Homebrew Geonid Species Details
Also known as rocklings and rock hermits, geonids are small, intelligent cave dwellers that originated on the Elemental Plane of Earth. A geonid’s arms and legs come out of a small opening in the bottom of its shell. A geonid can draw its limbs into its shell and close the opening. When it does so, the creature looks like a small boulder. In this state, the geonid can’t see and relies on its tremorsense to detect other creatures nearby.
Dark Lairs. Geonids live in natural tunnels and caves. They feed primarily on lizards, rats, slugs, and other vermin, as well as on cave lichen and moss. Geonids like to collect coins and gemstones, and they rarely confront creatures larger than themselves except to rob them or scare them away.
Geonid Traits
Your Geonid character gains traits that allow it to feel sheltered in this populated world.Ability Score Increase
Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age
Young Geonids crawl and search for a boulder right after birth before learning to walk on two legs. They reach adulthood by the age of 8 and live an average of 70 years.
Alignment
Geonids tend to live with themselves not worrying about others. They develop customs and routines, becoming more set in their ways as they age. Most are neutral. A few can be chaotic neutral due to not living near others and caring for themselves.
Size
Tortle adults stand 2½ to 3½ feet tall and average 130 pounds. Their Boulder account for roughly two-third of their weight. Your size is Small.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Claws
Your claws are natural weapons, which you can 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.
Natural Armor
Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.
Boulder Guise
You can withdraw into your Boulder to gain a +4 bonus to AC and advantage on STR and CON saving throws. While fully withdrawn into its shell, you can’t see and is indistinguishable from a small boulder, you are prone, your speed is 0, you have disadvantage on DEX saving throws, and you can't take reactions. You can emerge from your shell as a bonus action.
Stone Tell
Geonids can attune to stone in a way that lets them discern what other creatures have been in the area recently. Geonids use this ability to track prey and to determine whether other creatures have trespassed in their territory. The information gleaned is imprecise and doesn’t include the specific identities of such creatures or the precise times when they passed nearby.
The geonid touches a stone object or surface and knows what types of creatures have been within 10 feet of that stone in the past 24 hours. The geonid can also determine the number of creatures of each type, but not their identities
Survival Instinct
You gain proficiency in the Survival and Stealth skills. Geonids are naturally drawn to living of the land in seclusion.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Terran and Common.
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