Homebrew Meerkat Species Details

"Digga Tunnah, Dig Digga Tunnah, quick before the Hyena come!"

-Ancient Meerkat Chant

Nose to the Ground

Meerkats are skilled at digging underground and knowing the composition of the surrounding soil at a glance. While nowhere near as adept as Dwarves when it comes to digging, they excel at making short term interconnected warrens, their naturally short claws making perfect excavation tools. They prefer to live in wide open plains with a lot of room to see approaching confrontations. They have an intense racial hatred towards Knolls and other Hyena species, as their ancient ancestors were mercilessly hunted by them for food and pelts.

Made for the Mob

Meerkat society has an extremely restrictive caste system similar to an insect hive, albeit with a little more emphasis on the individual willingly working for the good of the entire system. They will be assigned a role when they reach adolescence based upon what they're best at during their formative years and rarely stray from it for the rest of their lives. While it's uncommon to do so, they can have once chance to be be reassigned if they don't match up to the standards of the community. If they fail again they are either exiled from the community or killed, depending on the severity of the infraction. They have a species wide paranoia of being attacked by larger creatures, so feel more comfortable amongst either their own community or trusted allies that have proven their worth.

Meerkat Names

Meerkat names are surprisingly similar to human names, commonly consisting of two syllables and often ending with a hard consonant.

Expand the Community

Even though Meerkat are so tightly bound, there are occasions where an individual just does not fit in with the community one way or another. These individuals take it upon themselves to see the world instead, the reasoning ranging from because they have no choice to escape persecution or to try and start their own community somewhere else in the world.

Meerkat Traits

Being part of a tightly knit race means there are similarities between all Meerkat.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age

Meerkats mature slightly faster than most races, reaching maturity at 17 and able to live for up to 60 years. With proper self care they can even reach 80 at a stretch.

Alignment

Meerkat society is highly structured and rigidly enforced, so most Meerkat are instinctively Lawful with no preference for Good or Evil.

Size

Meerkat are between 3 and 4 feet tall and are surprisingly slender, averaging about 30 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You have a base digging speed of 25 feet.

Darkvision

Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Mobsight

Being surrounded by friends gives your senses a significant boost. You have advantage on all Perception checks when within 10 feet of an ally.

Watch your Back

You work best in a tight knit group that can warn you of danger. You have advantage on Dexterity checks and Saving Throws when within 5 feet of one of your allies.

Look over your shoulder

Given your species wide paranoia, you are wary of attacks at all times.You have Disadvantage on Wisdom Saving Throws against being Frightened.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Meerkat.