Homebrew Canis Species Details

Society

The Canis races are all social by nature, though these canine creatures tend to keep away from other races. Each tribe or "pack" is led by a chief or "Alpha" who remains in charge as long as he remains strong enough or wise enough to be considered fit to lead. In order to keep ambitious young wolves from murdering the Alpha and causing constant leadership changes, they follow a philosophy, set by their Deity and dictated by a cleric or shaman, to only remove their leader if he is considered unfit to lead. Each member of the tribe follows a disciplined and orderly lifestyle. Once every few generations, some tribes will merge to create a larger tribe but these often become unstable and lose lawful containment.

Species

There are many adaptations and variations to the Canis Family. The most common among these are Bush Dog, Jackal, Culpeo, Wolf, and Coyote type species that all vary in size and build. Although, there are other, more isolated variants , that are more consistent to the appearance of Fox and even Hyena-like species and more unique shape and size. Although they take the name and origin of these species, their build remains consistent with that of a small or larger human dependent on your genus. Wolves, Jackals, and Hyena builds are typically above 5 and 6 ft tall with a stronger build but generally slower while Foxes, Coyotes, and Bush dogs are smaller and quicker but are typically below five feet and as short as three.

Canis Traits

Canis are often fearsome loyal worriers with an innate ability to track and hunt down their foe.

Ability Score Improvement

Your Strength score increases by 1, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Canis reach adulthood at age 8 and live up to 80 years.

Alignment

Canis tend toward chaotic alignments, as they let impulse and fancy guide their decisions.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Size

Canis vary widely in height and build, from barely 3 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Canis are naturally adept sprinters and light on their feet making their base walking speed 35 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Canis typically learn the languages of other peoples they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.

Ensnaring Bite

In battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious bite attack. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack to latch onto your target with your bite. The target must make a DC 10 + proficiency modifier CON save, the target takes 1d4 on a failed save and is grappled. The target can repeat saving throws at the start of its next turn.

Natural Hunter

You gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.