Homebrew Flail Snail People Species Details

Flail Snail People fear little from underground predators, thanks to their nigh-impermeable armor and the powerful, mace-like pseudopods that give them their name. Yet the most curious trait of these docile creatures lies is in the singular properties of their shell, which not only defends the creature against magic, but is capable of warping spells and flinging them back at the casters.

Passive Snails

Flail Snail People tend to be peaceful unless actively threatened. At these times, the sedately waving tentacles on the creature’s head become an intricately woven blur, the blunt horn-like growths at their tips whistling as they’re flung with terrific force by long strands of muscle. Each swipe of these biological flails is capable of staving in a man’s chest, and though most creatures have plenty of time to retreat, those who press their luck or run afoul of the Flail Snail Person’s mucilaginous secretions come out the other side worse for wear.

Snail's Biology

The average Flail Snail Person stands five to six feet tall with their flail tentacles extending even further, though the highly elastic nature of their flesh allows them to stretch out much farther. When threatened by an opponent not easily dispatched by their whirling tentacles, the Flail Snail People can retract their entire bodies into their massive spiral shells, plugging the opening with their rock-hard flails. These shells are frequently streaked with bright colors in patterns that differ between individuals; older Flail Snail People tend to have larger shells with more elaborate markings, some of which may appear to resemble runes or symbols. Adult Flail Snail People can weigh a couple hundred pounds plus, yet thanks to their slime they still manage to cling perfectly to the stone floors, walls, and even ceilings where they graze, feeding their prodigious bulk on fields of fungus, mold, and vermin. Though they have occasionally been known to consume carrion and the corpses of creatures they kill, this is generally believed to be due to lack of discrimination rather than malice, with the Flail Snail Person simply eating whatever it passes over out of habit.

Flail Snail People can walk on two legs, four legs, and even move on their under bellies. Movement while on their under bellies is achieved by expanding and contracting in muscular ripples aided by slimy secretions. Most of the Flail Snail People’s day is spent eating with the help of a radula, a long ribbon of tongue studded with thousands of tiny razor sharp tooth-like structures that act like a rasp, scraping organic matter from the stone and shredding it into pieces for digestion. Flail Snail People migrate frequently, either alone or in colonies called routs, and any place with sufficient organic matter growing on the walls or ground is prime real estate to a Flail Snail Person, regardless of what any other inhabitants might think.

Like other slugs and snails, the tentacle-like protrusions on the Flail Snail Person’s head is their primary sensory organs, with the top pair sensing light and the lower providing the sense of smell and handling most tactile and fine manipulation duties. Both pairs can be retracted up to the horny growths at the end, and regrow in a month if lost. Even without these sensors, Flail Snail People can still move about reasonably well, as they suction with the ground which allows them to sense their surroundings via tremors in the rock. This is especially useful since striking out with their powerful flails leads to them being easily damaged in combat.

Though the Flail Snail People’s shell gets the most attention from adventurers and scholars, their slime trails are even more important to their defense and daily life. Like many other gastropods, a Flail Snail Person’s slime comes in two types: thin and slippery or thick and sticky. Both are effective at stopping those seeking to invade the Flail Snail People's territory, and allow the Flail Snail People enough suction to climb walls and ceilings without faltering. Mixing the two even allows the Flail Snail People to create a sticky rope capable of suspending them in the air, lowering themselves or climbing back up with astonishing ease.

A Snail's Life

Flail Snail People are born from clutches of up to thirty eggs stuck to cavern walls or buried beneath objects. Flail Snail People mature around eight years of age and live actively for about eighty years. Fully hermaphroditic, Flail Snail People begin their courtship ritual by extruding long, chitinous spears that they stab into each other’s flesh, injecting hormones signaling their intent. They then climb as a pair to the highest point available and begin copulating, lowering their entwined bodies on a massive rope of slime and hanging there for hours or days until mating is finished, at which point they may be forced to gnaw off their own reproductive organs in order to separate. Both individuals then lay egg clutches, and the hatchlings—which start out already shelled, the size of a human’s hand—are raised by the community. Any Flail Snail People sensing that a hatchling is in danger instantly rushes to its defense, regardless of personal peril. Mating happens sporadically and may be tied to available food sources or available space. Under duress, Flail Snail People have even been observed to retract into their shells and go into long periods of hibernation, making it possible that some of the Flail Snail People currently active are far older than anyone realizes as in this hibernation state their aging process is slowed significantly.

