Scorpionem (5e Race)

Scorpionem

“

It was an eldritch creature from the dreamings of some insane god.

”

Physical Description

By Madeleine Spencer

The scorpionem resemble skinny, gaunt-looking humanoids purely in shape. Otherwise, they are described to be ugly and monstrous, with sinewy bodies covered in scabbed skin. Their legs bend backward and their hands and feet end with three-digit talons each. Despite how awkward this sounds, they are actually incredibly nimble creatures. Their heads are elongated to show off their multitude of eyes. Like scorpions, they have two main eyes, but also a number of lateral eyes on the sides of their head, up to five pairs. The backs of their wide skull reveal feeler-like appendages, and their mouths resemble beaks with a pair of mandibles as the jaw. Along their spine is a tough exoskeleton. Around midway down their back, their spine splits into multiple stingers that arch over their heads to stab people in the face. When scorpionem are young, they only have one stinger, growing more with age. Down their lower back are hard spurs harboring a potent venom, the same within their stingers.

History

The scorpionem are believed to be deformed relatives of the tlincalli. While the latter were cursed for their malice and turned into half scorpion creatures, the scorpionem faced a worse fate, deigned as the worst of the sinners bunch. They were initially spared from being turned into tlincalli due to repentance. However, they fell onto evil ways later, reneging on their vows to do good. To flee the eyes of the gods who sought to curse them, they sought refuge among the ruins of a sprawling complex in the heart of an ancient city underground. Little did they know that the ruins were still inhabited. The inhabitants were strange humanoids who worshiped an old and fearsome pantheon of monstrous deities. They rounded up the squatters and offered them as entertainment to their gods. Only now did it dawn on the evildoers that the gods had delivered them to these people as punishment.

The natives took turns torturing, tearing and mangling the bodies of the foreigners. Yet they found that they would not die. Instead, as their being was torn away, the flesh of their wounds resealed in the most grotesque of ways. Broken bones mended in an awkward and twisted fashion. By the end of the ritual, the captives were turned into horrific creatures, no longer recognizable. These are the scorpionem. Maddened from the experience, they ran away into the deepest recesses of the world, where eyes could not be lain upon them. In their broken mental state, they now heard the ethereal piping of a flute from their creator god, one of eldritch nightmares and immense power. Driven by madness, they live no better than the feral beasts of the Underdark, simply scrounging for passerby prey.

Society

The scorpionem live as beasts of little mind do. They dwell in deep crevices of the earth, fearing prying eyes and lashing out at the most minimal of threats. A separate cavern is always present to house their young, which are born alive and left to mature within egg casings. In their burrows, there can be as many as 30 scorpionem, all as mad and violent as the next. In that respect, they are similar to derro, who have insane paranoia and intense sadistic tendencies. There is only the rule of force among them, meaning the largest and strongest gets to eat first and have the pick of mates. Even the strongest scorpionem, however, resorts to dirty tricks and ambush rather than attacking head-on. They have become a bit of a bogeyman in spelunker tales, being the creature who leaps forth from a column and drags their screaming victim off to their nest for feeding.

Scorpionem Adventurers

Depsite this history and obvious madness, scorpionem have been shown to display some degree of sensibility. It is believed that as the scorpionem bred, some of their humanity may have resurfaced in later generations. Or perhaps there are times when the eldritch god's madness glances over a member. These scorpionem have lesser degrees of madness and can function well enough, given that they disguise their alarming appearance. Many scorpionem, enlightened or not, still have a tendency for evil. Some desire to find a way to break their curse, looking for powerful allies in which to aid them. Others embrace their fate as monsters and try to make life a bit harder for everyone else.

Scorpionem Names

The scorpionem use a new tongue granted from the madness of the eldritch god. It often either sounds like nonsense or something of terror and demonic tellings.

Male: Sh'barrath, Korrbrakki, Achewlooblibopp, Pesorialik

Female: Skannath, G'noraa, Urtoongaum, Teedliteribap

Scorpionem Traits

A race of humanoid-scorpion hybrids.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1, and your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. Scorpions reach maturity at about 15, and live anywhere from 60 to 100 years old.
Alignment. Their madness and true nature tends towards evil.
Size. Scorpionem are about 5 to 6 feet tall and very thin. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 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.
Versatile Footing. Living in caverns has adapted your footing over uneven surfaces. You can ignore difficult terrain caused by sand, stone debris, and forest debris.
Paranoia. You have disadvantage in saving throws against madness and being frightened.
Eldritch Biology. Your body has been twisted to be one immune to toxins. You are immune to poison damage and being poisoned.
Stinger. Your stinger is a natural weapon with which you can make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal poison damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength or Dexterity modifier.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Abyssal.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 0''	+1d12	100 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Suggested Characteristics

When creating a scorpionem 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.

Scorpionem are creatures that can sometimes be spooked by their own shadow due to delusions. Other times, they're the ones doing the scaring.

d8	Personality Trait
1	My teeth chitter a lot when I talk, like I'm afraid.
2	My eyes wander a lot and I tune out the conversation.
3	When I talk to you, I also talk to my invisible friend.
4	I like to be left alone in the dark. No need to face scary people.
5	I try to make people as uncomfortable as possible by smiling creepily at them.
6	I eat with my stingers as utensils instead of my hands. I'm so smart.
7	I like to remain covered so I don't feel their eyes on me.
8	Bits of babbling about worlds beyond this one make their way into all my conversations.

d6	Ideal
1	I know who I was, and I want to return to that person. (Neutral)
2	So I did bad things. So what? I'm still alive and I will continue to do so. (Chaotic)
3	Everyone deserves to know the pain I went through and still go through!! (Evil)
4	It was the gods who played this cruel trick on me! I did nothing wrong. (Neutral)
5	I want to find out who I was. (Neutral)
6	People are such nuisances. I prefer them not be alive at all. (Evil)

d6	Bond
1	I am scared of everything, but this one thing or person brings me peace.
2	Sometimes in my head, I hear a monstrous voice that tells me what to do.
3	I get flashes of something like images from another life with these people I seem to remember.
4	I'm too scared to do or say anything to anyone.
5	Who needs more friends? I have a whole farm of them. You just can't see them.
6	Everyone is a possible enemy, traitor...

d6	Flaw
1	I talk to myself and make others doubt my sanity.
2	People see me as too ugly to believe.
3	I tend to overkill on a lot of things.
4	Scaring people is just too much fun to stop.
5	I have no idea or concept of money and its management.
6	I can be scared of my own reflection.

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