Synad
Synads are a bizarre race of human-like aberrations native to the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons. Of uncertain origins, perhaps stemming from a now-fallen psiocracy that attempted to create a gestalt-mind but only partially succeeded, synads have three distinct minds that work in combined unison, imbuing them with a preternatural grasp of psionics. They can usually pass for humans, but when depleted of psionic energy and in low-light, they sport two additional heads, in the form of ghostly, featureless faces hovering adjacent to their fleshy head.
That's... pretty much it. They were a rather lackluster addition to the D&D canon.
Synads debuted in Complete Psionic, but were released as a teaser in Dragon Magazine #314.
They are not to be confused with the Snyad, a forgettable monster from the original Fiend Folio.
Official Fluff
Synads seem unsocial to the naive. In truth, each synad is a group unto himself, composed of three fully independent minds that are fused into a cooperating whole. While most races suffer the crushing loneliness of a wholly closed-off mind, synads reap the benefits of combined thought, cooperative planning, and multiple viewpoints on each new task or topic.
Personality: While synads have wildly varying personalities, their threefold minds give the race recognizable personality traits. A synads threefold mind is composed of parts that are often referred to as the overmind, the collective, and the oracle. In most activities, the overmind controls the synad's actions. However, sometimes the collective or the oracle - the parts known as the submind - rises to the surface, either bypassing the overmind or mentally advising it on topics the submind is more suited to understand.
Physical Description: In the bright light of day, a synad passes for a tall, slim human. In dim light, however, out of the corner of an observer's eye, a synad sometimes appears as a humanoid with three heads. The normal head appears bracketed by two ghostly heads completely "devoid of hair, eyes, ears, mouth, or nose. This happens only if the synad has exhausted all its power points for the day. For this reason, most synads avoid draining their power point reserve, lest their true nature be revealed. Synads typically stand just over 6 feet tall and weigh about 170 pounds, with males somewhat taller and heavier than females. Synads are typically hairless. They have pale skin, large, dark eyes, and long, expressive fingers. They dress commonly but enjoy impressive, flamboyant headwear.
Relations: Synads mix with members of other races, especially humans. Sometimes those relations change suddenly when another creature gains insight into a synad's true nature, so synads try to avoid dim light when possible, or else they prepare their comrades by revealing the truth about their heritage.
Alignment: Synads do not tend toward any particular alignment. The best and the worst are found among them.
Synad Lands: Synads hail from a parallel world accessible through the Plane of Shadow. The few who dwell on the Material Plane prefer to forget their world of origin, claiming that monstrosities of the mind roam there unhindered.
Religion: Synads often worship Fharlanghn, drawn to his aspect as a traveler. Those who have escaped their homeworld give credit to the deity for showing them a way through.
Language: Synads speak Common and their own unique language.
Names: Synad names vary greatly, mainly because synads have thrown off their original ways and adopted human culture. They draw their names from the names of humans in the area where they have settled. Synads who mate and produce children often name them after local heroes or great leaders.
Adventurers: Synad adventurers are akin to humans in their daring and ambition. Because a synad's threefold mind can withstand mental effects (such as charm person and dominate person) that might leave another creature drooling or subservient, the race has a reputation for great toughness of mind.
PC Stats
- Aberration: As aberrations, even though they can appear human, synads are not subject to spells or effects that affect only humanoids.
- Medium: Synads have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Darkvision out to 60 feet.
- Synad base land speed is 30 feet.
- Naturally Psionic: Synads gain 3 bonus power points at 1st level, one each for the overmind, the collective, and the oracle. This does not grant synads the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.
- Threefold Mind (Su): The threefold synthesis of mind, controlled by the overmind, grants synads an advantage when resisting mental attacks. They gain a +2 bonus on Will saving throws.
- Oracle (Su): The part of a synad's mind known as the oracle grants him a daily precognitive edge. This translates into a +2 insight bonus that the synad can apply at any time to an initiative check, attack roll, or saving throw. In the case of an attack roll or saving throw, the synad can elect to apply the bonus to the roll or save after he determines whether his unmodified roll misses. A synad can apply only one precognitive edge per day.
- Collective (Su): The part of a synad's mind known as the collective allows him to tap into a racial network of knowledge and information. A synad can spend 1 power point as a free action to gain a +2 bonus on any Knowledge or Psicraft check he makes.
- Multitask (Su): A synad's threefold mind can temporarily separate, allowing him to take more than a single mental action during his turn. Once per day, a synad can spend 1 power point to gain a swift action that he can use to take any purely mental action. Examples include manifesting a psionic power or making a Knowledge, Psicraft, or other check requiring only mental cogitation. However, a synad can use his extra mental action to manifest a power only if the normal actions allowed to him during the round do not also involve manifesting a power.
- Automatic Languages: Common and Synad. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). The portion of a synad's mind known as the collective exposes him to a wide range of languages.
- Favored Class: Any. A multiclass synad's first chosen new class does not count when determining whether he takes an XP penalty for multiclassing.