Formicid (5e Race)

Formicid

Design Note: Please see Formicids for a better understanding of this race.

Physical Description

Two Formicids, with and without weapons

Formicids are an odd race, their skin covered by a hard carapace. These insect-like humanoids also have three pairs of limbs; one used as arms, and the other two used for legs. They sport a humanoid upper. torso with to arms. On a formicid's head are two large eyes that, while able to detect the tiniest amounts of movement, are notably nearsighted, and many formicid's have to acquire glasses in order to read effectively. In addition to the big eyes, a formicid also has three small eyes on the tops of their heads that detect light level, a useful adaptation for an underground-dwelling race. Along with eyes, formicids also have two large mandibles like scissor blades and two long antennae. These antennae are primarily used by the formicids to communicate, as well as being a formicid's only sense of smell and taste.

Formicids are slightly smaller than most fully developed Halflings. They are an exceptionally strong contrast to their size. Male Formicid's are a bit smaller than the females but are much more nimble. Female Formicid's are larger and stronger than their male counterparts and possess powerful wings on their back.

History

Formicid lore tells of T'an'ika Fese or "The All-Mother", who is depicted as an extremely large female ant with three abdomens, two pairs of wings and three sets of antennae. She is believed to have spawned the Formicid race. Form her, many Formicid colonies sprung up all around the material plane.

The Formicids were once a communistic and friendly, if not hard-working people, digging out large underground cities with their claws and mandibles. They were known for their strange but very imaginative culture, having many stories and myths about the world, many of which have unfortunately been lost to time. These carefree days, however, were soon over, when King Ak-Zugguz, an ancient orc king, enslaved a colony of Formicid, killing hundreds of workers and imprisoning the queen within his keep. The queen was forced to order her workers to do as the orc king asked, and their eagerness to fulfill her orders saw Ak-Zugguz efficiency as he'd never seen before.

It wasn't long before many others followed suit, before finding out about the linked mind Formicid had with others of the same colony. One powerful geas was all it took to cause the entire colony to fall to their knees before their new masters. And with this discovery, these antlike people were snatched up in numbers like never seen before. In fact, it wasn't long until there were no more colonies left to enslave.

When this happened, the slavers turned on each other, fighting for control of this precious resource, destroying each other. In the midst of these struggles, a few colonies escaped and returned to the wild. But they had been changed by their experience. The once relatively kind and generous people had turned protective and xenophobic, refusing to help outsiders, as their culture sharply veered towards militarism. In an attempt to prevent their queens from ever falling into they wrong hands again, the Formicids became extremely protective. Years as slaves took away their individuality and the Formicids became a singular force. Each Formicid a cog in the ever-growing machine.

Society

Formicid society is composed of three castes; the queen, who is much larger and stockier than other formicids, the workers, who make up most of the colony, and the soldiers, who have larger mandibles and thicker carapaces. The drones and elite live to serve their queen, who provides guidance and new life for her people.

The workers do most of the labor in the colony. They dig out new tunnels according to the plans and supervision of the queen, make all of the armor and weapons that the soldiers use, take care of the queen's brood, tend to the underground plants and insects that they farm for food, take care of injured formicids, and all other work that is asked of them. Interestingly, the increased ability to learn and sharpen new skills that are mostly seen in other races' children is carried by a worker formicid for their entire life, which is how they can become such jacks-of-all-trades within their colonies.

Soldiers only fill two roles in formicid society; protecting the nest and killing other creatures for the colony to eat. While this usually takes the form of animals, hungry formicid colonies are not above attacking villages and bringing the slain back to be eaten. Soldier formicid are taken as larvae by adult soldiers and trained from a young age how to hold and use a weapon, and to be willing to kill and die for the queen.

Formicid Names

The Formicid language is composed of clicks, chatters, and antennae movement, which makes it extremely difficult for other races to pronounce. It is common for Formicid's outside the colony to adopt pseudo-names to better fit in. (Formicid Elites) will u These names are attempted phonetic reproductions of the name's pronunciation in Formicid.

Male (Formicid Drone): Rougher than female names, more usage of clicks. Examples include Tk'keti, Itto'nyk, Vxinkik, and Keat.

Female (Formicid Elite): Makes more usage of chitters and trills. Examples include Tikikiat, Nezanyny, Ketotototo, and Brrriom.

Queen: Very long names with specific meanings in Formicid. Examples include Vykehixazikyuokeliat (Palest Beacon In The Rain), Okiteophyvnetazeik (We See The Only Sun), and Rutxenaqvytenoutec (Steel-Skinned And Jewel-Jawed)

Formicid Traits

An ant-like people with stark social differences between their sexes
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution and Wisdom scores each increase by 1.
Age. The lifespan of a formicid depends on whether they are a drone or an elite. Formicids typically reach adulthood at around 2 years old with drones living for up to 50 years old, while elites live up to 70.
Alignment. Formicid typically favor lawful neutral, as they live to serve a queen, though exceptions are not unheard of.
Size. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You have adapted to live in underground tunnels living in the dark amongst the earth. 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.
Exoskeleton. While unarmored your Armor Class equals 11 + 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.
Extra Limbs. You have an additional pair of limbs that you can use as either hands or legs. You can swap between using these additional limbs as a bonus action. When used as legs, your base walking speed increases to 35 feet. When used as arms, you may hold two additional Small objects or interact with one additional object each round.
Hive Mind. You hail from a colony of formicids, and gain benefits when around others of your race. You can flawlessly track the path another formicid has traveled within the last week, you gain advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one other formicids is within 5 feet of that creature and not incapicitated, and you can communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with formicids within 30 feet of you. However, you have disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed if a formicid within 30 feet of you is charmed.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write in Common and Formicid. The spoken formicid language is composed of clicks, chatters, and antennae movement, while the written formicid language is pheromonal in nature.

Subraces

A formicid subrace depends on its sex.

Formicid Drone (Female)

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1
Workers of the Earth. A Formicid Drone's job to dig out and construct tunnels out of the dirt. You have a burrow speed of 10 feet that you can use to move through soft earth leaving tunnels large enough for a Small-sized creature to move through unimpeded and while underground you have tremorsense up to 10 feet.
Hive Artisans. You are proficient with one set of artisan tools.

Formicid Elite (Male)

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1
Wings. You sport a set of thin bug-like wings giving you a flying speed of 20 feet. If you are wearing armor you are not proficient in or any medium or heavy armor, you may not fly.

Random Height and Weight

Table: Formicid Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	2′ 6″	+2d4	20 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
Female	2′ 8″	+2d4	25 lb.	× (1d4) lb.

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Races