Homebrew Nautilid Species Details

"His heavy footfalls shook the deck as he stomped up from engineering; Titus Octavius didn't like being called up to the bridge. When he arrived, the captains were all shouting in different languages over the comms. It was a furious, incomprehensible tangle of Avia-ra, Gnomish, and Elvish, with an undiplomatic number of rude gestures thrown around in lieu of any real communication. Titus bellowed over the three of them: his colossal voice booming out of his aqua suit, first in Common, then in each of their three languages. He translated tactfully for all parties and an agreement was shortly reached, but everyone knew that the captains acquiesced moreso because none of them wanted to see the towering nautilid cross again.”

— Sgt. Larren, recounting his nautilid engineer

A race of universe-spanning travelers, the hulking, fishlike nautilids patrol space in their massive whorl ships, exploring and cataloging any planet with enough water to sustain a colony. Few ever see these creatures’ true forms, for they are most often concealed in imposing suits, which look more like antique diving gear than sophisticated survival apparatuses

Orphan Race

Though the nautilids are among the oldest races in the ‘verse, they are fast dying out. Long after the nautilids discovered Dark Matter technology and started traversing the universe, disaster struck their homeworld, Poseidon, a vast planet of endless ocean. Their star began to grow rapidly in size, first heating the water, then boiling the oceans away; within a few short decades, a supernova claimed the planet, leaving only scattered colonies and immense nautilid colony ships.

Without a homeworld, the nautilids have been an orphan race, growing up on small colonies and inside massive colony ships called whorls, which travel the universe. Their numbers dwindle with each decade that passes, and if nothing changes, the next few centuries might see the end of the nautilids altogether.

Endless Odyssey

Ingenious and never to be defeated, the nautilids have searched tirelessly, jumping from planet to planet in pursuit of a new homeworld. The oceans of Poseidon had a very specific aquatic composition of rare elements and dissolved gases, known as the Poseidon Solution. Though nautilids can live in both air and water, they do so uncomfortably, and can only relax (and produce offspring) in a similar solution.

So far, the Poseidon Solution hasn't been found occurring naturally on planets with oceans; it has only been reproduced in quantities small enough to fill the nautilid whorl ships and their aqua suits. Finding oceans in the ‘verse is rare enough, but finding a suitable replacement for Poseidon has been a centuries-long challenge for the entire nautilid race.

Nautilid Names

By ancient tradition, nautilids are named in the old languages of Poseidon, and the second half of a nautilid’s name is composed of a surname, passed down the maternal line. The meaning of most of these names have been lost to history, much like Poseidon itself.

Nautilid Names. Agrias, Charax, Democedes, Gorgias, Helenos, Idomeneus, Isokrates, Lysandros, Monomachus, Panthous, Theomestros, Xenagora

 

Nautilid Traits

Your great, amphibious body and your constantly-worn aqua suit give you the following racial trait:

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1

Age

Nautilids reach maturity by 20 years of age, and individuals have been recorded to live as long as 150 years.

Alignment

Stoic and contemplative, nautilids tend to be lawful.

Size

Lumbering and stout, nautilids stand between 6 and 8 feet tall, seeming even larger in their cumbersome aqua suits. Your size is Medium

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet

Amphibious

 You can breathe water as well as air, though breathing air is uncomfortable for you without assistance

Powerful Build

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

Deductive

You have proficiency in the Investigation skill.

Aqua Suit

Except when you are aboard a whorl ship, you wear a bulky aqua suit, which is filled with Poseidon Solution, in order to breathe comfortably. The suit covers your whole body, including a large domed helmet with circular windows that allow you to see without hindrance.

Without the suit, you can breathe air or water, but doing so delivers air inefficiently to your lungs, and you feel much the same as a human does in very thin air. You can don or doff the helmet on your turn as part of your action, and you can don or doff the entire suit in 1 minute.

If damaged directly but not completely destroyed, the suit rapidly mends itself, leaking only a very small amount of water. 

While wearing the suit, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier. Other armor can be fitted to attach around the aqua suit at no cost. While no other armor is fitted to it, you count as being unarmored for the purposes of features such as Unarmored Defense. Additionally, while wearing the suit, you have resistance to fire damage.

The suit counts as a life suit and is also equipped with an embedded universal translator magic item, which you can use at will.

Languages

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