Mythic Races Of

Mythic Races of Old he assorted races in this document are Members of this race work hard so that they can collected from and inspired by Greek celebrate together once a threat has passed. Ioptane mythology. From the tricksome nature of celebrations include much drinking and merriment. Only in telchines, to the surehandedness of the these times is their relation to satyrs and centaurs even cyclopes, and the extensive variety of remotely perceptible. nymphs, these races cover various aspects of Tmythology not usually explored by role- Together Strong players. Many features included here across the races are Ioptane settlements are often compared to barracks or inspired by abilities these creatures possessed in original military camps. Children (foals) are trained from a young myths and legends. age in the art of war and defending their people. They praise military prowess and reward those who show great promise on the battlefield. Each ioptane is seen as a link in Singular Line Races a chain that protects the whole. Weakness is unacceptable, These are races that lack subraces or off-shoots from the and those who disagree with the way the community main branch. works, are often banished or outcasted. Their encampments are usually located in well defendable areas, with open planes nearby for their Ipotane preferred style of combat, which resembles that of cavalry The only contact I ever had with the ipotane was a brief or other mounted troops. Young and elderly are kept encounter. Just rare enough to be almost unfindable when towards the center of their bases, which can be packed up they want to be, this warrior race gave me the run around and relocated within a few hours if needed. for quite some time before I could track them down. When As an ipotane ages and progresses through the ranks of I did, I found them to be much like humans in culture and their band, they take on a series of titles and etiquette. You wouldn’t have guessed from their origins responsibilities. These are as follows: how much like us they could be. • Dependent - Either a child, a pregnant female, an elderly Ipotane are a secretive, warrior race who generally prefer ipotane, or another individual unable to defend themselves isolation away from other races. They are sometimes for whatever reason. These are the members of the band considered a warlike race, for they as a whole possess not responsible for much within an encampment, though great martial skill and potential. Each ipotane possesses their voices are still valued. Elderly ipotane especially are the capabilities of a horse-mounted warrior. seen as teachers of the young. • Novice - Usually those still in training or those who Prototype Dualities have reached the age but still have not mastered the art of Despite the great secrecy they like to keep about their warfare. These individuals are responsible for a number of origins, ipotane are believed to be either early centaurs, or things within the camp, such as cooking, cleaning, and another branch fathered by Centaurus. No one is entirely taking care of dependents while the adepts focus on their sure where they come from, only that they are not own tasks. common, and they are rarely seen outside their hidden, • Adept - Adepts are trained warriors of a band. They act well-fortified, villages. as soldiers, scouts, and any other line of defense needed against threats. They also take care of any heavy lifting the novices are not capable of doing themselves, such as Compact Cavaliers construction or repair, digging trenches around Ipotane share some physical characteristics with satyrs. encampments, and hunting when needed. They have a humanoid torso and head with the legs of an • Band-Crafter - Often thought of as the most important animal. Rather than goat though, ipotane possess the front and appreciated members of a band, band-crafters are legs, tail, and hooves of a horse. They also have the ears of those who specialise in making and repairing rather than a horse, and a mane that reaches from the shaggy hair on fighting. They are leatherworkers, carpenters, smiths, and their heads to the small of their backs. Some ipotanes have any other individual with a useful craft. Some band-crafters even more equine like features, or horse-shaped heads. will seek permission from a commander to go out into the world to further practice and refine their craft, meaning Reclusive Soldiers that these individuals are often the wisest and most Members of this race are trained from a young age to be tolerant members of communities. fierce defendants of their homes. They find comfort in a • Captain - A band will usually have no more than a well-fortified base, though also enjoy the freedom of an handful of these at a time. They are handpicked by open plane. Ipotane have the ability to run as swiftly as a commanders to serve and make sure that the encampment mounted warrior, and are raised with routines similar to stays in one piece. They are responsible for keeping the thoseSample of soldiers. They rise just before dawn, and can sleep adepts in check, training novicesfile, and making sure that the anywhere they put their heads down. Most are suspicious commanders orders are followed to the letter. Usually of strangers, and its common practice among their ranks to when a captain steps down, it is one of these captains that shoot first and ask questions later. is chosen by the band.

