Homebrew Grubling Species Details

The soldiers couldn't believe it. For weeks now, these villagers sent reports of tiny monsters from the forest. They would strike at night, popping out of molehills and probing the walls for weaknesses. But when the regiment finally arrived, the townsfolk politely asked them to depart. "All gone now," they claim. "No use wasting the king's time over hysteria," another says. The soldiers can find no trace of the beasts. Just a lot of ugly gnomes in heavy rags, and a town that had quite suddenly become organized in a grid pattern...

The goblin was exiled from her troop. Night sets in quick in these old woods, she knows that much. How can she survive out here? The goblin shivers and begins to stifle tears. Alone. Starving. Lost. "Pretty," a voice squeaks out. She pulls out her dagger in fright and hisses, only to be met by the gaze of a fat, round being about her height. It smiles gently and pulls out a dead rat, tied to a stick by its tail. The pale being speaks. In Goblin, no less, "Ever play wit' a rat-stick? Fun games! It can be snacks, too, if'n ya want."

A dwarven miner finds a wretched creature clawing at a support beam. With a well placed blow of his pickaxe he splits the monster in two. He does not notice the tiny doll in its hand, or the dozens of little eyes behind his back. The dwarf only hears the pitter-patter of many little feet, the switch of a lever behind the wall, and the thud of a tied-up cannonball cracking open his ribs. Had this poor dwarf but clung to life for a few more moments, he would have heard hissing voices spit the word "meanie!" at him for quite a while.

Appearance

Grublings are a rare race. Those few that have seen their faces are not often happy with the experience. Grublings' features straddle the line between ugly-cute and perturbing. A bulbous head sits on a squat, hunchbacked body covered in fat rolls. Although their flesh is white or pale yellow, some bear dark flecks on their skin. Grubling eyes are small and beady, in shades of orange, brown, red, or yellow. Their mouths are small and sit between round cheeks. Their thick cheeks and naturally yellowed teeth hide a side of horrible, insectile mandibles. A secondary pair of tiny, blind compact eyes beneath their functioning humanoid set gives the impression of symmetrical warts. Combine this with stubby limbs, wide feet and hands, and a lack of hair (save for occasional light fuzz atop the head). Grublings have a countenance not unlike a cross between a doll, a corpse, a toddler, and a mealworm.

Anyone with a sharp eye can see that a grubling's joints are also slightly off. An experienced medical exam, or a simple autopsy, will reveal that a grubling has thin tubes where most bones should be. These tubes are as hard as normal bone, but are yellow-orange in color and are made of a material akin to a bug's shell.

All The World's A Plaything

Grublings are as good humored a race as one is ever to find. They play and experiment ceaselessly, often taking naps wherever and whenever they finally tire out. They squeal with excitement whenever something new is found. Luckily, many experiences are fresh and wonderful to this short-lived race. Grublings want nothing more than to learn all they can about the beautiful world they live in. They will poke, prod, hug, crack open, and put back together anything they can (or think they can) get a hold of.

Grublings are instinctive in their trust of other races, and almost never assume someone is harmful in any capacity until they strike first. But while grubling humor is good, their morals are lacking. Grubling society is not above theft or abuse for entertainment. They lack empathy and overlook needs beyond their own. Ownership lasts only as long as a grubling can wrestle its property from the prying claws of its peers, and they find it just as fun to kick a cat as to pet one. Sometimes grublings laugh at the misfortunes of their own, only to be brought to tears when that problem reaches them. Life and death scenarios do tend to make them snap to their senses, though. Usually.

Organized Chaos

Grublings make sense of the world by breaking it apart. Their hunger for knowledge leads to theft and destruction of any and all material wealth. A miller in grubling territory may wake one day to see his millstone torn from the windmill, dragged halfway down the field, and lashed with rope and metal. Only when he approaches it will he see the intricate carvings and tiny makeshift pumps; copper tubes running haphazardly out of the somehow hollowed-out rock as fresh water sprays about to water his crops. Almost all grubling creations are paradoxically incredibly complex and shoddily built. A grubling learns to build with the hammer already splintered in her hand.

Busy Burrows

Grubling warrens themselves are cluttered with tangles of machinery, often cobbled together out of impossibly crude materials. Dirt walls are smeared in alchemical inks. Bark levers send ball bearings down hollow roots to make coded messages. A salvaged sword is chipped in twenty places to serve as a massive key for a lock made of animal skulls and teeth. Spring-loaded barrel tops fire roast meals from a stolen forge to a vine-woven placemat. All this is drowned out by hundreds of scuttling grublings. They squeeze past each other, laughing, poking, running, and screaming the whole time.

