Homebrew Xu'keen Species Details

DESCRIPTION
Once peaceful halflings forced to survive the unforgiving wilds on their own, xu’keen have become hardened individualists who tend toward aggressive behavior and combativeness. They use their natural traits and experience to set their own path in life, often seeking to prove themselves against “bigger folk” that might underestimate their prowess and courage.

APPEARANCE
The xu’keen are small, wiry humanoids with taut muscles and sharp facial features. Their skin tones range from a chalky white to warm grays. They have beady eyes, often ringed with yellow irises, and sharpened teeth. They favor scarification as the primary means of decorating their bodies and have numerous piercings. They are fond of wearing outlandish bone-fetish trinkets. They often look dangerous and intimidating, as if ready to spring to violence, even when calm.

NAMES
When acclimating into urbanized society, most xu’keen choose to take on Common word nicknames, rather than use their traditional tribal or family names. Often, these nicknames are as edgy and fierce as the Xu’keen themselves.
Nicknames
Shank, Rip, Shiv, Gruff, Shrike, Bite, Spar, Gnaw, Skar

UNDERFOOT
AND OVERWHELMED
The halflings of Old Sularia were rarely taken very seriously by the “big people.” When the empire fell and the mass migrations to the south began, the halfling refugees were caught underfoot and nearly trampled by the other races. When the refugees bottlenecked at the Barrier Pass and the violence erupted—the halflings scurried for their lives. Most of their kind never made it out of the battlefield known as the Sea of Bones...and those that did were changed forever.

INDOMITABLE SURVIVORS
The former halflings that survived the Battle of the Barrier Peaks were left scarred and broken by their ordeal. Taking the name xu’keen, an old dwarven term for “feral,” they changed significantly in temperament and aspect. Their skin and eyes drained of color—leaving them with a bone-white appearance. It is rumored that many of them even resorted to cannibalism to survive over time. This claim has never been validated, but the troubling mystique remains. As the centuries passed and Lawbrand came to power, many of the xu’keen traveled south into the Trade-Cities seeking to escape from their hardscrabble survival in the wilderness.

NOT QUITE MODEL CITIZENS
Xu’keen tend to be solitary and abrasive. They are somewhat selfish and paranoid by nature—as if they’re constantly being hunted by some predator or another. They hate the idea of confinement—either physically or emotionally—and seek to live by their own rules and desires. Distrustful and aggressive by nature, it’s hard for the xu’keen to make friends or endear themselves to the other citizens of Lawbrand. But when they do commit to their neighbors, they prove to be extremely loyal, if somewhat caustic, friends.

Xu'keen Traits

XU'KEEN TRAITS

Compact Chaos

You are proficient with any improvised weapon, and you deal +2 damage when attacking with an improvised weapon. Before making a melee attack with an improvised weapon, you can choose to take a −5 penalty to the attack roll. If you do so, and the attack hits, add +10 to the attack’s damage. The weapon then breaks and becomes unusable after this action, regardless if the attack hits or misses.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, your Dexterity increases by 1.

Age

Xu’keen reach adulthood by age 16 and live on average for 30 years.

Size

Xu’keen average about 4 ft. tall and typically weigh 75 lbs or less. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Almost Utterly Fearless

You cannot be intimidated or frightened by nonmagical means from creatures larger than you—but you have disadvantage against being frightened by Tiny creatures.

Cut Them Down to Size

When attacking Large or bigger creatures with a melee attack, you can make an additional attack and receive one of the following bonuses for that attack:

Xu'keen