Homebrew Urstos Species Details

In the deepest tangle of the darkest woods, where the trees grow so thick that they block out the sun, live the isolated and reclusive urstos. Sometimes known as bear folk, urstos live their lives simply, one day at a time, not recording their histories and not planning for an extended future. A typical urstos will spend the day fulfilling daily tasks for the benefit of the tribe, before spending the night recovering in order to do so again. For the urstos, the tribe comes first.

Physical Appearance

Urstos are large humanoids with bearlike features, they stand tall with brown or black fur covering their entire body. They have thumbed paws with sharp claws and the head of a bear. They stand on stout legs and have a distinct waddle to their walk. Male urstos are typically larger and heavier than female urstos. It is uncommon for urstos to wear heavy clothes or armour, having thick fur to protect them from the elements, they instead wear thin clothes and leathers 

Isolated Protection

The urstos have a need to protect and care for their tribe that is deeply ingrained in their culture, a single drop of urstos blood could send a tribe into fierce retaliation. The elders of an urstos tribe will work hard to avoid the damage that such a retaliation would cause amongst their own people, going to any length. They would even be willing to uproot and move the entire tribe, leaving behind everything to avoid a single stranger. Most urstos never see more than a handful of individuals from another tribe, let alone an individual of another race. 

Tribal Hierarchy

A typical urstos tribe is made up of anywhere between 50 and 200 individuals working together to maintain their simple lifestyle. 
Guides are the wiser and elder members of the tribe who serve as to lead the rest of the tribe, making decisions, setting the daily tasks and sometimes helping the cub nurses care for the young. There are no more than ten of these guides in a single tribe, with less in smaller tribes.
Guardians of the tribe spend their time keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity and any strangers in the tribal territory. It is normal for tribes of any size to have around ten percent of the population serving as guardians.
Hunters and Gatherers in the tribe are some of the most far reaching members of the tribe, sometimes even going outside of tribal territory to track down a meal. There are few hunters in a tribe, as the tribe relies mostly on the gatherers, who also fish the local streams, to find most of their food. Thus there are more gatherers than hunters.
Traders are the only members of a tribe to regularly leave the boundaries of the tribe, and the only one to enter other tribal lands. Traders make journeys between their home and local tribes to buy and sell goods such as certain foods unavailable outside their own boundaries, and to trade news and information. 
Labourers and workers do the general daily work within the tribe. The jobs include building and repairing huts, preparing food, weaving thin cloth for clothes, and making tools and weapons for the tribe. These make up the majority of a tribe.
Cub nurses care for the young children of the tribe before they take up training for their own jobs. Cub nurses are in charge of all education and general care of the cubs during the day, before sending them home at night. It is not uncommon for cub nurses to continue a level of care during the night too, tending to the cubs so that the parents may rest. There is rarely more than ten cub nurses in a tribe, with a ratio of one cub nurse for every five cubs.
The Cubs spend their days playing and learning under the supervision of the cub nurses. At around age four they either choose or are assigned a job. Traders and Guides are selected from the young who display the skills and natural talent for these jobs. The cubs then apprentice with a master of their job, after a year when they turn five their master chooses a new name for them and they commit to their field of work for life.

Urstos Classes

Below is a small summary of some of the ways that an urstos might fit into the official classes. 

Barbarian. The tribal guardians make strong candidates for barbarian. The protective instincts of urstos culture mix well with the primal rage of a barbarian. Any urstos barbarian would likely go into a rage at even mention of harm to those they truly care about.
Bard. Traders require the same skill set that many bards utilise, negotiating trade, telling stories and charming their way into other tribal lands.
Cleric/Paladin. An urstos cleric is likely to worship a god of nature, though one that reinforces the protective nature of the urstos is also a likely choice.
Druid. Urstos druids take a more shamanistic flair in their magics and are generally seen as the tribal healers and carers.
Ranger/Rogue. Hunters and gatherers make for good urstos rangers and rogues, stealthily trekking across unfamiliar lands for a chance at bringing home good meat. 
Sorcerer/Wizard. While an urstos sorcerer might be more common than a wizard, it is not unheard of for urstos to devoutly study the arcane arts. Any cubs displaying talent in the arcane are chosen to serve as tribe guides specialising in matters of magic.
Warlock. An urstos warlock is rare, but a tribe desperate for help might turn to powerful fey beings to beg for aid. A tribe might exchange a young child to an unknown power if they truly believe it serves the good of more than just the individual.

Urstos Names

Urstos have two names, a family name used by those closest to them and granted to them by their parents, and a vocation name given to them on their 5th birthday by their master. The vocation name is usually related to their field of work and is used around outsiders such as traders from other tribes. Urstos names are not limited by gender, and do not include family names, an urstos considers the entire tribe to be their family.

Family Names: Argize, Begevo, Beizgi, Ferdo, Fragorg, Konc, Korehi, Olego, Rifigi, Tirg, Vosaza, Wago, Wesegeld, Yerlade, Yolgega.

Vocation Name: Arcanist, Arrow, Cubtutor, Diplomat, Fast-talk, Fishfind, Keeneye, Riverspear, Sentinel, Softsong, Steadyhand, Stronghut, Wordcatcher.

Urstos Traits

Urstos all share a natural strength and power that makes them a formidable foe.

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Urstos live short lives, maturing quickly. They enter adulthood at around 4-5 years and usually live for just longer than 25 years. In rare cases they can live up to almost 50 years.

Alignment

Urstos culture with strong daily routine leads to lawful individuals. Though individuals may lean towards chaotic due to their protective instincts, willing to do anything to protect those they care about. This same protective drive pushes more urstos towards a good alignment.

Size

Urstos are  between 7 and 8 feet tall. Males typically weigh between 340 and 400 pounds, while females typically weigh between 280 and 340 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Bear Claws

You can use your paws as natural weapons. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes, which deal 1d4 slashing damage on a hit.

Keen Smell

The finely tuned nose of an urstos gives advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Powerful Build

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

Protective Instinct

When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to redirect any damage taken to yourself. You must declare your use of this ability before any damage die is rolled. 

Languages

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