{"name":"Lizardfolk","abilityscores":"+1 Wis, +2 Con","size":"Medium","speed":"30 ft","languages":"You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.","features":"Only a fool looks at the lizardfolk and sees nothing more than scaly humanoids. Their physical shape notwithstanding, lizardfolk have more in common with iguanas or dragons than they do with humans, dwarves, or elves. Lizardfolk possess an alien and inscrutable mindset, their desires and thoughts driven by a different set of basic principles than those of warm-blooded creatures. Their dismal swamp homes might lie hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement, but the gap between their way of thinking and that of the smooth-skins is far greater.\r\n\r\nDespite their alien outlook, some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such lizardfolk make faithful and skilled allies.\r\n\r\nAlien Minds\r\nThe lizardfolk\u2019s reptilian nature comes through not only in their appearance, but also in how they think and act. Lizardfolk experience a more limited emotional life than other humanoids. Like most reptiles, their feelings largely revolve around fear, aggression, and pleasure.\r\n\r\nLizardfolk experience most feelings as detached descriptions of creatures and situations. For example, humans confronted by an angry troll experience fear on a basic level. Their limbs shake, their thinking becomes panicked and jumbled, and they react by instinct. The emotion of fear takes hold and controls their actions. In contrast, lizardfolk see emotions as traits assigned to other creatures, objects, and situations. A lizardfolk doesn\u2019t think, \u201cI\u2019m scared.\u201d Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures register to the lizardfolk as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures attack, lizardfolk flee, fighting only if cornered. Lizardfolk aren\u2019t scared of a troll; instead, they understand that a troll is a fearsome, dangerous creature and react accordingly.\r\n\r\nLizardfolk never become angry in the way others do, but they act with aggression toward creatures that they could defeat in a fight and that can\u2019t be dealt with in some other manner. They are aggressive toward prey they want to eat, creatures that want to harm them, and so on.\r\n\r\nPleasurable people and things make life easier for lizardfolk. Pleasurable things should be preserved and protected, sometimes at the cost of the lizardfolk\u2019s own safety. The most pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow lizardfolk to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome.\r\n\r\n[h2]Cold and Calculating[\/h2]\r\nMost humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in emotion and empathy. The same label serves as an apt depiction of lizardfolk.\r\n\r\nLacking any internal emotional reactions, lizardfolk behave in a distant manner. They don\u2019t mourn fallen comrades or rage against their enemies. They simply observe and react as a situation warrants.\r\n\r\nLizardfolk lack meaningful emotional ties to the past. They assess situations based on their current and future utility and importance. Nowhere does this come through as strongly as when lizardfolk deal with the dead. To a lizardfolk, a comrade who dies becomes a potential source of food. That companion might have once been a warrior or hunter, but now the body is just freshly killed meat.\r\n\r\nA lizardfolk who lives among other humanoids can, over time, learn to respect other creatures\u2019 emotions. The lizardfolk doesn\u2019t share those feelings, but instead assesses them in the same clinical manner. Yes, the fallen dwarf might be most useful as a meal, but hacking the body into steaks provokes aggression in the other humanoids and makes them less helpful in battle.\r\n\r\n[h2]Utility and Survival[\/h2]\r\nThe lizardfolk mindset might seem unnecessarily cruel, but it helps them survive in a hostile environment. The swamps they inhabit are filled with a staggering variety of threats. Lizardfolk focus on survival above all, without sentiment.\r\n\r\nLizardfolk assess everyone and everything in terms of utility. Art and beauty have little meaning for them. A sharp sword serves a useful and good purpose, while a dull sword is a dead weight without a whetstone.\r\n\r\nLizardfolk see little need to plan more than a season or so into the future. This approach allows them to maintain their current level of influence in the world, but it limits their growth. Lizardfolk have no interest in developing writing, making long-term plans, or cultivating other methods to progress beyond their simple existence as hunters and gatherers.