Homebrew Opossum Folk Species Details

Living in the trees of woodlands and mountains, Opossum folk are hunter-gathers that keep their environments free of disease. They're social humanoids that thrive in harsh winters and humid summers. Adaptability is their specialty. Their communities are primarily secluded from towns and cities, but they are known to travel for trade. They focus on a trade and barter system for external affairs. Their society focuses on community first and individual gain second. With a focus on community, they work with each other to live happy lives while keeping the ecosystem in balance.

 

Nature's Garbage Disposal 

Most Opossum folk stay within their communities and focus on the surrounding ecosystem. They will switch between eating poisonous plants, disease carrying bugs, venomous animals, and disease ridden animals to keep the area clean. This immunity comes from a combination of having too low of a body temperature for diseases to live, able to eat and digest carrion, and naturally producing base proteins for anti-venom. Their immunity to venom allows them to catch snakes with ease.  Being so efficient, they're often hired to help surrounding farmland and towns. These are cleaner opossums.

 

Hardy Opportunist 

Opossum folk have earned their title as nature's garbage disposal by eating whatever comes their way. Fungi, plants, bugs, meats, carrion, rancid meals, anything and everything is a meal in their eyes. They are primarily gathers and scavengers. Gathering everything from fruits, seeds and nuts, algae, and fungi. Scavenging with a focus on death from old age and disease. There's always someone in the settlement that has a focus on hunting. While opossum folk aren't apex predators they're not weak. Hunters are most common with settlements that have large game populations. Hunters focus on keeping the herbivores healthy, thinning out the old and disease prone. It's common for hunters to travel between settlements. Being an opportunist created their ability to adapt and survive. By eating everything they are able to live anywhere.

 

Beyond the Settlement

Once in awhile, an opossum folk gets the travel bug. There are only three roles that allow for travel, hunters, traders, and cleaners. Both are important for settlement and ecosystem health. Hunters focus on keeping wildlife game populations in check. They thin out the weak and disease ridden. It's common for them to go after large predators like owlbears. They have a more hands on approach to keeping balance. Traders work on opossum folk and other humanoid relations. Opossum folk society works on a gift system which other humanoids take advantage of. Traders prevent settlement exploitation by using a trade system rather than a gifting system. Traders scout out work for the cleaners while conducting business. Cleaners are opossum folk that are hired by neighboring farmlands and towns. As farmland encroached on their settlements, they have learned to work with farmers. In exchange for services they ask for food, seed, metal, or other useful goods. Rarely is currency involved. They handle a plethora of issues most humanoids find too tedious or dangerous. This varies from handling infestations, livestock security, tick and flea removal, to dead animal removal. With a natural ability to climb, they're able to clean out barns and silos from rodents and bugs.

 

Opossum Folk Names

Opossum folk babies, joeys, go nameless while they are in their mother's pouch. They gain names once they are out of the pouch by whatever the joey is first favorite object. Common names are the joey's first favorite food or collectible item. Uncommon names are tools or common household items, favorite words, favorite plants, or types of weather. Abnormal names are based on animals, humans, or other creatures in the food chain. Rare, nearly unheard of, names are mythical, monsters, or creatures far away.

Settlement names are based on landmarks. This can vary from specific ones like mountains, lakes, or the reign itself. 

The following list of sample opossum folk names.

Opossum Name Examples

Common: Portobello, Chicken Cutlet, Spinach, Rose Quartz, Limestone, Egg, Sweet Potato, Button

Uncommon: Shovel, Spade, Ratchet, Vinyl, Rain, Snow, Thunderstorm, Moss, Aloe, Algae. Fungai

Abnormal: Tick, Raven, Owlbear, Viking, Ox, Fox, Dire Wolf, Rattlesnake, Flea, Calishite, Damaran, Rashemi, Turami

Rare: Hellhound, Dragon, Banshee, Nothic, Oni, Death Knight

Opossum Settlement: use the table below (or something similar)

