Salamandra (5e Race)

Salamandra

A weary group of adventurers, exhausted and ragged to the bone, finally crests the peak of the great volcano, where the fabled fire monastery resides. The monks there greet them warmly and offer them rest; and dfter two nights and a day, they are shown to the monastery's heart, where the monks attempt to achieve inner peace by becoming one with the lava. At last, their new companion sees their approach and stretches out warmed bones as he rises from the magma, extending a hand in greeting: A sure sign of a strongly-forged friendship to come.

Physical Description

Unlike their older kin, the half-serpent salamanders who call home the Elemental Plane of Fire, the salamandrae are a morphological offshoot that developed bipedal locomotion, in order to better adapt to the material plane where seas of lava are far less in abundance. The salamandrae made quite a few sacrifices to be able to live comfortably in their new home environment, such as lesser overall size and strength, reduced maximum lifespan, and an internal body temperature that no longer causes objects to burn to the touch.

History

Long ago, in the not-quite-ancient past, a great schism in the kingdoms of the salamanders divided the people into two groups: One whom were isolationist and wanted outsiders turned away from the Elemental Plane of Fire, and another whom wanted to welcome outsiders in. This culiminated in a great civil war, which ended in total victory for the former group. The losers of the war were expelled from the plane of fire, and in time these outcasts came to make new homes in the material plane. Over time, they evolved and adapted into the salamandra people we know today.

Society

Salamandrae are omnivorous, considering anything that can melt or burn within their fiery gullets an equally valid meal, but also need to live at higher temperatures than is comfortable for most creatures to sustain their biology. As such, salamandrae prefer making home in hot climes, such as deserts and active volcanoes; in places where natural heat cannot be found, much effort is spent building sophistacted steam-powered heating infrastructure, to ensure the warmth and comfort of a salamandra city's citizens.

While not outwardly isolationist or xenophobic, they are still a very traditionlist folk and have little patience for those who don't respect the rules and customs they set within their own walls, and those who travel the world expect much the same from other peoples. Many a salamandra have also chosen to migrate away from their ancestral towns and temples to live amongst the more common races of the material plane, doing the best they can with what they've got in the hopes of achieving great ambitions.

Salamandrae society within its walls tends to be focused on their local religion, which venerates and idolizes elemental fire. They keep eternal bonfires roaring in town squares as well as small home shrines dedicated to candles, and hold regular festivals in its honour throughout the year. Outside of these holy fires, Salamandra homes feature no light fixtures, as their natural ability to project light from their eyes obviates any need for them.

Salamandra Names

The salamandra vernacular, a casual form of the more proper Ignan dialect, bears many similarities to the real-world Italian language. In accordance with old customs whose origins are long forgotten, traditional salamandra names must always begin and end with vowels, with male names ending in O and female names ending in A.

Male: Adriano, Alberto, Aldo, Alessandro, Alfredo, Antonio, Arnaldo, Edoardo, Elio, Elmo, Enrico, Enzo, Ernesto, Ezio, Ignazio, Isacco, Isadoro, Ivano, Oliviero, Orfeo, Orlando, Osvaldo, Uberto, Urbano, Umberto

Female: Adalina, Adriana, Alessandra, Allegra, Amalia, Anastaia, Aurora, Edda, Elena, Eleonora, Elisabetta, Emilia, Erica, Eugenia, Ilaria, Imelda, Isabella, Isadora, Ivana, Ofelia, Olga, Olimpia, Oliva, Oria

Salamandra Traits

A shorter, stouter, bipedal cousin of the fiery salamander.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. Salamandrae reach maturity roughly fifteeen years after hatching, and can live for up to two hundred and twenty years under ideal conditions.
Alignment. Salamandrae are traditionally a very principled people, and tend toward lawful alignments.
Size. Salamandrae can stretch to nearly ten feet tall at full length, but doing so is very straining: The posture they find most comfortable is instead incredibly scrunched and hunched over, leading to a normal standing height between five and six feet. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Elemental Nature. You are a direct descendant of salamanders: Creatures born from pure fire. Your creature type is elemental instead of humanoid. As such, you are immune to spells like crown of madness or dominate person, because they specifically target humanoids, but susceptible to spells like dispel evil and good. Your home plane is still considered to be the material plane, however.
Salamander Blood. You are resistant to fire damage and vulnerable to cold damage. Furthermore, you are immune to fire damage dealt by lava or magma.
Lightvision. You can use the heat within you to cause filaments in your eyes to glow at will. As long as you aren't blinded, your vision casts bright light within a 60-foot cone in front of you, and dim light in a 120-foot cone in that same range. You can enable or disable this trait as a bonus action.
Stretchy Body. As bonus action, you can stretch out your torso up to twice its normal length for up to one minute. For as long as you concentrate on this ability, the reach of your melee weapons increases by 5 feet, and your overall height is double its normal value. You can use this feature once, regaining the ability to do so whenever you finish a short or long rest.
Innate Spellcasting. You know the produce flame cantrip, and can cast it without verbal components. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this cantrip.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Ignan.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 1''	+2d6	180 lb.	× (2d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Suggested Characteristics

When creating a salamandra character, you can use the following table of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I hate going to sleep without a hot water bottle.
2	I forget to blink sometimes, which tends to creep people out.
3	I light a candle in remembrance of every life I take.
4	I prefer eating food raw. Cooked food just doesn't hit right.
5	I consider it sacrilege to put out any kind of fire.
6	I enjoy a small hobby while on the go, like woodcutting or painting.
7	I keep a small collection of interesting rocks on my person.
8	Fire might not be all that it's cracked up to be, actually?

d6	Ideal
1	Survival. I just want to stay warm and dry. (Any)
2	Ambition. I have a vision and a plan, and I won't let others get in the way. (Evil)
3	Community. What's good for all is better for me. (Good)
4	Innovation. Trying new things is worth the risk. (Chaotic)
5	Tradition. What works is what's best. (Lawful)
6	Mastery. I want to push the limits of what I can do. (Neutral)

d6	Bond
1	I seek to spread the good word of fire.
2	I'm invested in my home town's ability to survive and thrive.
3	My newfound companions are the entire world to me.
4	I found the most beautiful gemstone ever, and I want it kept safe.
5	I will go above and beyond to win the approval of my elders.
6	I carry on a secret romance with a forbidden lover.

d6	Flaw
1	I have a severe and deblitating fear of rain and snow.
2	I am a glut for food, and will always eat too much.
3	I trust people at face value way too easily.
4	I look down upon those who don't share my religion.
5	People say that I'm very close-minded.
6	I'm slow to forgive and quick to anger.

5.00

(one vote)

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Races