In Duterrum, a pair of races have a curiously contradictory outlook regarding size. Tortles love all things that are bigger than normal, as they believe that the bigger a thing is, the more significance or importance it holds. They believe that when something big affects the environment around it, the resulting adaptation is divine proof that nature manifests its own balance, a belief reinforced by the massive mountain at the center of their world that is the source of the life-sustaining magic that keeps Duterrum livable, as well as the horizonback tortoise herd that keeps the World Road passable. Elves, by contrast, believe that the smaller something is, the less of a negative effect it will have on their drastically reduced environment. Their longer lives mean that many of them remember the days before Duterrum's near total destruction, and they mourn for its previously massive forests by making their remaining forests seem larger, by being themselves smaller.
Regardless of how it happened, be it a trespass or success of your parents that invoked the wrath of the elves, or the gratitude of the tortles, or a punishment or blessing you brought upon yourself, you are one size category larger than your race's typical size, and though it may or may not affect your confidence regarding your future endeavors, you are no longer ordinary in the eyes of those ordinary folk around you. This has an advantage though. because you have been like this for some time, you are used to your larger-than-normal stature, and gain benefits that someone who has recently been blessed/cursed would not gain.
- Skill Proficiencies: Two of your choice
- Tool Proficiencies: One artisan tool or gaming set of your choice
- Languages: One of your choice, Elvish or Primordial
- Equipment: A bottle of black ink, an ink pen, five sheets of paper, a gaming or tool set (matching your chosen proficiency), a [Tooltip Not Found] which when looked into, always shows the image of the individual who changed you standing just behind you, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
How you came to be blessed or cursed is up to you to determine, but the Blessing/Curse Origin table suggests a variety of possibilities.
| d6 | Blessing/Curse Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | My father left a basket of fish from the lake near our farm in the swamp every week of my mother's pregnancy. When I was born, a tortle arrived on our doorstep, and blessed me that I would one day have the strength to change the world. |
| 2 | My mother cut down a tree while she was pregnant with me to build me a bascinet. An angry elf appeared, and cursed her, saying that she'd never be able to build a bascinet big enough for her monstrous child. |
| 3 | My mother has been lifelong friends with a tortle, and they had many adventures together. When I was born, she wondered if I'd be strong enough to experience the life she had loved so much. Her friend replied, "It shall be so." |
| 4 | My father was once an adventurer who spurned an elf lover for my mother. That elf cursed their union, saying that any offspring of theirs would certainly be a greedy, needy thing. |
| 5 | I found a pair of dead tortles and a nest of eggs when I was a child. I stayed with them for three days and nights, until an adult from my village found us and helped me return the eggs to a tortle village in the swamp. One of their shaman's blessed me, saying I would always have the strength of body to go with my strength of will. |
| 6 | When I was a child I lived in a small village right on the edge of the woods. Every day I would see elves picking wild fruit in the forest, and every day I saw that fruit grow back. One day i decided i would pick the fruit before they got there. But the elves were watching, and they appeared before me, saying a greedy belly like mine should never feel full. |
You gain either the [Tortle Blessed/Elf Cursed - Large] feat, or the [Tortle Blessed/Elf Cursed - Medium] feat, depending on whether your race's normal size is medium or small. (You may need to ask your DM to add this Feat to your character sheet when you are building your character.)
Your adjustment to your unusually large stature is reflected by a minor boon. You gain the [feat]Strike of the Giants[/feat] feat, and your unarmed strikes can also benefit from it.
Suggested Characteristics
Your character’s perspective on life has changed thanks to their new size. The Tortle Blessed/Elf Cursed Personality Traits table suggests traits you might adopt for your character as a result of this change.
| d6 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I love being big. Sure, I have to squeeze into more places than the average person, but nobody is gonna try me unless they wanna get hurt. |
| 2 | People who say things like "You're too big!" tend to find out that they are actually too small. |
| 3 | People say my tortle blessing is a good thing, but being big means I have unique problems in a world built for regular sized people. |
| 4 | The elf that cursed me actually did me a favor. I'm stronger and tougher than I ever would have been, and nobody wants to mess with me. |
| 5 | The bigger one is, the smaller one's problems seem. |
| 6 | Crowded spaces make me uncomfortable. I’m always worried about hurting the people swarming past my legs. |
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