D8	MY HOMELAND IS …
1	Swamp
2	Woodlands
3	Forest
4	Mountains
5	Tropical
6	Coast
7	Highlands
8	Grasslands

Opossum Folk Personality

Opossum folk are immediately friendly and social when among their own. They accept other opossum folk rather quickly. They're quick to help one another, community is how they thrive. They are comfortable and confident in their home terrain. Outside of their homeland they are more reserved, especially in brand new environments. While they're important for the ecosystem opossum folk are not apex predators. In new environments they are on guard. This can vary from being overly alert to conscious of their surrounding smells. They are superficially friendly to other humanoids, socially polite but will reserve their resources and aid. 

Opossum folk use a gift system instead of currency. If one has currency it's to interact with the neighboring settlements. Gifts are either necessary resources or items one collects. Opossum folk do not have a class system, no one is entirely better or more important than another.  Gifts and sharing build their strong communities. Each opossum has a favorite item to collect and give. 

Opossum Favorite Item to Collect 

D8	MY FAVORITE ITEM TO COLLECT …
1	Crystals/Quartz
2	Buttons and Bottle caps
3	Incredibly smooth rocks
4	Bits of fabric
5	Seeds and nuts
6	Dead bugs
7	Bones
8	Small, reflective, and shiny

 

Opossum Folk Traits

Your opossum character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Opossum have lifespans equivalent to humans.

Alignment

Opossum folk tend to be neutral. While their focus on community and nature can be seen as good, they accept death as part of nature. They will help those in need but won't go against nature's call. 

Size

Opossum are shorter on average than humans and appear to be slightly thinner than the average human. They appear larger due to their double coat, dense under layer and corse top layer.

Height: 3 feet ~ 5 feet. Abnormal, very rare, 2 feet being the shortest and 6 feet being the tallest.

Weight in pounds: 60 pounds ~ 150 pounds. Abnormal, very rare, 40 pounds being the lightest and 190 pounds being the heaviest.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Your climbing speed is 20 feet.

Darkvision

Opossums have keen senses, especially in the dark. 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.

Marsupial Pouch

You have a small pouch that can be used for storage. The pouch remains closed when not in use, this is usual when climbing or swimming. The pouch does not have the same protection as the outside skin and fur provides, but has some resistant to being cut. It carries a max weight of 5lbs or 10% of your total weight.

Prehensile Tail

Your tail can hold small objects and wrap itself around things like tree branches or poles.  Your tail has a reach of 5 feet, and it can lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score or three times your Dexterity score. You can use it to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, or hold an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; or grapple someone. It is possible to hang for your tail for a short time, maximum 1 hour. Your tail can’t wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.

Double Coat

You have a thick, double layer coat that protects you from the elements. You are deceptively thinner than you appear due to your fur. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC is 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Opossum's Survivability

You have proficiency in the Perception and Survival skills.

Keen Smell

You have advantage on Perception checks that involve smell.

Nature's Garbage Disposal

Opossum folk are immune to disease, poison, venom from natural causes. For man-made causes, make a Survival saving throw with a DC of 10. 

Claws

Because of your claws, you have a climbing speed of 20 feet. In addition, your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Dexterity or Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Bite

Your fanged maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Dexterity or Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Playing Opossum

As a reaction Opossum folk can immediately fall into a death like state. You flop onto the ground as if you had been killed, emitting a foul odor similar to decay, and are indecipherable from a dead creature. You can go from laying down to standing as a bonus action or use half your movement speed. 

At times, playing opossum is involuntary. If you're frightened or scared you must make a wisdom saving throw. Minimum DC is 10, with the DM able to increase saving throw difficulty as needed. If you succeed, you act as you played opossum voluntarily. If. you fail, you are Frightened and Incapacitated. You can attempt the saving throw again next turn and can keep attempting until you succeed. If you reacted involuntarily, you retrain the Frightened condition.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.