Homebrew Kraken Species Details

A Kraken's anatomy is variable with location, age, and whoever is describing them. The murky water surrounding their lairs, their lethality, and relative detachment from civilization make them incredibly difficult to accurately study. Most often a kraken is described as simply a gargantuan squid-like cephalopod, but a kraken may have traits found in crustaceans, gastropods, and other mollusks. This calls into question the exact origin of the krakens - which are almost piecemeal amalgamations of the most advanced traits of sea animals. Are they creations of celestial beings? Offspring of magical experimentation?

Almost certainly, whatever their origin, the krakens are fearsome and extremely developed for marine life. Massive gill systems that can trap unaware divers, triple-heart cardiovascular systems, and natural armors of chitin all contribute to their prowess. Krakens may have only one massive tentacle that can demolish a fishing-village in a single strike while others may have a mass of hundreds of razor sharp tentacles able to obliterate schools of whales. Krakens universally posses a single maw, usually in the form of a toothed beak roughly the size of a mammoth. Some krakens posses many layers of compounding chitin that are bolstered with metals forged in hydrothermal vents while others may have have translucent skin able to camoflague their massive bodies into mirages of long lost treasure hoards drawing in unwary adventurers.

Krakens live for many centuries, reaching maturity around 200 years and a state of advanced age around 3000. Past this, it is unknown how long krakens may live, although it is rumored the oldest Elder Krakens rival even the aboleths in their age.

 

Krakens reproduce sexually, with males able to reproduce after two centuries and females entering reproductive fertility after their first millennia. Once a female becomes fecund, she releases pheromones across the oceans for thousands of nautical miles to sexually mature males. Males who fall under the influence of the pheromones enter a state of psychosis and they immediately seek the female, with the pheromones being powerful enough to even catch human males in its allure. The resulting sexual frenzy is referred to as the Mandilaan, where the krakens cluster in a single mass, the males tearing through one another to mate with the female at the center of the mass. This process utterly shreds the female kraken, whose destroyed body and fragment shells house the hundreds of eggs that have been fertilized by the destructive process.

After a year of incubation, the eggs hatch and the baby krakens, indistinguishable from mature octopi or squids, fight over the dead bodies of the mother kraken and males who did not survive the Mandilaan. Only a small number of the eggs will be female, and they will hatch much larger than their male counterparts and often feed on them before moving on to the immediate consumption of small whales and unsuspecting Mer.

The Mandilaan is viewed as a calamitous event by some and by others as well-regarded, if dangerous, erotic festival. The mixture of viscera, essentials, ink, and other liquids from a Mandilaan is an extremely high-valued aphrodisiac, although caution must be taken as the product of offspring created under it's influence may have scaly patches, vestigal limbs, or webbed feet. The resulting surface whirlpools above Mandilaans sometimes spew gouts of this mixture, leading to the mariner colloquialism "kraken cum and bile."

 

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Born in frenzy and combat, krakens are solitary beings that only come together for the Mandilaan or against massive threats to their position at the top of the aquatic food-chain. They often resent most lifeforms, especially sentient races of the land. Krakens, although solitary, are not prone to psychosis or madness because of their advanced intelligence and developed resilience. Thus, rarely is a kraken a thrall for a cult of mind flayers or aboleths, but if successfully tamed they would make formidable beasts of burden and siege engines. Krakens inherently understand Deep Speech, and by maturity have been exposed to Infernal, Celestial, and the Common Tongue. Their advanced intelligence allows them to project telepathic fields up to 120 feet around them.

Krakens' personalities vary as much as any other sentient race - from extremely temperamental, to measured restraint, to even goodness in an exceptionally rare few.

The incredible intelligence of a kraken makes them veritable libraries of knowledge of the workings of the seas - one benevolent Kraken, Perdambawa, was interviewed on the eve of his death. He could recall with complete accuracy the exact tidal patterns, weather occurrences, and celestial events going back to thousands of years - and accurately postulated four centuries into the future the natural happenings of the oceans.

Their raw intelligence makes krakens willing to attach themselves to civilization exceptionally capable magi and their psionic powers can be honed if allowed.

Krakens are not necessarily religious, oftentimes too egotistical to subjugate themselves to the wills of a deity - preferring instead to be revered by seaside tribes.

 

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Krakens form deep connections with the beings they do come in contact with it - be them fierce blood feuds or a deified status.

The single most significant enemy of the krakens are the aboleths, who oppose everything about krakens. Considering themselves pure and untainted, the almost mutated and visceral nature of krakens are considered disgusting by aboleths. While a single kraken will easily kill a single or multiple aboleths, swarms of aboleths have been known to ambush krakens who infringe upon their territory.

If a kraken does have a relationship with land-dwelling species, it is usually one of control, with tribute payments often being made to it. However, there are a few cases of krakens willingly entering partnership with other species for great bounty. One notable example is the kraken, Guritasai, the gatekeeper of the Mer city of Venthelm that is secluded in a massive trench.

Elder Krakens have reached especially advanced age and amassed enough magickal prowess to rival entire universities of magical study and minor gods. These are typically deified by less advanced races and small villages of sentient races. Elder Krakens psionic prowress and magical ability thus allows them to give boons to their believers, altering weather patterns and migratory patterns of fish to benefit adherents.

Kraken Traits

Kraken are some of the most feared creatures of the deep. Their legendary reputation strikes fear into the hearts of many sailors.

Creature Type

You are a Monstrosity.

Size

Your size is Small or Medium, but may increase with age.

Speed

Your base speed is 20 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 40 feet.

Darkvision

Due to centuries of life in the deeps, kraken can see well in darkness. You can see in dim light within 120 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.

Aquatic

You are a creature at home in the sea. You can breathe air and water. After 4 hours out of water, you will begin to suffocate, where you then must be submerged for 1 hour to recover.

Bravery of the Deeps

Whether on account of having descended from such an awesome and dread creature or from centuries of life amidst the other horrors of the deep, kraken have an uncanny ability to shake off things that might shock others. When you make a saving throw to resist being frightened, paralyzed, or stunned, you roll with advantage.

Kraken Psionics

You know the minor illusion cantrip. You can cast speak with animals an unlimited number of times with this trait, but only to creatures with a swim speed. Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast suggestion with this trait. Once you cast it, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast it using any spell slots you have of 2nd level or higher.

Without the assistance of your Psionics, you cannot speak languages you know. Instead you can send telepathic messages to any creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature for it to understand these messages, but it must be able to understand at least one language to comprehend them.

Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this race).

Cephalopod Body

You have 8 Tentacles that you can use to manipulate, hold and use for basic interactions. For more complex tasks, you can only focus on two of your arms at a time. All normal weapon restrictions still apply to you. Should one of your tentacles get cut off, you regrow them slowly over the course of a month. Your reach is 5 feet greater than normal.

You can squeeze into any space so long as your beak can fit.