Lobra (5e Race)

Lobra

Lobras are fantastical creatures with three heads, two tails, a low flat body, and excellent diplomatic credentials. Theyn (yes they have their own pronouns) are three headed, good natured, slightly draconic, high class, beasts of burden. When someone sees an lobra, they usually think "probably a diplomat". Since lobras have three heads, they have to grow up from childhood learning how to get along with themself, they become expert at having arguments and coming to agreements without coming to bloodshed. This makes them excellent diplomats when they are older. However not all of them are diplomats.

Lobras are generally run by three players, one controlling each head. A lobra head can be the player's 'second' character.

Lobras are odd creatures. It is said that if a camel is a horse designed by committee, a lobra is a horse designed by a large bureaucracy.

d6	Common Types
1	Fence - good fences make good neighbors
2	Diplomat - good diplomats also make good neighbors
3	Courier - generally at lower levels
4	Celebrity - at high levels of renown
5	Adventure steed - some lobras are members of adventuring parties, carrying them around on their backs
6	Legs - some lobras hire out the be the legs of the very aged or the very wealthy. In these cases they combine serious motility with serious guardian duties. Remember most lobras have three classes.

Physical Description

An lobra is a fantastical creature that looks like a big flat body with three snakes coming out of one end and two whip tails coming out the other. Lobras have one low body, two tails, three heads with long snaky necks, four arms with hands, can carry five medium sized adventurers, have six lizard/elephant like legs, and 12 chin tentacles per head. They are large creatures, but they can scrunch up to fit through standard doors. The six legs of an lobra resemble elephant legs with elephant feet, however they are splayed out in much the same way as a lizard's legs are splayed. When going through a door they tend to draw their legs underneath them and then draw each pair of legs inward even farther in sequence as they pass through the door. Lobras have forked tongues and tiny scales except on their elephant-like legs.

Tentacles

Lobras cast spells with their chin tentacles. These tentacles are about a foot long, work a lot like octopus tentacles (including suckers) and can be used to manipulate objects. They are the consistency of thin elephant trunks with suckers.

Combat

Each of their heads has nasty sharp pointy teeth which do 2d4 points of damage. Their tails are prehensile toward the base, but can be used as whips each causing 1d4 points damage. Their standard size on the battlefield is 5' wide and 10' long. Riders on lobras and the lobras themselves can hold lances, but they only do half damage as a lobra only moves half the speed of a horse while charging. Area affects affect the entire lobra as one creature, and damage gets divided among the heads and body. Lobras provide a stable firing platform even when traveling on stairs or rough or uneven terrain. Lobras have a minimum armor class of 13.

Which Heads Control What

The three heads tend to be each controlled by a different player. The right head controls two medium sized arms on the right front, and the left head controls the two medium sized arms on the left front. The right and left heads can also wield weapons, though not of the swinging variety, so they would never use flails, nun-chuku, bolos, or slings, they would hit themselves in the neck. The right and left heads can take over the legs from the center head with the right head controlling the three right legs, and the left head controlling the three left legs. The right head controls the right tail, and the left head controls the left tail. The central head can take over control of both tails.

Variations

They can be green, blue, aqua, brown, tan, grey, or black. Their tentacles can be translucent grey, yellow or yellow-green They may also have highly varied coloration as do some snakes. A few lobras have cobra hoods like cobras, a few have rudementary non-flying wings like chupacabras, but these variations are rare. Occasionally an lobra is born with a deformity of one rattling tail instead of one of its whip tails.

Carrying

Lobras are strong enough to carry five medium adventurers with standard gear. Lobras are sometimes equipped with giant crossbows on their backs or small ballista or catapults, although they will generally have to remove them to go dungeoneering. One of these takes the space of three of the adventurers. And the two remaining load and fire it.

History

Lobras were obviously designed in some magician's laboratory a long time ago (or very recently in some campaigns). They look like some odd combination of a snake, an ape, a dragon, an elephant, an octopus, hydra, and a starfish. But they turned out to breed true, and they are unusually tough. They are tough enough to travel between cities alone though monster ridden terrain. Lobra's diplomatic abilities were soon recognized as they negotiated for their own survival and for that of their friends, as they could travel long distances and they were very intelligent and had excellent memories. They tend to have a generally pleasant disposition except when the three heads sometimes get into very heated and cross arguments with each other. Lobras love travel and interaction, often journeying many hundreds or thousands of mile per year, to trade, carry messages, and negotiate treaties. They built one institution of higher learning and diplomatic training about 200 years ago, but otherwise they have no fixed habitation as a group.

