Wednesday 23 January 2019

5e: Spelljammer Races: Part II—Dohwar and Gith

Last week I presented the Dracon and Grommam player races for Spelljammer campaigns. I continue the series this week with the Dohwar and two new subraces for the Gith! Also included: a space swine statblock, since I know a bunch of you will want a winged piggy companion for your dohwar!



Dohwar

The dohwar are an avian species that resemble four-foot penguins (most closely resembling a rockhopper penguin). Their oily feathers are black all over except for their chest, which is white, and their red eye plumes. A dohwar’s flippers have an prehensile digit which helps them grasp objects, but they lack fingers. They also have a pair of prominent fangs within their beak. Dohwar have a garish fashion sense, wearing brightly coloured harnesses which hold tools, pouches, and decorations. 

The dohwar homeworld is distant enough from its sun that aside from a temperate band at the equator, most of the world is subarctic or colder. Most dohwar abroad are mechants. Since dohwar tend to lack interest in social graces, they are obnoxious and persistent in their dealings: a standard tactic is for two dohwar to corner a prospective customer, using their ability to read surface thoughts to glean insights, and talking at their victim until they buy something just to get away. Even the dohwar have a warrior class, called Protectors, who are notable for their strange beak-borne shortswords and their flying space swine mounts. 



Dohwar


Dohwar Traits

Your dohwar has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age. A dohwar can live until around 80 years of age. They mature early, reaching the age of adulthood at 13.  

Alignment. Dohwar can seem chaotic and disorganised to outsiders, but to the dohwar themselves the inner working of their society is very orderly and works to the benefit of their race. Dohwar tend towards neutrality. 

Size. The tallest Dohwar are around 4 feet in height. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 20 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Bite.  The fangs within your beak are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Cold resistance. You have resistance to cold damage.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Diver. You can hold your breath for 20 minutes. Additionally, you can dive up to 2,000 feet (twice as far as most humanoids) before suffering any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.

Dohwar Metabolism. You are immune to the inebriating effects of alcohol, but suffer similar effects when you consume sugar. A single apple is as intoxicating to you as a strong beer. A teaspoon of honey or syrup is equivalent to drinking a shot of a strong spirit. 

Dohwar Weapon Training. You are proficient with the weega, a unique weapon of your race. The weega is a sword blade that fits over your beak. The weega has identical game statistics to the shortsword.

Flippers. Your flippers can grab objects, but they are a poor substitute for nimble fingers. You have disadvantage on any attack rolls or ability checks that require the use of hands.

Space Swine
Medium beast, unaligned

Armor Class

11 (natural armor)

Hit Points

11 (2d8 + 2)

Speed

40 ft., fly 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
13 (+1) 11 (+0) 12 (+1) 2 (-4) 9 (-1) 5 (-3)

Skills

Perception +4

Damage Resistances

Cold

Senses

passive Perception 13

Languages

Challenge

1/4 (50 XP)

Charge

If the space swine moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a tusk attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 3 (1d6) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Keen Smell.

The space swine has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Relentless.

If the space swine takes 7 damage or less that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead.
Actions

Tusk.

Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage.
Mind Reader. All dohwar have telepathic talent. You can telepathically speak to any other dohwar you can see within 30 feet of you.

You can also cast detect thoughts with this trait, without requiring any components. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability. Once you do so, you can’t cast it again until you finish a long rest. Starting at 3rd level you can cast detect thoughts twice with this trait between long rests, then at 5th level you can cast detect thoughts three times with this trait between long rests.

Squawk Box. You are an incredibly persistent but irritating negotiator.  You are proficient in both Insight and Persuasion, and you may add your Wisdom bonus rather than your Charisma bonus to any Persuasion check you make, if it is higher.

Additionally, you may choose to add +10 to the result of a Persuasion check you make. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to use this feature, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Until you finish a long rest you can’t use this feature against the creature again, and you have disadvantage on all subsequent Persuasion checks against them.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Dohwar. Dohwar is a language of squawks, growls, and deep chirps.



Gith

When sages speak of the Gith, they talk of two factions: the githyanki and githzerai. There are in fact other branches of the race who, instead of settling among the outer planes, ventured out into wildspace.

The pirates of Gith were perhaps the most dedicated of the githyanki faction to claiming their revenge against the illithids. When the githyanki retreated to the Astral Plane after their war against the mind flayers, the pirates of Gith were those among them who refused to let the matter rest. They knew there were more illithids out among the stars, and so that is where they went. Like the githyanki, pirates of Gith take what they want. They are, if anything, more bloody and tyrannical than their cousins from the Astral Sea. Though mind flayers are their preferred prey, the pirates attack and steal from all spacefaring races. Some of them are even said to be cannibals.

When the pirates of Gith ventured out into wildspace, a faction of the githzerai volunteered to pursue them. In part, their role was to keep an eye on their cousins, but they were also keen to keep spacefaring illithids in check and prevent the conquest and enslavement of other peoples. This group would become known as the Zerth freebooters. The freebooters target pirates of Gith and illithids exclusively, and have little interest in other races one way or the other. They still maintain connections to their cousins in Limbo, and they are respected and even treated as folk heroes among common githzerai. They don’t like to visit, however, for they have become used to their freedoms and have no wish to capitulate to the rule of the Great Githzerai.


Pirate of Gith



Gith Traits

Your gith character has the racial traits of the core gith race, which appears on page 96 of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes.


Pirate of Gith

The pirates of Gith are violent and sadistic raiders who treat others as cattle.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma increases by 2.

Alignment. Pirates of gith tend towards lawful evil. Their society is strictly regimented and harshly regulated. Most of their race are extremely xenophobic, even towards other gith. They attack and steal from other races, showing no mercy. Some crews even engage in cannibalism.

Carnage. After making at least one weapon attack on your turn, you can spend your reaction to make an additional attack. This attack is treated as an attack with a weapon you are wielding, but deals damage according to your character level: at 1st level, you deal 1d4 + your ability bonus. The die rolled increases in size as you gain levels: 1d6 at 5th level, 1d8 at 9th level, 1d10 at 13th level, and finally 1d12 at 17th level. If the target of this attack is an illithid, you also double your ability bonus to the attack’s damage. 

Pirate of Gith Psionics. You know the mage hand cantrip, and the hand is invisible when you cast the cantrip with this trait.

When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the expeditious retreat spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.  When you reach 5th level, you can cast the detect thoughts spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. When you cast them with this trait, they don’t require components.

Piratical Weapon Training. You are proficient with scimitars (many pirates of Gith wield cutlasses, which use the game statistics of the scimitar).


Zerth Freebooter

Zerth freebooters are passionate about their campaigns against their enemies, but indifferent to others.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity increases by 2.

Alignment. Zerth freebooters have no loyalty to anyone other than their crewmates, and they enjoy their freedom from the rules of githzerai society in Limbo. Most zerth freebooters are chaotic neutral. 

Magic Resistance. Zerth freebooters have developed a strong magic resistance, which gives them a distinct advantage against their foes. You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Freebooter Weapon Training. You are proficient with scimitars (many Zerth Freebooters wield cutlasses, which use the game statistics of the scimitar).

Zerth Freebooter Psionics. You know the mage hand cantrip, and the hand is invisible when you cast the cantrip with this trait.

When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the heroism spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.  When you reach 5th level, you can cast the blur spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. When you cast them with this trait, they don’t require components.







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