Homebrew Giant Squirrel Species Details

A Squirrel village is usually unnoticed, unless a member of a travelling party happens to be staring at the canopy above them as they travel large forests. Usually very quiet to the untrained ear, an especially perceptive person or group might be able to hear the faint thumping of a group of Squirrels on their bridges and paths, or the distinct chatter of Squirrel conversation. You won't usually see Giant Squirrels on their own, but if you do, they're likely to be open and friendly, though if you visit a village, you'll encounter a heavy air of caution.

Mixed Expression

A Squirrel’s energy and enthusiasm for living shines through most of their tiny body. Squirrels average slightly under 3 feet tall and weigh 30 to 35 pounds. They usually have to use exaggerated gestures to show how they're feeling, since their faces struggle to express a lot of emotion, with even their eyes simply being black orbs. 

Tall Trees

Squirrels build their tribes in forests of extremely thick trees. They live high in the air, with bridges and balconies connecting an amount of trees for ease of travel, since going up and down trees all day is dangerous and exhausting. While their structures aren't the most hidden, Squirrels are kept safe by having a consistent round of sentries guarding the village from perches even higher on the trees, equipped with bows to defend the tribesmen from threats from below or above.

Ever so often, a Squirrel might wander from their village, travelling to other villages, or even non-Squirrel towns. When this happens, a Squirrel might keep their original tribe name in memory of where they grew up, or they will change their tribe name to match that of their new home.

Squirrel Names

Squirrels often name themselves, when they come of age to do so. When they do, it's more often than not inspired by something they enjoy, whether that be something shiny they saw at some point, or something else that has caught their fancy, though sometimes they come up with names entirely invented from scratch. They'll usually stick to one or two names before tacking their tribe name to the end, with similar style to the Leonin, "[General Name] of the [Tribe Name]", but it's not unheard of for a Squirrel to have as many as six names without their tribe name. Some nomadic Squirrels might be without a tribe name, or they will ne known as "[General Name] of the Tribeless". Tribe names are usually in the form of an adjective and a noun combined into one word, describing the surrounding area. For example, your character might be Acorn Nest of the Cloudwoods, coming from a mountain forest where the tips of the trees touch the clouds, or Bauble of the Shinyhole, where the tribe lives near a cave entrance rich with gemstones.

General Names: Acorn, Bauble, Bit, Craggil, Gem, Knob, Lora, Melon, Noria, Nest, Roost, Seeds

Tribe Names: Cloudwoods, Darkplace, Hightrees, Shinyhole, Youngsprouts

Seeing the World

Curious and impulsive, Squirrels might take up adventuring as a way to see the world or to help their tribe. As lovers of shiny things and acorns, some Squirrels take to adventuring as a quick, if dangerous, path to wealth. Regardless of what inspires them to start adventuring, Squirrels who adopt this way of life gain as much enjoyment out of it as they do out of any other activity they undertake, sometimes to the great annoyance of their adventuring companions.

ALWAYS APPRECIATIVE

It’s rare for a Squirrel to be malicious unless they have suffered a grievous injury. Even though Squirrels are a cautious folk, they enjoy anyone’s company, so long as they've gained the Squirrels' trust.

 

Giant Squirrel Traits

Small and often easily distracted, Giant Squirrels, through some means or another, have found themselves with sentience.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Ability Score Increase

Your Wisdom increases by 1.

Age

Squirrels reach adulthood at about the age of 15, and are expected to have a home of their own by about 19. They can live 30 to almost 60 years, though some have lived well past 70.

Darkvision

Accustomed to a cautious life in the trees, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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 color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Gnomish. The Gnomish language, which uses the Dwarvish script, is renowned for its technical treatises and its catalogs of knowledge about the natural world.

Size

Giant Squirrels average just under 3 feet and average about 30 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a base climb speed of 25 feet.

Squirrel's Caution

You have advantage on all Dexterity saving throws you are subjected to.