User:Quincy/Sock Monster (5e Race)
Sock Monster
I heard about sock monsters as a kid growing up, and thought it was such a weird excuse adults used when they were too lazy to look for the matching sox, until one day I did laundry myself, and half of my socks were gone, without a trace.
Physical Description
These creatures are small goblinoids standing about a foot and a half, round and squat. They are covered with sparse hair. They sport two long semi floppy goblin/elf like ears, a long bulbous nose, pronounced rounded cheek bones, big round puppy dog eyes and a wide smile with flat teeth made for grinding. Their torso is rounded and their frail arms are short and semi-child like as are their legs. There feet is a bit oversized as are their hands for a child.
I once drew a fine picture of this cute goblinoid with socks on his ears, nose, arms and legs that looked real cute, however, it has long since disappeared. If you can draw one, then by all means do so.
History
There history is long and sorted...like the laundry that still needs to be done in the world. Somewhere there is socks missing in some unknown culture, they are there. Some place in the forgotten sewers, a sock is missing and has a new owner now, they are there. They are either really long lived or know how to hide and reproduce offspring in safety.
Society
It is said in quiet smelly whispers, there is an underground market where these sock monsters trade socks for special items. it is said in places past the places of smelly socks, there are piles of wonderfully clean socks, and piles of boots made into homes. It is said that they will trade goodly items for the socks of nobles and kings or was it dirty beggars and trolls?
They get along well with craftsmen, in general and especially good with the sort of creatures that have crafting with boots and other such clothing's. It is a known fact among them, that they work flawlessly together.
They may build up secret piles of hidden socks for safety nest based on their abilities.
Sock Monster Names
I am sure in other cultures they have other names too. Their personal names would be something that describe the type of socks the collect.
Male: Jammy, Patches, Stitches, Wooly,
Female: Silky, Jammy, Stitches, Furry,
Sock Monster Traits
A goblinoid with a not so secret obsession, and some cool skills to boot, or sock.
Ability Score Increase. +1d4 to dexterity and wisdom OR intelligence.
Age. Unknown. No conclusive studies have been done.
Alignment. Lawful Neutral generally. As lawfulness helps them attain the best socks.
Size. Tiny
Speed. Your base walking speed is 15 feet. See below
Hiding in Plain Socks, erm sight.. In order for them to survive, they have exceeded the normal parameters of stealth. They are doubly proficient and take double advantage of stealth checks. Even True Vision must make checks on spotting them, at a disadvantage. This is because when hiding, they are out of sync with time and reality. When hiding in this fashion they cannot be hurt or harm another creature
Sock Party. If within a party who are wielding loaded socks as weapons, each member with in 10' radius, has proficiency with that improvised weapon, dealing 1d6 damage plus their personal modifiers, and the weapons act like a +1 weapon. The weapon speed is considered and fast and may grant an extra attack to some classes, if allowed.
Sock it to Em. Any sock weapon they use, projectile or melee, does a minimum of 1d4 plus modifier. They do not get the 'magical' effect as noted above unless more than one party member is using a sock weapon.
Sock of Holding. They can designate one sock to be like a bag of holding. Holding preferably, more socks. This sock must be of good quality, and the better the 'quality', the better the holding. They will go great lengths to find this suitable sock...Quality perception depends upon the perception of the Sock Monster, so it may be from a poor farmer to a storm giant...The story teller should alert you to the socks presence by level 3, as you are drawn to it like destiny. If the sock is lost or destroyed it will take at least another week of active searching to find a suitable replacement.
Sock it Up. They have a decent degree of reliance. If they are ever decimated (below -10hp) (No action required) or distressed (below 5hp or have some ailment that cant be removed easily)(action required), they can retreat inside a sock and disappear from reality. This is double edged as if they try to come back, they may loose whatever they were carrying (decimated creatures loose all items while distressed has 10% chance per round cumulative. to loose all items to the rift), and have to start over gathering personal material plain items, if there is no socks left in that prime material location (via rot or theft). They can stay indefinitely and some do. In this reality, time passes differently. Years or seconds can be the same. Having this ability and connection lends them advantages to saving throws, and triple verses poisons. Therefore a sock monster is exceptionally resilient to poisons, as they have to be because of what is on the socks, at times. Thus they can roll 4d20 and take the highest of the roll when making checks versus poisons.
Sock A Pile O Port. at the same level where dimension door/teleport abilities would come into play for casters, they gain variations to these teleporting them to laundry piles or discarded socks, etc.
Sock Puppet. At levels where animate object is available, they gain this ability as a cantrip on socks. Higher versions of the animate spell may also cause damage as the sock might be aggressive to the enemy.
Sock Expertise. Sock monsters have natural proficiency with all things sock related. So they can do religion checks on socks as well nature checks etc. This includes mending and crafting incredible socks. There is a legend that a fat man up north used a sock monsters creations for a holiday.
Lucky Socks. Once per level the sock monster can designate one sock for a boon bonus. These lucky socks only work when in contact with the sock monster and only for the sock monster. Things like double gold find, or a sock that grants a percentage of bonus experience based on level are great boon socks. The boon is random and determined by a method agreeable to the story teller, and replaces the magical items the players would normally get, generally. The exception to this is if the Sock Monster and the other player bargain and go through the bonding process for the 'Lucky Sock'. After this is done the sock monster looses that item to the other player and cannot get another one till the sock monster levels up again. If the sock is already enchanted, since many are not, the effect can stack.
The Great Sock Dilemma. The conundrum is this. They can become a familiar to a player, however they will be subject to the whims of that player and the consequences of the bonding OR they can gain the gift to tell everything about a person, based on the socks alone from that person. They also cannot use normal weapons, however the sock weapons will suffice. They cannot use armor due to size and sock issues however the socks placed on them can suffice. They cant use allot of magical items due to size or pre-noted restrictions, instead they use the Lucky Socks as Replacements.
Languages. Sylvan, Common and one other.
Alternate Traits
Sock O Puss Cloth tentacles leap put from the octopus like premade Sock Octopus and start moving and behaving like an octopus, just made of the material its made from. The Creation must be made like any other golem kind and can be made up to large size, if the player can get the stuff together needed to make it. Generally its a minor creation that requires no water or feeding etc. Very similar to the gnomes spider.
Sock and Awe By sacrificing a sock, they can cast a various form of static shock and abilities based on electric and charm.
Suggested Characteristics
When creating a <race name> character, you can use the following table) of traits, ideals, bonds and flaws to help flesh out your character. Use these table in addition to or in place of your background's characteristics.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Neat Freak. |
| 2 | Slob. |
| 3 | Obsessive Collector. |
| 4 | Obsessive Hider |
| 5 | Prankster |
| 6 | Passive |
| 7 | Dependent |
| 8 | Fix it Obsession |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Likes certain color socks |
| 2 | Likes certain size socks |
| 3 | Like certain pattern socks |
| 4 | Likes variety of socks |
| 5 | Likes socks from a certain race |
| 6 | Likes socks from a certain gender |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bonded to a certain sock pile |
| 2 | Will follow whoever holds his favorite sock |
| 3 | as per ideal |
| 4 | as per ideal |
| 5 | as per ideal |
| 6 | as per ideal |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Values socks more then companions |
| 2 | Doesn't know how to were socks properly |
| 3 | as per personality |
| 4 | as per personality |
| 5 | as per personality |
| 6 | double flaw |