Homebrew Squonk Species Details
"From the moment I existed, I knew only darkness. I was darkness, and my world was darkness. I cowered away from the light, ashamed of my darkness and scared to let my darkness be illuminated for all to see. But He showed me that the light was my path to salvation."
— Lux, Squonk and Archbishop for 2 centuries and counting.
Few people have seen a squonk, but many have heard legends of them, as an encounter with the cursed creature deep within the dark forest is not easily forgotten.
Curse of the Squonk
The true form of a squonk is, in a word, repulsive. This is something that almost everybody agrees upon, especially a squonk themselves. Some would say that they resemble an extremely diseased wild boar, or a mutant warthog crossed with a giant naked mole-rat. A squonk has stumpy knobbled limbs, bulbous bloodshot eyes, greasy gray-brown skin that hangs off of its body in sheets and is covered in sparse hair and numerous warts, and a short and gnarled tail. A squonk's face always has saltwater running down out of its eyes, and a squonk's fleshy lips are always drooping down into a frown.
Of the Deep Woods
No one knows exactly how or why squonks come into existence. This includes squonks themselves, and they often spend a lot of time pondering this question. Squonks are naturally infertile, and few squonks ever gain the self-esteem necessary for love. A squonk will never remember how they came to be, even if they were only created a day ago. A squonk will just find themselves alone, in the part of the forest that few creatures journey into and little light reaches. But even with nobody around to shame them for their appearance and no way to see how they look exactly, a squonk will feel ashamed. So the squonk will stay in the deep woods, avoiding everything alive that could see it and any reflective surface where they could see themselves.
A Dark Mind
It's not easy being a squonk. Their natural self-loathing and complete and utter insecurity are hard to escape from. Even in human form, squonks may find it tough to be around others, and emotional stability runs very low in squonks. Regardless of which form they are in, most squonks have a strong aversion to reflective surfaces, which might even be used against them in some situations.
Hope Through the Darkness
As many mental challenges as there are for a squonk, there is hope for some. Rarely, a squonk may muster up enough confidence that curiosity overrides shame, and it may make excursions into the world outside the forest in human form. Most squonks never discover their human form unless they reach this point. Some very rare squonks might even start working towards salvation from their curse, whether this is a search for a way of magically changing their race, or the pursuit of great enough mental fortitude to come to terms with it. Many squonks that find hope find it in the form of religion. Any of these may serve as reasons that your squonk character left the forest to become an adventurer.
Squonk Names
Squonks in the wild do not have names, as they have no parents to give them one and no desire to give a name to the self-identity that they're so unsatisfied with. Squonks that make excursions into civilization may take a name based on the naming trends of the cultures that they're exposed to, for use in their rare direct interactions with other creatures.
Squonk Traits
You were created in the deepest, darkest reaches of the forest to have the following traits.Ability Score Increase
Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Charisma score decreases by 2.
Age
As squonks are not raised by parents, they almost never know their exact age, however they mature at a similar rate to humans. While squonks seemingly never die of old age, their true forms become even more repulsive as the years go by.
Alignment
Squonks tend toward True Neutrality. The plight of a squonk is fundamentally self-centered, and most are too occupied with that plight to think about Law or Chaos, Good or Evil.
Size
In their true form, squonks average 4-5 ft. long and 3 ft. tall while on all fours. Your size is Medium in both forms. Your weight stays the same between true and human form, and is in accordance with the weight of a human.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision & Colorblindness
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 or in light, only shades of grey, as squonks are naturally colorblind.
Shapeshifting
You have two different physical forms, a true form and a human form, and you may shift between them as an action on your turn.
Your true form is that of the quadripedal beastly squonk. While in this form, you have disadvantage on all Charisma (Persuasion) checks, but advantage on all Charisma (Intimidation) checks. While in this form, all the items of your human form seemingly disappear and are inaccessible to everyone until you return to human form. While in your true form, you can perform an Unarmed Strike with a damage die of 1d4 and your AC = 12 + Constitution mod. Spells can be cast as normal unless reliant on an item, and stats that aren't due to items stay the same.
Your human form is indistinguishable from an extremely average-looking human, except for a few tells. Your skin has a gray pallor, you have dark rings under your eyes, and there is always moisture leaking from your tear ducts. Your human form matches your gender, and always has the same appearance that you decide. When in human form, you may be discovered as a squonk by anyone that beats a check determined by your DM, with a DC determined by your contesting Charisma (Deception) check.
Dark Aura
Staring into the deep, dark, weeping eyes of a squonk is like peering into the void itself. It may sometimes cause even the mightiest to falter. When a creature you can see makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the roll. You must use this feature before knowing whether the attack hits or misses. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Saltwater Subsistence
Legends say that the body of a squonk naturally subsists off of the saltwater endlessly flowing into its tear ducts. You don't need food or water to survive.
Resilient of Body, Weak of Mind
As a squonk, you have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage. In addition, you are immune to disease. However, the mind of a squonk is full of insecurities that can be exploited in attacks against your mind. You are vulnerable to psychic damage.
Dissolution
As an action on your turn once you reach character level 7, you can transform your body, along with everything you're wearing and carrying, into a puddle of saltwater for 1 minute. If, during the duration of the transformation, you are reduced to 0 hit points, your body returns to the form you were in before transforming. While in this form, your method of movement is a walking speed of 10 feet and a swimming speed of 30 feet. While in this form you can enter and occupy the space of another creature. You have resistance to nonmagical damage, and have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws. You can pass through small holes, narrow openings, and even mere cracks, and you may swim in other liquids while maintaining your independence as a blob of saltwater. While in the form of the puddle, you can’t talk or manipulate objects, and any objects you were carrying or holding can’t be dropped, used, or otherwise interacted with. You cannot attack or cast spells in this form. You may end the transformation at any time as a free action. You may only use Dissolution once between long rests.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common.
Previous Versions
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