Homebrew Braxat Species Details

 

A braxat is a towering, warm-blooded carnivore with a thick, articulated shell covering its back, a squarish head topped with horny protrusions, and thick arms ending in large hands with opposable thumbs. The creature walks upright on two legs and speaks in a voice similar to that of a human. Braxats hunt alone or in pairs, prowling deserts, dry canyons, desolate wastelands, and lonely asteroids in search of prey. Braxats also spew acid, though they tend to do so only as a last resort, since the acid dissolves and ruins the flesh they crave. A braxat projects an invisible psychic barrier around itself that enhances its natural armor, and it can amplify this magical energy to create shields of rippling force that detect incoming attacks and absorb magic missile spells

Personality

Braxats are often a violent and cruel people that enjoy slowly torturing their prey to death before eating it. They fear no one and have no respect for law or authority. Unfortunately, they are also cunning creatures. They delight in prolonging a kill and heightening fear by stalking their prey for long periods of time until their prey fell due to exhaustion. 

Abilities

Braxats have multiple abilities that make them more dangerous than their brutish appearance suggests. They have a breathe weapon in the form of a 30‑foot cone of acid as well as a host of psionic abilities.

Combat

Braxats hunt in pairs or solitarily. They preferred to soften potential prey up with their psionic abilities before entering melee, reserving their breathe weapon for use against any particularly tough or stubborn enemies. They did not wear armor, instead relying on their tough hide, but did use greatclubs as weapons.

Society

Braxats have a tribal society, with each tribe having between 20 and 80 members. Each tribe is led by a single leader, who proved they were worthy of leading annually in a ritual combat against a single challenger who had earned the right of contest over the past year through successful raids.

Young braxats are taught to fight as soon as they can stand, and lethal combat between juveniles over food, lairs, and potential mates are not uncommon and even encouraged, since it means that only the strongest and cleverest survive to reproduce. Eventually, a young braxat will prove themselves worthy to join a warband, which then become like a second family to them. Aggression between bandmates is strictly forbidden, and killing a bandmate is punished with the immediate execution of both the offender and their family. This was because cooperation is deemed vital to a successful hunt. Switching between warbands occurred very, very rarely, typically only when most of a warband had been killed off.

It is not uncommon for a single warband of braxats to wipe out several humanoid settlements during a single year. Survivors of their raids would sometimes band together to hunt them down in vengeance, and experienced adventurers have been known to hunt them for sport, but braxats are more than capable of protecting themselves with traps and ambushes, and most such hunts ended in victory for the braxats. Those that succeed yield braxat-horn trophies, which had no value in and of themselves but could have intricate sculptures carved upon them by artists.

Braxats typically speak the Giant language, although more "civilized" ones made an effort to learn common as well. Braxats were known to train as rangers, less commonly as barbarians or fighters, and very rarely as druids.

Ecology

Braxats are nocturnal and carnivorous creatures that prey almost exclusively on intelligent humanoids. They live in mountains and deserts in any climate. They are known to travel deep into civilized lands in search of plentiful and easy-to-catch prey.

Braxat Traits

Hulking beings of incredible size, strength, and intellect, they make for powerful allies and even more fearsome foes.

Armor Class

Your thick scales and armored plating make you a walking tank, your armor class is 18

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

Young braxat grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, they grow to be larger than most humans within the first ten or so years and reach maturity at about 15. They live to be several hundred years if circumstances permit.

Size

Braxats are huge and imposing standing at 15 feet tall, adolecents are smaller, but often still measure in closer to about 9-10 feet tall. Adolescent braxats are considered Large

Speed

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Acid Breath

You can use your action to exhale deadly acid. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a dexterity saving throw. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Variation:

You can exhale a 15-foot cone of acid. Each creature in the cone must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 26 (4d12) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Condition Immunities

Your innate psychic abilities prevent you from being charmed or frightened.

Damage Immunity

You have immunity to acid and psychic damage.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Giant. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.