Homebrew Dents [Hedgehog] (Raesokeran Edentatus) Species Details

Rotund and short quills, his fur a light peanut brown and his eyes hidden behind tinker goggles, Skrit stood half as tall as Skeever and had to fetch a stool to work at the bench. The town of Wissenburg is built for humans, and smaller residents aren't accommodated for.

It had it's perks. Such large built structures made his small apartment feel huge. Huge enough to fill the room with tinkering gear. The front room was his workshop, and it contained a bewildering miscellany of tools: hammers, chisels, saws, lockpicks, tinted lenses, jeweler’s loupes, and jars of powdered and shredded ingredients for casting spells.

A fat gray rat, the tinker's companion, lay curled atop a stack of blueprints. It opened its eyes, gave Skrit a slow blink, then appeared to go back to sleep.

— Humphrey von Winkle, The Strange Cabinet

A constant hum of busy activity pervades the warrens and dens where Edentatus form their close-knit communities. Louder sounds punctuate the hum: a crunch of wooden structure here, a minor collapse there, a yelp of surprise or triumph, and especially bursts of laughter. Edentatus take delight in life, enjoying every moment of invention, exploration, investigation, creation, and play.

Physical Description

Edentatus are anthropomorphic armadillos, moles, hedgehogs, platypi, echidnas and porcupines. Armadillos have a tough leathery hide of black, grey, or brown and a curved scale-like shell over their back. They can roll up into an armored ball for full protection. Their faces are piglike with long thin snouts, flat noses, and tall pointed ears.

Moles are typically bulky and covered in brown fur. Their hands and feet are bare and fleshy and scoop shaped for shoveling soil while burrowing. Their eyes are tiny and mostly useless. Instead, they mainly rely on scent to sense their surroundings. Their noses are also incredibly sensitive to touch which is useful for not getting lost while burrowing.

Hedgehogs are small and mouselike. They have short spines covering their back and the back of their neck and head. Their bellies, hands, feet, and face are soft and furry. Their coloration ranges from white to gray, tan, pink, brown, and black.

Platypi are some of the strangest creatures to behold in any land. They have thick brown fur, a round head with the bill of a duck, and the tail of a beaver. Their hands and feet are bare, webbed, rubbery, and black. They have retractable barbs protruding from the elbows. Platypi and echidnas are also the only mammal races to lay eggs.

Echidnas and porcupines are similar to hedgehogs except their spines are much longer. Their spines can detach to cause extreme pain to their foes, giving the porcupine or echidna an opening for escape. Their quills are usually black with white tips.

History

Among the many beast races, the Edentatus are considered the most odd. They are incredibly friendly, but they have a less than welcome reputation for their inhuman appearance and queer behavior.

Edentatus were mostly left alone during the Beast War. Not many Edentatus lived in Shahalla at the time, preferring the cooler temperate climate in northern Udraykeland. Those that did fight in the war were instrumental in ending the conflict. Platypi were excellent assassins while the spined beasts and armadillos made excellent defenders. Moles were a potent force, digging underground tunnels and finding the best locations to infiltrate into enemy territory from below. In fact, this was used as the strategy that earned Udraykeland the final victory.

Afterward, the Edentatus set up their own towns and villages using the previously built tunnels as their core thoroughfare. Those that didn't join the others underground attempted to integrate with other species with minimal success. Their strict diet of insects and roots made it difficult to adapt to the available victuals of other cultures. Some groups of Edentatus integrated with societies of dwarves and gnomes since their underground lifestyles meshed well. They are sometimes affectionately referred to as Dents.

Society

Of all the Edentatus, hedgehogs and armadillos integrated best into urban living. 'Dillows are welcomed by guard recruiters for their natural armor and their instinct for protecting others around them. Hedgehogs are usually pacifists, joining social groups with rabbits as herbalists, healers, and entertainers.

All Edentatus subraces can be found in underground tunnel villages and cities. Those that live above ground outside of established groups tend to be hermits, sages, or nomads.

The underground cities are not often visited by men or other bestial races. Despite the Edentatus' hospitality, their cultural norms are seen as odd at best or outrageous and offensive at worst. Some examples of Edentatus odd behavior includes random loud belching for no apparent reason, turning their backs to those they disagree with or don't like, stealing unattended food or drink, and blunt or harsh honesty in conversation. Most edentatus feel that hiding thoughts and feelings is like intentionally collapsing a tunnel. Maybe it's for the best sometimes, but it often slows things down and gets people hurt. "Don't suffer the quill." or "Tear out the quill now to heal a smaller wound."

Travel throughout many of the tunnels is hazardous to unarmored races. Visitors without adequate protection are loaned a magic ring that deflects large slow projectiles to prevent being crushed by a random rolling armadillo or being impaled by the spines of a passing echidna. These rings are loaned freely since the magic is cheap and only protects against unintentional harm. They are not sufficient to prevent purposeful harm.

