Tauren (5e Race)
From D&D Wiki
 |
|
Tauren[edit]
Physical Description[edit]
|
|---|
| Huln Highmountain, leader of the united tauren tribes. [1] |
Tauren are described as half-bovine beings and are known to have a very large bulk and weight, long tails, bipedal hooves, and only three fingers per hand. Both males and females have horns of varying size and shape. Tauren are a mostly diurnal race.
Tauren are large, muscular humanoids and bovine in appearance, complete with hooves and horns. They weigh anywhere from 400 to 800 pounds. Their immense bodies are covered with fine, short fur that ranges in color from black to gray to white to red to brown to tan and any mottled combinations or variations thereof. When tauren grow old, their pelts start to become dotted with gray.
Fleet Master Seahorn remarks that most non-tauren find them indistinguishable from one another. In fact, most non-tauren find them indistinguishable from a certain four-legged farm creature.
History[edit]
The intrepid dwarf explorer Brann Bronzebeard believes that the tauren may ultimately be descended from an unknown bull Ancient, or some kind of animal spirit predating the Emerald Dream.
The tauren are the descendants of a bovine race known as the yaungol. Several millennia before the First War, the yaungol roamed central Kalimdor and lived in peace with the demigod Cenarius, but were eventually driven south due to not wanting to share hunting grounds with the trolls. There, the yaungol were enslaved by the mogu empire and twisted by the mogu flesh-shapers. Though they eventually regained their freedom along with the other slave races during the pandaren revolution, much of their ancient cultural heritage had been lost. Heated arguments led many yaungol to migrate back north. While one group traveled as far north as the Storm Peaks, where they took up the name taunka, the other group settled in the balmy areas surrounding the Well of Eternity. There, they reunited with Cenarius and rediscovered their ancient traditions. Those who studied with Cenarius learned the druidic magic of the natural world, while others mastered the art of wielding shamanic powers. The energies of the Well soon began to change these yaungol into a new race, who would later take up the name "tauren". The taunka, tauren, and yaungol retained some contact with one another for many years, but the Great Sundering finally shattered the connections between the tribes.
Society[edit]
The tauren are a noble race that embrace the natural world. They have shed their nomadic roots and united in their ancestral lands. Their race may be one of spirituality, reverence for nature, and respect for elders, but it also possesses powerful warriors that willingly fight when the situation demands it. The shu'halo people strive to live honorable and dignified lives filled with respect for nature and the Earth Mother. Although strong and capable warriors when roused in battle, most tauren reserve combat for when all other options are exhausted. They prefer course of wise discussion and careful rumination before embarking on any great endeavor, and they have great respect for the wise, spiritual and elderly among their people. The tauren are not wrathful by nature, but sometimes a thirst for justice causes them to take up arms in anger.
“Into the brave hearts of her pure children, the Earthmother placed the love of the hunt. For the creatures of the first dawn were savage and fierce. They hid from the Earthmother, finding solace in the shadows and the wild places of the land. The Shu'halo hunted these beasts wherever they could be found and tamed them with the Earthmother's blessing.” — The White Stag and the Moon
Though the noble tauren are peaceful in nature, the rites of the Great Hunt are venerated as the heart of their spiritual culture. Every tauren, warrior or otherwise, seeks identity as both a hunter and as a child of the Earthmother. Tauren, young or otherwise, seek to prove their bravery by setting themselves against the creatures of the wild. Hunting is a tauren's greatest honor; at times they hunt for food, at times for honor, and at times to earn the Earthmother's teachings. Hunters are important to the tribes as a strong part of tauren tradition and history and are respected and revered if they serve their people well. Young gazelles quickly learn to flee when they hear the war cries of tauren hunters in Mulgore. They don't hear the good hunters, unfortunately. While mighty warriors defend the tauren's homes, shamans show the ancestors' past and druids discover the Earthmother's will, hunters learn many aspects of those roles and blend them together. They represent the heart of the tauren people and are looked to for guidance and protection. Despite killing the animals, the tauren are taught never to waste anything given to them by nature and to give back what they can. They learn the fine balance that exists in nature and that if they honor the Earthmother, she will bless them in return.
Many tribes claim that it is a gift to be blessed with the aptitude to use magic or to talk to the ancestors, but tauren warriors are taught that they are just as gifted. They are a special breed also, not unlike the druids and shamans, and are just as important. They are the ones called upon to defend the borders, to hunt the centaur, and to go to war. Every warrior plays a role in their tribe, and they must all go through the same rites.
Despite their enormous size and brute strength, the remarkably peaceful tauren cultivate a quiet, tribal society. However, when roused by conflict, tauren are implacable enemies who will use every ounce of their strength to smash their enemies under hoof. They are noble and proud and have never, despite significant adversity in the past, succumbed to their enemies. Like the orcs, the tauren now struggle to retain their sense of tradition and noble identity.
Their buildings are called longhouses and great tents.
Tauren Names[edit]
Here follows a sampling of tauren names:
Male: Motah, Ahul, Varg, Dezco, Turak, Helaku, Hurnahet, Torwa, Huum
Female: Tamaala, Winnoa, Chepi, Hahrana, Kamu, Torra, Jyn, Isashi, Tawn
Tauren Traits[edit]
The Tauren are a race of large, bovine humanoids from the World of Warcraft series.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1.
Age. Tauren reach adulthood at the age of 16 and can live over 100 years.
Alignment. Despite their enormous size and brute strength, the remarkably peaceful tauren cultivate a quiet, tribal society. Tauren tend to pick a good alignment.
Size. Tauren are between the 9 and 10 feet long. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Brawn. Tauren are large, able-bodied warriors and gain a bonus to critical strikes. You do an extra 1d4 damage when you hit a critical strike.
Cultivation. You are proficient in the herbalism kit.
Endurance. You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Nature Resistance. Since you are working with nature a lot, you gained resistance against poisonous berries and venomous animals. You are resistant to poison damage.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Taur-ahe and Orcish. Taur-ahe is a more tribal language with phrases like Nechi owachi (Hello and thank you).
Random Height and Weight[edit]
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9′ 5'' | +1d12 | 780 lb. | × (1d12) lb. |
|
*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Races
