Homebrew Wemic Species Details

 

Personality

Wemics are classically idealistic and honorable, possessing strong codes on how to live their lives, and how to govern what is right and wrong. They walk with a proud bearing that expresses their idealism with every step, and view the world with a calm and collected attitude, until such time they decide to strike. This calm, unconcern can be misconstrued by outsiders as disinterest or boredom, and sometimes leads to a reputation of laziness among the Wemics. When wemics are moved to action, they are decisive and quick. Contemplation and meditation are things that have their time and place, but they are put completely aside when the moment to move in arrives.

All wemics trace their roots through their mothers, who are generally regarded as the elders of the family units or prides. Most prides will wander the plains or jungles within their territories, rarely settling down. They are at one with the land, feeding off of game in the area until they feel it is time to move on to better grounds. Though this existence seems simple, the wemics are by no means primitive. Every pride is networked with all its neighboring units, and through this network, the wemics have a pretty good idea of what passes through their territory. More solitary wemics also keep in touch with their neighbors, but tend towards smaller territories with a central lair rather than the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the prides.

In hunting and in matters of family life, the females will often take the lead, though males have been known to participate in their own hunts from time to time, and they are by no means regarded as an inferior gender. Indeed, Males can easily dominate a pride, and many do, but the larger numbers of females ensure that true despots are rare. Wemics can have varying personalities. Some are sociable, and some are solitary. It varies. The solitary ones often find themselves living apart from the pride, but not out of contact. Sociable ones are often found among other races.

Physical Description

Wemics are similar to other tauric creatures. They have the torso and head of a feline humanoid and the lower body of a big cat. Fur covers the whole body. Tawny, black, spotted, and stripes are quite common and other varieties have been rumored. Wemics may range in size from 5' to 12' long and stand 4' to 6' tall. They can weigh as much as 700 lb.s with a minimum weight around 200 lb.s. Lion and tiger colored wemics tend towards the larger sizes and leopard colored wemics are usually lighter. On their heads, male wemics possess a long mane of hair that matches the color of their lion fur, and can grow to be very long and full. Females also have a mane, but it is much shorter and not as thick.

Wemics also have some leonine facial features, such as whiskers and catlike faces with slitted pupils and eye colors of green or yellow, and sometimes red. Their piercing stares are said to peer into the hearts of those with unpure intentions and corrupt hearts.

Most wemics do not wear any clothing on their lion half, and will only wear modest garments on their humanoid parts, especially females who wear halter tops and sometimes shawls. Wemics wear harnesses of leather to carry their tools and weapons. They are also fond of beads, feathers, and bone fetishes.

Relations

Wemics are natural hunters of the plains and jungles. They are usually territorial prides with a handful of males and a larger number of females, though solitary individuals and mated pairs are not uncommon.

As apex predators, wemics hunt only to feed themselves. They trade ivory and hide freely with other humanoids for weapons and tools, but make nothing themselves. This leads to friendly relations with neighboring tribes of humans and loxodons. Gnolls and thri-kreen however, are seen as competitors and forced out of wemic lands.

Alignment

Wemics tend towards lawful good, because they believe strongly in the spirit of the law as a means to bettering society and creating a better place to live. They focus more on the unit than the individual, and have a habit of taking up causes for things that also stress this point. This is by no means locked in stone, and individuals and even some prides leaning towards evil and chaos.

Wemic Lands

Wemics exist mainly in the south east. They roam their territories in the plains and jungles east of the great desert. All lines draw their ancestry from the same roots, and have similar cultures, with minor differences.

Wemics prides claim land as a pride of lions would, but they have no countries or nations. They will protect their chosen hunting grounds from anyone they see as a threat. They are very intelligent, and always aware that some other race may lay claim to their grounds as part of a nation of humans, elves, or others. This does not trouble them, and often they can find themselves in agreement with the nation in which they inhabit, so long as their lands are properly cared for. Often, female wemics will want to make their own way in the world apart from their patrilineal society, and they will offer their services to the nation where they live or travel to nearby regions.

Language

Wemics speak a language called Lerrrone, which has a characteristic drawn-out rolling of its "r" sounds. This pattern of speak is carried over when wemics try to speak other languages, such as common. It sounds almost as if they get stuck on their r's and make them into something that sounds like a growl. When a wemics r's get shorter, it is a sign of excitement, but longer exaggerated r's are a sure sign of warning, and impending anger.

Names

Wemics identify themselves by their nomadic groups or populations called prides. Each pride has a name that originates from the female who bore the first litter that established it, and wemics that are part of that pride use it to identify themselves and their origins. When a pride gets too large and splits up, a new name will be chosen for the group that breaks off, and the living members of that group will adopt the new last name. First names are derived from their mother's and father's names. For males, a piece of the father's name is taken first, and a piece of the mother's is taken second. For females, it is the other way around. Wemics that live around other races will sometimes use shortened forms of their names, or go by new names that are easier for the other races to pronounce.

Names

Borrr'Gorrrak, Brrrend'Kurrro, Garrril'Varrrom, Gorrr'Kurrr, Ku'Kerrran, Marrr'Merrrin, Shakarrro'Garrr, Ulurrro'Werrrim, Urrriko'Karrrak, Warrrick'Kasharrr

Wemic Traits

Your wemic character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2

Age

Wemics mature quickly. They are adults by age 5 and elderly at 30. Wemics rarely live past 40 summers.

Alignment

Wemics tend towards Law and Good, but they run the gamut of alignments. 

Size

Wemics stand between 4 and 6 feet tall, but have huge feline lower bodies. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. When using the Dash action wemics are effectively 10' faster. They Dash 80' rather than 60'.

Monstrous Humanoid

Your creature type is both monstrous and humanoid. Any ability that can affect either creature type will affect you.

Pounce

If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack on the same turn, you can immediately follow that attack with a bonus action, making two attacks against the target with your claws.

Claws

Your claws are natural melee weapons, which you can use to make an unarmed strike. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Naturally Athletic

Being always on the move has trained you to be physical.  You are proficient with athletics checks.  Additionally any check made for jumping is made with double proficiency bonus.

Ambush Predator

You have proficiency in Stealth. If you gain proficiency in Stealth due to a class feature, you may choose another skill instead.

Languages

You can speak Common and Lerrrone and read, and write Common.