Homebrew Crabfolk Species Details
Hailing from the deep darkness of the ocean floors, Crabfolk are a strange family of creatures. They have some human characteristics, but any doubt about their true nature is taken away after one quick glance at the bulky exoskeleton that protects their tender insides. Their beady eyes are enough to make any experienced adventurer's skin crawl.
Aquatic Vassals.
Long ago, a green hag gathered a small army of ogres to serve as her enforcers along the desolate coast she had claimed. The hag found the ogres' simple minds and brutal strength useful, but too often, their lack of cunning foiled her plans. Many tumbled into the sea and drowned, too simpleminded and impatient to learn how to swim. Others smashed caravans and crushed their defenders most effectively, but looted cheap, bulky trade goods while leaving valuable smaller treasures behind.
Frustrated by her servants, the hag wove a spell to adapt them to the coastal terrain while planting in their minds a few simple commands to help them with their tasks. She gave them the tenacity and toughness of a crab to augment their strength, grasping claws to help them claim the treasures she loved, and a deeply embedded magical compulsion to obedience.
The hag had a particular love of silver, and was loath to allow even the smallest bit of that metal to slip through her grasp. Her spell gave the crab folk an insatiable love for silver. When they see it, all crab folk feel an irresistible urge to seize it and carry it back to their lairs. If necessary, they resort to violence to claim the metal.
Brutal Raiders.
Each year, when the warm summer gives way to the chill of autumn, the crab folk look to the sky for omens. In ancient days, the green hag kept close watch on the fishing villages and towns near her domain. If those settlements grew too strong, she sent her familiar, a cruel seagull, to harangue the crab folk with its cries and drive them to war. Today, by a stroke of bad luck a gull might happen to land near a crab folk lair and utter the right combination of cries to summon up this ancient compulsion. Driven to action, the crab folk rampage along the coast, looting and smashing any settlements they know of or encounter. After six days exactly, their rampage ends, and they return to their humble lives.
When a coastal raid or a theft of silver is done, crab folk gather the treasures they have won and place them at the feet of a simple effigy of their hag creator, made from driftwood and other scrap and kept in their communal lair. The crab folk have little sense of what drives them, but they understand that the effigy represents a mother and creator who must be obeyed.
Legend holds that the green hag preferred to travel in the guise of a regal hobgoblin queen. If the crab folk ever encounter someone who bears a strong resemblance to that form, their magical compulsion might force them to worship that creature, obeying their every command.
Crabfolk Traits
Crabfolk go by the following traitsAbility Score Increase
Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age
Crabfolk mature at a relatively young age of 12 years, but they can live on for centuries if left in the right conditions. On the land however, they usually die around the age of 60.
Alignment
Crabfolk vary wildly in their alignment. Their minds and thought processes are often very alien to surface dwellers, making it hard to pin a tie on them. One moment they might do a good thing, only to do something horrifyingly evil right after.
Size
Crabfolk usually sport an insanely bulky build, making them lean against the large size, but they're not quite there yet. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet, same as your swimming speed.
Darkvision
Crabfolk are adjusted to the dark environments of the ocean floor, where little daylight ever reaches. They have adapted to the environment with darkvision. You posses 30 feet of it.
Limited Amphibiousness
As a crabfolk, you can breath both water and air, but in order to avoid suffocating, you must spend at least & hour each day submerged completely in water. If you spend more than 24 hours without doing so, you will lose 1d4 maximum hit points for every hour until you get submerged in water again. You regain 1d4 of your maximum hit points for each long rest you spend submerged in water.
Crustacean Claws
Crabfolk posses a set of powerful pincers which they can use to squeeze the living hell out of anything. These claws also make it a little hard for them to hold on to certain things however.
You have disadvantage on all your Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks.
In addition, your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the normal damage for an unarmed strike.
Languages
Crabfolk are descendant of the ancient giants that once roamed the ocean floors. You can speak, read and write Common and Giant.
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