Homebrew Goron Species Details

Known as "rock people", gorons are strong boulder-like creatures with stumpy legs, powerful arms, and massive hands. They become spherical when curled up, and use rolling as a means for both transport and combat. Gorons are known as zealous warriors, miners, and workers of stone and metal. Their height varies from 5 to almost 8 feet tall, with hides hard and dense like rock, and their weight can be up to seven times that of the average hylian.

Goron hides range from deep brown to a paler hue tinged with red, but the most common shades are light brown or deep tan, like certain tones of earth. Most have a row of stony outgrowths on their backsides, and older gorons sport white ridges on their bodies resembling hair. They have small eyes and wide mouths, concealing unaligned, square teeth.

Sons of Stone

Solid and enduring, gorons have the capability to thrive in any environment, especially volcanoes and other areas of extreme heat. They can trace their ancestry back to the founding of ancient strongholds in the youth of the world. Part of that ancestry is to uphold the goron ideals of industrious labor, strength in battle, and devotion to the forge.

Being exclusively male, it is said when a goron desires parenthood, he ventures deep within the bosom of the earth in search of a birthstone. These mysterious rocks are smooth and perfectly spherical, with a slight red tinge. Once found, the would-be father enters a period of fasting and contemplation, holding the stone close and imbuing it with a part of his spirit. This ritual can last days, until a loud crack and breaking of the stone reveals a perfectly healthy baby goron inside.

Goron Society

The chief unit of goron society is the clan, often led by an elder. Those who become chiefs are powerful and wise, uniting their people through respect and trust, rather than by force. Gorons tend to live in relative isolation but will regularly trade with hylians and other friendly races. They are close and respectful to others of their own kind, and often refer to each other as "brothers". Though they are a friendly race, gorons can also be slow to trust outsiders, and may come off as cautious or even aggressive depending on the situation. However, if an outsider is able to prove their worth, usually in a test of strength or skill, the gorons will accept them and come to call them one of their brothers (or sisters).

Though their passion for masonry and metallurgy is strong, their large hands and somewhat clumsy approach to their work results in crude, though effective, craftsmanship. To gorons, durability matters more than aesthetics. The diet of gorons consists almost strictly of specific kinds of rock mined from nearby quarries, extracted with an equal amount of downtime as other races hunt and forage for food in the wild.

Gorons take pride in their immense strength, and clans like to hold competitions that test each other's physical might and rolling ability, such as wrestling matches, rock breaking, or a downhill race. After a hard day's work in the mines, they also love entertainment through singing, drums, and dancing, capitalizing on their size and booming voices while disregarding any grace or finesse.

Gorons in other lands are typically artisans—especially weaponsmiths, engineers, stonemasons, and jewelers. Some become mercenaries or bodyguards, highly sought after for their strength and loyalty.

Adventuring Gorons

Gorons who take up the adventuring life might be motivated by a desire for treasure—for its own sake, for a specific purpose, or even out of an altruistic desire to help others. Other gorons are driven by a higher calling or simply a desire to bring glory to their clan. Ancestry is also an important motivator. A goron might seek to restore a clan's lost honor, avenge an ancient wrong the clan suffered, or earn a new place within the clan after having been exiled. Or a goron might search for the hammer wielded by a mighty ancestor, lost in the fight against a terrible dragon centuries ago.

Goron Names

Every goron has a birth name, a patronymic, and a clan name. For example: "Aji, son of Axyl, of the Broca clan".

Names: Aji, Axyl, Bargoh, Bayge, Bladon, Bludo, Bohrin, Boldon, Dorill, Drak, Dugby, Fugo, Gonguron, Gorko, Gortram, Grapp, Greyson, Heehl, Jengo, Kabetta, Kairo, Krane, Lyndae, Naddon, Offrak, Pelison, Pyle, Rogaro, Rohan, Slergo, Strade, Tanko, Tray, Volcon

Clan Names: Broca, Darb, Eldin, Gero, Golow, Goro, Goronbi, Medingo, Ordorac, Rabac, Ternio, Trilbi, Ulri

Goron Traits

As a Goron, you have the following traits:

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Gorons reach adulthood at the age of 16. Maintaining vigor throughout their lifespan, they live about a century.

Alignment

Gorons inherit a rambunctious nature leaning strongly toward chaos. They are almost exclusively good as well, as they are good-hearted and kind, hate to see others in pain, and have no tolerance for oppression.

Size

Gorons vary widely in height, from 5 to almost 8 feet tall, and are nearly as wide. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Unarmored Defense

While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 12 + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Curl

When you are wearing no armor and have both hands free, you can spend 5 feet of movement to curl into a ball, or back into your normal stance. While curled up you can use your movement speed to roll. This speed is halved when rolling uphill or doubled when rolling downhill. Any sudden elevation of 3 feet or more, such as a low wall, prevents you from rolling over it, as you cannot jump while curled.

While curled, you gain a +2 bonus to AC, you have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight, you can't take reactions, and the only actions you can take are the Attack, Dash, and Hide actions. If you hit a target with an unarmed strike while curled, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Rolling Charge

If you move at least 20 feet straight toward a target while curled and immediately hit it with an unarmed strike, you can use a bonus action to attempt to shove that target. The target must be no more than one size larger than you. Unless it succeeds on a Strength saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 feet away from you.

Powerful Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

False Appearance

Unless any equipment betrays you, you appear indistinguishable from a normal boulder while you are curled into a ball, remain silent, and remain motionless.

Heart of the Volcano

You have resistance to fire damage.

Sink Before Swin

You can't swim, as your body is denser than water. When you enter a body of liquid you immediately sink to the bottom at a rate of 60 feet per round and must hold your breath.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Goron (Terran). Goron is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a goron might speak.