Homebrew Water Rabbit Species Details

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth, carry the power of the planes in their blood. The water rabbits are one such folk, the offspring of elementals and mortals.

The Elemental Planes are often inhospitable to natives of the Material Plane: crushing earth, searing flames, boundless skies, and endless seas make visiting these places dangerous for even a short time. The powerful genies, however, don’t face such troubles when venturing into the mortal world. They adapt well to the mingled elements of the Material Plane, and they sometimes visit—whether of their own volition or compelled by magic. Some genies can adopt mortal guise and travel incognito.

During these visits, a mortal rabbit might catch a water spirit’s eye. Friendship forms, romance blooms, and sometimes children result. These children are water rabbits: individuals with ties to two worlds, yet belonging to neither. Some water rabbits are born of mortal–genie unions, others have two water rabbits as parents, and a rare few have a genie further up their family tree, manifesting an elemental heritage that’s lain dormant for generations in otherwise normal Harengons or just basic pet/wild/factory farm rabbits.

Occasionally, water rabbits result from exposure to a surge of elemental power, through phenomena such as an eruption from the Inner Planes or a planar convergence. Elemental energy saturates any creatures in the area and might alter their nature enough that their offspring with other mortals are born as water rabbits. For those hapless souls, their lives may be lonely and lacking in guidance, since they can't rightly talk to their rabbit moms about their weird bodily changes and first crushes and ethical dilemmas, their mom is literally just a rabbit. So they have to look elsewhere in the world to find mentors, growing up, and somehow reconcile the life they had been living or expected to live or not even thought about much at all as reggo rabbits...with the lives they now live as anthropomorphic sapients with opposable thumbs and a sense of existential dread.

Leporin Lands

As rare beings, water rabbits might go their entire lives without encountering another one of their kind. There are no great water rabbit cities or empires. Water rabbits seldom have communities of their own and typically adopt the cultures and societies into which they wander & find some manner of acceptance. The more strange their appearance and awkward their adaptation to humanoid life, the harder time they have. Yet, they just can't stay at the warrens and hutches of their blood families. Some water rabbits lose themselves in cosmopolitan areas, where their distinctiveness hardly raises an eyebrow in places accustomed to a variety of different people. In some respects, this works as they are quite amorous and enjoy tight quarters with kindred spirits, however cities are also at odds with their inherent dislike of sudden movements and loud noises, so many find themselves as critters without a people or a state. This is probably why they are so often found living as survivalists with ragtag militias, or participating in commune life, surfer colonies and subterranean cults.

WATER RABBITS ON ATHAS

Although any world that includes one or more elemental planes can feature water rabbits, on Athas, the world of the Dark Sun campaign setting, elemental forces hold greater sway than they do on other worlds. As a people touched by elemental power, water rabbits are viewed as seers, prophets, and chosen ones. The creation/birth of a water rabbit, whether a slave, a noble, or product of an overcrowded corporate fur farm, is an auspicious event to many. Most Athasians believe a given water rabbit is destined for greatness—or infamy.

 

Culture Clash
Those living on the frontier, though, have a much harder time. People there tend to be less accepting of differences. Sometimes a cold shoulder and a suspicious glare are the best water rabbit can hope for; in more backward places, they face ostracism and even violence from people who mistake them for mutants.

Facing a hard life, these water rabbits seek isolation in the wilds, making their homes in mountains, plains or forests, near lakes, or underground. Those spawned from wild rabbits are often instinctually frightened by variants of Aaracokra and Owlin, though of course this is unjustified. Their struggles with predatory-reminiscent sapients may present another obstacle to integrating into society.

On the flip side, due to their frequent penchant for burrowing and similar size profile, Water Rabbits can often be found around dwarven settlements, as well as haregon realms, where they are more likely to be understood.

Water rabbits come from coastal, swamp & lake areas, the largest concentration of them hailing from the regions surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars, though some also hail from the Feywildes. The distant land of Zakhara is known only in legends to most inhabitants of Faerûn. There, genies and spellcasters enter into bargains, and water rabbits can result from such pacts. Those water rabbits have been sources of great weal and woe in the history of that land.

Water rabbits almost often have some experience aboard or around sea vessels. They make excellent mariners and fishers. Most also, however, do well at tunneling in keeping with their burrowing instincts. Good backgrounds for water rabbits include survivalist, miner and sailor.

 

Water Rabbit Traits

Your genasi character has certain characteristics in common with all other genasi.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Sylvan and Primordial. Primordial is a guttural language, filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.

Aqueous Birthright

Whether spawned because a very indiscriminate water elemental took a fancy to a common leporin critter or because some irreverent science minx spliced genes together in a super-advanced mutation at odds with all known laws of nature, we don’t rightly know, but we do know these wily buggars can sculpt anything you spit at them with water based saliva into a pretty cool art piece.

Hare-Trigger

You can add your proficiency score to your initiative rolls.

Leporine Senses

You gain proficiency in the Perception skill at lv 2, but only at lv 2 cos baby bunnies are born blind, ya lil goober. :-(

Bunny Hop

You know the spell jump & can use it as an action 2 times + DEX bonus per long rest. Hey, it's tiring. You've got more mass to haul around than your quadrupedal kin.

Prey Animal

Baby J didn't make you for brawling, honey.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age

Water rabbits as prey animals mature a little faster than humans and reach adulthood in their early teens. Their natural lifespan (that is, if they aren't killed by disaster, accident or an act of violence) is around 40ish years. Not too shabby given that actual rabbits don't often live past 12 years, best case scenario.

Alignment

Water rabbits tend toward a neutral alignment. They're more or less looking out for themselves, most of the time...no one else is going to in this crazy world. Unless they are born into exceptional circumstances & especially well-cherished. Even then, though, honestly...have you ever met a rabbit who gaf?

Size

Genasi are as varied as their mortal parents but are generally built like humans, standing anywhere from 5 feet to over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Your burrowing & swimming speed is 20. But you can't fly at all, obviously, and I mean...if you're in the air, that's just bad. You don't want to be in the air. Being in the air tells your limbic system that you're about to be eaten. And so climbing just isn't a thing you really do, either, unless you're a real freak exception among your people.