There are plenty of animal-human hybrid beast races out there - Minotaurs, Lizardmen, Kenku, Satyrs and Mole-men are all available for DCC. There's probably a ton more I haven't seen. The Big RPG has a whole bunch of them and so do many CRPGs.
About a decade ago I was super into Dwarf Fortress, and something that has stuck with me from that game is its approach to animal people (and werecreatures, too). I think what made it stand out was an early encounter with a rhesus macaque man in adventurer mode. It's just so oddly specific. From then on, whenever I see a setting with beastfolk in it, I can't help but wonder why there are Tabaxi but there aren't any anteaterfolk or gerenuk-men.
Of course, it's just as valid to ask why the real world has ape-men and no other playable races - but in a fantasy world with animal-human hybrids, I like the idea that it isn't restricted to cats, lizards, some specific birds, and whichever other few animals have been chosen for the setting. That is a lot of different classes, so I've always wanted some sort of framework for creating beastfolk of all types.
This class is an attempt at this. I'm not entirely happy with it, so let's call it a concept or a work-in-progress. It's also totally untested.
Design Points
- Able to apply any animal species to the class, from dog men to cuttlefish men to centipede men, allowing for some weird races without having to create hyper-specific exceptions.
- Modular design to create varied abilities based on animal species. This will be prioritized over balance, and because "pick and choose" style character creation feels out of place in DCC the character will get all relevant abilities at the risk of being overloaded. Nature isn't balanced and I don't want to just turn this into a point-buy system.
- In order to not become "pick and choose" it helps to be clear and objective which animals get which abilities. All animals that can fly in real life get the flight ability, for instance.
- Limited to humanoid characters - centaurs and mermaids are outside the scope of this and a "worm man" is still going to need to have arms and "walk" upright. They can be wormy arms though.
BEASTFOLK
You are an animalistic humanoid, part of only a small population of your kind, hailing from what humans would consider a savage tribal group. You are intelligent as a human or demihuman, though you're often not treated as such. There are few of your people among civilization for this very reason, and sometimes your kind are even enslaved or otherwise mistreated. Much like the animal with whom you are kin, life is often more about survival than anything else.
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| AI generated, I am not an artist. |
Beastfolk personality and society tends to retain prominent traits of the animals they came from, and it is advised that both Judges and players take this into consideration when designing and roleplaying their worlds and characters. Catfolk are likely to be solitary wanderers, while antfolk tend to form colonies under a queen. Egg-layers will have different norms to mammals, as will those with large litters instead of singletons. All beastfolk (excepting perhaps dogfolk) express themselves differently to humans and thus misunderstandings of mannerisms and body language are common.
Animal-kin: You are kinfolk of a species of animal. Your appearance is similar to that of your kinfolk and your class abilities are primarily determined by the species you are derived from. I recommend randomly selecting an animal from a very long list, though your Judge may have limitations or allowances for choosing your own. Daniel J Bishop's Cyclopedia of Common Animals is hard to beat, though there are other free resources readily available and a table of plenty of examples at the end of this post.
Hit Dice: Beastfolk have a base Hit Die of d10 but read on, as other abilities modify this.
Movement: Your human-like form gives you a human-like 30' of movement speed unless you are small (see "Size" below). Furthermore, certain species have access to the following unusual movement types:
- Flight: Winged beastfolk have a fly speed equal to their movement speed, but a -2d penalty to their Hit Dice due to their lighter morphology.
- Swimming: Beastfolk that are amphibious or at least partially aquatic (frogs and axolotls, but also hippos and seabirds) have 45' swim speed and only take 1d3 Stamina damage per round from drowning (down from 1d6).
- Climbing: Beastfolk with the ability to grip surfaces such as insectoid or gecko men can Climb sheer surface as a Neutral Thief, and even ceilings with +5 to the DC. Penalty of -1d to Hit Dice.
- Burrowing: Burrowing beastfolk (such as rabbit, mole, or worm men) have a burrowing speed of 5', but digging for more than a couple of minutes is exhausting such that sustained digging over long distances isn't any more efficient than for humans with proper equipment*. Burrowing beastfolk know how to safely dig structures that won't easily collapse. Covering the open tunnel behind them so they can't simply be followed takes a Round.
Alignment: Nature tends toward a Neutral alignment, which is certainly most common among beastfolk. Herbivores and social animals are slightly more likely to be Lawful, while carnivores and solitary animals are slightly more likely to be Chaotic.
Weapon Training: Beastfolk are trained in the following weapons: blowgun, club, dagger, dart, handaxe, javelin, polearm, shortbow, shortsword, sling, spear, staff.