Lobra Society

Lobras like to live in human societies in which their diplomatic and other human interaction skills can be well used. Lobras tend not to congregate together, and usually only do so once per year at a convention that tends to be focused on mutual encouragement, intellectual pursuits, and mating. There is however an lobra academy of advanced diplomatic training where lobra intellectual life is centered. Lobras are nearly always literate and nearly all have classes. Lobras tend to speak seven languages fluently and practice a different language among themself for every day of the week. Males and females are equally preeminent in lobra society. Lobras have a worldwide view of all society. They consider their own society to be one global society and look upon the world as a whole, with each nation and race playing a part in their society. However lobras tend to be nationalistic when it comes to other nations and races, preferring to resist empires, and situations where one race or nation rules over another. A globalism for we, nationalism for thee approach. This is probably self serving in that if anyone took over the whole world there would not be much need for diplomats.

Lobras have a good sense of humor. This comes from looking in the mirror. And for some unknown reason, they are immune to Tasha's hideous laughter. When they are at rest, they look a little like they are smiling.

Lobra Life Cycle

Lobra mate in stacks like limpets. Gestation is 11 months. Lobra pregancy is expressed dorsally rather than ventrally. Baby lobras tend to be carried on their mother's backs for the first five years. Some 'brood mothers' will carry many lobra babies on their backs, to free up other lobra females for adventuring and more hazardous forms of diplomacy. It is not uncommon for a mother lobra to give birth to one live lobra every seven years throughout her adult life, even into old age. Child lobras are raised by the mother for the first five years and by the likely father for the next five years. Thereafter, they choose a 'profession' serving another lobra or three humans or other creatures and become apprentices for the next five years. It is during these apprenticeships that lobras learn their classes. Lobras become adults at age 15. At age 15, an lobra will have three heads that are level 1 in three usually different classes. Lastly, lobras may enter a special lobra diplomatic training academy for the next five years. Occasionally lobras have more than one sex and lobras can (but rarely do) alter their sex over the period of a year. Lobras reach maturity at age 15, and live to be 98 years old. They live exactly 36159 days after being born, And They Keep Count! They die the day before their 99th birthday usually during or after a big going-away party.

Lobra Speaking

Blurring Singular and Plural

Lobras blur the distinction between singular and plural. Instead of using 'he', 'she' or 'they' when referring to other lobras they tend to use 'theyn'. Lobras will generally refer to themselves as 'myselves' or 'ourself' indicating this blurring in first person pronouns. Third person pronouns are 'themself', 'itselves', 'himselves', and 'herselves'. The words 'He' and 'she' are considered uncouth when referring to lobras. The second person 'you', 'your', 'my' and 'our' used for most creatures is replaced by the words 'yourn'. 'Ourn' is first person for lobras. When using the indefinite article, instead of saying 'a lobra', most lobras prefer 'an lobra'. These are examples from common tongue. They have similar mashups for all other languages.

Sibilant Speech

Excessively sibilant speech is fairly rare but does exist among some less sophisticated bumpkin lobras. When an lobra is really angry or out of control, they may lapse into sibilant speech however. The mythical original lobra language is thought to have been quite sibilant, but is now forgotten. The original language is also rumored to have had a presently lost consonant sound. Note: the forgotten sound is like a long drawn out g and a long drawn out z spoken simultaneously - sort of like the gh and zh sound voiced at the same time with the same airflow.

Pronouncing 'Lobra'

There is an ongoing debate among lobra society as to the correct pronunciation of 'lobra'. Some prefer lobra to rhyme with cobra, and some prefer lobra to rhyme with chupacabra. This debate can even exist at the level of the various heads of an 'individual' lobra and can be quite fierce (there is no right answer). Small groups also claim that 'lobrae' is the correct pronunciation, but that gets confusing as multiple lobras are also called lobrae. Worldwide lobra society as a whole is called 'the lobraeidae'. Those who disrespect lobras often call them low-brows due to their apparent lack of a large cranium. Sometimes they call themselves this.

Langauge Days of the Week

Lobra society names days of the week after race languages - Elday, Dwarday, Common, Dragonday, Unday, Gianday, Gobday for days. The entire lobra society speaks Sylvan, Dwarven, Common, Draconic, Underdark, Giant, and Goblin on these days respectively. Various different subgroups of lobras swap out the goblin langauge on gobday for another important local language. Language learning is very important in lobra society and they work very hard to be fluent in many languages.

Lobra Names

Lobra names tend to be very short, generally from 3 to 6 letter one or two syllable names for each head. A full lobra name is a concatenation of the three individual lobra head names with hyphens. An example would be 'Avid-Athar-Crush'. They often tend to draw out diphthongs for example the name 'Dea' is two syllables and 'Yaeaea' is five. Male names all begin with letters from A-K, and female names all begin with M-Z. Male and female lobras are almost impossible to tell apart even by other lobras, so theyn use names to keep track of who is what. Lobras that do not want to give away their gender have names starting with 'L'.

