Rakaka (5e Race)

Rakaka

“	What is that? That freaky thing??	”
—The first person to see a rakaka

Rakaka are naked mole rats who have completely conquered their homeland, only to discover that on the surface, they aren't all that special.

Physical Description

By Evlyn M

Rakaka are humanoid naked mole rats, standing at between 3 and 4 feet tall. They have similar builds to dwarves, with very stocky bodies, though they have even shorter and stubby limbs. Rakaka are completely hairless, and fairly wrinkly, but are often quite muscular. They have distinctive long teeth that grow on their upper lip and never stop growing for as long as they live.

History

Deep underground, in twisting caverns with barely any light or air, blocked off from the surface by a thick layer of bedrock, lived several races of rodentlike humanoids. The small and nimble mouse people known as skirita, the brutish and cunning rat people known as lakasha, the large and jolly guinea pig people known as the kombata, but the most feared in all these caverns were the ferocious and powerful naked mole-rat people, known as the rakaka. This race outclassed all the others in many respects. They were large and powerfully built. They rarely got sick, and they shrugged off all but the most debilitating of injuries. Their lifespan was much longer than all the others, too. Even denying them air did little to stop them.

The rakaka tribes waged war against all the other races, pillaging and enslaving them. Even under the might of all three other races, together as one, they would not fall. The rakaka were godlike beings, and the others were mortals. The banded union fell to resistance, then fell to despair, only to become the neglected slaves of the rakaka. All alone in their caverns, the rakaka set their site on a new goal: conquering the heavens above them. The rakaka filled the heads of every new generation with tales of their successful war, as they spent generation after generation mining through the nearly impenetrable bedrock above them.

But, when they pierced the heavens, they did not find a realm of gods. They found a realm of humans, and elves, and orcs. They were small, and for the first time in their entire history, not particularly special.

Society

Rakaka are only now beginning to realize that, outside of their deep underground home, they are not unstoppable, godlike warriors. They still have a deep sense of nationalistic pride and a strong belief towards their own divine providence, but having to confront their own weaknesses is creating a great, violent rage amongst their society. They believe in their own strength, and that their strength gives them the mandated right to oppress others, so any defeat they suffer can cause a mass crushing of self-worth.

Rakaka hold a deep reverence for their heroes, any one of their kind who brings pride to their race's name, whether leaders, soldiers, or even the more knowledgeable types who devise new advancements in their society. Similarly, any who bring shame to their race will be shunned, exiled, or even executed. These extreme reactions have only strengthened in zeal over the past few generations, and show no signs of dying down just yet.

Rakaka Names

Rakaka names register as having a lisp. Usually, they are composed of clicks and hisses.

Rakaka Traits

Humanoid naked mole rats
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. Rakaka live to be several times older than the other rodent races they shared caverns with, but ultimately this isn't much older than a human. Rakaka mature at the age of 15 and live to be 120 years old.
Alignment. Rakaka society is violent and bloodthirsty, they strongly tend towards chaotic evil. Some rakaka, whether humbled by the surface or divorced from rakaka society, are less bloodthirsty and can be any other alignment.
Size. A rakaka stands between 3 and 4 feet tall. Your size is Small.
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.
Pain Tolerance. Rakaka feel pain, but never to an extreme, debilitating degree. As a reaction to taking damage, you can gain temporary hit points equal to twice your character level, which last for 1 minute. You can perform this once, and regain its usage whenever you take a long rest.
Breath Holding. A rakaka can survive without oxygen for a long time by metabolizing fructose. You can hold your breath for up to an hour to avoid being affected by inhaled poisons, such as the breath of a green dragon.
Digger's Sense. As an action, you can burrow at a high speed, moving through up to 20 feet of nonmagical sand, earth, dirt, or similar material. While doing so, you leave a tunnel through the material you dig through and gain 10 feet of tremorsense until the end of your turn. You cannot dig into rock, metal, wood, or similar material that is too hard.
Languages. You can speak Common and one other language of your choice.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 0''	+1d12	90 lb.	× (2) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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