Homebrew Platyperson Species Details
"Behold, Your Majesty! A genuine specimen of Homo ornithorhynchus!" The two adventurers bowed and parted, and a most curious individual stepped forwards from between them. Covered in brown fur, with the bill of a duck and tail of a beaver, he stood barely three feet tall. A feathered cap sat jauntily upon his head, and one of his webbed hands rested on the hilt of a fine rapier. "Please, gentleman..." remarked the king with obvious exasperation,"You insult my intelligence. This is clearly a gnome in a ridiculous costume. A rather poor and motheaten one, if I do say so." But the "gnome" leapt forwards and drew his sword, flourishing it in the monarch's direction, asking, "You wanna say that to the tip of my blade, mate?"
Platypeople are an exotic and seldom-seen race. Some say they originate far away on a distant southern continent and have only recently journeyed far enough to meet other races. Others maintain that they have been here all along, but remained in seclusion until recent events threatened their existence. Whatever the truth, these small, yet rambunctious, people make a splash wherever they tread.
Secret Streams
Platypeople are semiaquatic humanoids who dwell along slow-moving waterways or on the edges of pristine lakes. Most villages are small and simple, made up of ten to twenty individuals. Their homes appear to be simple huts woven from reeds, built onto muddy banks just above the water line. However, these are more like decorative facades; their true homes are a complex series of tunnels built into the earth, which may even link up with neighbours' under the ground.
Young platypeople are born into these tunnels in clutches of one to three leathery eggs. They hatch after being incubated for just ten days but are small and helpless for the first two months of their lives. During this time they are doted on by their parents but do not leave their burrow until their eyes open and their fur grows in. Most nonadventuring platypeople are subsistence hunters who live off of fish, freshwater crustaceans and wetland plant life. They are experts at hunting underwater with spear or net, but their most useful asset in this endeavour is their bill. This rubbery appendage is lined with a unique series of organs that detect electrical signals given off by their prey's muscles, allowing them to pinpoint even tiny creatures with deadly accuracy.
The lakes and rivers where platypeople make their homes are not only sources of food and shelter, but an integral part of their philosophy and spiritual identity. Their communities live in perfect balance with these delicate freshwater ecosystems, and they remain constantly vigilant against outsiders who may - even inadvertently - disrupt them. For this reason, they usually live far from large cities and refrain from interacting with other species. Even adventurous and out-going platypeople hold this impulse deep down inside them and may be reluctant to disclose the exact location of their home village, even to close friends.
Deceptively Fierce
Woe betides anyone who assumes that a platyperson, with their cuddly appearance and small stature, is an easy target for abuse or insult. They may appear shy at first, but their close-knit communities breed fierce loyalty and determination. Any platyperson who feels that they or their allies are in danger will not hesitate to leap to action. While these flat-footed people are not quite as dextrous on land as they are in the water, they are more than capable of quickly climbing a larger humanoid's body, or expertly wielding a standard-sized weapon. And that is to say nothing for the venom of the barbs they sport on each of their ankles, which - delivered through the vector of a swift kick - has the capacity to cause excruciating pain in any would-be aggressor.
It is often this duty of protection that will lead a platyperson to the life of an adventurer. As cities expand and explorers try to fill in every corner of their maps, many secret places become threatened. A platyperson may seek to actively confront a leader they perceive as engineering their village's plight, or they may simply wish to spread knowledge of their race's existence, so that they are not crushed
Patchwork or Primeval?
Those few scholars who have been able to study a platyperson have identified that they seem to share features with many distinct creatures and races. Some claim this as proof that they are some kind of living fossil - a remnant of a race from which all others must be descended. An alternate view, supported by their recent emergence into society, is that the platypeople are a relatively new creation; part of a powerful magic user's experiment to blend the features of many different peoples and animals into some kind of super-race.
What is undeniably true is that platypeople have certain features that can be associated with every one of the five legendary creator races. They have the beak and egg-laying nature of the avian aearee, the prodigious swimming ability of the amphibious batrachi, the venom of the reptilian sarrukh, and the hair and shorter lives of humans and other mammalian races, all rounded off with the feistiness and secrecy of the fey. Even the platypeople themselves do not seem to know what this means, but it certainly attracts attention
Platyperson Names
In their home villages, platypeople speak a unique dialect of Aquan, which they have adapted to include the clicks and buzzes that they naturally make with their bills. Their names can come from Primordial or Common roots, but they always have a distinctive twang to them. Platyperson communities are so small that they have no need for family names. If they ever need to distinguish themselves from another with a similar name, they may refer to themselves as "hatched of" followed by their parents' names.
Male Names: Banjo, Daku, Djalu, Jarli, Jiemba, Kuparr, Koa, Monti, Omeo, Yllooka
Female Names: Allira, Jannali, Kalina, Kirra,
Platyperson Traits
Your platyperson character has the following racial traits.Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age
Platypeople age quickly. They are adults by the age of 10, and those that live beyond 30 become venerated elders.
Alignment
As students of nature and the matter-of-fact flow of rivers, platypeople naturally tend towards a neutral alignment.
Size
Platypeople usually stand between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh an average of 50 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Swim. You have a swimming speed of 40 feet.
Claws
Your claws are natural weapons, which you use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Venomous Spurs
When you hit a creature with an unarmed kicking attack you may choose to also envenom them with your ankle spurs.
This deals an additional 1d4 poison damage, and the target must make Constitution saving throw against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus. On a failure, they become Poisoned for 1 hour. You may use this feature twice per day, regaining both uses when you finish a long rest.
Hold Breath
You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour at a time. Platypeople cannot breathe water, but they can remain underwater for some time before needing to come up for air
Electrosense
You have blindsight with a range of 30 feet whilst completely submerged in water, but only with respect to creatures which are also submerged.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Aquan and Common.