Homebrew Dragon Turtle Tortle Species Details

Tortles have a saying: “We wear our homes on our backs.” These turtle folk live on many worlds, most often journeying up and down coasts, along waterways, and across the sea. Tortles don’t have a unified story of how they were created, but they all have a sense of being mystically connected to the natural world. 

Draconic Tortles exhibit the same range of coloration and patterns found among turtles and Dragons, and many Draconic tortles enjoy adorning their shells in distinctive ways if they have one. 

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player's Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign. (For this race Draconic and/or Aquan are the most common languages known).

Creature Type

You are a humanoid.

Life Span

As both turtles and creatures of draconic ancestry have long life spans, your life span is 400-600 years on average. 

Height and Weight

Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and weight table in the Player's Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

Dragon Turtle Tortle Traits

As a tortle, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Humanoid.

Size

Your size is medium. 

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 ft and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. 

Claws

You have claws that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray

Natural Armor

Your shell provides you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You can’t wear light, medium, or heavy armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.

Draconic Resistance

You gain resistance to fire damage, as you are a durable aquatic creature like your predecessors it's difficult for fire to damage you. 

Steam Breath

When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of magical energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, the creature takes 1d10 cold or fire damage (Your choice). On a successful save, it takes half as much damage. This damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).

You can use your Breath Weapon a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Draconic Water Adept

At 5th level you gain resistance to cold damage and your swim speed is now double your walking speed. This means you are an extraordinary swimmer, and you can submerge into to the depths of the ocean without having to fear the effects of the cold.