Size: Creatures that are small as a frog, mouse or sparrow (or smaller) produce beastfolk that are 2-4' tall like a Halfling, with a 20' base movement speed. Creatures that are great like a polar bear, elephant, or even a horse produce beastfolk that are 6-8' tall, with a +1d adjustment to Hit Dice.
Fightin' Dirty: A beastfolk can use any of these attacks that are applicable to his species. Beastfolk can use one of these attacks and their weapon in the same turn as if they were two-weapon-fighting with an Agility of 18 if using a one-handed weapon, or Agility of 16 if using a two-handed weapon. Rolling a 16 counts as a critical and automatic hit only for the Fightin' Dirty attack; weapon attacks follow the standard critical rules.
- Bite: 1d6
- Claw: 1d8
- Gore/Ram: 2d4, this is free if charging greater than movement distance (can dash and gore)
- Projectile: Ranged (10'/20'/30'), as venom if toxic (spitting cobra), 1d4 if acidic or explosive (bombardier beetle, pistol shrimp), or forces a morale check if simply repulsive (camel, skunk). Costs 1 Stamina.
- Venom: As most relevant of these poisons from Appendix P: asp, black widow, jellyfish, scorpion, wasp. Costs 1 Stamina.
- Vice Grip: Grapple using mandibles, claws, or by constricting. 1d3 damage.
Infravision: All beastfolk can see up to 30' in the dark.
Camouflage: Beastfolk with camouflage patterns or the ability to color change can hide as if using Hide in shadows as a Neutral Thief. Instead of requiring darkness to hide in, they must be in the right environment. Alligator men hide in murky water while chameleon men can hide almost anywhere as long as they don't move.
Extra Appendages: Species with extra limbs such as ants have an extra pair of arms. Animals with tentacles still have one pair of arms, but tentacles in addition to arms. This allows more items to be held or extra weapons to be drawn but does not allow extra attacks per Round. Only one shield contributes to AC.
Carapace: Species with a shell or exoskeleton have +1 to their AC, even while wearing armor.
Spiny: Creatures with spines such as porcupines have +1 to AC and deal 1d3 damage to melee attackers who fail a DC10 Ref save*. However, they are often unable to wear armor and even correctly fitted armor nullifies the effect.
*as permanent Nythuul's Porcupine Coat with a casting result of 16-19, per DCC RPG p. 186
Languages: You can speak Common and the language of your kin. As an optional rule (though this will introduce roleplaying difficulties) beastfolk with an Intelligence of 5 or less only know their animal language.
Luck: Beastfolk add their Luck modifier to their Fightin' Dirty attack roll.
| Level | Attack | Crit | Act Dice | Ref | Fort | Will |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 | 1d6/II | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 2 | +1 | 1d8/II | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 3 | +2 | 1d8/II | 1d20 | +2 | +1 | +1 |
| 4 | +2 | 1d10/II | 1d20 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| 5 | +3 | 1d10/II | 1d20 | +3 | +2 | +2 |
| 6 | +3 | 1d12/II | 1d20+1d14 | +4 | +2 | +2 |
| 7 | +4 | 1d12/II | 1d20+1d16 | +4 | +3 | +3 |
| 8 | +4 | 1d14/II | 1d20+1d20 | +5 | +3 | +3 |
| 9 | +5 | 1d14/II | 1d20+1d20 | +5 | +3 | +3 |
| 10 | +5 | 1d16/II | 1d20+1d20 | +6 | +4 | +4 |
| Level | Attack | Crit | Act Dice | Ref | Fort | Will |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +0 | 1d8/III | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 2 | +1 | 1d8/III | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 3 | +2 | 1d10/III | 1d20 | +1 | +2 | +1 |
| 4 | +2 | 1d10/III | 1d20 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| 5 | +3 | 1d12/III | 1d20 | +2 | +3 | +2 |
| 6 | +4 | 1d12/III | 1d20+1d14 | +2 | +4 | +2 |
| 7 | +5 | 1d14/III | 1d20+1d16 | +3 | +4 | +3 |
| 8 | +5 | 1d14/III | 1d20+1d20 | +3 | +5 | +3 |
| 9 | +6 | 1d16/III | 1d20+1d20 | +3 | +5 | +3 |
| 10 | +7 | 1d16/III | 1d20+1d20 | +4 | +6 | +4 |
| Level | Attack | Crit | Act Dice | Ref | Fort | Will |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 | 1d8/III | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 2 | +2 | 1d10/III | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| 3 | +2 | 1d12/III | 1d20 | +1 | +1 | +2 |
| 4 | +3 | 1d14/III | 1d20 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| 5 | +4 | 1d14/IV | 1d20 | +2 | +2 | +3 |
| 6 | +5 | 1d16/IV | 1d20+1d14 | +2 | +2 | +4 |
| 7 | +5 | 1d20/IV | 1d20+1d16 | +3 | +3 | +4 |
| 8 | +6 | 1d20/V | 1d20+1d20 | +3 | +3 | +5 |
| 9 | +7 | 1d24/V | 1d20+1d20 | +3 | +3 | +5 |
| 10 | +8 | 1d30/V | 1d20+1d20 | +4 | +4 | +6 |
∗ ∗ ∗
Example Animal-kin
