Homebrew Yautja Species Details

In the dark forests, there lives the frightful Yautja. Few folk can come face to face a Yautja, and live to tell the tale. Yautja hunt in the dark wetness of rain forests, and jungles. Their bodies look in their prime never aging or ceasing to work. Their spirits take after the wandering wind, making them nomads who wander from forests to jungles and even towns. Their hearts are infused with the thrill, and fire of the hunt, as well as coldness for their enemies. From birth, they live to earn a name in the clan or die in the thrill of the hunt.

Driven Hunters

Every day brings a new challenge to a Yautja.  A single mistake can bring doom to an entire tribe, while an individual’s heroic effort can ensure the entire group’s survival. Yautja thus places a premium on self-sufficiency and individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their kills and tallying their accomplishments by tearing out the skulls of those who fell to the Yautja, to compare to others. This dedication to the hunt has a dark side. Yautjas are ferocious Hunters, but above all else, they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a Yautja slays a Dragonborn, he or she might seek out a larger, more powerful Goliath to battle. Many Yautja adventurers reach old age, but some die on the hunt as youngbloods.

Fair Play

For Yautja, competition exists only when it is supported by a level playing field. The hunt measures talent, dedication, and effort. Those factors determine survival in their home clan,  not relying on magic items or other elements that can tip the balance of combat one way or the other. Yautja will rely on such benefits, but they are careful to remember that such an advantage can always be lost. A Yautja who relies too much on power can grow rebellious and bring about a recipe for disaster in the clan. This trait manifests most strongly when Yautja interact with other folk. The relationship between peasants and nobles puzzles Yautja. If a king lacks the intelligence or leadership to lead, then clearly the strongest person in the kingdom should take his place. Yautja rarely keep such opinions to themselves, and mock folk who rely on society’s structures or rules to maintain power.

Survival of the Fittest

Among Yautja, any hunter who can’t contribute to the tribe is expelled. A lone Yautja has a decent chance of survival, especially an older or wiser one. Yautja have little pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the Yautja concept of fair play. A permanently injured Yautja is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a Yautja earns his name if they complete their attempt to keep up, or the Yautja slips away in the night to live the rest of its days in peace. In some ways, the Yautja drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A Yautja would much rather die in battle, at the peak of strength and skill, than endure the embarrassment of defeat. Few folk have ever meet an elderly Yautja they are clan leaders and their clans' best hunters, who have left their people grapple with the urge to go rogue with their lives as they slip farther and farther away from the clan. Because of their risk-taking, Yautja tribes sometimes suffer from a chronic lack of the experience offered by long-term leaders. They hope for innate wisdom in their leadership, for they can rarely count on wisdom grown with age.

Yautja Names

Every Yautja has two names: a birth name assigned by the newborn’s mother and father, a nickname assigned by the clan leader

Birth names are often unpronounceable by other species as they consist of a series of clicks, whistles, and roars,

One's clan leader name is often how the leader would describe the youngbloods hunting abilities they can also be given names by fellow travelers. An example of a clan-given name could be "Stalker", or "Celtic".

Yautja Traits

The Yautja earn their titles of hunters with ease.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity increases by 2, while your Strength increases by 1.

Age

Yautja age much slower compared to humans. They enter adulthood after their hundreds and can live into the thousands, but very few Yautja live that long.

Size

Yautja are between 8 and 9 feet tall and weigh between 300 and 400 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a climbing speed of 20 feet.

Languages

You can speak Common and your native Yautja tongue, which consists of seemingly incoherent, clicks and growls.

Darkvision

You can see in the dark for up to 60 feet in front of you. However, you only see in thermal imagery.

Otherworldy Smith

You have proficiencies with Smith's Tools.