Urskan Player Race

RSKAN U

PLAYER

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SampleF ORWARDfile This is my Homebrewed conversion of the D&D 3.5 Urskan creature race into a D&D 5e Player Race. The Urskan race is from the D&D 3.5 Book Frostburn: Mastering the Perils of Ice and Snow (2004) by Wolfgang Baur, James Jacobs, and George Strayton. In order to convert this incredible race into a player race, I have weakened it considerably to make it more in line with the D&D 5e player races. I also added a conversion of the original D&D 3.5 creature as the Dire Urskan in the appendix of this document. I have also added five subraces in order to differentiate between the possible differences in different bear types, and I hope these are enjoyable to everyone in order to create many different types of bear- people. I am sorry if anything I do is in anyway problematic with Copyright issues, but it seems fine according to what the DM Guild information page at www.dmsguild.com/whatisdmsguild.php says under the section “What Can I Publish?”, which says “you can convert magic items, monsters, character classes, spells, etc. from earlier edition books to fifth edition and publish your conversion at DMsGuild.com.” I am publishing this PDF exclusively on dmsguild.com. If this is found anywhere else, it is against my wishes and is, as far as I understand, Copyright Infringement. I do not care about gaining money from this, but only want to give other people the opportunity to play as a bear-person, because I love bears. This is also not extensively play-tested, and I would like to get feedback from other knowledgeable DMs on how to improve this player race. environments, they live together in the few areas where food can be URSKAN found. Grizzly and black urskan can come from cold or warm THIS HULKING WHITE BEARLIKE CREATURE WEARS A SUIT OF HEAVY, environments. Most of those from colder environments spend winter half‐plate armor. Its formidable claws are tipped with deadly steel in their homes, waiting until spring arrives. Panda urskan usually live among other humanoids, in the areas blades, and its blue eyes gleam with intelligence. It seems to move where other animal-like humanoids are allowed to live. Many people equally well on two legs or four. confuse panda urskan with wild bears or gnolls, but they try as hard – Wolfgang Baur, James Jacobs, and George Strayton as they can to prove their goodness. Frostburn: Mastering the Perils of Ice and Snow SOLITARY SPECIES Coming from wild lands and believed to be beasts by many people, the urskan are an uncommon race to see throughout any civilized Urskans are a very solitary species, and rarely meet together or create land. Many people try to stay away from these hulking bears, settlements. Kodiak urskans are the most social of the urskans and thinking of them as animals. Many urskans want to prove their ability sometimes settle together in groups of 40 to 60, developing a to be civil, while some embrace the animal, and become more complex social structure. Non-panda urskans typically do not dangerous and feared than any simple-minded beast. understand human culture and don’t like “civilized” places, preferring to live naturally. Every so often, urskans of opposite genders will meet and fall in BIG AND BEARLIKE love quickly, though these romances rarely last long, with urskan

Urskans are large, bearlike humanoids that look similar to werebears, males usually being fickle when it comes to romance and urskans in but do not have the different forms of a true werebear. general having a preference of being alone. Urskans vary less in size than most true bears, standing between 5 This is not to say that urskans do not care for others, as urkans are and 8 feet tall, and weighing between 150 and 750 pounds. They vary known to be very protective of those they journey with. They are greatly with gender, with males being on average a foot taller and willing to face dangerous enemies if it means protecting their half again (+50%) as heavy as females. They also vary with children, or others whom they see as family. subspecies:

• Polar and kodiak urskans are the largest (around 7 to 8 feet tall, URSKAN TRAITS and weighing between 400 and 750 lb.) Your urskan character has certain characteristics in common with all • Grizzly urskans being in the middle (around 6 to 7 feet tall, and other urskans. weighing between 300 and 600 lb.) Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Constitution scores • Black and panda urskans being the smallest (around 5 to 6 feet each increases by 1. Your Intelligence score decreases by 2 and your tall, and weighing between 150 and 350 lb.) Charisma score decreases by 1. Age. Urskans mature at the same rate as bears, but live much Urskans have hands similar to bear paws. On each hand, they longer, reaching maturity at the age of 10. They live to be about 75. have four to five fingers and a thumb that is a cross between the Alignment. Most urskan are true neutral, but their subrace also pseudo-thumb of a normal panda and a normal humanoid’s apposable effects their alignment slightly. Panda urskans are more often good thumb. This thumb can be used like a normal thumb. than their kin, grizzly urskans are more often chaotic, kodiak urskans

are more often lawful, and polar urskans are more often evil. UNKNOWN ORIGINS Sample Size.file Urskans stand between 5 and 8 feet tall and weigh between

It is unknown where urskans originated, but several different rumors 150 and 750 pounds (see the Big and Bearlike section above for more are spread about. detail). Your size is Medium. It is believed by many that long ago an ancient wizard Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet. experimented on bears, creating the owlbear. It is likely, if that is Keen Smell. The urskan has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) true, that the same wizard may have created the first urskans, though checks that rely on smell. this is just speculation. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, and Urskan. It is also possible that ancient werebears bred together, and their Natural Armor: You have +1 natural armor. Natural armor does children lost the ability to change between the different forms, not stack with armor worn or with the unarmored defense ability remaining forever in hybrid from. This is further supported by the granted by certain classes, though it does not stop you from wearing fact that werebears in hybrid form and urskans can freely breed with armor, or using the unarmored defense ability, in which case you one another. The offspring of such a union is usually a normal only use the higher AC bonus. You can still benefit from the +2 urskan, but it is not unheard-of that the offspring gains the ability to bonus granted by a shield with natural armor. transform into a bear, like their werebear parent, and a hybrid form Subrace. Five subraces of urskans are found among the worlds of that is bestial urskan form. D&D: black urskans, grizzly urskans, kodiak urskans, panda urskans, and polar urskans. Choose one of these subraces. Urskan Claws. You have a natural claw attack which deals 1d4 VARIED ENVIRONMENTS slashing damage, and have proficiency with special steelclaws that

Urskans come from many different environments, which affects their some urskans use to improve their claw attacks. temperament on life and humanity. Polar urskan are from frozen tundra environments, and have adapted to thrive in these environments. Due to few other humanoids CLAWS being able to survive in this cold of an environment, polar urskans are All urskan naturally have claws, but civilized urskan usually do rarely seen by other humanoids. There are legends of dire urskans, not use them to fight. Urskans who attack with claws are which are from even colder environments, who have grown to considered wild animals, and are the reason why some places do humongous size and strength and live in mighty metal fortresses. not allow urskans to enter. Kodiak urskan are from cold environments, but not nearly as cold as polar urskan. Due to food often being hard to find in these Cost: —