Homebrew Awakened Animal Species Details

 

As an awakened animal, you were once a wild creature who by some set of circumstances, whether by chance, divine intervention, or purposeful intention, became awakened. 

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, your character is classified as a humanoid or a beast. Work with your DM to see what fits their world, and the character, the best. 

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race in this chapter tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. Awakened animals a lifespan similar to that of humans, around a century.

Height and Weight

Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Player’s Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

Awakened Animal Traits

As an awakened animal, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Humanoid or a Beast.

Size

You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Animal Instincts

You can add your proficiency bonus to your initiative rolls.

Animal Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Natural Weapon

Your unarmed strike deals 1d4 plus STR or DEX slashing/piercing damage.

A Member of the Animal Kingdom

As an awakened animal, you retain the ability to communicate with non-awakened animals. You know the Speak with Animal Spell, and can cast it at will.