Faun, Variant (5e Race)

Faun (variant)

Salix of Rivengard raced along the forest trail, breathing heavily as his cloven hooves tore up little divots in his wake. The scent of fire and blood was becoming stronger and his ears could just make out the din of battle in the distance. For a fortnight, the Bloody Knuckle Clan of orcs had been harassing small villages around the perimeter of the forest, probing Rivengard's defenses. Was this an all-out attack? Consumed by his need for haste, Salix discovered that he'd neglected stealth as the orc scout's arrow narrowly passed by his left ear! Scarcely slowing, Salix drew and loosed his own arrow, piercing the orc's upper chest just above its moldy leather breastplate and pinning it to a tree. The poisoned arrowhead went to work quickly, allowing the orc to struggle only briefly before falling still. The Bloody Knuckles had never ventured this far into the Jade Forest before, and Salix prayed that he wasn't too late.

Physical Description

https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/008/088/571/large/leo-hao-f-01.jpg?1510404112
A faun turned "satyr", clean version by Leo Hao, leohau.ru

Due to their generally private nature - except when partying - some other races have misconceptions as to how fauns actually appear, especially when the few times they might see a faun is in fuzzy memories following a drunken celebration. Some claim that fauns appear mostly human, but with horse or cow tails and perhaps, pointed ears. Others say that their lower bodies are more like a horse's, with horse-like ears, and that they sport the large, curling horns of a ram.

There's some truth in these descriptions. Fauns actually appear as humans from the waist-up, with goatish lower bodies, complete with goat tails. They have pointed, elfin ears and while female horns tend to be smaller and resemble those of goats, males often display large ram-like horns. Males also have a preference for facial hair, ranging from tiny pencil mustaches to large, flowing beards. Their hair tends to be varying shades of earth tones, from coal black to snow white, with every shade of brown in between. Skin tones are also swarthy, with rich, amber hues. Their eyes are large and bright, and can appear in the same colors as a human's. They are slightly smaller than humans, but their unguligrade legs bring them up to about the same height. Although they have no nudity taboos, most tend to dress themselves at least partially in decorative and flattering fashions.

History

When the world was young, fauns explored the mystical gateways connecting the Feywild and the Material Plane, eventually settling in some of the deeper forests of the latter that reminded them of home. There, they befriended the early elves, gnomes and others who found the forests to their liking as well. Some sages speculate that the faun race are descendents of the diety Pan, due to their similar appearance, while others note that Dionysus often cavorts with fauns, and may have had a hand in their emergence. Either way, their fey nature marks them as nature spirits, who perhaps take a little too much pleasure in earthly delights.

Society

Fauns tend to be peaceful forest-dwellers, far removed from the strife and conflict that pervades much of the world. They value their privacy against outsiders, resenting intrusion, but are warm and neighborly to those they trust and have no qualms about crashing someone else's party. Every day, they celebrate life, joy and fellowship in their small villages of several extended families, needing no provocation to break out a bottle of wine or break into song. Differences amongst themselves are usually settled not with fighting (outside of the occasional head-butting match), but with contests so outrageous, they often become spectator events! They are at once both flighty and flirtatious, coyly avoiding unwanted admirers but aggressively pursuing those they desire. Their woodcraft is unparalleled, and they are experts in the forests they occupy. They are very hedonistic creatures, with a great appreciation of things which delight the senses, such as food, wine, romance, music, art and beauty. Their celebrations are legendary, especially their Summer Solstice Spectacular, a festival which attracts partygoers for miles around, but they will merrily travel in search of other parties to attend.

Fauns can be capricious, easily-offended and moody, but can also be loyal, fierce and affectionate. They are generally good-natured and can readily befriend those kind (and generous) to forest-folk. Conversely, they can be deadly enemies to threats, striking invisibly with poisoned arrows (they dislike the indiscriminate use of fire) and lethal traps. But mostly, they enjoy playing practical jokes, dancing, merriment and harassing travelers unless bribed with something exciting (fine spirits and gourmet foods, exotic garments, wrought metalworks, magical items and the like…simple cash won’t cut it) since they easily become bored, and a bored faun is Trouble.

Despite their desire for privacy, they are compelled to be social, and often form mixed communities with wood elves, centaurs (if bordering grasslands), gnomes and other forest races; the more revelers, the merrier, right? Fauns are noted for producing fierce fighters, devout druids and excellent bards. Most have talent, if not expertise, with a musical instrument. Some are even rumored to have such talent as to be able to charm a maiden out of her bodice without so much as a word spoken.

