Homebrew Forstfaun Species Details

 

Native to the frozen valleys surrounding Heatspire, the Forstfaun are bipedal with various physical adaptations to their environment. They are covered in a thick coat of white fur to defend against the deadly cold. Their rear paws are thick like snow shoes to walk on deep layers of snow. They walk on their hind legs while on the surface. Their natural environment however is beneath the snow, specifically in the sea of snow where creatures such as Snow Whales dwell. Forstfaun use their front claws to dig through the snow, equipped with long hook like nails. Their forelimbs are extremely long. While standing up, their arms reach their knees. On the top of their head, they have a long tusk. This tusk is used for sensory purposes to better sense temperatures and things around them such as living creatures. Most uniquely however, the tusk also acts as an arcane focus, able to be used to cast spells. Their head is similar to a penguin's, with a long beak and rounded skull.

 

Creating Your Character

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.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race in this chapter tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. Forstfaun, however, have a life span of about a century.

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.

Forstfaun Traits

As a Forstfaun, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Humanoid.

Size

You are Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 ft, and you have a burrowing speed of 5 ft when burrowing through snow.

Claws

You can use your claws to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d8 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Sensory Tusk

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Unusual Hands

Due to the long claws that Forstfaun have, regular weapons are difficult to wield. Forstfaun must have weapons custom made for a higher price, except for in regions that have a high Forstfaun population.

Magical Tusk

Forstfaun can use their tusk on their head as an arcane focus. Forstfaun must have a hand free to cast a spell with their tusk, as they make movements with their claws to cast the spell.