Roo (5e Race)

Roo

There are many places of power in the world. These are places where the boundaries between worlds grow thin, and power sometimes flows freely. Most of these places are sacred, and a great many occur in the wide, flat, hot plains, where heat lightning plays across the land, and any trees or rocks of significant size are special places full of supernatural portent.

Roos hold that they were made by the gods for the sole purpose of defending these special, sacred places, raised from the simple kangaroos that roam the same places where they are called a protectors, and serve this ancestral duty with their whole souls, traveling in semi-nomadic tribes in a constant patrol around the sacred place entrusted to them by their ancestors and the gods, subsisting off the land, and continually honing their skills in battle, ever ready for any foe that might try and take possession of the sacred lands that they guard.

Design Note: Based loosly on a 3.5 Race of the (mostly) same name.

Physical Description

With long, pointed ears, sleek tan, reddish, or grey fur, incredibly powerful legs, and a thick, muscular tail, roos look like humanoid kangaroos, ranging in height from 5’6” to a tall 7’, with sleek, powerful bodies designed for hopping about with incredible speed and distance.

History

Despite the seriousness of their racial tasks, roos are a surprisingly friendly people to visitors, so long as those visitors behave and do not attempt to approach the guarded sacred sites without a very good reason. However, there are many races who simply will not leave well enough alone.

Gnolls are notorious for attempting to contact the demonic forces that they worship, and the sites guarded by roos are often perfect conduits for the hideous rites of the hyenafolk to summon evil beings from beyond.

Hobgoblins seek the lands of roos for the sake of conquest, often not understanding the importance behind the territory they wish to rule, and orcs simply cannot leave well enough alone in their savage raids.

Besides these foes, all manner of evil cultists and dark spellcasters constantly try to drive off or slay the roos and take the sacred places for their own foul purposes. For a roo, unless one is an enemy, which is decided through one’s actions, one is considered a friend. And considering the number of enemies that want the lands of the roos, they need as many friends as they can get.

Society

Each tribe of roos claims a single notable feature of the dry, windswept grassy plains in which they live as their place of guardianship. These are usually rock formations and quiet groves. All of these places have something supernatural about them, either as a spot sacred to a god, a hidden opening to another realm, or a place especially important to druids and the fey.

Whatever the reason for its importance, the roos keep up a steady migratory patrol around this place of power, never straying more than a few miles, and even then always keeping within sight of the place. While generally friendly to other races, and unconcerned about allowing travel through their lands, roos get more aggressive and uneasy the closer a visitor to their lands gets to the sacred place at its heart, and unless that visitor has good reason to be there, then the roos will use whatever force is necessary to keep intruders away, preferring nonlethal force first, but resorting to killing when there is no other choice.

Roo Names

Roo names are very naturalistic, using animals, plants, and features of the land to describe a roo, creating a connection between the newborn roo and the world, which acts as a constant reminder to a roo that he or she is a literal part of the world, and especially the sacred places that they guard.

Male: Dingo Paw, Lightning-Strikes-The-Mountain, and Tallest Tree.

Female: Desert Blossom, Rain-On-Parched-Lands, and Wind-From-The-Plains.

Roo Traits

Nomadic Humanoid Kangaroos.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Dexterity scores each increase by 1
Age. Roo mature at around the same speed as humans but live slightly longer.
Alignment. Unflinching, stalwart, honorable, brave and true, roos are often Lawful Good by nature, and ever eager to prove their mettle in a good fight against the forces of evil. While roo's tend towards lawful good, it is not unheard of to find a chaotic or evil roo.
Size. Roo range from 5' to 7'. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Strong Legs. You can use your Dexterity modifier in place of all Strength (Athletics) checks.
Able Leaper. You are proficient in your choice of the Athletics or Acrobatics skill.
Natural Boxers. Your fists are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal 1d4 + your Strength or Dexterity modifier.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common, and Sylvan.
Subrace. Pick one from Strider and Hopper.

Strider

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Planestrider. Strider's have extremely powerful leg muscles. The distance you can travel by jumping doubles.

Hopper

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Darkvision. Accustomed to life in the warren, Hopper's have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 6''	+2d10	120 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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