Homebrew Darter Species Details

Hard Working, Fun-loving

On the whole, Darter are full of positivity. In their day to day lives, they relish friendly competition, often turning their chores into games and awarding the best or fastest member with small prizes such as carved wooden animals, colorful stones, or pretty bits of eroded glass.

Industriousness is expected in Darter tribes. Families pass along the secrets and methods of their various trades to their young, though children who show no aptitude for their parents’ craft are not forced into a role they are unsuited to; rather the child will be schooled by other families in other trades until a suitable profession is discovered.

Darter are not territorial; they relish coming into contact with other tribes and delight in sharing prime camping locations where tales can be shared over meals. The instance of three or more tribes of Darter encountering each other is truly cause for celebration; the tribes will spend a week or more together engaging in athletic competitions, feasting, taletelling, and reveling. These impromptu celebrations are often the catalyst for young Darter to break away from their birth tribes and form a new tribe with a young female who has come of age as the matriarch.

Nomadic Hunters

Darter are a nomadic people, traveling from place to place in small family-oriented tribes of 25 to 40 individuals; they rarely spend more than a season in a location before moving on to see what lies ahead. Portability is paramount to these traveling folk, so they bring nothing with them that cannot be carried on their backs.

Open And Accommodating

Darter have a reputation as being affable, and indeed they are generally honest and respectful to those they encounter. Other races say this is because of their small stature and rather alien appearance; the Darter themselves say that it is due to their ancient wisdom, as their lore states that the first amphibians dragged themselves from the primordial waters eons before the first mammals appeared.

• Gnomes. “You need to be careful around gnomes. They mean well, but they are tricksome folk who sometimes ignore common sense in order to get a big response from their audience. Make no mistake though, they are the finest tinkers in any land. I once saw a pair of them that had built a boat that could row itself!”
• Halflings. “Halflings are as close to a Darter as a mammal can get. Do you remember the jamboree we had when we came together with the Everstump and West Barrow tribes? And then the halfling peddlers showed up! We had never had a five week long celebration before that and haven’t had one since!”
• Humans. “Humans can be ruthless, but their ability to build civilization, seemingly in any place, is to be respected, though why anyone would want to live in one place is beyond me. I find that if you treat fairly with them, they will do the same to you. But do not, under any circumstance allow them to snicker at you or to call you Frogface or Mister Toad.”

Bog born encampments are comprised of low wigwams made of woven marsh grasses laid over a frame of light yet sturdy wooden poles. Each residence can comfortably sleep up to eight Darter, or triple that number in times of emergency.

Lake striders ply the rivers and lakes constantly; they often find work poling barges of trade goods through the waterways.

It is not uncommon to see trains of barges, rafts, and canoes being guided up and downstream by entire tribes of the frog-like folk. Regardless of inclement weather, lake striders prefer to bunk in the open air, on the deck of their watercraft, or in the soft grass or sand along the riverbank.

Patternback Darter reside in hot, humid climes, often creating temporary tree-top villages out of the living canopy and the cured skins of the reptiles they hunt. In regions with particularly fierce predators, patternbacks team up with other nearby tribes to eliminate the danger to the benefit of all.

Over the Next Horizon

As nomads, Darter possess a natural wanderlust. While it is rare for a Darter to break away from the ways of her people entirely, newly formed tribes often range far and wide to increase their knowledge of the world.

On occasion, a young Darter can’t find a role suited to her abilities. When this occurs, the youngster often abandons her people and their ways and forms a new tribe of a sort. Darter adventurers tend to maintain the wanderlust that is a hallmark of their people and rarely like to spend more than a few nights sleeping in the same place.

Names

Darter are named by their parents at the time they make the transition from tadpole to young Darter, called dartlets. The names of notable Darter heroes and legends are favored for their young, though different Darter with the same name will often stress different syllables, making each version sound distinct. Darter take their family names from prominent features they demonstrate.

With the passage of time family names can be altered substantially, and new Darter matriarchs will often change their family name completely when they break off to form a new tribe. Darter who turn away from the ways of their people often forgo their family name entirely, preferring to go by their given name alone.

Male Names: Bors, Jome, Kappo, Krebbit, Pol, Reb, Ropo, Trev, Wakka

Female Names: Breat, Dian, Kurran, Leef, Renn, Roppa, Tova

Family Names: Fastclimber, Finesight, Greenback, Longswimmer, Smoothhands, Softbreath, Toughweb

Darter Traits

Though they have adapted to their respective environments, Darter as a species share a number of natural abilities.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2

Age

Hatched from eggs and usually mature by age 12. By the time Darters reach adulthood, around age 15, they have completed dozens if not hundreds of hours training in their chosen role.

Size

Darters go from 4 feet to just over 5 feet tall, and weigh up to 90 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

The Darter's base walk and swim speed is 30ft.

Amphibious

You can breathe normally on land and underwater.

Keen-eyed Hunter

You have proficiency in Perception and Survival.

Leaping Stride

Darter have developed the ability to make amazing leaps from a standing position. You can long jump a number of feet equal to double your Strength score and are always treated as if you moved at least 10 feet on foot beforehand. You can high jump a number of feet equal to 6 + your Strength modifier without moving beforehand. Darter cannot jump farther than their remaining movement would allow.

Languages

You speak, read, and write Common and Darter. Darter is comprised of long croaking vowels and short chirping consonant sounds.