Homebrew Brachian Species Details

Dinofolk are an ancient race of bipedal, warm blooded, near-lizards.  Millennia ago, there were thousands of subraces, varying wildly in form and function.  As time passed and new sentient races arose, the carnivorous and violent dinofolk warred themselves into extinction while the herbivorous dinofolk faded out of sight into the wild forests and mountains, retreating from civilization in an attempt at self-preservation.  One such tribe, the brachians, plan for their future by sending their maturing young out into the wide world in order to learn new skills and find new seeds--and to weed the weak from the strong.

Ancient Features

To those of the modern age, the world is a melting pot of different races--some small, some large; some simple, some exotic.  The brachians stand out in more ways than just height--they are a rare sight in a world where magic and monsters are common.  With pebbled, leathery skin, coloration depends on maturity cycle: in youth, green; in middle age, brown spots upon a green background; and in old age, brown and yellow in cloudy waves.  

Physically, their legs are stocky and nearly even in width from hip to ankle, with flat feet tipped by thick nails, making traditional shoes both impossible and unnecessary to wear.  A thick but stubby tail, typically less than 2 feet long, protrudes above the buttocks; used for balance.  The chest and arms are bipedal-typical but thickly proportioned and featuring wide, hefty hands and strong fingers.  The head of a brachian is bestial, in that the eyes are monocular, the mouth is wide and filled with thin teeth, the ears are not but slits at the base of the skull, and the nostrils rest atop a crested ridge in the center of the face.  Finally, the defining trait of a brachian is their impressively long neck, typically 3 feet long on adults.  Adults typically stand 5 feet at the shoulders, meaning a brachian is at eye level at 8 feet and nose level at 9 feet.  

One with Nature

The brachians have long been lost to the wilds, save for the occasional adolescent out on a coming of age journey.  In their home forests, the brachians serve as tenders, wardens, and consumers of the natural world around them.  Crops are woven through field and forest alike, rotated from year to year in specific patterns to best nourish the soil and ecosystem.  Homes are crafted by weaving young trees into functional shapes that grow into massive structures as the centuries pass.  Livestock are kept in loose, wandering herds that are culled only in times of disease or illness, and whose milk and fur are taken through mutual agreement.  

Speaking with animals and plants comes naturally to many brachians as they can utilize their massive vocal cords to produce sounds inaudible to most common folk.  The use of magic to influence and aid nature, as well as the importance of history, are large parts of brachian culture; respect for nature, magic, and history are equally important.  Furthermore, as herbivores and wardens of the wild, the brachians understand their size (all too well--common-folk doors and ceilings are so short!) and feel a natural urge to protect smaller creatures from predators.  Most brachians are neutral or lawfully aligned and enjoy helping others whenever possible.  

Living Libraries

Brachians live long lives--typically reaching 200 years of age.  Those that utilize magical means to extend their lifespans continue to grow (so long as an unlimited food supply is available), with the few 2,000 year old elders reaching some 75 feet tall--immobile saints of the forest.  As they age, most brachians seek to learn as much as they can, filling their minds with entire books, one after the other, utilizing their natural eidetic memory.  What each specializes in, however, is typically determined during an adolescent's Long Walk or Learning Walk: several years spent wandering the realms, learning as much as possible so that new information may later be transcribed into new texts.  This thirst for knowledge, however, has a downside: most brachians don't know how to say no to others.

The Learning Walk

In their adolescent years, willing brachioteens are sent out into the wide world to gather experience, knowledge, skills, seeds, books, magic--anything and everything that draws their interest and/or that they think might benefit the tribe.  During this time, many a brachioteen will experiment with all nature of things--meat eating, inter-species relations, tattoos and other forms of body modification.  Many return with great gifts, but some either get into trouble through their agreeable nature or find something far more interesting than their boring old tribe...love, adventure, a dusty library...the list goes on.  During this time, however, the ultimate goal of the Walker is to find a focus: a subject upon which they wish to become a penultimate expert--without this knowledge, a Walker will not be allowed to return to brachio-society.  In some instances, said chosen subject is the outside world, and the Walker becomes such permanently, acting as an emissary or diplomat between cultures.

Thunder Lizard

Much of childhood is spent learning how to control one's body, and that is no different for the brachians.  That said--their size, height, and monocular vision complicate some things.  In combat, most lightweight melee weapons are unwieldy in their hands and two-handed long range weapons are nearly impossible to use.  Feet and fists can be used to great effect, with thick skin and naturally massive muscles adding to the force behind any blow.  In moments of great anger, a brachio-warrior is able to drop to all fours with tremendous force in order to quake the ground around them. 

Brachian Traits

Brachians share several racial traits due to their sauropodian ancestry.

Ability Score Increase

Your Intelligence score increases by 2 and your Strength score increases by 1.

Brachian Lore

Raised to learn all you can about the world, you are proficient in one skill of your choice. Choose from Arcana, Investigation, History, or Nature.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Druidic. You also know Brach-Speak, a slow and guttural language that utilizes sounds that common-folk cannot hear.  Flora and fauna native to the brachian homelands respond to and understand this language naturally--the brach's have spent generations speaking to the wild world around them.  Beyond their homelands, Brach-Speak is audible to plants and animals, but they are highly unlikely to understand anything said.

Long Neck

You have proficiency on Perception checks regarding sight.  For effects that target an area, your size counts as Large.  

Natural Armor

Due to your thick, leathery hide, your base AC becomes 12 + your Dexterity modifier.

Powerful Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and weight you can push, drag, or lift.  Furthermore, you are at disadvantage when using any light or finesse weapon, or any two-handed ranged weapon.

Size

Male brachians stand roughly 9 feet tall and weigh roughly 400 pounds; females stand 7 feet tall and weigh roughly 300 pounds.  Your basic size is medium.  You have advantage on all ability checks and saving throws against being moved or knocked prone.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Thunder Lizard

You can channel the power of your behemoth ancestors in a thunderous stomp that levels your foes. On your turn you can use your action to drop to all fours; the resulting shockwave casts thunderwave as a 1st level spell, using Strength as your spellcasting ability.  This action does not expend a spell slot and does not count as a prepared spell.  You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.