Homebrew Solarian Species Details
Hailing from dense forests atop tall trees, the Solarians, sometimes called beefolk, evoke fear and awe. Many solarians aren’t even native to the Material Plane. They hail from a world beyond — from the boundless vistas of the Elemental Plane of Air.
They are immigrants, refugees, scouts, and explorers, their outposts functioning as footholds in a world both strange and alien.
Antennae and Wing
From below, solarians look much like large bees. Only when they descend to the ground does their humanoid appearance reveal itself. Standing upright, solarians might reach 5 feet tall, and they have long, narrow legs, four arms, and a thorax ending in a menacing stinger.
Their bodies are covered in a naturally hard exoskeleton. Their markings typically denotes membership in a tribe. Males are brightly colored, with markings of red, orange, or yellow. Females have more subdued colors, usually brown or gray. Their heads complete the insectoid appearance, being something like a wasp or a bee with distinct tribal variations.
Forest Wardens
Nowhere are the solarians more comfortable than in the vast forests of Entropa. They spend the majority of their time in communal hives, and some go their entire lives within the vicinity of their home hives. In battle, they prove dynamic and acrobatic fliers, moving with remarkable speed and grace, diving to lash opponents with weapons or stinger before turning and flying away.
Solarian honey is a highly coveted substance, and is the source of Solarian's wealth. They tend to not want for much, but when certain goods are needed by the hive a contingent of solarians are dispatched to the closest market where they barter with their honey.
Solarian Mannerisms
The resemblance of solarians to bees isn’t limited to physical features. Solarians display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary bees. They are extremely social creatures, and in general don't like to be alone or away from their homes for long. Because of this, very few are adventurers, they tend to a settled people. When they deign to leave their homes, they often do so in the presence of close kin or allies.
Many solarians punctuate their speech with clicks and pheromones, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. A solarian might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances or misinterpret their pheromone signals; an solarians' threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.
The idea of personal ownership baffles most solarians. After all, in the communal nature of a hive ownership is for all. Even when explained to them, they initially find the notion of personal ownership mystifying. They find it hard not to leave behind their material treasures, unconcerned with objects that solely benefit themselves. A solarian who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses.
Isolation terrifies the solarians. To be alone, with no allies or friends is a torment few solarians can withstand.
Homelands
Most solarians live in the dense forests of Entropa. Solarians can be drawn away from their hives, sometimes to pursue enemies or thwart their foes’ designs there. Accident might also cause a hive of solarians to exodus their hives to find new homes. A few find themselves solus, but tend to attach themselves to the first friendly face they encounter.
Once a hive of solarians settle in an area, they share a foraging territory that extends across an area up to 100 miles on a side, with each tribe foraging in the lands nearest to their hive, ranging farther only should food become scarce.
A typical hive consists of one large, cavernous nest made of propolis & honeycomb. The eldest female rules as a queen with the support of an army of attendant solarians.
SOLARIAN HONEY
Solarian honey is world famous for its healing and aphrodisiac properties on other races. Rarely do you see a solarian away from their hive, but even rarer is the lone solarian with no honey on their person.
Solarians consume their honey as a primary food source. For other races, the honey can heal the most egregious wounds, and excite the most frigid old maiden. To solarians, the aphrodisiac effect on other races is hilarious and will delight in bartering away their honey to eager buyers. Some industrious solarian hives have distilled their honey down into pheromone-rich perfumes, which they sell to nobles for outrageous sums.
Great Purpose
Solarians enjoy peace and community. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other races and less interest in spending time away from their home-hives. For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstance for an solarian to leave their hives and undertake the adventurer’s life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure them from their tribes; a dire threat to their people, a mission of vengeance, or a catastrophe typically lies at the heart of the solarian's adventurer’s chosen path.
Solarian Names
As with much of their speech, solarian names include clicks and pheromones to the point that other peoples have a difficult time communicating with them. Typically the verbal component of a name denotes what hive they hail from, and their unique pheromone scent as their individual name. When interacting with other races, solarians use nicknames gained from people they meet since most races cannot overtly detect their pheromones.
SOLARIAN BACKGROUNDS
Backgrounds that are most appropriate for solarian are community related.
The small hives of solarians are insular and remote, and few solarians live away from their home-hives.
Solarian Traits
As an solarian, you have certain traits in common with your people. Being able to fly at high speed starting at 1st level is exceptionally effective in certain circumstances and exceedingly dangerous in others. As a result, playing an solarian requires special consideration by your DM.Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age
Solairans reach maturity by age 2. Compared to humans, solarians don’t usually live longer than 25 years.
Alignment
Most solarians are good and rarely choose sides when it comes to law and chaos. Tribal leaders and warriors might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers might tend toward chaotic.
Size
Solarians are about 5 feet tall. They have thick but lightweight bodies that weigh between 80 and 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Flight
You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.
Stinger
Your stinger is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes when descending on a target. If you hit with them after flying at least 10ft, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d8 + your Dexterity modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and speak Solarian, which has no written language.
Exoskeleton
You have naturally hard exterior, providing an +2 to AC when unarmored.