Edentatus diets are restrictive, because they can only digest insects and roots. Grains, meats, and fruits in normal amounts to other races are toxic to edentatus, so their small stock of dried fruit and salted meat is all they have for visitors.

Since most visitors don't find worms and locusts very appealing, they have to bring their own rations to stay long. Few races other than Edentatus live in the tunnel systems because of this, the one major exception being kobolds with their neighboring warrens. Edentatus familiarity and acceptance of the small dragonoids into their society as equals instead of vermin has been a point of contention since before the war. It is just one more reason most men will avoid edentatus cities like the Phage.

Language

Edentatus language is slow and cumbersome to understand. Some scholars compare it to having a conversation with an intoxicated Earth elemental. The pronunciation of most vowels are throaty and low, like trying to squeeze the words through the asophagus. Many words, particularly nouns and names, are repetitive in pronunciation to convey importance or emphasis. It requires a lot of patience to converse in Edentatus. A casual greeting can take five to ten minutes while a conversation about the weather could last an hour. Luckily, most Edentatus will usually revert to common for more in depth or important matters though their cadence is still awkward and sluggish.

Edentatus Names

Edentatus are named at birth usually by the parents. Before birth, they will have long conversations with their whole community about the names of their offspring. It is not uncommon to sell the rights to choose a name to the highest bidder, resulting in some odd names like Grargarg, which translated roughly into common means "the scent of freshly wet soil."

Male: Batíti, Dodo mi, Duranduran, Grargarg,  Narago, Mabobo, Paponahnpo, Rodotaro, Tugratu, Urgurb, Yunggung

Female: Adandana, Babarb, Danidana, Feegogo, Gwenlen, Juju, Kamumii, Lulu, Nangtengi, Rondonda, Takataki, Vovonah

Keen Explorers

Curious, impulsive and life is short. Dents go exploring to see the world. As lovers of curiosities and creatures keen to amass wealth for their kin to live comfortably. Some Dents take to adventuring as a quick, if dangerous, path to wealth. Regardless of what spurs them to adventure, Dents who adopt this way of life eke as much enjoyment out of it as they do out of any other activity they undertake, sometimes to the great annoyance of their adventuring companions.

ALWAYS APPRECIATIVE

It’s rare for a Dent to be hostile or malicious unless he or she has suffered a grievous injury. Dents know that most races don’t share their sense of humor, but they enjoy anyone’s company just as they enjoy everything else they set out to do.

Subrace

Choose one of the subraces below or one from another source.

ARMADILLO

A slow, bulky yet powerful subrace. Armoured scales. Defensive, good diggers and if in doubt, they ball up.

HEDGEHOG

Hedgehogs are meek, friendly, and perceptive. Scavengers and keen herbalists. Quills that can harm anyone who grabs them and the ability to ball up helps them survive. They will ball up until the attacker gives up.

PORCUPINE / ECHIDNA

Porcupines and Echidnas are hearty and insightful however, easily agitated. Quills similar to the Hedgehog, however, their longer spines make them hard to spot in tall grass. They can also ball up. Easily startled and short tempered, they will fan up their quills tall, clatter teeth, emit odour and eventually attack.

MOLE

Moles are enduring and perceptive, not due to their sight but due to their strong noses. They spend most their time in the dark. A strong and cautious existence underground.

PLATYPUS

Agile, skilled with their hands and amphibious. Having unique poisonous barbs has allowed them to ward off quick predators in the waters.

Dents [Hedgehog] (Raesokeran Edentatus) Traits

Your Edentatus character has certain characteristics in common with all other Edentatus Creatures.

Insectivore

Your strict diet of insects and roots requires you to know how to find food to fend for yourself. You have proficiency in Wisdom (Survival).

Unusual Body Type

Edentatus cannot wear regular armor, due to their unusual body structure. Armor can be made specially for this race, but it will generally cost more to make it specifically for this race.

Quills

Any creature using a combat action to grapple you while you're unarmored or wearing specialized armor gives you advantage on escaping the grapple.

Quilled Defence (Ball)

As long as you are either wearing no armor or wearing Hedgehog armor, you may roll up into a ball as a bonus action on your turn, raising your AC by 4. While using this ability, you cannot perform any action except to exit or move at 30 feet on a flat surface. You cannot enter and exit quilled defense on the same turn. Any unarmed or natural attacks against you deal 1d4 piercing damage to the attacker.

Herbalist

You have proficiency in nature and herbalist tools.

Age

Edentatus mature around age 6 and live up to 60 years

Alignment

Edentatus tend towards neutrality.

Size

Your size is medium

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Darkvision

Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Ability Score Increase

Edentatus are hardy and tough. Your constitution score is increased by 1

Hedgehogs are meek, friendly, and perceptive. Your Wisdom and Charisma scores each increase by 1

Languages

You can read, write, and speak common and Edentatus (Halfling).