Homebrew Yeti Species Details

At the highest mountain peaks — far above the slopes where trees grow and where the air is thin and the frigid winds howl — dwell the reclusive yeti. Few folk can claim to have seen a yeti, and fewer still can claim friendship with them. Yetis wander a bleak realm of ice, snow and wind. Their bodies look as if they are carved from ice and covered in snow and give them great physical power. Their spirits take after the wandering wind, making them nomads who wander from peak to peak. Their hearts are infused with the cold regard of their frigid realm, leaving each yeti with the responsibility to earn a place in the tribe or die trying.

Driven Survivors

Every day brings a new challenge to a yeti. Food, water, and shelter are rare in the uppermost mountain reaches. A single mistake can bring doom to an entire tribe, while an individual’s heroic effort can ensure the entire group’s survival.

This dedication to competition has a dark side. Yeti are ferocious combatants and fiercely territorial. Very few yetis live to old ages because of their drive to defend their territories. When a yeti tribes territory is threatened, the tribe will try to stand their ground, often times fighting until their last breath. A yeti who injures themselves or gets sick in the process of survival is treated to the best of the tribes ability, for groups are the only way of survival.

Cunning and Dangerous

For a yeti, only survival can measure talent. The ones that die are not fit enough to be in the tribe and will instead serve as food supplies upon their passing. The ones that fall behind are left where they are. While hunting, yetis are extremely stealthy for their large size. This paired with their hunting ability and great strength makes them extremely dangerous to face in their home environment.

This trait manifests most strongly when yetis interact with other folk. The relationship between peasants and nobles puzzles them. If a king lacks the intelligence, cunning, or strength to lead, then clearly the fittest person in the kingdom should take his place. Yetis rarely keep such opinions to themselves, and mock folk who rely on society’s structures or rules to ensure survival.

Survival of the Fittest

Among yetis, any adult who can’t contribute to the tribe is either kept as a self-sustaining food source or treated until they can contribute properly. A lone yeti has little chance of survival, especially an older or weaker one. Yetis have little pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the yeti concept of strength in groups.

A permanently injured yeti is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a yeti dies attempting to keep up, or they slip away in the night to seek the cold will of fate.

In some ways, the yetis drive to survive feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A yeti would much rather die in the fight for survival than be cowardly and die the next day. Few folk have ever meet an elderly yeti.

 

Yeti Traits

Your Yeti character has the following traits

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Yeti have possible lifespans of about 200 years. They enter adulthood in their late teens and usually live less than their maximum lifespan.

Alignment

Yeti society, with its focus on group survival, has a strong chaotic bent. The yeti sense of individual survival and stength in groups pushes them toward neutrality.

Size

Goliaths are between 8 and 16 feet tall and weigh between 500 and 2000 pounds. Your size is Large.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Natural Weapons

Your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage instead of the normal bludgeoning damage.

Naturally Stealthy

You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.

Mountain Born

You have immunity to cold damage. You ignore difficult terrain caused by ice and snow, you’re also acclimated to high altitude, including elevations above 20,000 feet.

Languages

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