Homebrew Yordle Species Details

The Yordle are a race of fey spirits who generally take the appearance of mammalian bipeds. They mostly reside in a demiplace known as Bandle City, though some of them have ventured out to live in numerous realms.

Yordles come from a demiplace within the Feywild, with no direct "mirror" in the material plane. The origin of this race is unknown but can be traced back to ancient times when there were no civilizations. Most would agree that Yordles resided on the material plane during its early times. At that time, they were a nomadic race, travelling from one realm to the other. They lived in tight, neat family groups as well as near early humanoids. Because of their small stature, they were mostly prey for many animals. During ancient times, they had tails and front canine teeth.

Overtime, as human civilizations advanced, so did yordles' appearances and abilities. To easily blend in human areas, yordles at one point started using an ability called "Glamour", which gave them the appearance of short humanoids.

To this day, most yordles stay inside the demiplace known as Bandle City, only venturing out on rare occasions. There are numerous gateways across the realms that yordles, and other knowledgeable and perceptive individuals, are able to use to get to in and out of Bandle City.

Fey Spirits and Immortality

Yordles are sometimes sexually dimorphic and much shorter than humans; both sexes are much shorter than most humanoids and slightly shorter than halflings, gnomes and dwarves; both sexes rarely exceed 3 feet tall. Yordles are between 1 and 3 feet tall. Their skin texture ranges from being lightly covered in fur, to moderately fuzzy, to ultimately being excessively bushy. Their hands have four digits, while their feet differ greatly depending on the individual (from four to two digit feet). Their fur tones run a much broader spectrum of colors than their human counterparts; some consider this to be a sign of the yordles' attunement to magical nature; though researches agree that this evolutionary trait is used by male Yordles (which tend to be more fuzzy) to attract females of their species (which tend to be lightly covered with fur). Their large eyes feature a large, circular iris with a vertically oval pupil, and they generally have darkvision. Yordles nevertheless have much better hearing, due to their large fox-like ears and are able to see into the infrared spectrum of light, whereas humans cannot. Furthermore, they are commonly characterized by their dependence on language, as well as their creation and utilization of complex tools.

Yordles do not age in the same way as beings of the material plane do thanks to being creatures of the outer planes and therefore have different concepts of aging. Yordles also don't die. The yordle race have shown the possibility to be amphibious, though it is unknown whether it is his original form or one of his choosing. Yordles can somewhat be considered fey spirits due to being native to the Feywild. They don't need to breathe. 

Reproduction

It is unknown how new Yordles came to be. It appears new Yordles emerge from random wards of magic and came into certain model of family units with more "mature" Yordles.

Culture

Yordle culture is gregarious and varied; they require far more social interaction than humanoids do. They generally are a peaceful and amicable race, often marked with streaks of joviality and light prankishness, with their personality most often pointed toward benevolence. Their desire for social interaction also drives them toward this ethos, as the mental health of a yordle is very much dependent on the positive company he or she keeps.

Yordles are attracted to the material plane cultures and enjoy manifesting around certain humanoid ideals. They tend to take on the aspects of the culture or area in which they reside, often coming to resemble genius loci. Thus, despite their predisposition towards benevolence, they are not uniformly kind or cheerful. In fact, a yordle who is kept in isolation for too long – especially from other yordles – or who resides in a culture defined by significant malevolence runs the risk of adopting the negative traits of their environment. These yordles will often twist their desire for social interaction into a desire to seek out others to inflict pain and suffering upon them.

Yordle Traits

Your yordle characters has the following innate traits.

Age

It's hard to determine when a yordle reaches their physical maturity and it's even harder to determine them as an adult. Yordles do not age in the same way as most creatures and therefore have different concepts of aging. Yordles never die. If a yordle where to die, they just return to Bandle City after some time.

Size

Yordles are much shorter than most humanoids and slightly shorter than halflings, gnomes and dwarves; both sexes rarely exceed 3 feet tall. Yordles are between 1 and 3 feet tall. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Creature Type

You are a Fey spirit creature. You don't need to breath. 

Glamour

For the less enlightened creatures, a yordle's appearance could seem frightening or unnatural. Fortunately, they are adept at blending in, and often protected by a kind of magical glamour—subconsciously fading from other creature's perception, or being masked as a less remarkable individual.

Every creature that sees you must perform a Perception check, DC 15 + your Proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). On a fail, roll a d12, and the creatures can use the following table to determine the racial appearance they would see you as. On a success, they will see you as your real appearance. You can seem 1 foot taller and can appear thin, fat, or in between. You can, voluntarily, choose a creature to see you normally.

12	Appearance
1	Aasimar
2	Changeling
3	Fairy
4	Genasi
5	Gnome
6	Goblin
7	Halfling
8	Harengon
9	Kenku
10	Kobold
11	Owlin
12	Tabaxi

Innate Magic

You have proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you know a cantrip from the Druid and Sorcerer spell lists. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it (choose when you select this race). 

Language

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 widespread languages to choose from. The DM is free to add or remove languages from that list for a particular campaign.