Homebrew Canitaur Species Details

 

Nature’s Cavalry

Canitaurs have the upper bodies, down to the waist, of muscular humans, displaying all the human variety of skin tones and features. Their faces are more angular and harsh than those of humans. Below the waist, they have the bodies of large dogs or wolves, with a similar range of coats and coloration. Canitaurs hair requires the same amount of care that a dogs does.

The upper bodies of canitaurs are comparable to human torsos in size, and their lower canine bodies average about 4 feet tall at the shoulders. Though they are smaller than a human rider mounted on a horse, they fill similar roles as cavalry warriors, messengers, outriders, and scouts.

Affinity for Nature

Centaurs have an affinity for the natural world

Centaurs celebrate life and growth, and the birth of a foal is always cause for festivities. At the same time, they revere the traditions of the past, and they are voices of memory and history, preserving old ways and keeping alive the legends of ancestral heroes. They feel a close kinship with wild animals, perhaps because of their own dog-like bodies, and delight in the feeling of running, and hunting, alongside packs of other beasts.

Packs and Community

Canitaurs always exist within a pack structure. This may be their family in the Feywild, or the adventuring party they have formed a bond with. In either case once bonded a canitaur is fiercely loyal to its pack, and willing fights to death to protects those within it. Though the hierarchy of a wolf pack is largely absent with Canitaurs they will usually find one for speaks for the pack and follow directions given so long as they do not jeopardize the safety of the pack without reason. They are still highly intelligent creatures after all.  

 

Canitaur Traits

Your canitaur character has the following racial traits. These traits are also suitable for the canitaurs of other worlds where there are canitaurs of fey origin.

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Centaurs mature at the same rate as humans; however, their fey ancestry grants them a longer lifespan with elder canitaurs reaching as much as 300 years. 

Alignment

Canitaurs are generally chaotic like their fey ancestors, and many tend to be either neutral or good. 

Size

Canitaurs stand between 6 and 7 feet tall, with their canine bodies reaching about 4 feet at the shoulders. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet.

Fey

Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Charge

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 grapple attempt using your claws. 

Claws

As a bonus action you may make an additional attack only to grapple a creature within 5 feat of you. 

Canine Build

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

In addition, any climb that requires hands and feet is especially difficult for you because of your canine legs. When you make such a climb, each foot of movement costs you 4 extra feet, instead of the normal 1 extra foot.

Survivor

You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, or Survival.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan. Sylvan is widely spoken in the Selesnya Conclave, for it is rich in vocabulary to describe natural phenomena and spiritual forces.