Pangolian (5e Race)

Pangolian

Physical Description

Pangolians almost always come in two varieties. Short, lithe, tree-dwelling females and tall, brutish ground-bound males. The females often serve as scouts, rangers, or the rare tribal druids, making use of their prehensile tails and climbing claws to stay out of reach while raining down punishment on enemies. The males make powerful barbarians, fighters, or martial artists, using their thick tails and dense build to address threats head on and provide safety for their tree-dwelling kin. Females will often keep watch while their chosen males dig burrows for their young or forage for food, alerting them to possible threats as they approach. While outliers to this duality do exist, they often live their lives as secondary entities, treated with respect as kin but left out of consideration as mates when the time comes to reproduce. Generally, the Pangolians can be found wherever a large number of insects gather, taking a particular liking to swamps with an abundance of trees and dry patches that provide safe spaces for both subraces and their young.

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History

Hunted for the various applications their tough armor plates can be used for (such as their use in a supposed medicine, and of course their applications in armor creation), the Pangolians have become a race that shows deep compassion for their own kin, but rarely trust or interact with outsiders due to their learned xenophobia. Not as cold-blooded as their scaly-armored neighbors the Lizardfolk, the Pangolians neutrality presents as disinterest in the details and trials other races face rather than outright apathy for their lives.

Society

Pangolians mate for life in pairs, and one of each subrace make a mated pair. A pair often stay nearby to on another when foraging or scouting. They live in small tribes of 20-30 members, far from any human settlement. Often accosted by the more "civilized" races because of their valuable armored plates, they've learned to be particularly careful when going out alone or interacting with other humanoids. Often if any scouts report groups of humans in the area, the Pangolians will outright abandon settlements and move to avoid bringing attention to their existence. As they flee the area, the Pangolians generally stay with their partner, and any young are carried close to their father's chest. If all members of a Pangolian's small family unit die, they are respected as kin but no longer treated as a viable mate, much like the rare reversed Pangolians, and often times the shame and grief of the loss cause the lone Pangolian to leave their tribe.

Pangolian Names

Pangolians are often named based on their attributes, and most often this is determined by gender. Rarer than albinism, there are occasional examples of a tree-dwelling male, or a ground-bound female, though they are named no differently.

Male: Rocky, Digger, Boulder, Thick-Tail

Female: Treestrider, Barkskin, Leafy, Branch

Pangolian Traits

Naturally armored, xenophobic, and cautious, this large and sentient evolution of the small animal was a mysterious leap of nature. Though, they still just eat small bugs.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Pangolians mature around 5 years of age and rarely live past 70
Alignment. Most Pangolians are true neutral or have some aspect of neutrality in their alignment. They tend toward good, coming from a culture where compassion for their kin is for both the continued safety of the tribe and to support their lifelong mate.
Size. Pangolians vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet for the tree-dwelling females to well over 7 feet tall for the ground-bound males. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
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.
Natural Armor. Your large, tough armor plates provide incredible amounts of protection and cover your head, back, arms, tail, and lower legs. Your AC is 14 + your Dexterity modifier. However, because of your naturally large and awkward armor plates, you cannot wear traditional armor. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Keen Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Subrace. There are two subraces of Pangolian, determined most often by their gender, Tree-Dweller females and Ground-Bound males.

Tree-Dweller

Ability Score Increase. As a Tree-Dweller, your Dexterity or Wisdom increases by 1
Out of Reach. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, as your tail and claws are uniquely suited to climbing trees and walls to stay away from potential threats.
Able Scout. You have proficiency in Perception and Stealth.
Prehensile Tail. Your whip-like tail can be used for more than just climbing, it may hold a weapon with the light property, and you may attack with it as a bonus action. If you hit with an attack from your tail, you do not add your ability score to the damage. You may also use your tail to lash out at the enemy and back away in one motion. As a reaction when you are hit with a melee attack and not incapacitated, you may make an attack with your tail. On a hit, your tail deals damage as normal if it is holding a weapon, or 1 bludgeoning damage if it is not. Whether or not the attack hits, you may immediately move 10ft away from the source of the damage. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Ground-Bound

Ability Score Increase. As a Ground-Bound, your Strength or Dexterity increases by 1
Dig Deep. You have a burrowing speed equal to your walking speed, as your claws are uniquely suited to digging through the ground to create dens for young Pangolians and forage for food. While underground you are blind to anything happening on the surface.
Able Forager. You have proficiency in Nature and Survival.
Brutish Tail. Your hefty, mace-like tail can be used as a primitive natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Defender's Tackle. After moving at least 15 feet in a straight line, as a bonus action you may slam into one creature. Make a melee attack against the target creature, on a hit the target takes 1d10 bludgeoning damage + Strength modifier, and must make a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. The DC for this saving throw is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier.

Random Height and Weight

Despite the size difference between Tree-Dwellers and Ground-Bound, the Pangolians as a race are densely muscled and weighed down more by their dense armor plates.

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
4′ 5''	+2d4	125 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
6′ 5''	+2d10	240 lb.	× (2d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

5.00

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