Homebrew Brownie Species Details

There are stories told about a people within the Feywild, sneaking throughout the forests, hiding within abandoned cities. These people are secretive, sneaky, and quiet as a mouse. Brownies are a mousefolk that have been only rumored to exist until recently. But now they travel the world with a love of stories, and stories to tell of their own. Deep into the night my mother Azul read and listened, to story after story- lighting candle after precious candle.

She’d never given much thought to Brownies, but these stories fascinated her. In these yellowed pages were tales of bold heroes, strange and fierce animals, and wars fought over the past thousands of years. And only now are these mousefolk revealing themselves and their history. And even still, there's still a lot to learn about these Brownies, as they're called.

-Celestia Astrial, daugter of Azul (Kereska) Astrial

 

Brownies are an older race that originated from the Feywild and moved stealthily into the Material Plane many years ago. They have lived their lives in such secrecy that their entire race was only rumored to exist until recently. They have an intricate history of heroes, legends, and the like that no one other than other Brownies knew about for thousands of years. Now out of secrecy, the Brownies roam the world to tell the stories of a whimsical history in the Feywild and beyond. In their time out of secrecy, the Brownies have not found conflict with any races other than Aarakocra and other bird folk. They get along with just about any race they come across.

A Long Way From Home

Brownies are native to the Feywild, but are now almost only found in the material plane. They have small villages within forests and often divide territory between the different tribes. Brownie tribes are called Fluffs and consist of about 30 members that work together to survive. In the material plane, Brownies mainly eat mushrooms and have a great sense of the woodlands around their Fluffs. They fit in well with other races, with bird folk being the only exception.

Grit 'n Spit

Although Brownies fit in well, they're known for having rather sharp tongues. They are usually judgmental of any indecent behavior and are notably rude to any that obsess over gold or wealth. Otherwise, they are very respectful but never see any others as an "authority" over them as they believe all creatures are equal and have their own roles. This ideology has gotten them into a lot of arguments with dwarves. Brownies are known by most races for their strange saliva, which works as an adhesive and is strangely useful for most situations.

Life Out of Secrecy

Brownies now roam the planes to tell stories, sell goods from their travels, and make new friends. They're great at growing and selling fruits and vegetables in return for mushrooms- their only real food source. From their time eating only mushrooms, Brownies are immune to any negative illness or disease caused by them. They've learned how to cook mushrooms using dwarvish cooking methods and spices. Sharing their knowledge with the world and still learning, Brownies have found their way into the hearts of many across the realms.

Brownie Traits

Brownies more or less have the following traits.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan. Brownies typically learn the languages of other peoples they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.

Ability Score Increase

your Wisdom and Dexterity Scores increase by 2.

Age

Brownies mature at the same rate as humans, but they’re considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.

Alignment

Brownies tend towards no particular alignment, but none are evil.

Size

Brownies vary greatly in size and build. Your size is small or medium.

Slippery Bastard

You have advantage on any check made to escape a grapple or restraint. While taking the dodge action, you are immune to the grappled condition. 

As Quiet As A...

You have a mouse's keen hearing and quiet steps. You have advantage on stealth checks and perception checks that rely on hearing.

Fey

Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet and you have a burrowing speed of 10 feet.

Quickstep

You have the magical ability of a custom teleport specific to Brownies. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours and can teleport directly next to a creature within 15 feet of you as an action.

Prehensile tail

You have a prehensile tail that can do a variety of things.

• It has a reach of 5 feet, and it can lift a number of pounds equal to your Strength score. You can use it to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone that is your size or smaller; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options.

Your tail can't wield shields, any weapon other than a dagger, or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.