Homebrew Ettin Race Details
Dual Personality. The twin heads of an ettin are two individuals trapped in the same brutish body. Each head has its own mind, personality, and name, and possesses unique preferences and quirks. Bound from birth, both minds only rarely experience privacy or solitude. This familiarity breeds contempt, and an ettin bullies and argues with itself constantly, its two heads each taking constant offence at the other’s slights.
When other creatures refer to an ettin, they combine its double names to form a single compound name that applies to the creature as a whole. If an ettin has one head named Hargle and another named Vargle, other creatures call the ettin Harglevargle.
Solitary Lives. As much as an ettin argues with itself, it is even less tolerant of other ettins, since a conversation between two ettins almost always amounts to a shouting match between a crowd of four belligerent heads. Most ettins are solitary creatures as a result, tolerating one another only to reproduce.
An ettin’s twin heads are always the same gender, with a body to match. Females are the dominant gender among ettins, and they initiate the ettins’ mating rituals. After finding a suitable den, a female ettin hunts and conquers a male, which cares for and feeds her during her six-month pregnancy. Once the child is born, the male ettin is released from servitude. When the child is old enough to hunt for itself, the mother sends it away and abandons the den.
Two Heads are Better than One. When focused on a mutually beneficial purpose or united by a common threat, an ettin can resolve its personality differences and dedicate itself fully to a task. An ettin fights with a weapon in each hand, making twin attacks directed by its respective heads. When an ettin sleeps, one of its heads remains ever alert, gaining its only moments of privacy and keeping two eyes open for any creature that disturbs its precious solitude.
Orcish Ties. In ancient dialects of Common, the word “ettin” translates as “ugly giant.” Legends tell of orcs that once stumbled upon a temple to Demogorgon, the magic of which transformed them into giant mockeries of the twin-headed Prince of Demons. Driven to near madness, these creatures scattered into the wilderness to become the first ettins.
Whatever the truth of the ettins’ origin, orcs treat them as distant cousins, and orc tribes often entice ettins to serve as guards, scouts, and marauders. An ettin isn’t particularly loyal to its orc handlers, but the orcs can win it over with the promise of food and loot.
Ettin Traits
Having two heads is better than one and one body makes for a unique set of racial traits, requiring coordination and teamwork.Ability Score Increase
Your Strength score increases by 2, your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Intelligence is reduced by 1.
Age
Young ettin attain the size and development of an adult by 10. They live to be around 75.
Alignment
Ettins tend towards chaotic evil.
Size
Ettin stand between 10 and 13 feet tall and weigh between 250 and 500 pounds. Your size is Large.
Speed
You base walking speed is 40 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 colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Natural Armour
You have tough skin. When you aren’t wearing armour, your AC is 14 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armour to determine your AC if the armour you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armour.
Two Heads
The ettin has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and on saving throws against being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, and knocked unconscious.
Wakeful
When one of the ettin's heads is asleep, its other head is awake.
Dual personality
Each player can choose a separate class. You both control a separate head and arm, as well as half of the movement. Due to your large size, each hand can use a two-handed weapon or perform other actions that usually require two hands. You cannot use bows or shields as long as you both have a weapon in your hands.
Shared Body
Spells and abilities that target a single unit affect both of the players. Spells and abilities that target an area only count as one hit.
Rolling for Stats
When rolling for stats, each player gets a unique Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma score. When rolling for Strength, Dexterity and Constitution, you take the average of both players(rounded up). Health is calculated by adding each of the players' class dies and the Constitution modifier once, so Player 1 die + Player 2 die + Constitution modifier.
Languages
You can speak, read and write Common and Giant.
Previous Versions
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Comments
I am about to use this in my campaign, I have some questions though:
If one head rages can the other still cast spells?
Isn't the large size too overpowered? You get to have advantage on almost all STR checks and saving throws
If one side has ~advantage~ proficiency on constitution saving throws what happens to the bonus? Is it halved?
Q1. If one head rages can the other still cast spells?
Yes because only one of the player head's judgement is clouded by rage, but the other player head is still capable of casting spells.
Q2. Isn't the large size too overpowered? You get to have advantage on almost all STR checks and saving throws
Large size creatures are subject to the squeezing into a smaller spaces rule in the PHB chapter 9 Combat, under movement and position.
Ettin players share the same body, meaning their STR, DEX and CON abilty scores are the same. unless said otherwise on their character sheets (like proficiencyor class features) it doesn't matter which of the players rolls for STR, DEX and CON skill checks or saving throws.
Q3. If one side has advantage on constitution saving throws what happens to the bonus? Is it halved?
Ettin players share the same body, meaning their STR, DEX and CON abilty scores are the same. If the Ettin players need to save vs poison only one of the players need to roll.
Oh also give feedback tell me what you think is overpowered and what could use improvement.
OK thanks, but I spelled wrong the last question. Basically I am a barbarian therefore I have proficiency on CON saves and my other half is a Cleric so he doesn't. What happens to the proficiency? Same when one class gives proficiency in athletics
Basically I am a barbarian therefore I have proficiency on CON saves and my other half is a Cleric so he doesn't. What happens to the proficiency?
The cleric side would benefit from the barbarian's proficiency with STR and CON saving throws because unless you have advantage or disadvantage you would only roll once for the saving throw and just add the barbarian's proficiency to the roll.
The barbarian side would'nt benefit from the clerics proficiency with WIS and CHA.