Faun Naming Conventions

Fauns tend to name their young with short, descriptive words often bearing a nature reference, personality trait or pleasant sound. Youth names are not gender-based, and a faun will choose his or her adult name when he or she comes of age (some societies choose the adult's name and they become stuck with it whether they like it or not). Adult names may have obvious origins, or seem completely random. Both adults and kids tack on the placename of their home village when amongst strangers.

Youth: Peanut, Goofus, Amber, Cinder, Brooke, Bubbles, Sonnet, Eilah, Jerro, Ashen.

Adult Male: Soren of Amberglade, Derah Duskville, Faeron of Rivengard

Adult Female: Jensa Oakenkeep, Chana of Greenfield, Destra of Gilton

Faun Traits

A capricious, conflicted, fun-loving and hedonistic sylvan race (fey), precisely the opposite of those stuffy elves.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity, Wisdom and Constitution scores increase by 1 each. Fauns are quite nimble, owing to their lives spent navigating tangled forest undergrowth. They are also very cognizant of their surroundings, and are a bit tougher due to life outdoors.
Age. Fauns reach adulthood somewhere between 10 and 20 years of age, as determined by their village. When a faun is deemed ready to join their society as a fully-contributing adult, the community leaders inform the youth's parents, who immediately plan an enormous party (of course) to welcome the faun into adulthood. The age range of this determination is so broad because fauns mature emotionally at different rates, and their society must ensure that the candidate is mature enough to at least partially control their passions and become productive. Fauns who are passed over until their 20th summer are grudgingly labeled "adults" by default, and it is from this minority that some "satyrs" are produced (see below). They can live up to 500 years.
Alignment. There is no doubt that fauns thrive on chaos. They delight in surprises and spontaneity, and while they show goodwill toward their neighbors and families, they adopt a more neutral stance toward outsiders. Rarely does a faun become so destructive and selfish that it embraces evil, but when it happens, these tortured souls are cast out to become loners in the world.
Size. Adult fauns are solidly built, neither too slender nor too stocky. Females stand as high as six feet tall, with males up to six inches taller than that. Their size is Medium.
Speed. Fauns are quick on the ground, and have a base walking speed of 40 feet (Longstriders).
Darkvision. Fauns can see in dim light within 60 feet of them as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. They can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Keen Senses. Like elves, fauns are sensitive to their environment, and have Proficiency in Perception skill.
Fey Creature. A faun's Fey heritage is more attuned to magic than an elf's, and while fauns are not immune to magical sleep as elves are (they sleep like most creatures and don't enter Elven Trance), they instead have Advantage on saves versus all spells and magical effects, not just charming magics.
Persuasion skill proficiency. Fauns are generally peaceful, but most still want to get their way. They excel at debate.
Nature skill proficiency. Fauns live in the woods so, yeah, they know their homes (and by extension, most natural processes) pretty well.
Ram attack. A faun’s horns are natural weapons, and they know how to use them. A faun may execute a headbutt/ram with proficiency against an enemy in close combat (within 5’) as an extra Unarmed Strike attack, doing appropriate damage.
Languages. Fauns can speak, read, and write both Common and Sylvan languages, but may pick up more if their background hails from a mixed community.

Satyrs

"All satyrs are fauns, but not all fauns are satyrs."

Fauns have never spawned any subraces. There is some confusion between them and satyrs, so let's just clear that up now. "Satyr" is a derogatory term coined by cuckolded men whose wives have been seduced by male fauns. They slander and decry fauns as corrupt, immoral, drunken beasts of lust, but this is a generalization based on just a few individuals. Indeed, the term has even been adopted by the faun community, who generally apply it to some of their more "free-spirited" males but just as often use it to describe any of their more lascivious members (who, in turn, might feel shame from the title, or wear it as a badge of honor)! As a result, calling a faun a "satyr" could result in anything from an immediate fight to a sly proposition, so it's best to avoid the term entirely.

Some scribes and historians have mistakenly called the entire race "satyrs," believing them to be a race of males who seduce females of other races in order to produce more satyrs. Others believe a satyr to be the product of a human and a nymph. Fauns are either disgusted or amused by these theories, depending on which ones you ask about them.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 0''	+3d6	100 lb.	× (1d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

5.00

(2 votes)

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