Shardmind

A Shardmind with a feminine shape.

Shardminds are a PC race new to 4e. They get bonuses to INT and WIS or CHA, they can resist psychic attacks and they're versatile. That's not the important thing, though.

The important thing is that they're made of thousands of tiny crystals, shards of an ancient gate designed to keep the Illithid and various other Great Old One-esque beasties out of the Universe. That kind of fell through, so now Ioun is busy keeping any more nastiness from getting through while the Shardminds try to rebuild the gate. Only problem is, they disagree on how to do this. Should they build a new gate, rebuild the old one, or murder each other and send their souls to the gate? Decisions, decisions.

Physically, they don't actually have genders, though some seem vaguely male or female. Over the time that Shardmind gain a self-awareness, they base their physical shape on what they see around them. Though they are most often humanoid, they can be of any variation you want. Additional head? Shaped like a Kobold? Built like a Minotaur? Or growth on the head like a Genasi? You name it. As for their personalities, they're a bit like Warforged - some are brooding and introspective, some are brainless dutyfags and some are wide-eyed and naive, learning about the world. There are several possible paths you can follow as a Shardmind, these are the most common:

• Thought Builder. They believe that it is their duty as parts of the Living Gate to restore it to keep the Far Realm away. By standing together and working on the barrier between the worlds they can make this happen. There are some problems with this though: according to the setting psionics came into being after the first Living Gate broke, and it's not sure if fixing it means the disappearance of psionics and/or the death of all Shardminds. Most Thought Builders are Good aligned: if you play one that's willing to give up its own being for the human(oid)s of this world under siege by an alien force, put on your best Peter Cullen voice.
• God Shard. They believe that they are still part of the Living Gate; by learning and becoming more powerful they strengthen the barrier. They also fight the Aberrants that already are in this world. Most God Shards are unaligned.
• Shard Slayer. They believe that when a Shardmind is destroyed, its life force returns to the Living Gate, strengthening its defenses against the Outer Realm. By seeking out both unawakened and awakened (ie: other Shardminds) parts of the Living Gate and destroying them, you bolster the barrier between worlds. In other words, you're a Highlander. They aim for those of other philosophies first, fighting in the knowledge that in the end, there can be only one.

Shardminds usually stay calm, but when they get emotional, they get really emotional. Like, Carrie with blood all over her emotional. So don't piss one off!