Snail Shell

Of course, no discussion of the Flail Snail People’s ecology would be complete without mention of their shells. A magnificent spiral construction several inches thick, the flail snail’s shell grows slowly over time, generated by an organ on the Flail Snail Person’s back known as their mantle, which in turn is fed by metals and minerals scraped in tiny amounts from the stone and ingested as part of a Flail Snail Person’s diet. The wide array of substances used to produce the shell appears to be at least partially responsible for the whirls of color and strange patterns that cover it, though the fact that these often glow after being targeted by magic suggests other factors as well.

Exactly how the shell manages to reflect magic has long baffled scholars, who have put forth numerous theories. Some suggest that it’s due to the ingestion and combination of various magically reactive metals used in the shell’s construction. Others posit that the shell is a focus for the Flail Snail People's own magical energies, and that by the whim of gods or evolution the Flail Snail People have been restricted to using their powers in a retributive manner, an example of perfect natural balance. Still others maintain that a Flail Snail Person’s shell resonates with magic like a bell, acting as a sort of magical tuning fork whose vibration scatters the waves of energy. Perhaps the most compelling argument is that it’s not the shell’s composition that is key, but rather its shape. This theory holds that a Flail Snail Person's shell has evolved in a perfect golden spiral, a shape long significant to arcanists and engineers, and that this shape manages to draw magic down into its center and then expel it again in a new direction, like a whirlpool or tornado.

Flail Snail People Traits

Though slower than most other races Flail Snail People make up for it in their defensive capabilities.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 1, Constitution score increases by 2.

Ability Score Decrease

Your Dexterity score decreases by 1, your Intelligence score decreases by 2, your Charisma score decreases by 1.

Age

Flail Snail People mature at age 8 and live up to 80 years.

Alignment

Flail Snail People tend toward no particular alignment though they are of a passive nature most of the time.

Size

Flail Snail People stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and their flail tentacles extend 3 to 5 feet more. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 20 feet.

Climbing

Your base climbing speed is 20 feet.

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.

Tremorsense

You can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within 60 feet, provided that you and the source of the vibrations are in contact with the same ground or substance.

Flail Snail People Resilience

You have resistance against fire, and poison damage. You have advantage on saving throws against poison damage and are immune to the poison condition.

Antimagic Shell

You have advantage on saving throws against spells, and any creature making a spell attack against you has disadvantage on the attack roll. If you succeed on your saving throw against a spell or a spell attack misses you, an additional effect might occur, as determined by rolling a d6:

1: If the spell affects an area or has multiple targets, it has no effect on you. If the spell targets only you, it has no effect on you and is reflected back at the caster, using the spell slot level, spell save DC, attack bonus, and spellcasting ability of the caster.

2-5: No additional effect.

6: Your shell converts some of the spell's energy into a burst of destructive force. Each creature within 15 feet of you must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d4 force damage per level of the spell on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Flail Tentacles

You have 3 to 5 flail tentacles. Whenever you take 10 damage or more on a single turn, one of your tentacles die. If even one tentacle remains, you regrow all dead ones within 1d4 days. If all your tentacles die, you retract into your shell, gaining total cover, and you begin wailing, a sound that can be heard for 400 feet, stopping only 3d6 minutes later after which you must make death saving throws. Healing magic that restores limbs, such as the regenerate spell, can halt this dying process.

Flail Tentacle Multiattack

You can use your action to make as many flail tentacle attacks as you have flail tentacles, all against the same target. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) bludgeoning damage.

Scintillating Shell

Your shell emits dazzling, colored light until the end of your next turn. During this time, the shell sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet, and creatures that can see you have disadvantage on attack rolls against you. In addition, any creature within the bright light and able to see you when this power is activated must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the light ends. This ability recharges after a Short or Long Rest.

Shell Defense

You can withdraw into your shell, gaining a +4 bonus to AC until you emerge. You can emerge from your shell as a bonus action on your turn.

Light Aversion

While in bright light you suffer disadvantage on all attack rolls against targets that are more than 5 feet away.

Language

Though you have no spoken language, you communicate using two different means, both completely silent. The first, an elaborate sign language of waving tentacles, is primarily used for communicating immediate needs, warnings, and other messages that are quickly picked up and passed through the rout. The second and more in-depth form of communication is a complex chemical writing system encoded within the snail’s slime.