Drelanni (5e Race)
Drelanni
High in the canopy of old growth forests live the reclusive drelanni. A shy folk, few people who have crossed a woodland have even heard of these treetop specialists. Very few travelers ever take the time or the effort to peer through the thick canopy, so the treehouses that the drelanni make their homes are rarely seen. The drelanni’s focus on the family unit is practically unmatched in the realm of civilized races. A stranger in a drelanni’s presence is long to be trusted, but once established it is a bond that is even harder to break.
Physical Description
Somewhat resembling a primitive elf, their bodies are slight and covered in a light fur that ranges in various shades of blue and green. Their appendages end in four fingers and toes instead of five, and most noticeably, all drelanni possess a slender prehensile tail which they use mainly to traverse through the high canopies of their forest homes.
Society
Within drelanni society, every individual’s life is an open book. If something happens to an individual, the event becomes common knowledge to the whole community. This is not because the drelanni are nosy, but rather because the concept of secrecy is alien to drelanni. Even personal privacy is a strange concept to them. Most drelanni wear no clothing when in the company of their own kind and when societal norms of other races force them to wear clothing they are noticeably uncomfortable. This freedom with information may pose a risk to other characters, so be careful what secrets you share with a drelanni, for it may not remain a secret for long.
This extends to mating customs as well. While they do marry and have preferred mates for emotional stability, drelanni are polygamous, and as a result families tend to be large and complex. In fact it is not uncommon for drelanni to be found mating almost anywhere in the community, in broad daylight, should the mood hit them at the moment.
Adventuring Drelanni
The vast majority of drelanni never leave their treetop communities, except to forage or hunt. Very infrequently, an individual drelanni or sometimes a small group may venture into civilization to trade for goods, and even then usually will only be found in elven villages or gnomish hamlets. Very rarely will you see a drelanni trading in a human or halfling settlement, and there have been no recorded drelanni interactions within a dwarven stronghold. An adventuring drelanni will almost always be doing so as a result of tragedy. Only something drastically life-changing, like a disaster or some great crime, would drive a drelanni from his community and family. On rare occasions drelanni are exiled from their treetops, sent to wander from their homes because of some great calamity they have caused, whether intentional or not.
In times of dire need, communities have sent individuals out into the world seeking aid from anyone willing to help, whether to help defend against marauding creatures or against a potential disaster, natural or otherwise. These drelanni will only stay out among the other strange lands long enough to complete their quests, then return home as soon as they are able.
Drelanni Names
The names that drelanni adopt may sound elvish to an ear with only passing familiarity with the Elvish tongue, but to the elves drelanni names sound nonsensical, even primitive. They may sound like the sound of a bird chirping, or the shrill call of a squirrel or other forest creature. There is no real parsing of male and female names; in fact, drelanni names are closely tied with the first creature the child sees or hears when they come into the world.
Male / Female: Cheeree, Gaur, Hasha, Howsh, Maha, Oowah
Drelanni Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. As humanoids distantly related to the fey, drelanni have fairly long lifespans compared to humans. A drelanni reaches adulthood around 25, and the oldest of them can live for 400 years.
Alignment. A carefree, open people, drelanni are often chaotic good, or sometimes chaotic neutral. The inability of drelanni to keep secrets may be seen as malicious but they literally do not know any better, so it's not due an evil nature, as evil drelanni are rare.
Size. Drelanni are typically between four to just under five feet tall, and weigh between 65 to 90 pounds. Your size is Medium.>
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You also have a base climb speed of 20 feet, provided the surface you are climbing is not smooth or featureless, and you are not carrying an object with your prehensile tail.
Darkvision. 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.
Natural Acrobat. You have advantage on checks in the Acrobatics skill.
Vestigial Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or magically being put to sleep.
Prehensile Tail. You possess a prehensile tail which can be used to grab and hold small objects. You are able to carry a single object with your tail weighing up to the value of your Strength score (any object carried by his tail counts towards your encumbrance). You can also wield - and use in combat - a weapon with the Light property (provided it meets the weight requirements). You can make an extra attack per round using the weapon held in the tail, but at a -2 penalty from your highest attack bonus. You cannot throw a weapon with your prehensile tail. If you wear normal armor, the tail cannot be used in this fashion; you must use armor specially made to accommodate the appendage. The drelanni can also use its tail for climbing, but its Climb speed is effectively 0 when carry an object with its tail, and must succeed in Strength (Acrobatics) checks when climbing instead. With a successful Strength check.
Drelanni Weapon Training. Drelanni are proficient with the blowgun, spear, and bolas.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Drelanni.
Random Height and Weight
Base Height | Height Modifier* | Base Weight | Weight Modifier** |
---|---|---|---|
4′ 2″ | +2d4 inches | 60 lb. | × (2d4) lb. |
*Height = base height + height modifier |
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