1 • Commander - Voted in by members of the band when the Alignment. With their strict, military upbrings, ipotane last steps down, the commander is responsible for all are usually hammered into more lawful alignments at an major decisions in a camp. They choose when to move, early age. Clan-crafters may be more neutral in their who to make alliances with, and whether individuals approach to life, especially if they have been subjected to should be a allowed to leave. It is their duty to make sure a the culture of the outside world. band is successful and thrives. Size. Ipotanes are generally slightly shorter than humans, usually varying between 4 and 5 feet tall. Your size Distrustful Combatants is medium. Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet. Ioptane live in bands that are naturally distrustful of Natural Charger. When you take the dash action, you outsiders. The land around their camps are riddled with can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack traps to discourage anyone from coming too close, and or to shove a creature. their scouts are famously skilled with bows, further Ipotane Weapon Training. You have been trained since dissuading intruders. Those who wander into their youth in the art of war. You have proficiency with territories are seen as spies or infiltrators. Ioptane are Longbows, Shortbows, Shortswords, and Scimitars. deeply protective of their own communities, and the Ingrained Vigilance. You have proficiency with Wisdom defense of those who cannot fend for themselves is seen as (Perception) checks, and you cannot be surprised while you the responsibly of everyone in the band. No one is left are conscious. behind unless they are unwilling to keep up. Languages. You can speak, read, and write common and Offspring are drafted into the protection of the band one other language of your choice. when they reach maturity, or when they are skilled enough to be useful. Once trained, an ioptane serves and protects their band, doing whatever task they are given until they are old enough to retire. The elderly and the partially-trained Telchine When Delvos had posted the advertisement for an are given the task of watching the defenseless when a band assistant, he hadn’t expected such an unusual answer to his is forced to war. call. The creature was small, and moved awkwardly on land, Ipotane bands gather mid-winter and mid-summer to but had a way with his tools the old smith wasn’t used to. exchange resources, share news, and do other communal Naturally, his smithy flourished. The work his new activities such as arranging marriages and forming partner produced was far superior to his own, and within a alliances. Allied ipotane bands usually remain in contact few months peoples from all over the land were demanding with each other throughout the year. As such, most will not the services of his business. shoot a lone ipotane on sight unless that individual is seen Delvos thanked the gods every day the small creature’s as a direct threat. hammer continued to ring on his anvil… that was, until the accident. No one was quite sure how Delvos died. Some Exiled Explorers said he’d been stabbed, others poisoned, but one thing was As ipotane bands are so such tightly knit communities, it is for sure. His assistant was never seen again after that day. reasonable that not many members of this race are seen Telchines are an ancient race, long known for their skill mingling with others. Much like some other races, like with metallurgy and magic. They are master smiths and firbolgs for example, ipotanes need a good reason for tinkerers, though that does not always mean they are leaving their bands. Some of these reasons can be (but are welcome. Telchines are frequently shunned and turned not limited to); being exiled for some crime against band away. The evil deeds of the original members of their race, law, being the last of a destroyed band, having their and their naturally spiteful natures, mean that most tend to homeland destroyed by a natural disaster, or even being be wary of them. sent on an important mission by band commanders. If an ipotane leaves their band without explicit permission from their band commanders, they are not Seaborn Vermin allowed to return. Those that do are seen as having been Telchines as a race were born of the old gods of the sea. corrupted by outside forces and can no longer be trusted. Though they mainly live on land, it is not uncommon for them to find work or homes beneath the waves, where their Ioptane Names aquatic nature protects them from the worst of the elements. Early telchines were responsible for creating Ipotanes usually follow similar naming traditions to some of the most important weapons in history and yet, humans in terms of forenames. Rather than family names during the Titanomachy, they were still hunted almost to though, they instead use bandnames, which identify the extinction. Their initial, malignant use of magic, mixing individual’s heritage and where they came from. Ipotane Styx water and sulfur, was seen as abhorrent to most gods exiled from a band are usually given the bandname hence the near extermination. As a race they are ‘Bandbreaker’ when they are ousted from the community. — considered rare because of this. Some examples of bandnames are: Swift-Shoe, Steady- Bow, Bright-Fletching, Heavy-Foot, and Thunder-Charge. Fish Children IpotSampleane Traits Members of this race hav e pecufileliar appearance to say the least. They have canine heads, with lithe, muscular bodies Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by well adapted to life in both the ocean depths and on shore. 2, and your Constitution and Wisdom scores both increase A telchine’s hands, while webbed, have long, dexterous by 1. fingers, and their legs end in seal-like flippers. The colour Age. Ipotane age at a similar rate to humans, and live of their skin also resembles that of a pinniped. They have similar lifespans. fine hair across their bodies which insulates them from the

