can withstand life-threatening injuries without complaint. Of all of the models, 9s tend to be most conflicted about their loss of past identity.
Hardened Frame. You have a slam attack that deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. This is a natural weapon, which counts as a simple melee weapon with which you are proficient. If you are proficient with a martial weapon, the damage increases to 1d8 + your Strength modifier.
Reinforced Flesh. You know the blade ward cantrip and may cast it as part of a Dodge action. As your reaction to being hit or failing a saving throw, you may choose to gain immunity to an attack, spell, multiattack action, trap, or a single damage type until the start of your next turn.
Once you gain immunity to a threat, you cannot declare immunity again until you finish a long rest.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. Small Refined of this model count as two sizes larger.

New Boon and Feat: Refinement By re-weaving your essential fibers with new materials you’ve acquired on your travels, you’ve gained additional utility. Choose one benefit each time you take this boon, or two as a feat – you may take this boon or feat multiple times, but may not choose any benefit more than once: You regain the unique Ancestry feature of your original species or that of another if you choose. Gaining another creature’s Ancestry feature requires blood from a willing donor. You gain resistance to a single damage type of your choice. You gain the Model 9’s Hardened Frame feature if you do not already possess it. If you already possess the Model 9’s Hardened Frame feature, you can now perform an enhanced slam once per turn. This slam counts as magical for the purposes of overcoming damage resistances and immunities and deals 1d10 + your Strength modifier in bludgeoning damage. This slam counts as a melee weapon attack. If you opt to make only a single attack as an action, the damage increases based on your character level, dealing 2d10 damage 5th level, 3d10 at 11th level, and 4d10 at 17th level. Add 1 to your maximum hit points per character level. You gain 1 additional hit point each time you gain a level. You may use your reaction to reduce a critical hit you suffer to a normal hit. You cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. You may lash out with your essential threads, identical to a thorn whip cantrip. Constitution is your spellcasting modifier. You gain expertise in one skill or tool proficiency, doubling your proficiency bonus on checks. You gain blindsight for up to 30 feet. You no longer need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You can finish a long rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.

Other Refined Models.

Additional Refined models are known to exist, but few have been discovered with anything resembling sapient minds. Hostile Refined rarely harm higher-numbered models if other options are available, but occasionally create sapient models instead of more mindless thralls. Rumors of a monstrous 'Model Zero' are common among the covens with some unknown purpose for all of her children. Few welcome this end.