Homebrew Crabfolk Species Details

Aquatic Vassals. Long ago, a green hag gathered a small army of ogres to serve as her enforcers along the desolate coast she had claimed. The hag found the ogres’ simple minds and brutal strength useful, but too often, their lack of cunning foiled her plans. Many tumbled into the sea and drowned, too simpleminded and impatient to learn how to swim. Others smashed caravans and crushed their defenders most effectively, but looted cheap, bulky trade goods while leaving valuable smaller treasures behind. Frustrated by her servants, the hag wove a spell to adapt them to the coastal terrain while planting in their minds a few simple commands to help them with their tasks. She gave them the tenacity and toughness of a crab to augment their strength, grasping claws to help them claim the treasures she loved and a deeply embedded magical compulsion to obedience.

Treasure Hungry. The hag had a particular love of silver and was loath to allow even the smallest bit of that metal to slip through her grasp. Her spell gave the crab folk an insatiable love for silver. When they see it, all crab folk feel an irresistible urge to seize it and carry it back to their lairs. If necessary, they resort to violence to claim the metal.

Brutal Raiders. Each year, when the warm summer gives way to the chill of autumn, the crab folk look to the sky for omens. In ancient days, the green hag kept a close watch on the fishing villages and towns near her domain. If those settlements grew too strong, she sent her familiar, a cruel seagull, to harangue the crab folk with its cries and drive them to war. Today, by a stroke of bad luck a gull might happen to land near a crab folk lair and utter the right combination of cries to summon up this ancient compulsion. Driven to action, the crab folk rampage along the coast, looting and smashing any settlements they know of or encounter. After six days exactly, their rampage ends, and they return to their humble lives.

Deep-Seated Memories. When a coastal raid or a theft of silver is done, crab folk gather the treasures they have won and placed them at the feet of a simple effigy of their hag creator, made from driftwood and other scrap and kept in their communal lair. The crab folk has little sense of what drives them, but they understand that the effigy represents a mother and creator who must be obeyed. Legend holds that the green hag preferred to travel in the guise of a regal hobgoblin queen. If the crab folk ever encounter someone who bears a strong resemblance to that form, their magical compulsion might force them to worship that creature, obeying their every command.

 

Crabfolk. Crab Folk's names originate from ogre names because of their ogre background.

Crab Folk doesn’t have surnames or family names and make no distinction in sex.

Male and Female Names: Blossthus, Ekta, Gall, Goro, Gorp, Grrargh, Grugg, Grumus, Gug, Gurunk, Gunza, Hrrlak, Khleg, Korga, Omak, Rach, Thok-Ak, Tk'Hera, Toerag, Torpek, Tragym, Uggluk, Vekoslav

 

Crabfolk Traits

Your crab folk character gains traits that enable it to cope with the perils of a savage world.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength score increase by 5, and your Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence score decrease by 3.

 

 

Mighty Claws

As a Crabfolk your claws are too big and inapt to use small and normal sized tools. This means that you can not write by traditional means, f.e. you can't write with pen and paper, though you are able to write in the sand using your massive claws. It also means that you can't use light or one-handed weapons. But you are strong enough to wield two-handed weapons as if they were one-handed weapons, meaning that you can dual wield two-handed weapons. Additionally, if you are using a two-handed weapon with two of your claws you can decide to add d4s equal to your Strength modifier, though if you do so you have to subtract your Strength modifier from your attack roll because you are attacking with such brutal force.

 

Great Strength

You can always carry 150lbs more than usual and the weight you can push, drag or lift increases by 300lbs. 

 

Age

Young crab folk can immediately walk and swim after birth. They reach adulthood by the age of 20 and live an average of 150 years.

 

Alignment

Crab folk tends to be true neutral because they just sit in their sandy caves and gather as much silver and little trinkets as possible, not having something of a special alignment at all. But there are exceptions.

 

Size

Crab folk adults stand 9 to 11 feet tall and average 900 pounds. Their shells account for roughly two-thirds of their weight. Your size is Large.

 

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet. You can also swim at a normal speed of 40 feet. As a crab folk, you can also decide to walk on the bottom of a body of water also ignoring the pressure of the depths you might be in.

 

Pincers

Your pincers are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier for an unarmed strike.

 

Underwater Breathing

You can breathe underwater. Crab folk are natural swimmers, meaning that they can remain underwater for as long as they want.

 

Natural Armor

Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.

 

Surviving Instict

You gain proficiency in the Survival skill. Crab folk have finely honed survival instincts.

 

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Giant, Aquan, Orc, and Common.

 

Unexpected Magic

You may use the Crab Spawning and Black Tentacle spell.