Drop Bear (5e Race)

Drop Bear

“	And the Lord Calabera looked upon the land of Calavera, and saw that it was good. And he took flesh from his flesh, and blood from his blood, and he created two drop bears, male and female, in his image. And he granted them strength in their bones, and magic in their tongues, and intelligence in their minds, and they were of him, yea, and they were from him.	”
—Malac'lithh'tiija 2:10-14

Physical Description

Drop bears superficially resemble sloths, a resemblance so striking it has fooled many a careless explorer. However if one attempts to act on this notion, it will quickly be dispelled by the frantic, even manic, movement and personality of a drop bear. Its claws, far from the delicate affairs used to grip a tree, are deadly weapons that rend flesh and grip deadly weapons. Drop bears lengthy arms launch them in pursuit of their targets throughout the jungle of Calavera, and their mouths are full of sharp teeth.

The teeth, at least, are entirely for show. Despite their biology and evolutionary position among the most terrifying carnivores like the legitherian and ractolact, drop bears are entirely herbivorous, and the creatures they hunt with their claws and minds are the predators that used to hunt them. Drop bears are said to have the general moral outlook on life of a Hutu soldier during the Rwandan genocide. Their life as one of the few herbivores in the most cutthroat evolutionary maelstrom of Calavera has granted them a victim complex a mile wide and a violent xenophobic disposition against any carnivore or omnivore. The prey end of the predator-prey mentality defines their biology and ethics.

History

Drop bear history is set forth in a text called the Eviilopof'lithejiic, which extensively documents the creation of the world by the god Calabera, and their own creation (Malac'lithh'tiija), their early history and the beginnings of the constant feud between them and their predators (C'zamal'cass), their obligatory flood myth (Aremanossil'v), their encounters with the other friendly species of Calavera (Eriijavapa), the first conflict between the righteous followers of their god and the wicked who forsook him (Biijajoss't'ren'd), a series of prophecies about the apocalypse (Ess'ciss'xira), the great war between the drop bears and their devil (Shal'bos't'ren'd), a cautionary tale about why they must act the way they do (Feroguuzhon'd), their attempts to reconcile the alien creatures of Calavera (Filac'roviississ and Calaberavana), more prophecies of their immediate future (Cass'tamonuu), a war against the forces of evil, now reborn in a new form (Ss't'rom'bos't'ren'd), their contact with prey that doesn't wish to fight back and their reaction to it (G'ruuniniinog), their overcoming of the forces of evil (Gadosizhizh), and their failure had they been unable to convince the G'ruuniniinnog to fight with them (Catossishish), their flight from a natural disaster and rebuilding of their society (G'thhag'nomethhiija), their attempts to understand species like humans, that are both intelligent and eat meat (Reriired'l'jajiin), and finally their description of heaven and hell (P'ronoluuc'ssija and Balish'cossiira).

Society

Drop bear society is concentrated within the Lordship of Grand Calavera, a polity which occupies the jungles of Calavera. Drop bears have a single lord, elected from out of the many kings of the city-states making up the lordship. The kings, in turn, are generally chosen by a number of different ways, generally based on their combined physical, mental, and magical ability. Alongside this leader, the lord has a council of advisors who are considered to be the sole expert in each ability on its own instead of in aggregate.

The main roles taken on by the nobles in drop bear society are the Archivist, a historian/scripturian who also functions as a powerful bard, the Shaman, a druidic war mage who acts as a master of nature and the storm, the Warchief, a general who commands the warriors of Grand Calavera in raids against carnivores or war against nearby nations, and the Carpenter, an artificer who creates the famously deadly magical weapons and armor of the Drop Bears. The god Calabera occasionally sends prophets to the drop bears, but this is too rare to have a position on the council.

On the ground, drop bears have a myriad of positions, from farmers, to teachers, to beekeepers, to watchmen. Drop bear fathers don't raise their own children, so the position of teacher also functions as a father. Because of this, however, high-ranking drop bears can have children numbering into the thousands, leading to bottlenecks of genetic diversity but excellent genes.

The drop bear language is a frantic language, to match the manic energy of the drop bears. Simple words can last for 10 syllables, all of which are gabbled out in the space of seconds. Drop bears use a orthography system similar to that of greenland or india, where characters symbolize a consonant sound and the following vowel. Drop bears have 20 consonants sounds (C L R B F T D SH M G N X Z ZH S SS V J TH THH) and 6 vowels (A I O II UU '), which allows the transliterated drop bear script to use 20 different letters and the apostrophe, each of which making the same sound as in english with some exception (X making a sound like in spanish or the CH in german, Z making a sound somewhere between ZH and R, S making a Z sound, J making a Y sound, TH making a soft th like in "this", THH making a hard sound like in "thin", A making a sound as in "call", II making a long E sound, and ' making a schwa sound).

Drop Bear Names

Drop bear names seem to use no logic at all, cramming together arrangements of vowels and consonants to create a simple name. Last names are not patronymic or family names, and are created for no reason other than to distinguish drop bears with similar names. Some drop bears of incredible ability take titles, which describe their unique accomplishments or characteristics. Thus after, they are addressed only as "[First Name], the [Title]." Titles are only to be taken by the most accomplished and important drop bears.

Male: Al'p'zhisomof'rix, B'val'mopuuritizip, Capolim'naxiic'ss, Govar'nothhuulic, Laviirodadara, Manofor'r'rar'r'ra, Ss'zhivofalat'n, T'ssimiifarero, Zhelevanom'ra, Zholalacar'baxiix

Female: Cacar'lomip'ra, Ejiiniijoshuuvava, Fiirathhalisenova, Iijac'lopafariima, Jatiijarif'tami, Mazhisop'lariz, Sith'macan'p'rii, Xuuloval'valoma, Zhitoluuxim'nas, Zuucol'marefixap'ss

Last Names: Al'p'zhisomof'rixap'ssisimirajob'i, Ar'zhithap'thhal'tazojaxorub, Cel'shemajaxom'shemajerica, Dabamimas'cat'r'baviloxiss'ma, In'r'zexox'sex'majuuc'n'tuu, Pirataj'par'baxaniijan'can'xot'tuuce, Shim'n'xoliitirav'cuucuu, S'passash'ruuliicijidel'juuno, S'sh'lenoxoniin'direpocixucoc'r'da, Wafaxuul'm'bubix'miidocap

Drop Bear Traits

Murderous, sloth-like prey zealots dedicated to the extinction of all omnivores and carnivores.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age. Drop bears reach maturity at around 10, but they have similar lifespan to humans, with a lifespan of up to 100 years.
Alignment. Drop bears are so fixed in the moral arrangement of predator versus prey, that they rarely deviate from lawful. Although they consider themselves to be victims seeking retribution, for all intents and purposes, they usually have an evil alignment.
Size. Drop bears reach a height of a little over 3 and a half feet. Most of this heigh is concentrated in their torso, which is nearly human size. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
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.
Frothing Strength. You are considered to be one size larger while grappling and for the purposes of determining your carrying capacity. Additionally, wielding a heavy weapon doesn't impose disadvantage on your attack rolls.
Jungle Lore. You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Acrobatics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
Hunter of Hunters. You have proficiency with light hammers, warhammers, scimitars, and longswords.
Sky Drop. When you fall and lands within 5 feet of a hostile creature, you can makes a melee weapon attack against that creature as a reaction. If the attack hits, you take no falling damage and the attack deals extra damage equal to the falling damage that would have been taken.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Drop Bear.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 0''	+2d6	50 lb.	× (2d8) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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