Homebrew Crocutan Species Details
Crocutan are cunning and crafty hyena-headed humanoid scavengers from hot and grassy savannas. Their team spirit and adaptability have let them find success in other environments, and they will often take up residence on the fringes of other, larger civilizations. Long ago, in ages past, they were of the same race as those who became gnolls. However, they lacked the size to directly compete with their larger and more brutish kin, and they became more scrappy and opportunistic to compensate.
They still came into conflict with gnolls and other races who mistook them for gnolls, but their greatest struggle was for spiritual freedom. Their culture was no longer so bloodthirsty, and they began to turn to other gods to escape the malevolent influence on their kind. Today many crocutan revere gods of strength and the wild, and they take great pride in being able to thrive in adversity.
Size
Either thinking that they are gnolls or knowing them to be related, many expect the crocutan to be hulking mounds of fangs and fur. This is incorrect. They are considerably smaller than gnolls, and smaller even than some other humanoids, standing from about 4'5" - 5'2", and weighing in the range of 100-140 lbs. They are Medium in size.
Appearance
The crocutan are hyena-headed humanoids, and like hyena they have short tails and claws. Their fur is a light grayish-brown, and has spots or stripes of black; they also have a short mane down their neck and shoulders, similar to a wild boar. They tend to have broad shoulders and thick necks, and are compact and muscular. Females tend to be larger and heavier than the males, and have larger incisors and shorter tails.
Age
While crocutan mature quickly like gnoll, becoming adults at around 13-15 years of age. They are not as consumed by violence and bloodlust as gnolls, and as a result tend to live longer, though not as long as some humanoids. Most crocutan are considered to be elderly at around 65 years old.
Alignment
Being wanderers and scavengers, most crocutan tend towards Chaotic and Neutral alignements. These traits of impulsive opportunism and letting nature take its course also carry over to the crocutan that wind up in a developed city, casting them as being Evil within those more defined social structures. Despite that and their aggression, few crocutan truly take to the ways of Evil, as most are content to scavenge and not pillage or dominate others.
Names
Some crocutan names include Shinzi, Kamari, Zizi, Wajanja, Kucha, Haraka, Hodari, Shupavu, Ed, Busara, etc.
Crocutan Traits
Crocutan are crafty and aggressive scavengers.Darkvision
A crocutan's sharp eyes enable them to see in dim lighting. You have Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Pack Tactics
The strength of the crocutan is the pack: all crocutan know how to take advantage of an ally's distractions and presence. You have advantage on a melee attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Cunning Artisan
While perhaps not the most intelligent, crocutan are very clever in their own way, and can make simple tools and equipment out of almost anything. As part of a short rest, you can harvest bone and hide from a slain beast, construct, dragon, monstrosity, or plant creature of size Small or larger to create one of the following items: a shield, a club, a javelin, or 1d4 darts or blowgun needles. To use this trait, you need a blade, such as a dagger, or appropriate artisan's tools, such as leatherworker's tools.
Bite
The crocutan have powerful jaws. Their bite is a natural weapon that deals 1d6+Strength modifier Piercing damage.
Keen Senses
The excellent noses of the crocutan give them advantage on Perception checks to track creatures that rely on smell.
Ability Score Increase
Being smaller than many species that hunt them and that they hunt, crocutan have to rely on persistence and environmental awareness to escape danger and secure food. You have +2 Constitution, and +1 Wisdom or +1 Strength.
Language
You can speak, read, and write Common and Gnoll. The crocutan dialect of Gnoll uses a modified version of the Barazhad alphabet, and is more influenced by Common than Abyssal.
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