At the end of a long rest, you may change your gonadal, primary, and secondary sex characteristics, granting you the internal and external characteristics of a male, a female, or your choice of a hybrid mix of sexual characteristics. Your race does not change, so the primary and secondary sexual characteristics would be those that are standard for your race.
Background
This gift is considered in many cultures to be divinely granted. It is commonly named after the elven god Ilimoran Toruvial, who is depicted sometimes as male, sometimes as female, sometimes as both, sometimes neither. In some cultures, those born with this ability are believed to be divinely blessed, and many are expected to be holy figures – either as priests in the church or as holy nomads or hermits. Others receive the gift later in life, usually as a blessing from a god or a powerful archfey, sometimes as a boon for service to the god, sometimes as the reward for the completion of a quest.
Although the gift appears to be divinely granted, it may manifest at birth or later in life even to those with no interest in religion or the priesthood. The gods are inscrutable, and they work in mysterious ways.
Note for the DM
Time is still required for sexual characteristics to fully develop. For example, a character wishing to have a beard could change their secondary sexual characteristic for facial hair to male but would still need to spend time without shaving to go from clean-shaven to a full beard. A character wishing to give birth to a baby could change their primary sexual characteristics to encompass female reproductive abilities, but then would need to retain those characteristics for the full gestational term; changing these characteristics during the gestational period would result in an automatic miscarriage.
Note that the characteristics are tied to the character’s race. If male elves in this world cannot grow beards, an elven character with this ability would not be able to grow a beard however they manifest. Similarly, if both male and female dwarves in this world grow beards, a dwarven character would always be able to grow a beard (and would need to shave if a beard isn’t desired).
Sexual Characteristics
Gonadal Characteristics
Sometimes included with Primary Sexual Characteristics, these are the testes in men and the ovaries in women.
Primary Sexual Characteristics
Primary sexual characteristics are those characteristics other than the gonads that are directly required for reproduction.
- Male: the penis and the scrotum, all of which allow a male to make and deliver sperm
- Female: the vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, clitoris, cervix, and the ability to bear children.
Secondary Sexual Characteristics
Secondary sexual characteristics are those sexually dimorphic characteristics that are not directly involved in reproduction.
- Males: facial and chest hair, increased body hair, pelvic build (lack of rounded hips), upper body muscular build, and the ability to generate muscle mass at a faster rate than the female
- Females: relative lack of body hair, thicker hair on the head (in some cases), rounded hips/figure, a decreased ability to generate muscle mass at a fast rate, decreased upper body strength, breasts, ability to nurse children, a menstrual cycle, and increased body fat composition. There are, of course, exceptions to any efforts to use a list of features to classify people into the conventionally defined sex categories. For instance, not all women succeed in breast-feeding their infants, even if they otherwise fit the conventional definition of female.
Blending Characteristics
A character with this ability has the option of choosing which characteristics to manifest on any given day. A character may, for example, choose to manifest the primary sexual characteristics of a male along with improved muscle development for males and avoiding the increased body fat composition of females, which manifesting the secondary female characteristics of breasts, the ability to nurse, and the relative lack of body hair and thicker hair on the head.