Armadillo-Kin (5e Race)
From D&D Wiki
Armadillo-Kin
An arrow flew through the air, straight towards the heart of an unsuspecting armadillo-kin. Fortunately for the innocent victim, the arrow was shot from behind him and bounced off his hard natural armor. The armadillo-kin turned and saw a surprised bandit standing in the middle of the road. The armadillo-kin chuckled and said, "Fire me from the front, only cowards launch attacks from behind," and then shot the bandit down with a quick arrow of his own. He smiled and continued to stumble on on his awkward legs. He cursed himself and muttered that he should have bought a horse in the last town. He shakes some dust off his gray shelled back, and flicked his oval-shaped ears back, now alert for possible attackers. While the ears were occupied, he raised his head and used his long snout to sniff out what may lay ahead of him, unable to do this task with his poor eyes. After a moment of sniffs and listening, he continued on walking.
- -Account of a Traveler
Armadillo-kins are a race of humanoid armadillos who typically live solitary lives, and some are nomadic. They prefer to make homes in hot habitats such as deserts. Nomadic armadillo-kins typically just dig a small nest in the ground to sleep for the night, while other armadillo-kin burrows are very hard to spot on the fly, for they typically build their homes underground. The thought of humanoid armadillos appear to never surprise people much, but when one meets an armadillo-kin in person, it is quite a startling encounter. Adventuring armadillo-kins are rare, for they have to spend much of their time stuffing themselves and tending to their burrows. However, those who do discover their calling in exploring the world find that food is no longer much of a problem due to cities and companions, and then they become excellent defenders.
Hardy and Cold-Blooded
Every armadillo-kin are born with a soft skin that gradually hardens on the back as they grow. Most newborns walk on four legs, but soon learn to walk on two legs. They can develop very quickly, able to open their eyes and walk perfectly within days, if not hours. A fully developed banded armadillo-kin stand between four feet and seven feet, and weigh around 250 pounds. The giant armadillo-kin can stand from six feet to ten feet, truly giant, and can weigh up to two-thirds of a tonne. Most armadillo-kins' skin color is usually gray or brown, occasionally a little beyond that spectrum, but bright colors are rare, for they need to be able to blend into nature. Their eyes always appear to be squinting, and only the most perspective can see that armadillo-kins' eyes are black, blending the iris and the pupil. Armadillo-kin are cold-blooded reptiles, and bear no hair or fur, and must maintain their body temperature like normal reptiles. However, this is never too much of a problem. If it gets hot, they seek shade and no closeness to others. If it gets cold, they seek the sun. If it gets really cold, they seek other armadillo-kins to huddle up with inside nests underground. The hard skin on armadillo-kins' backs are like armor, and it is hard to put armor over the back (not that they need to), so most just opt to get armor for their front and legs (breastplates and greaves).
Hungry Diggers
If you see an armadillo-kin out walking around with its nose in the air, chances are, it's looking for food. Armadillo-kin in the wild will spend much of its night and occasionally dawns and evening looking for grubs, insects, and tasty plants. They can eat meat, but in the wild, they have not been able to develop the skills to craft and use hunting weapons effectively, so they resort to prey that can't move or can't move fast. Occasionally, they will eat rotting meat like scavengers, though.
Armadillo-kins are also natural diggers. They can, if they wanted to, literally make their own mansion underground. Most of their burrows have multiple entrances and exits, and some hard workers may have burrows that stretch up to one square mile/one and a half kilometers. While there are not many predators who would attack a human-sized armadillo, there are certainly monsters who are more than capable of crushing an armadillo-kin, so when one is sighted, armadillo-kins can move at almost sixty miles per hour/ninety-five kilometers per hour to hide in their burrows. A monster may be able to also enter their nests, but in their own burrow, an armadillo-kin is more than a match against a monster its own size in the cramped environment.
Orderly Numbers
A female armadillo-kin will mate with only one male, while male armadillo-kins may mate with several females during its lifetime. When a female armadillo-kin is pregnant, they are usually pregnant for about eight or nine months, and then give birth, typically in the spring. Mating usually takes place in the summer. armadillo-kins always give birth to identical quadruplets which are all either male or female. All four are from a single egg which has split. These patterns in the mating life of armadillo-kins have not changed from their armadillo cousins, despite the fact that they are humanoid, smarter, and more self-aware. It's the way of nature.
Armadillo-Kin Names
Every armadillo-kin gives themselves a name when they get old enough to understand how things work (which is usually within a couple weeks). They typically give themselves names that they like the sound of, that they believe suits them well. Many will often end up changing their names several times during their lifetime. Until a newborn armadillo-kin has given itself a name, the mother and siblings typically call them "One," "Two," "Three," and "Four". Armadillo-kins have no specific names for each gender.
