Homebrew Beest Species Details

Sequestered in high mountains atop tall trees, the beest, sometimes called bee folk, evoke awe and wonder. Many Beest aren’t even native to the Material Plane. They hail from a world beyond — from the boundless vistas of the Elemental Plane of Air.

They are immigrants, refugees, scouts, and explorers, their outposts functioning as footholds in a world both strange and alien.

Wing and Fur

From below, Beests look much like large bees. Only when they descend to pollinate or walk across the ground does their humanoid appearance reveal itself. Standing upright, Beests might reach 3-4 feet tall, and they have long, narrow legs. Though this is only at full maturity. They fully mature at 10 years old, and live up until 30 years.

Fur cover their chests, parts of their thighs, and back. Beests are very clean, and often fuss about their fur and wings. They come in stripes of black and yellow, or brown and yellow. Most Beests copy the appearance of different species of Bees, though oddly, this affects nothing about them. Also, tongues? Bees collect Nectar through their long, straw like tongues, in which they use to make honey. Your tongue is 5, feet long, and serves as a straw! You can use it to eat, or make honey.

Sky Wardens

Nowhere are the Beests more comfortable than in the sky. They can spend hours in the air, and some go as long as days, locking their wings in place and letting the thermals hold them aloft. In battle, they prove dynamic and acrobatic fliers, moving with remarkable speed and grace, diving to lash opponents with weapons or stingers before turning and flying away.

Once airborne, a Beest leaves the sky with reluctance. On their native plane, they can fly for days or months, landing only to lay their eggs and feed their young before launching themselves back into the air. Those that make it to a world in the Material Plane find it a strange place. They sometimes forget or ignore vertical distances, and they have nothing but pity for those earthbound people forced to live and toil on the ground.

Bee Mannerisms

The resemblance of Beests to bees isn’t limited to physical features. Beests display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary bees. They are fastidious about their fur, frequently tending their fur and wings, cleaning and scratching away any tiny passengers they might have picked up. When they deign to descend from the sky, they often do so near pools where they can pollinate and bathe themselves.

Many Beests punctuate their speech with buzzes or dance, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. A Beest might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; a Beests threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.

The idea of ownership baffles most Beest. After all, who owns flowers? Even when explained to them, they initially find the notion of ownership mystifying. As a result, Beest who have little interaction with other people might be a nuisance as they drop from the sky to pollinate or plunder harvests for fruits and grains. 

Leaving their hives terrifies the beests. To be alone, trapped underground, or imprisoned by the cold, unyielding earth is a torment few Beest can withstand. Even when sat on a high branch or at rest in their mountaintop hives, they appear alert, with eyes moving and bodies ready to take flight.

Homelands

Most Beest live on the Elemental Plane of Air. Beest can be drawn into the Material Plane, sometimes to pursue enemies or thwart their foes’ designs there. Accident might also send a nest of Beest tumbling into a world on that plane. A few find their way to such a world through portals on their own plane and establish hives in high mountains or in the canopies of old forests.

Once hives of Beests settle in an area, they share a hunting territory that extends across an area up to 100 miles on a side, with each hive pollinating in the lands nearest to their colony, ranging farther should game become scarce.

 

Great Purpose

Beest enjoy peace and other Beests. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending time on the ground. For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstance for a Beest to leave his or her hive and undertake the adventurer’s life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure them from their hives; a dire threat to their people, a mission of vengeance, or a catastrophe typically lies at the heart of the Beests adventurer’s chosen path.

Beests don’t often get names, as they are a hive mind and have no need for them. However, sometimes they are granted one by their queen if they are exceptional workers, and will not take a name that is bestowed upon them by anyone but their queen. Names are usually very simple and childlike, however. Examples being,

‘Honey, Bee, Bumble, Stinger, etc

 

BEEST BACKGROUNDS

Backgrounds that are most appropriate for Beests include the outlander, the hermit, Separated from the Hive, and the sage.

The small colonies of Beests are insular and remote, and few Beest live away from their hives.

Beest Traits

What does this even mean 😪

Dark Vision

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.

Everyone is scared of bees.

JESUS CHRIST DONT STING ME- You have have proficiency in the intimidation skill.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and one other stat score increases by 2.

Age

Beest reach maturity by age 12. Compared to humans, Beest don’t usually live less than 120 years.

Alignment

Most Beest are good and rarely choose sides when it comes to law and chaos. Hive queens and warriors might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers might tend toward chaotic.

Size

Beest are about 2-3 feet tall. They have thin, lightweight bodies that weigh between 20 and 40 pounds. Your size is small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Flight

You have a flying speed of 60 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Stinger

Your stinger is a  natural weapon,, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Aarakocra, and Auran.