\r\n\r\n[h2]Hapless Soft Ones[\/h2]\r\nAt their core, lizardfolk view other humanoids with an indifference verging on pity. Born into the world lacking stout scales and sharp teeth, it\u2019s a wonder they have managed to survive for so long. The typical human would barely make it through a day in the swamps.\r\n\r\nStill, if other creatures prove useful to lizardfolk, those creatures can trigger a protective response made all the stronger by their apparent weakness. The lizardfolk assess such beings as hatchlings, young ones incapable of protecting themselves but who might prove useful in the future if they receive care.\r\n\r\n[h2]Lizardfolk Personality[\/h2]\r\nYou can use the Lizardfolk Quirks table to determine a personality quirk for a lizardfolk character or to inspire a unique mannerism.\r\n\r\n[b]Lizardfolk Quirks[\/b]\r\n\r\nd8\tQuirk\r\n1\tYou hate waste and see no reason not to scavenge fallen enemies. Fingers are tasty and portable!\r\n2\tYou sleep best while mostly submerged in water.\r\n3\tMoney is meaningless to you.\r\n4\tYou think there are only two species of humanoid: lizardfolk and meat.\r\n5\tYou have learned to laugh. You use this talent in response to all emotional situations, to better fit in with your comrades.\r\n6\tYou still don\u2019t understand how metaphors work. That doesn\u2019t stop you from using them at every opportunity.\r\n7\tYou appreciate the soft humanoids who realize they need chain mail and swords to match the gifts you were born with.\r\n8\tYou enjoy eating your food while it\u2019s still wriggling.\r\n\r\n[h2]Lizardfolk Names[\/h2]\r\nLizardfolk take their names from the Draconic language. They use simple descriptives granted by the tribe based on an individual\u2019s notable deeds or actions. For example, Garurt translates as \u201caxe,\u201d a name given to a lizardfolk warrior who defeated an orc and claimed his foe\u2019s weapon. A lizardfolk who likes to hide in a stand of reeds before ambushing an animal might be called Achuak, which means \u201cgreen\u201d to describe how she blends into the foliage.\r\n\r\nLizardfolk make no distinction between male and female in their naming conventions. Each example name includes its translation in parenthesis.\r\n\r\n[b]Lizardfolk Names:[\/b] Achuak (green), Aryte (war), Baeshra (animal), Darastrix (dragon), Garurt (axe), Irhtos (secret), Jhank (hammer), Kepesk (storm), Kethend (gem), Korth (danger), Kosj (small), Kothar (demon), Litrix (armor), Mirik (song), Othokent (smart), Sauriv (eye), Throden (many), Thurkear (night), Usk (iron), Valignat (burn), Vargach (battle), Verthica (mountain), Vutha (black), Vyth (steel)\r\n\r\n[h2]Lizardfolk Traits[\/h2]\r\nYour lizardfolk character has the following racial traits.\r\n\r\n[b]Age[\/b]\r\nLizardfolk reach maturity around age 14 and rarely live longer than 60 years.\r\n\r\n[b]Alignment[\/b]\r\nMost lizardfolk are neutral. They see the world as a place of predators and prey, where life and death are natural processes. They wish only to survive, and prefer to leave other creatures to their own devices.\r\n\r\n[b]Size[\/b]\r\nLizardfolk are a little bulkier and taller than humans, and their colorful frills make them appear even larger. Your size is Medium.\r\n\r\n[b]Bite[\/b]\r\nYour fanged maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.\r\n\r\n[b]Cunning Artisan[\/b]\r\nAs part of a short rest, you can harvest bone and hide from a slain beast, construct, dragon, monstrosity, or plant creature of size Small or larger to create one of the following items: a shield, a club, a javelin, or 1d4 darts or blowgun needles. To use this trait, you need a blade, such as a dagger, or appropriate artisan\u2019s tools, such as leatherworker\u2019s tools.\r\n\r\n[b]Hold Breath[\/b]\r\nYou can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes at a time.\r\n\r\n[b]Hunter\u2019s Lore[\/b]\r\nYou gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.\r\n\r\n[b]Natural Armor[\/b]\r\nYou have tough, scaly skin. When you aren\u2019t wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield\u2019s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.\r\n\r\n[b]Hungry Jaws[\/b]\r\nIn battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points (minimum of 1) equal to your Constitution modifier, and you can\u2019t use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest.","tabledata":"","tags":"Lizardfolk,VGTM","isShared":"1","templateId":"23"}