Possible Names: Air, Ball, Corn, Dark, Empty, Feather, Goose, Hail, Ignite, Jewel, Kin, Love, Mountain, Night, Ocean, Practical, Quick, Radical, Stupendous, Thunder, Under, Vile, Weird, Xilo, Yonder, Zaggy
Armadillo-Kin Traits
Armadillo-kins share the abilities and traits of their armadillo cousins, of which some are improved on due to their size and mind.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. Armadillo-kin are as mentally developed as a young adult human by the age of 5, and sexually developed at the age of 10. They have no distinction between children and adults. They can live up to 150 years.
Alignment. Armadillo-kin like to spend a lot of their time in freedom, they do not do well under the clutches of control, but they still have an instinctual sense of law with each other. They lean towards neutral good, many are almost never evil. Adventurers and nomads may be chaotic instead, due to the nature of their living conditions.
Size. Armadillo-kins can be anywhere from four feet to a towering ten feet, and weigh from 200 pounds to 1700 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Poor Eyesight. You have disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on sight, and you can only see in shades of gray.
Keen Sense of Smell and Hearing. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell or hearing.
Camouflage. As an action, you may drop prone and tuck in your legs, tail, and head, you are indistinguishable from a large rough rock when in this form.
Carapace. Armadillo-kins have armored hide on their back, tail and the top of their head. While unarmored your Armor Class is equal to 12 + your Dexterity modifier.
Powerful Jump. Armadillo-kins can make a standing high jump up to 15 feet in the air. They will often do this instinctively when surprised or startled.
Digger Claws. Your claws are natural melee weapons that you are proficient with. When you successfully make an attack with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. You also have a burrow speed of 15 feet.
Tremorsense. You can a sense could detect and precisely locate vibrations, including those of other creatures 30 ft. You had to be in contact with the source of the vibrations, that is, via the ground, thus it couldn't be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common, can speak with beasts.
Subrace. Armadillo-kins can be divided into two common subraces, giant armadillo-kins, and banded armadillo-kins.
Giant Armadillo-Kin
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and what you can push, drag, and lift.
Banded Armadillo-Kin
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Quick Burrow. Due to your more effective digging claws and your smaller size (compared to your Giant cousins), you are able to dig faster. Your burrow speed increases to 25 feet.
Random Height and Weight
Giant Armadillo-Kin
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5′ 10'' | +6d10 | 510 lb. | × (4d6) lb. |
|
*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
Banded Armadillo-Kin
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5′ 1'' | +4d4 | 170 lb. | × (2d4) lb. |
|
*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
Suggested Characteristics
When creating an armadillo-kin 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. These traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws are meant for adventuring armadillo-kins, whose characteristics probably differ from those nomadics and non-adventuring armadillo-kins.
| d4 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I wander aimlessly in life... literally. I lack a sense of direction but I still love exploring new places. |
| 2 | I can get very spooked very easily. All it takes is for the person I am talking to to suddenly yell BOO! at me, and I will scamper to the nearest hiding place I can find, instinctively. |
| 3 | The more common races, like humans and elves, I find weird. Whilst monsters and rare races such as tabaxis, I find absolutely fascinating. |
| 4 | I am proud of my natural defense, and feel superior over the dwarves and gnomes in terms of defense. I can get very competitive in anything related to competing with endurance. |
| d4 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Life is the greatest treasure given to any living being. We must treasure other lives, and never kill. (Good) |
| 2 | There cannot be balance without chaos. War and grief is necessary to ensure the happiness of others. (Chaotic) |
| 3 | Laws are what allows us to survive. They are what gives us food, money, water, and help. We must support the law. (Lawful) |
| 4 | Forgiveness is an illusion, as is mercy, rage, fear, sadness, and happiness. We must learn to control our feelings in order to achieve a perfect life. (Neutral) |
| d4 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | The earth is the best home I can ever have, and it is everywhere. Those who harm it must be punished. |
| 2 | I have a sibling/child/parent/friend who I will defend with my life if necessary. |
| 3 | Anyone who puts so much as a scratch in my beautiful carapace will suffer much anguish. |
| 4 | I have a gift (a necklace, bracelet, ring, etc.) that I received from a figure of much value to me (a sibling, child, parent, friend, etc.), and I will make sure to never let any harm come to it or to not lose it. |
| d4 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I can't really have a good relationship with anyone else, it's hard for me to understand them and for them to understand me. |
| 2 | It is easy for people to bully me, I am too weak to stand up for myself. |
| 3 | I am easy aggravated, and will often fly into an uncontrollable rage when someone pesters me too much. |
| 4 | I can never bring myself to kill a living being, for it goes against my ideals. Unfortunately, this isn't good in some situations. |
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Races