| d50 | Kin Species | Hit Die | Size | Walking | Flying | Swimming | Climbing | Burrowing | Fightin' Dirty Attacks | Camouflage | +Appendages | Carapace | Spiny |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alligator | d12 | L | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite, Vice Grip | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| 2 | Ant | d10 | S | 20' | No | No | No | Yes | Bite, Venom (scorpion), Vice Grip | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 3 | Anteater | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 4 | Axolotl | d10 | M | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 5 | Bear | d12 | L | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 6 | Bombardier Beetle | d6 | S | 20' | Yes | No | Yes | No | Bite, Projectile (explosive) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 7 | Camel | d12 | L | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Projectile (repulsive) | No | No | No | No |
| 8 | Capybara | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 9 | Cat | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 10 | Centipede | d8 | M | 30' | No | No | Yes | No | Bite, Venom (scorpion) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 11 | Chameleon | d8 | S | 20' | No | No | Yes | No | Bite | Yes | No | No | No |
| 12 | Cod | d10 | M | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 13 | Cow (Minotaur) | d12 | L | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Gore | No | No | No | No |
| 14 | Crab | d10 | S | 20' | No | Yes | No | Yes | Bite, Vice Grip | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 15 | Crow | d7 | M | 30' | Yes | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 16 | Cuttlefish | d10 | M | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| 17 | Dog | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 18 | Elephant | d12 | L | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Gore | No | No | No | No |
| 19 | Frog | d8 | S | 20' | No | Yes | Yes | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 20 | Gecko | d8 | S | 20' | No | No | Yes | No | Bite | Yes | No | No | No |
| 21 | Gerenuk | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Gore (males) | No | No | No | No |
| 22 | Goat | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Gore | No | No | No | No |
| 23 | Hawk | d7 | M | 30' | Yes | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 24 | Hippo | d12 | L | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite | Yes | No | No | No |
| 25 | Horse | d12 | L | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| d50 | Kin Species | Hit Die | Size | Walking | Flying | Swimming | Climbing | Burrowing | Fightin' Dirty Attacks | Camouflage | +Appendages | Carapace | Spiny |
| 26 | Jellyfish | d10 | M | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite, Venom (jellyfish) | No | Yes | No | No |
| 27 | Lion | d12 | L | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 28 | Lizard | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 29 | Mantis | d6 | S | 20' | Yes | No | Yes | No | Bite, Vice Grip | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| 30 | Mole | d10 | S | 20' | No | No | No | Yes | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 31 | Mouse | d10 | S | 20' | No | No | No | Yes | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 32 | Octopus | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Venom (jellyfish) | No | Yes | No | No |
| 33 | Pelican | d7 | M | 30' | Yes | Yes | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 34 | Pistol Shrimp | d10 | S | 20' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite, Projectile (explosive) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 35 | Platypus | d10 | M | 30' | No | Yes | No | Yes | Bite, Venom (wasp) | No | No | No | No |
| 36 | Porcupine | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | Yes |
| 37 | Python | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Vice Grip | No | No | No | No |
| 38 | Rabbit | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | Yes | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 39 | Raccoon | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Claw | No | No | No | No |
| 40 | Rhesus Macaque | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 41 | Scorpion | d10 | S | 20' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Venom (scorpion) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 42 | Skunk | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Projectile (repulsive) | No | No | No | No |
| 43 | Snake | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Venom (asp), Vice Grip | No | No | No | No |
| 44 | Sparrow | d7 | S | 20' | Yes | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 45 | Spider | d8 | S | 20' | No | No | Yes | No | Bite, Venom (black widow) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 46 | Spitting Cobra | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite, Projectile (Venom (asp)) | No | No | No | No |
| 47 | Squirrel | d10 | M | 30' | No | No | No | No | Bite | No | No | No | No |
| 48 | Turtle | d10 | M | 30' | No | Yes | No | No | Bite | No | No | Yes | No |
| 49 | Wasp | d6 | S | 20' | Yes | No | Yes | No | Bite, Venom (wasp) | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 50 | Worm | d10 | S | 20' | No | No | No | Yes | None | No | No | No | No |
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