Homebrew ฅOtterfolk Species Details

Otterfolk are playful, adrenaline-seeking gamesters and storm chasers. Inveterate water dwellers, otterfolk are gregarious and sociable, with a taste for excitement that can drive them to reckless, daredevil antics that other animalfolk see as thoughtless and unnecessary. At their best, otterfolk are daring, jovial, and adventurous. At their worst, otterfolk are careless, frivolous, and prone to putting others in harm’s way.

Personalities

Otterfolk are playful, clever, and curious—everything’s a game to them. On an extreme, they’re storm-chasers who deliberately hunt down and provoke Calamity Beasts to gather their lightning. Prone to a "live in the moment" approach, they often do not consider the long-term consequences of their actions. Otterfolk don’t really hold grudges. If you’ve made reparations, they’ll put the large wrongs you’ve done against them out of their mind and be your best friend again. Conversely, they will hold small, petty grudges until the end of time.

Otterfolk prefer to spend as much time on the water as possible. They build playful houseboats that they ride up and down the rivers and into the ponds. An otterfolk can easily go it's whole life without ever setting foot on solid ground. Otterfolk don’t hold territory, but consider themselves the veterans and knowledge experts of the rivers. One of their games is quizzing each other on the behavior of the river or challenging each other to races and games that take advantage of currents or terrain.

Otterball

The most popular otterfolk game and their cultural pastime is called otterball, an endless, ongoing game whose exact rules are unknown and whose parameters are constantly shifting. It’s completely baffling to non-otters. The only things anyone else can be sure of are that it’s played largely in water and that the Calamity Beasts are involved in some way—but particulars of scorekeeping, penalties, and illegal moves are a mystery.

Storm Chasers

From a young age, otterfolk engage in storm chasing for sport. This involves following Calamity Beasts as near as possible until the danger feels too great. Great otterfolk storm chasers have plucked the hairs from storm-bearing Beasts, and almost all otters have at least chased flaming wolverine Beasts to capture embers. Otterfolk capture Calamity Beasts’ elemental magic in shells, pearls, and glass bulbs. This process is called Clamming. They have a particular fondness for lightning collected from Calamity Beasts—it seems to have a special significance for otterball. They’re very adept with water, able to twist and bend water to distract, obfuscate, or otherwise befuddle others.

Their Role in Valley

When out on adventures, otterfolk are spellcasting extraordinaries. Danger-seekers by nature, otterfolk are often the first to encounter a Calamity Beast and the last to seek help from others when diverting it.

As the best fishers and divers in Valley, otterfolk often help other species retrieve things that were washed away to the bottom of ponds. Their knowledge of Valley’s rivers also means they’re frequently sought out navigators. Otterfolk often provide transportation to other animalfolk, as river travel is one of the fastest modes of transportation for those who cannot fly. Otterfolk also find a lot of success as acrobats, especially during festivals and celebrations, where their sleek, nimble moves and dazzling water-and-lighting displays astound and delight.

Relationships

Otterfolk get along best with rabbitfolk, who tend to be laid back and welcoming. Ironically, they get along worst with frogfolk, who are easily irritated by what the frogfolk view as grating irreverence and optimism, while otterfolk feel like frogs are just boring.

Weaving

Otterfolk capture magic in bottles and trinkets to preserve for later, storm and lightning magic in particular. Sometimes they’ll study it, other times they'll use it during a game of otterball for a sneaky surprise.

Otterfolk Structures and Settlements

Otterfolk live in groups called Rafts, which are collections of linked houseboats. Otterfolk will periodically detach their houseboat from a raft whenever they feel like living in solitude, but eventually they’ll join back up. Once a season, each raft has a Roping, where members of a raft link up in a large circle to share news, trade, restock supplies, and engage in seasonal competitions. The open water in the middle of the linked houseboats forms a safe central area where their pups can romp and play.

ฅOtterfolk Traits

Your otterfolk character has a the following characteristics.

Weaving

You know the shape water cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the mirror image spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the call lightning spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

 

Swimmer

Otterfolk are more aquatically attuned than most animalfolk. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Amphibious

You can breathe in both air and water.

Playful

Your experience playing otterball or participating in otter games has granted you proficiency in the Athletics skill.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age

Otterfolk mature by age 8. They usually live up to 70 years at most.

Size

Otterfolk have sloping builds and go from 4 feet to well over 5 feet tall, and weigh up to 90 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common.