2 frigid cold waters of the deep. The dabbling early telchines did into magic also had an Telchine Names effect on them. They have a skill for weather magic, and Telchines are commonly considered unusual in their sharp spikes in their palms that ooze a deadly poison. This naming tendencies. They are not given full names until poison is thought to be of a similar type to the Styx-brew maturity (having only childhood names given to them by their ancestors were hunted for creating. their mothers up until that point). Once they come of age, they are given a name most befitting of their appearance, Sharp-Tongued Metallurgists skillset, or their favoured work environment. These names are decided by the pack as a whole, and discussions during Despite their marine builds, telchines have a natural skill the naming process can last for days. for metal working and the mixing of alloys. They take their To name a few, examples of telchine names can include: craft very seriously and, as a result, all telchines know the Coast, Fang, Hammer, Pointy, Reef, Seal, Sprout, Tamer, basics of the art. After all, it was they who made Poseidon’s Tongs, and Wolf. trident, and assisted the god Hephaestus with the creation of the necklace of Harmonia. Telchines are extremely proud of their gifts, and will take any excuse to show off the Telchine Traits results of their craft to those who will indulge them. Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases Despite this, they are also a belligerent race, prone to by 2, and your strength score increases by 1. paranoia. Telchines are deeply protective of their secrets Age. Telchines reach maturity at around age 10, though and will not share the tricks of their trade with anyone but can live for anywhere up to 70 years. their own. Any threats they face are usually dealt with on a Alignment. Due to the secretive, work focused nature of ‘stab first, ask questions later’ basis. this race, they tend to be drawn towards neutral alignments. Those who take to darker arts (such as those who turned to poisons) to improve their crafts, may find Communal Knowledge themselves being drawn towards wickeder tendencies. Telchines live in tightly-knit packs that can reach numbers Size. Telchine usually stand between 3 and 4 feet tall, of up to 40 individuals. They share their skills with their and have well-build figures. Your size is small. community, and pups grow in an environment that Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet, and you have encourages curiosity and the sharing of experience. With a swim speed of 30 feet. so much sharing, theft is heavily punished in these Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of communities. Each member of a pack brings their own you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were flare to the group’s renown. The greater their talent, the dim light. Unlike most creatures, you can discern faint greater the level of respect a telchine commands within color in darkness. This trait aided the first telchines in their unit. determining which materials were which while in the When they reach maturity, some adults will venture into depths. other packs’ territories in the hopes of finding a mate and Amphibious. You can breathe air and water. diversifying bloodlines. This is risky though. Packs do not Native of the Depths. Adapted to even the most extreme generally interact as a rule, both because of their ocean depths, you have resistance to cold damage. suspicious nature, and because telchine are rare enough Barbed Palms. You have sharp, retractable barbs that packs will usually live great distances from each other. concealed in your palms. These are considered natural Weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If Secretive Sea-Magicians you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + The secrets shared within a telchine pack are not to be your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage shared with others, and as such they can appear cagy when normal for an Unarmed Strike. interacting with other races. They can be standoffish and Stygian Poison. The barbs in your palms can secrete a paranoid. Outsiders to packs are often alarmed by the corrosive toxin. When you hit a creature with an unarmed secretive and argumentative nature of these children of the strike using your Barbed Palms, you can chose to deal an sea. additional 2d6 poison damage to the target. The poison Additionally, telchines are quick to accuse potential damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and thieves, and have no tolerance for stealing of any kind 5d6 at 16th level. Once used, this trait cannot be used again (though that is where their following of basic law stops). until after a short or long rest. With the exception of crimes like murder, and perhaps Smithy Canny. You have proficiency with Smith’s Tools. trespassing, telchines treasure little other order than that Whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) of the smithy. They will even use arcane magic in their check related to the properties of a smithing material (such work how they see fit, regardless of how others may view as a metal or alloy), you are considered proficient in the such an act. both the Arcana and Nature skills, and may add double your proficiency bonus to both of these types of checks, instead of your normal proficiency bonus. Occasional Scavengers Languages. You can speak, read, and write common and The most common reason a telchine will leave their pack is one other language of your choice. to find something. The most frequently sought-after thing beingSample a mate, closely followed by some material or tool file needed for their pack’s forge. Members of this race do Multi-Line Races experience wanderlust, though it is less common, and These are races with two or more subraces, off-shoots, or those who return afterwards usually regret their time away factions that divide the race into multiples. from their community.

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