Homebrew Lotol Species Details

From Heliana's Guide

Creatures of swamp, river, and lake, these salamander-kin go with the flow—literally. Where the water wends, lotol make their home. Despite their shorter lives, lotol rarely rush; they have little to prove and trust in the currents of fate to take them where they need to be. Masters of adaptation, it is the lotol’s propensity to find joy in the all things that sets them apart from other races: the croak of a bullfrog, the death of an elder, or the sweet scent of petrichor after a long hot summer; all are accepted with an open, wholesome grace. 

Lizard Legend

In lotol legend, the first lotol ancestor, Ablon the Stoney, had magnificently hard scales, but was a stoic and unfeeling creature. To teach him a lesson, the great Platinum Dragon cursed him to be more sensitive. Ablon’s scales fell from his body, and his kin would forever bear this soft-skinned nature as a reminder to always be aware of how your actions might affect the world around you. In their own tongue, lotol are known as the ‘lizards without scales’. Consequently, lotol always remark when they meet humanoids that do have scales, such as dragonborn, lizard folk, or Golynn. This reaction varies, from awe to envy, or from open infatuation to a fearful expectation of insensitivity or brutishness(stereotypes some lotol individuals hold). A sect of lotol, The Platinum Apology, dedicate their lives to ending this curse and restoring themselves as scale-wearing reptiles. Whether or not this curse is real, let alone possible, is unknown.

Water Waders

The few times lotol ever come into conflict with neighbors, it is almost always to do with water. A growing lotol population creates new wetlands by damming up rivers, sometimes to the chagrin of local trappers and woods folk. Following floods, whole pods of lotol can find themselves washed downstream into an entirely new (and often recently drowned) habitat. Fortunately for those that may be reconstructing their lives following such an inundation, lotol are more than keen to help. Lotol with innate aqueous adaptations can prove a blessing to washed out villages and can more than offset the enmity villagers may feel towards this newly arrived population of semi-nomadic salamander-folk With their supple, permeable skin, lotol are extremely sensitive to pollutants. If a black dragon poisons the water upstream of them or heavy metals from a dwarven mine begin to leech into the groundwater, lotol are often the first to know. The only record of lotol going to war is recorded in the oral chant The Cleansing Tide. With the help of a bronze dragon, Chionthan the Forgetful, lotol of the Chion Valley snuck upon the cruel and pernicious Ulvik the Black and delivered a mighty electric current into his lair, causing him to flee in fear. Lotol believe that their ability to generate electric currents through their skin is a blessing from the great Chionthan.

Adaptive and Atypical 

To call lotol adaptive is an understatement. When required, lotol can change their very physiology, growing gills, improving their eyesight, or even developing long, elastic tongues. Adapting quickly to different environments allows them to explore a gamut of potential habitats, despite their sensitive skin. Some lotol even embark on quests, seeking to put themselves in the most unusual and atypical situations imaginable in order to unlock as yet undiscovered adaptations.

Lotol Traits

Sqweee!

Ability Score Increase

Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Oblivious

You have advantage on Wisdom saving throws.

Slippery Skin

You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to prevent or end the grappled and/or restrained conditions on yourself.

Adaptive Polymorphism

Each lotol’s lineage is unique, and certain traits follow clans or families, or mutate by chance in individuals. Choose one of the following adaptations. When you gain a level, you can choose to replace one of these adaptations with another over the course of your next long rest.

Adaptive Polymorphism

Each lotol’s lineage is unique, and certain traits follow clans or families, or mutate by chance in individuals. Choose one of the following adaptations. When you gain a level, you can choose to replace one of these adaptations with another over the course of your next long rest.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.