Homebrew Folivorian Species Details

Few believe the legends surrounding the Folivorian people before seeing one. Hailing from a remote island colony Hypentia, named after their revered, ancient goddess, these slow moving, peace loving folk have been rumored to live thousands of years, sometimes even longer. 

Folivorians are bipedal sloth-like humanoids. In maturity, they can range anywhere from 3 to 8 feet tall, depending on their total age. It's rumored that a Folivorian never stops growing, just at such an incredibly slow rate. They are covered from head to toe in a shaggy brown, tan, or orange fur, with exposed, dark colored claws on their hands and feet. Some Folivorians bare white faces, marked with darker spots around their eyes, nose and mouth. They have beady black or brown eyes and a small mouth that usually rests in what is described as a soft and welcoming smile, which only contorts with effort to purposely show emotion. Folivorians, regardless of gender, can grow long facial hair if desired, by treating the desired fur with a compound comprising of moss and other compounds only known to Folivorian people. 

Ageless Traditions

Folivorians are a people of hard tradition. Almost all of them adhere strongly to the religion of their Homeland, known as The Way of the Slumbering Tree, or Hypentialism as it's known away from the Hypentian islands.

The island of Hypentia is dominated by a titanic tree known as the Slumbering Tree. Almost all Folivorian people are born beneath this tree, and it's It's been reported to be older than even the Age of the Ancients. It's believed by the Folivorian people that their goddess, Hypentia, sleeps atop the gigantic tree. They believe that their place in life is to gather stories, tales and trinkets of high quality or intrigue and deliver them back to the Slumbering Tree, granting Hypentia pleasant dreams in their likeness, and good fortune for the rest of their days. This search for complex and interesting stories of grandeur often leads Folivorians both young and old to cross the seas as a part of a Pilgrimage and make a life for themselves worthy of a tale to return and tell Hypentia. Other stay in the homeland and study to become priests and clerics to Hypentia. These clerics are lead by a High Elder who is said to be over 5,000 years old.

One Person, Many Lives

Folivorians are slow and sleepy. This is very easy to tell, just by their general behaviour and mannerisms. However, despite this, Folivorians, especially those living away from Hypentia, have been known to make due with an eight hour sleep cycle. This is because every 50 - 80 years, Folivorians enter something known as a Great Sleep. This hibernation period can last sometimes as long as three years straight, and when the Folivorian awakes, they remember little to nothing beyond their formative years. Because of this, they will take on a new name and identity after a Great Sleep, and tack a number to the end of their new name. For example, a Folivorian named Taj the Fourth has been through three Great Sleeps and is the fourth iteration or rebirth of him or herself. Before entering a Great Sleep, a Folivorian will usually leave behind some notation of important things to remember, such as a favored name or place, or someone important to them. Things changed between these Great Sleeps can include names, hobbies, talents, skill sets and even gender identity or sexuality. More devout Folivorians believe this process literally allows a new spirit to inhabit their body through the powers of their dreams. It's said that the dreams had during a Great Sleep are prophetic, and on the rare chance they remember even a brief moment of their dreams upon waking, it is said to be a vision to benefit them in the future. 

It is believed that when a Folivorian dies of old age, they enter a Final Sleep, where they sleep so long they become one with the earth, overcome with grass and moss and plant life, their body becoming lifegiving soil, and their souls joining Hypentia in her endless dream.

Folivorian Names

Folivorians often use short, single syllable names to not waste time identifying themselves. These names usually range from three to five letters, though they sometimes are longer, depending on the personality of the individual. Folivorian's first, or True Name is given at birth by their parents. The names used after a Great Sleep is self given, and can vary from normal Folivorian naming conventions due to their current environment when waking. Because of this, it's not uncommon to,meet a Folivorian with a given human or elven name, if they were welcomed into such a society. 

Folivorian Names also will have a number, denoting the amount of "lives lived" or times they have awoken from a Great Sleep. For example, Grii the Fifth has completed four Great Sleeps, abd is on his fifth 'life'. Though in casual conversation these numbers will like

Folivorian Names: Jak the Third, Fin the Fourth, Ty the Seventh, Murt the Second, Tem the Ninth, Chord the Twenty-First. 

Folivorian Traits

Folivorians share certain racial traits due to their unique lifestyles and body-types

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity decreases by 1, but your Constitution increases by 2 and your Wisdom increases by 1

Age

Folivorians are known to be ancient. A Folivorian can live to a thousand years old and beyond with relative ease. Though, thanks to their Great Sleep cycles, most information is hardly retained for longer than 50 years at a time. 

A Folivorian reaches maturity at 30 years of age, and most of the information gained in those first 30 formative years is never forgotten. This includes their parents, heritage, and true birth name.

Allignment

Folivorians live many lives and are a little different in every incarnation they live. However, they tend to swing towards lawful good or neutral roles due to their powerful sense of tradition, and general love of the mysteries of life and the stories the world is waiting to tell. 

Size

Folivorians never truly stop growing. Throughout their 1,000+ years of life, they are constantly growing larger, though at a rate so slow it's hardly it's hardly measurable. Young Folivorians in their first or second 'life' can be as small as 3 feet, while elder Folivorians in their eighteenth or beyond 'life' can be as tall as 8 feet. It is rumored that the oldest Folivorian known, the High Elder is a size that rivals Giants. 

Folivorians weight varies wildly depending on their size and the season. During winter they tend to put on more weight. They can weight between 100 pounds in their early life to as much as 600 pounds in their late life.

Speed

Folivorians are notoriously slow. Your base movement speed is 20 feet, although they prefer to move less.

They also have a climb speed equal to their move speed, and can climb even the most difficult of vertical surfaces, and even proficiently hang upside down, though doing so requires both arms (restricting any spells requiring somatic elements)

Extreme Vegetarian

Folivorians live on a diet solely of fruits and vegetables. This includes lacking any natural liquids. Your body can draw out the liquids contained in the natural greens you consume, substituting any need for added water or juice to your meals. Because of this, as long as you have a steady diet of greens, which be taken from the nature around you, you can never die of thirst. 

However, your body cannot process meats at all. Consuming any meat product result in you getting violently ill. Despite this, Folivorians still respect the meat-related needs of other races without scorn.

Deep Sleep

Foliviorians are known for their deep, almost meditative sleep cycles. Something as small as a nap or a rest does little for them. Because of this, you cannot regain any health using hit dice on a short rest.

Instead, you may use hit dice on a short rest to meditate and regain lost spell slots. By consuming hit dice equal to a spell slot's level during a short rest, you may recover those spell slots. For example, you may spend three hit dice to recover one 1st and one 2nd level spell slot. However, you may only recover an amount of spell slots equal to the amount of hours rested. If you rest for one hour, you can only restore one spell slot, of any level, and so on. 

During long rests, you enter a deep, trance like sleep that you cannot be awoken from early. During these rests, you may spend hit dice to gain temporary hit points when you awaken. You may select a number of remaining hit dice from your pool up to one fourth of your character level rounded down, and roll those dice, adding the total to your health as temporary hit points, which last until expended or your next long rest. Additionally, if you roll the maximum on these hit dice, you will receive a prophetic dream of events to come. This prophetic dream will reveal a future event. An important object, or a key to an upcoming puzzle in a vague dreamy way up to the DM's discretion.

Finally, when you complete a long rest, you restore all of your hit die, instead of half.

Languages

You can read and write in Common and Slothic, though you speak Common (and other languages) in a slower and/or more 'mellow' tone than normal.