Homebrew Beetle People Species Details

Plague of Flesh

Beetle People are able to rapidly proliferate, though in waves. This makes their societies unstable. Beetle People themselves cannot breed, but rather they require dead bodies to be used in rituals which generate their eggs. A single human body can spawn as many as twenty three eggs. Beetle People eggs take months to hatch, but Beetle People emerge almost fully matured.

When there are great famines or plagues and Beetle People nearby to spread their eggs, literally thousands of new Beetle People can be born.

A Curse and a Disease

There are two documented ways that Beetle People can spread other than their spawning ritual. A curse known as 'The Curse of Beetles' and a disease known as 'Plauge of Chitin'. 

The Curse of Beetles is a magical curse, spread in a variety of ways, but most often from the corpse of a Beetle Person. This curse turns its victim into a Beetle Person over the course of 600 days. Each day a part of their flesh hardens. At night that flesh comes to life as a pseudo-Beetle Person, a small beetle that builds a cacoon and transforms into a true Beetle Person.

The Plague of Chitin is spread through bodily fluids and skin contact. This disease also works over 600 days and a small part of the victims body turns to beetles each night. However the victim does not become a Beetle Person, instead upon their death several Beetle Person eggs are formed. Between 5 and 23 Beetle People can be born from a single victim.

Great Devourers

Beetle People have a culture of consumption, they use everything to its maximum extent, often leaving nothing. Beetle People will eat entire carcasses bones and all. They will even eat each other when food is scarce, including their hard chitinous exterior. Nothing remains when a group of hungry Beetle People finishing feeding.

Beetle Folk

Beetle People share many traits with their insect counterparts. Their bodies are covered in thick armor, through which they breathe. They are often terrified of water and heights, as they are unable to regulate or hold their breath and can suffocate quite quickly under water or when air is limited.

They also display the same resilience as their namesake, both physically and mentally. Beetle People are known to withstand great blows from axes and maces, and face down the greatest of dangers or hardest of times without complaint.

Brothers and Sisters

Beetle People are almost entirely gender-less and sexless, as they do not mate in any way. Though some have chosen to follow the customs of other races and assign themselves a gender. Beetle People do see each other as siblings, however this mutual respect and love extends only as long as there is food to share between them.

Slightly Simian

The avatar used for this race was drawn by Tumblr user Slightysimian, check out their blog which is currently titled "A dumping ground for shitty drawings" <3

Beetle People Traits

While each Beetle Person embodies a diffetent type of beetle, they all share the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution and Wisdom scores each increase by 1

Age

Beetle People mature within a week or so, and generally live for thirty years, though some records suggest they can live as long as fifty years under the right circumstances.

Size

Beetle People grow  between six and seven feet tall, but most stand at around six foot. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walk speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed of 15 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 not discern color, only shades of gray.

Chitinous Shell

Your Armor Class is equal to 12 + your constitution modifier.

Similar to other insects you breathe through your shell. You cannot hold your breathe and situations that require you to do so immediately put you in the suffocating condition.

Hooked Hands

Your hands have hooks with which you can climb, but which also act as deadly weapons when in a bind.

You are proficient with your unarmed attacks, which inflict 1d4 slashing damage.

Multiple Arms

You have four arms, two on each side.

If your strength is 16, or greater, you may wield a one-handed weapon in each arm. Otherwise you must use two arms to wield each one-handed weapon.

If your dexterity is 16, or greater, you may make a ranged attack on a bonus action.

Insect Speech

You can communicate with small insects and have proficiency to persuasion checks made to have them act against their own interest.