Homebrew Girtablilu Species Details

Guardians of the Ancient:

The girtablilu are scorpionfolk that were originally created by Tiamat to serve her as soldiers in her war against the lesser gods. Upon her defeat, several gods took in the girtablilu and gave them a new purpose. They charged the girtablilu with the task of guarding ancient ruins, sacred temples, lost cities, abandoned holy sites, cultures and religions of the past, and treasures forgotten by history. Far from civilized eyes, the girtablilu piously protect their charges with the aid of giant scorpions that they keep as pets. Girtablilu guard many of the oldest ruins the world has to offer, particularly in deserts and wastelands. They drive intruders out of their territories with dire warnings and violence in order to protect the ancient secrets they were charged with. The race maintains a tribal culture of family groups who live near the sites they guard. Many chieftains are clerics of gods who took the girtablilu in, oracles of ancient entities, or shamans empowered by the spirits of those who lived and perished in the deserts. Because religion plays such a large role in girtablilu society, the race has a reputation for cultish zealotry and dedication to archaic faiths. Many girtablilu believe they are protecting the material plane from the terrible spaces beyond by performing the rituals of long-forgotten deities and preventing intruders from defiling sacred places. While they might make exploration of sacrosanct locations dangerous for the curious, girtablilu do so out of a powerful sense of duty to a purpose that few outsiders take the time to understand. Adventurers usually encounter girtablilu in hunting or raiding parties. Hunting parties consist of two to four girtablilu rangers and usually at least one trained giant scorpion. If the search for food takes the group a significant distance from the tribe’s home, the hunters may not consider an adventuring party a threat, allowing for a peaceful meeting. However, if explorers roam too close to the tribe’s territory, the hunters may attack in order to prevent the adventurers from stumbling upon the area under the tribe’s protection.

Religion and Culture:

Girtablilu leaders are druid, clerics, oracles, or shamans, and are responsible for the tribe's religious observances and laws. Tradition and service to the group are important. Those who violate tribal beliefs are killed or exiled into the harsh wasteland. Girtablilu believe that no sacrifice in life, including death in the service of their gods, goes unrewarded in the hereafter. This belief makes them fierce and fearless fighters. All girtablilu share a zeal for religion, although the objects of veneration vary from tribe to tribe. Some girtablilu tribes still serve long-forgotten deities, preserving the divinities' names and holy rituals. Others embrace religions derived from prehistoric worship, devoted to the idea of gods that once were or might never have been. The girtablilu pantheon contains a number of living and non-living deities, the core of which being the gods who took them in after Tiamat's defeat. Divine chieftains lead girtablilu villages and serve as spiritual guides. If the tribe venerates a spirit or deity whose worship is not long dead, they might benefit from the presence of a cleric However, their strange connection to the ancient places they protect most often manifests as a girtablilu druid, oracle, or shaman. A girtablilu oracle may even bear a strange curse that forces them to stay near a particular site.

Desert Hunters:

Girtablilu are obligate carnivores, as such sustain themselves using the spoils of their skilled hunters. Girtablilu hunting parties traverse arid deserts, hunting in the night night, while waiting out the day's heat by burying themselves in loose sand or lurking in ruins or shallow caves. A girtablilu tribe stays close to wherever they were tasked with protecting. While they normally hunt around their ancient ruins, the slim pickings of the desert often force hunting parties to scavenge far beyond their homes. If a tribe suffers a defeat, famine, or their numbers otherwise wear thin, a tribe's leader may send scouting parties far out into the desert to search out other girtablilu tribes for aid. To navigate the ever-shifting desert sands, girtablilu travel in the night, using the stars to guide their way.

Girtablilu Traits

Your girtablilu heritage grants you the following traits:

Ability Score Increase

One ability score of your choice increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Age

Girtablilu reach maturity around the age of 15, and can live up to 100 years.

Size

Girtablilu range in length from 11-13 feet from the top of their heads head to the tip of their tails, and weigh 600-800 pounds  Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You are accustomed to traversing the deserts at night and hunting under starlight. 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.

Natural Armor

Your body is covered by a hard carapace that protects you from harm. While not wearing armor, you can calculate your AC as 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Powerful Build

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

Desert Born

You are well acclimated to hot and dry climates, and don’t suffer the effects of extreme heat.

Scorpion Empathy

You can cast animal friendship at will, but only targeting scorpions.

Claws

You have two claws that can be used for grappling, shoving, and making unarmed strikes, as well as for pushing, dragging, and lifting. Your claws can’t precisely manipulate, use, or activate any equipment, and can't be used to draw, wield, load, or attack with weapons, or wield a shield. Your claws count as natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. They deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. When you hit a creature with an attack using your claws, you can choose to grapple or shove the target instead of dealing damage. You can make one attack with your claws as a bonus action on your turn.

Stinger

Your stinger is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. It deals piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. When you hit a creature with an attack using your stinger, the target must make a Constitution Saving throw (DC = 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Constitution Modifier). On a failed save, the target takes 1d6 poison damage and is poisoned for 1 minute. On a successful save, the target takes half as much poison damage and is not poisoned. A creature poisoned in this way can repeat its saving throw against the poison at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. You have advantage on attacks using your stinger against creatures grappled by you. The poison damage dealt by your stinger increased to 2d6 at 5th level, to 3d6 at 9th level, to 4d6 at 13th level, and to 5d6 at 17th level.

Languages

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