Tarrasqin (5e Race)
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This page is incomplete and/or lacking flavor. Reason: The traits are finished, please stop editing them. It is only the lore that needs reworking.
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Physical Description
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| A pair of tarrasqin. By Eli.Skytale |
The tarrasqin resemble human-shaped Tarrasques, with large, hunched over frames, spines and scales, and sharp teeth.
History
A small, secret group of knowledge seekers thirsted for immortality at any cost. Their attempts repeatedly failed time and time again. Membership failed to thrive, their resources lacking, and the society was on the verge of disbandment. Until, a "miracle" happened. One member had found a pound of flesh from the Tarrasque, being sold in a marketplace. The seller was trying to pass it off as beef, aware that it was actually quite sketchy in origin, but unaware of the meat's true significance. How that meat got to the market remains unknown; perhaps some brave adventurer wounded it in battle before dying, and scavengers found it while looting the aftermath, also unaware of the meat's significance.
The pound of Tarrasque flesh proved to be just what the group needed. Through research, they devised a surprisingly simple spell that awoke the primordial immortality in the flesh. Over the course of many days, it began to grow into a tumorous mass, as if trying to regenerate into a brand new Tarrasque... although only one Tarrasque can exist at a time. The cultists then harvested and ate the flesh. They became near immortal, their bodies healing from injuries much like the primordial beast, and the older members found the damage from aging quick to reverse. It had seemed like the group succeeded! They became the first generation of tarrasqin.
Within a few years, however, the flesh from the Tarrasque began to overtake their bodies, transforming them into mish-mash combinations of human and Tarrasque; their limbs uneven in size, and their flesh a patchwork mess of skin and scales. After a couple centuries, the first generation of tarrasqin became aware of their bodies degrading. They came to terms with it; while once they sought immortality, by now they were progenitors of what was becoming a new race. At the end of their extended lives, they degraded into tarrasque-spawn; tumorous and unintelligent abominations of undying flesh.
As they aged, the next generation of tarrasqin grew, who in turn birthed a new generation. With each passing generation, they were more stable. No longer appearing as patchwork abominations, they adapted into homogenous mixes between Tarrasque and human. While degradation into tarrasque-spawn was inevitable, they lived longer and longer before this process began.
Society
Despite their bestial appearance, tarrasqin are not aggressive warriors by culture. The progenitors of tarrasqin were knowledge seekers. Some sought knowledge so they could cheat death, but others wanted to cheat death to have more time to gain knowledge. This ideal was passed on to each generation. Tarrasqin are largely cooperative and selfless, willing to compromise and accept the division of tasks and labor with grace. Their culture believes consensus and compromise must be formed quickly; remaining rigid on a proposed goal or solution is a massive faux pas.
Tarrasqin largely live in small communities, often in single-building complexes or underground areas. Large areas of each community are dedicated to storing books, artifacts, and other items of importance. They place a great importance on rituals; less out of religious need, and more as an excuse to bond members of a community together. It's quite often they plan other forms of celebration; parties, plays, even games, and rarely do they need a reason. A massive fire pit is built in every tarrasqin community, where they willingly burn themselves to death before they can fully degrade into a tarrasque-spawn. These funerals are the sole ritual that holds true importance to their culture.
A tarrasqin is far more likely than most to know obscure lore about the Tarrasque, or other primordial entities, but even they do not have all the answers. Knowledge about the primordials and the dawn war is elusive to all but the most legendary adventurers, after all. What is certainly unknown to all tarrasqin is that their spell had an unintended effect on the Tarrasque's nature, providing it with yet another lifeline. The Tarrasque's link to the Prime Material Plane is unseverable, and now even if it should be permanently defeated by sealing it away in another plane of existence, it will simply die... and reincarnate through mutating a tarrasqin or tarrasque-spawn at random. Now, the only way to truly and irreversibly defeat the Tarrasque would be to wipe out the tarrasqin first.
Tarrasqin Names
Members of the secret society used code names, by taking common words, and using a cypher; replacing syllables with those from a primordial dialect that had a pronunciation guide, but no complete translations. These code names became the birth names of the next generation. As such, their names sound primordial in origin, but only have meaning in Common through the cypher.
Male: Oblur, Thyglius, Kassar
Female: Kagniss, Okrama, Thyliza
Tarrasqin Traits
Born from the blood of the mighty tarrasque, tarrasqin are powerful tribal humanoids that inhabit temperate jungles.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. As humanoids related to an immortal titan, tarrasqin have long lifespans. A tarrasqin reaches adulthood around 30, and the oldest of them can live for 500 years.
Alignment. Although the tarrasque is an indisputably a force of pure destruction it as well as its lesser kin are not truly evil or even chaotic by nature, as a result, they are largely neutral.
Size. Tarrasqin stand between 7 and 8 feet tall, weighing between 280 and 340 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Blind Awareness. You can see while it is heavily obscured as if it were lightly obscured. You can't discern color while obscured, only shades of gray.
Deep Slumber. You require more sleep than most races and need to sleep for 8 hours to gain the benefits of a long rest. Unless you take damage while asleep you remain so.
Insatiable Apatite. You need to eat and drink twice as much as a creature of your size and are immune to ingested poisons and diseases.
Magical Rebuke. When you fail a saving throw against a spell or other magical effect, you can re-roll the die and must use the new roll. You regain the ability to use this trait again when 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.
Natural Armor. When you are not wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial.
Racial feats
Racial Feats
Powerful Tail
- Increase your Strength score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- You have a prehensile tail that can be used to grasp or hold objects. This tail as a reach of 10 feet.
- When you make a successful melee attack you can take the Shove action against the same creature as a bonus action.
Body of the Titan
- As an action, you can let loose a great roar, forcing each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier). A target automatically succeeds on the save if it can't hear or see you. On a failed save, a target becomes frightened of you for 1 minute. If the frightened creature takes any damage, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. You regain use of this trait when you complete a short or long rest.
- You grow retractable claws from the tips of your fingers. As a bonus action, you can extend or retract the claws. The claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the normal bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike.
Random Height and Weight
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6′ 2'' | +2d10 | 200 lb. | × (2d6) lb. |
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*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
Suggested Characteristics
When creating a tarrasqin character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I'm unaware of my frightening appearance. |
| 2 | I'm very impartial and diplomatic. |
| 3 | My curiosity is exceeded only by my recklessness. |
| 4 | I'm very affectionate! |
| 5 | I fight to relieve stress. |
| 6 | I prefer books to people. |
| 7 | I prefer people to books. |
| 8 | I fail to grasp the full scope of danger or consequences. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Discover your limits. |
| 2 | Seek understanding and enlightenment. |
| 3 | Life is precious, and meant to be extended. |
| 4 | Protect the weak. They are not as resilient as you are. |
| 5 | Destruction is inherently immoral. |
| 6 | Destruction is a neutral force, use it wisely. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | If I must release my destructive urges, it's better I do so appropriately. |
| 2 | I want to better my understanding of the world. |
| 3 | I don't want to die, but its preferable to becoming a mindless horror. |
| 4 | I want to continue in the steps of my predecessors, and extend my life further. |
| 5 | I want to encounter the fabled Tarrasque. |
| 6 | I've never fit in well with my people, I need to discover a new place to belong. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Moderation? What's that? |
| 2 | I can be a little cold and callous in my methods. |
| 3 | I break things when I'm angry, which is often. |
| 4 | I can't empathize with people who feel fear or pain, and find their reactions to danger hilarious. |
| 5 | Despite my strength, I'm a complete pushover. |
| 6 | I lack introspection, and understand others far better than I do myself. |
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