Male Sex: Andar, Athar, Avid, Bad, Badud, Bandik, Bengo, Brekh, Cefer, Crush, Dana, Dango, Dea, Earal, Ered, Evan, Fiddi, For, Gav, Haggo, Hendi, Jewel, Kana

Female Sex: Mama, Mogo, Mongo, Naga, Naral, Ngy, Noddy, Nouna, Novo, Oia, Pang, Quaea, Quist, Redi, Rin, Ruddi, Rukh, Ruth, Seela, Spro, Tarta, Ursah, Verb, Veria, Vuga, Weg, Widi, Wimga, Xarf, Yaeaea, Zakh

'Hidden' Sex: Lando, Larp, Lid, Lobra, Lurp

Lobra Traits

Fantastical creatures with three snakelike heads, two tails, a low flat body, and excellent diplomatic credentials. Lobras are run by three players. Sometimes hilarity ensues.
Ability Score Increase. One head has a Charisma score increase of 2, one head has a Wisdom score increase of 2, one head has an Intelligence score increase of 2.
Age. lobras reach maturity at age 15, and live to be 98 years old. They die the day before their 99th birthday. They live 36159 days, And They Keep Count!
Alignment. Lobras can be of any alignment, and usually have three alignments, one for each head. There is a tendency away from chaos toward neutrality however - 1d6: 1-2) lawful, 3-5) neutral, 6) chaotic. 1d4: 1) good, 2-3) neutral, 4) evil.
Size. Lobras are about 10' long and 5' wide but can stretch to 15' long. Their bodies are 3' high and each snaky neck can reach 5' from the body. Your size is technically Large, although you only cover 2 hexes, and use weapons as medium size characters. Your heads can have reach as compared to the body. An attacker can attack one individual head or the body. The body has an additional set of hit points equal to the highest hit point total of the three heads.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet, or 20 feet in narrow hallways. You can move forward and backward with equal ease, and scuttle sideways at a speed of 20 feet.
Three Players. An lobra has three players or 2 players and a DM.
Three 2d4 bite attacks. Each head can bite for 2d4.
Two prehensile whip tails. Each tail can cause 1d4 slashing damage.
Carry Heavy Load. An lobra can carry up to five adventurers plus gear.
360 degree vision. An lobra has disadvantage on surprise rolls if all three heads are awake and alert.
Always awake. An lobra can always have one head awake if itselves chooses.
Regrow head. As long as an lobra has at least one surviving head the others can regrow over the period of a year. This works because half of each head's brain is stored in the lobra body, not up at the head end of the neck.
Immune to Tasha's Hideous Laughter. I guess its their sense of humor that makes this possible.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and 6 other languages of your choice, one for each day of the week. Usually, all heads speak the same 7 languages. Usually these are Sylvan, Dwarven, Common, Draconic, Underdark, Giant, and Goblin. If the campaign has more or less days in a week you can speak one language for each day. Minimum five languages.
Subrace. Lobras have no subraces.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 0″	+5'	1000 lb.	× (40) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

Suggested Characteristics

When creating an lobra character, you can use the following tables of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these tables in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics. Roll on the first four tables three times, one for each head.

d8	d8 - Personality for One Head	d8 - Ideal for One Head	d8 - Flaw for One Head
1	Charming - useful for diplomacy	Fairness - useful for diplomacy	Arrogant
2	Sophisticated/Cultured	Peace - useful for diplomacy	Fearful
3	Intellectual/Scholarly	Advantage - useful for diplomacy	Passive
4	Obstreperous/obnoxious	Fun	Lazy
5	Noble/good/honorable	Revenge	Deceitful
6	Kind/gentle	Influence - useful for diplomacy	Back biting
7	Balanced - useful for diplomacy	Service	Complaining
8	Sleepy/laid back	Balance - useful for diplomacy	Flaky

d6	Bond for One Head
1	Aloof - bonds only with the two other heads
2	Advisor - useful for diplomacy
3	Go-between - very useful for diplomacy because is being used as a high security diplomatic message carrier
4	Friend
5	Rival - a friendly or even not so friendly rivalry can strengthen both sides of the rivalry.
6	Minister/Doctor/Therapist

d6	Entire Creature
1	Disorganized and disagreeing
2	Dominated by one head - useful for diplomacy
3	Two against one
4	Tight knit team - useful for diplomacy
5	Functioning democracy
6	Representation of sides - each head represents one side in a major conflict - very useful for diplomacy because each side in a diplomatic conflict can see their side fairly represented in one unified creature.

1.00

(one vote)

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