Grublings are social creatures who become quickly despondent without company. While they prefer their own race's constant activity, almost any sentient creature can catch their fancy. As a result grublings dig their tunnels wide enough to escape danger, yet shallow enough to make frequent contact with the outside world. Most grubling societies stick to their ancestral woodlands. They are native to some of the most pristine forests the world has to offer, yet their curiosity often sends them to settle in the hinterlands around civilizations of all stripes. Rural folk and miners sometimes see grublings picking through their refuse or breaking down infrastructure when they think no one is looking.

Grubling Names

Grublings have a strange stratification with their names. First given is their designation, a simple collection of symbols that change throughout the grubling's life. The first one or two digits indicate the age of the individual in years. The last two digits denote how long that grubling took to hatch in seconds (lower numbers being associated with physical prowess but higher numbers with mental acuity) and the letter symbolizes whatever profession is most prominent in that individual (perhaps a "W" for a wizard or warrior, or a "J" for one who jokes often). At hatching a grubling is given a 'little name' that is passed down genealogically from the mother. This effectively acts like a human surname. As a grubling ages it acquires a 'long name'. These are unique to each individual, and often are simple descriptions of a memorable event, skill, or personality trait in their life.

Designations: 1S18, 9B21, 7H73, 4R19, 3H74, 12Y24, 2J34

Little Names: Bibbie, Rumple, Clanker, Huff, Chuf, Roog, Kib, Robobo, Tizilili, Lubins, Kogrio, Lurbi, Clicky, Mittens, Higg, Thrug, Zoomies, Pirrup, Shoebite

Big Names: Makes-A-Good-Hammer, Loves-His-Rest, Steals-Your-Tunnels-And-Blames-You-For-It, Always-The-Last-To-Supper, Once-Kissed-A-Duck-And-Liked-It, Not-To-Be-Trusted-With-Oil, Digs-So-Fast-She-Makes-Fire, Oblivious-To-Orders, Strips-A-Tree-In-Just-One-Day, Stole-A-Dwarf-Just-The-Whole-Dwarf-It's-Friends-Weren't-Even-Looking, Quick-With-A-Knife, Ate-The-Steak-In-One-Bite, Shoots-Himself-Between-The-Cheeks, Bathroom-Never-Leaves

Dissonant Innocence

Grublings' emotional disconnect can be unnerving to other races. A family member could be impaled before them, yet fellow grublings would laugh if their death throes sounded funny. All the same, they rarely seek to spread suffering to others. Grublings commonly give their skills and belongings in service to those they deem interesting. Grublings see nothing wrong with taking gold out of another's pockets to pay for things, nor will they think twice before showing the one they stole from the new goods. They take and give freely.

TROUBLE CHILD

Grublings' monstrous appearance and destructive nature make them unpopular or even reviled in civilization. As a result they prefer to make their homes deep in the wilds. However, savage races are quick to take advantage of a grubling's naivety, and their curiosity can't keep them out of civilization for long. It is rather common to see grublings play and work alongside goblinoids and kobolds, though grublings will leave if they "play too rough". This is seen as a tragedy in grubling society, as goblins share similar a sense of humor and are quite beautiful by grubling convention. Grublings are awestruck by the creations of dwarves and humans, but their need to deconstruct these marvels make them frequent targets of violent retaliation. Grublings are quick to scurry off at first sign of danger. Yet the little race tinkers on, never learning their lesson for long.

Grubling Traits

Your grubling character has certain characteristics in common with all other grublings.

Ability Scores

Your Intelligence score increases by 3. Your Wisdom score is reduced by 2.

Age

Grublings hatch from eggs after a few short weeks. They hatch with the ability to walk and crawl, but do not begin to speak until they are nine months old at least. A grubling reaches adulthood at 5 years of age and rarely lives beyond the age of 16. Rarely, a few elders may last until their 40th year.

Alignment

Grublings are often true neutral. They have a rather stunted grasp on empathy with others, but are not malicious by nature. They have a fascination with both law and chaos that rarely swings toward either extreme for long.

Size

Grublings are between 3 and 3.5 feet tall and average about 33 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You have a burrow speed of 5 feet and a climb speed of 15 feet.

Tremorsense

Accustomed to life underground, you can feel its subtle tells. You have tremorsense up to a range of 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Goblin, and Grubles. The Grubles language is easily mistaken for the chittering of monsters or aberrations. Its spoken form has been often compared to Goblin if the speaker had a mouthful of stew. Its written script is deceptively simple, often mistaken for an illiterate attempt at Dwarven script, but containing many unique curves and subtle angles that convey complex concepts in each symbol. Written Grubles has two alphabets: one with twenty seven letters and one where each word is given a unique symbol.

Bug In The System

Grublings are used to spending their time by dangerous mechanisms. You have advantage on all saving throws against traps and constructs.

Grubby Mitts

You can use any item that you can carry as if it was a set of Artisan's Tools, though the item will break on failed checks when used this way.