Homebrew Awakened Monkey Species Details

Highly Sought After

Due to the odd nature of the Awakened Monkey or Awakened creatures in general they are often seen as very high price commodities. Having a monkey that can talk as well as the average man is a wonder unto itself but one that knows magic goes for an even higher price. Unlike other sentient beings Awakened Monkeys are still seen as just that, monkeys. As such they go for extremely high prices on the black market (DM Discretion on exact pricing), though they only sell high alive, dead and its just regular monkey pelt.

Because of their rarity Poachers look for Awakened Monkeys more as a side business but will often pounce as soon as they find one. This can often cause Awakened Monkeys to hide themselves away or, in some cases, imbed themselves so deep in society that their worth as a sentient creature has to be viewed. 

Two Worlds, No Place 

Awakened Monkey's are creatures that tend to hold little place in society. They are seen as beasts, street animals. Even the monstrous races hold little respect for their kind. The primary reason for this is that many perceive them as monkey's under a spell. Less a race and more a magical monstrocity. This isn't helped by the fact that Awakened monkeys are a race that cannot naturally reproduce. When Awakened Monkey's Mate the offspring is simply a normal monkey with a chance of being awakened at maturity, but a very small one.

For the beasts, speaking like a human, walking like a human and smelling like a human is enough to be considered human. Many Awakened Monkey's leave the forest as soon as they awaken but if they try to return they are attacked by the creatures they once knew as friends. To the beasts, they are human. This has caused many Awakened  Monkey's to seclude themselves and throw themselves into work.

Pure Vigor

With the existential dread aside, Awakened monkeys actually tend to be very passionate creatures. They throw themselves 120% into whatever they are doing whether it be studying, building or preforming. They Tend to get over their heads when it comes to their talents and refine their work as much as they can. For an Awakened monkey, the number 1 way to prove your worth is to make or do something better than anyone else. Produce a spell stronger than anyone else, make an item that's more durable than anything else. This can lead them down a number of paths.

From magic to create the best spells to devotion to become a gods favoured to even simple craftsmanship. Adventuring is also a very common occupation for a Awakened Monkey as being a hero known across the land is more than enough to prove their worth as a sentient being. Most of what a Awakened Monkey does is fueled by their vigor and will, very simply if they don't want to do something, they won't do it.

Awakened Monkey's also have people they become attached to. These people can be of any race they simply need to treat the monkey fairly and nicely. Having an person they are attached to fuels the monkey's drive even further. They now want to succeed so their friend or benefactor can see them succeed. There can be more than one person that they are attached to. 

Burnout

As with any creature that drive along at full throttle, Awakened Monkey's suffer from cases of burn out.  These can last from hours to weeks and are usually defined by a low point in the Awakened Monkey's path or simply a time where they lack motivation. They're performance won't exactly be hindered but they will lack their signature drive. This is the time when they are most often caught by poachers.

There is little to do for the Awakened Monkey while it faces burnout, it simply needs some time. This also means that they tend to do a lot of thinking leading to slight amounts of existential dread. Of course a long while of thinking come with a bonus. Usually once they come out of burnout it is because they thought of an idea or design thatimmediatly resparked their will to work.

Awakened Monkey Traits

Awakened Monkey Traits

Ability Score Increase

As an Awakened Monkey your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

As a monkey you mature extremely fast becoming sexually mature at 1.5 years and fully mature at 2.5 years. As an Awakened Monkey's rarely live past the age of 50.

Alignment

Awakened Monkey's are chaotic by nature, most often being Chaotic Neutral but some with their enlightenment switch to more sophisticated alignments, Primarily those that are Lawful.

Size

Awakened Monkey's usually stand anywhere from 2 to 3.5 feet in height and usually weigh around 65-80 Ibs. Your size is small.

Bite

Your teeth are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Primate Physiology

Due to your Primate body your mobility is greatly increased. As an Awakened monkey you can use your prehensile tail to hang off of wires branches and similar places. As well you can use your feet just like you would use your hands but while using your feet to hold something your movement speed is dropped to 0 and your climbing speed is halved. Also, any attacks made with a weapon being held by the feet are at disadvantage.

 

If you have no items in either of your hands or feet you may choose to run on all fours. Doing this causes the Awakened Monkey to be treated as if they had the Mobile feat.

Inquisitive Minds

Due to their Awakening and their previously curious minds Awakened Monkeys have become extremely skilled in utilizing weapons that normally would be looked over. When using an improvised weapon the Awakened Monkey may either be treated as proficient with it or add their proficiency bonus to the damage dealt.

Languages

As an Awakened Monkey you know Common and One other language based off of the source of your awakening.