Homebrew Charr Species Details

The charr are carnivorous feline-like humanoids. They stand on their hind legs and are taller than a human by half of an average human's height. They prefer a hunched pose when standing, but will on occasion stand tall and straight. When they are moving, and their paws are unoccupied, the charr favor running on all four limbs with a loping gait. The males are described as being generally stronger and the females more lithe and quick, though this is not always the case.

They have a short fur from head to toe in a variety of colors and patterns, many of which are similar to those of lions, cheetahs, and tigers. Their fur patterns are also like that of leopards, snow leopards, and even some fur types of common house cats. Many charr have a longer mane of fur between the shoulders and on the back of the head and neck. A male charr has less fur on the tail with longer fur only on the tip, while the female's tail has longer fur from top to bottom.

The charr muzzle is elongated and the mouth filled with prominent sharp teeth suited for their carnivorous diet. The teeth are larger on the males, particularly those on the bottom jaw which are usually considerably smaller on the female. The head has four horns, those from the top of the head are more prominent than those between the two sets of ears. The top pair of ears hears high frequencies or ultrasound such as a dog might, while the bottom pair hear low frequencies or infrasound similar to an elephant. However, they have difficulty hearing mid-frequency sounds such as those used in human speech, which can aggravate already tense charr-human relations. Like cats, charr have six flat mammary glands hidden under their fur.

The charr have a set of sharp claws which can be used as knives for general tasks but it appears the charr tend to favor weapons when fighting.

Cubs are born fully furred, with open eyes and functional limbs. Within a few days, cubs can follow their mothers over even the harshest terrain. They eat meat within a month of birth, and are fully independent several months later. Charr mature at about the same rate as humans.

The charr are a military culture and their society, technology and relationships are very much focused on supporting war. Society is built around military units which charr become a part of from childhood. Non-military tasks, such as farming and trade, can be left to the young, retired, and injured. But no matter a charr's vocation they are always viewed as a soldier and view life like a soldier. Weakness and foolishness from individuals is viewed with particular contempt, some of such acts can result in a charr becoming a gladium, or in a worse case, the charr's name being stricken from the race's history.

Charr on occasion mate for life, but most relationships are more casual than that. Families are recognized but adult charr have very little contact with their parents or offspring, but sometimes keep tabs on each other for events which could reflect back on the family's reputation. As soon as a cub is weaned, around being a year old, they enter a fahrar of one of their parents' legion. The fahrar is the cubs' first warband and they are trained as a military unit under supervision of an adult and are considered an adult when the warband no longer needs supervision. The cubs are taught to unify and define their own social structure and the warband shares a root name which they incorporate into their surname. While ancestry is known and acknowledged, the parents have little to do with the raising of the cub, and as such warbands are viewed as a charr's family and the bonds of loyalty and kinship formed between them are stronger than those of other races' families. Though some charr leave, change, or lose their warbands, these strong bonds usually leave a deep impact on the charr; charr changing warband must change their name and fit in quickly if they are to survive. However, charr have been known to choose the fate of becoming a gladium rather than risk losing those bonds again.

The charr are highly industrious, their forging superior to even the dwarves, and are renowned and feared for their military technology – weapon development, war machines and mass production, having pioneered the creation of airships and submarines. Their rifles and pistols are particularly finely made. However, not all of their advancements involve weapons – they also make some of the finest clockwork and spring-driven devices in Tyria. Their development in technology eventually led to the printing press, which in turn propagated the widespread use of the New Krytan Language. While the average charr is willing to embrace technology, many view the use of magic as a sign of weakness and will distrust magic-users as a whole.

Charr society is built around the military chain of command which every charr is brought up to respect. The true head of the chain of command is the Khan-Ur, considered the primus imperator. He ranks above the imperators of all four High Legions and coordinates all the armies of the charr. There is currently no Khan-Ur because no charr holds the leadership artifact, the Claw of the Khan-Ur. The charr nation is therefore currently led by a kratocratic oligarchy, built around the four High Legions. Each legion has a primus warband which the legion is named after and is led by an imperator, a descendant of the original Khan-Ur. If an imperator can obtain the Claw and perform a great deed, that charr will become the next Khan-Ur.

All of the four legions are fiercely independent from the others, maintaining their own lands and city-state strongholds. Three of the primary legions – Ash, Blood, and Iron – are allied and work together to maintain their lands and push for military conquest of lands outside those already held by charr. The fourth legion, Flame, is outcast and at civil war with the other legions. No legion allows the other three to rule over them, but the Iron legion is stated as taking a leading role within the lands of Ascalon.

 

All information is taken from the Sylvari page on the Guild Wars 2 wiki. The Sylvari race was not created by me, I claim no ownership of any kind over this creation by ArenaNet.

Charr Traits

As a Charr these are your Racial Traits:

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Very young Charr mature more quickly than humans, however as they grow older their growth rate slows and matches about the same rate as humans.

Alignment

Charr are generally very lawful due to their strict military upbringing and culture. They tend toward a middle ground between good and evil, often swaying between the two wildly because of their ferocious yet dignified nature.

Size

Charr are between 9 and 11 feet tall when standing fully upright on their hind legs. When hunched over, as is their preference, they stand between 7 and 9 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Natural Knives

The charr have a set of sharp claws which can be used as knives for general tasks or as weapons when no other option is nearby. If an unarmed strike is successfully made you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier.

Darkvision

You have a cat’s keen senses, especially in the dark. 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.

Military Upbringing

You are proficient in the Athletics and Survival skills.