D&D 5E - FANMADE PLAYABLE RACES - QUAGGOTH

©Wizards of the Coast

Quaggoths. Also known as "everybody's favorite slaves". Well, screw that. Today I'm focusing on bring them to life... and do them justice.

Slaves, I was saying. Their lore, in fact, states that these fur-covered humanoids have been forced to leave the surface by the elves, rallied by drow as beasts of war and sometimes enslaved by illithids to be the perfect thrall. Also, the Monster Manual contains an entry for a Quaggoth Spore Servant in the myconid section, just saying. Once they had their own culture and language, but years upon years of forced exile in the Underdark transformed them into frenzied slayers and part-time cannibals.

But I saw potential in them, also thanks to the new batch of psionic subclasses that are coming with Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (I swear that, when they were releasing them via Unearthed Arcanas, I thought that Dark Sun was coming back). What is it like to be an exceptional enlightened quaggoth? What if, by accident or design, you came onto holding some psionic powers? Would you break your chains and lead your people to freedom or would you become a tyrant in the Underdark? Would you strike back to those who caused your cultural decline or would you serve them?

Although I didn't insert psionics directly into the race's features, I feel that with the new feats that are coming it could be possible to give that flavor to your quaggoth. So, here's the stats.

©Wizards of the Coast

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age. Quaggoths reach adulthood at age 15 and can live slightly above 100 years old.

Alignment. Savage quaggoths tend to be chaotic neutral. Quaggoths that become associated with other, dominant races, tend to their alignment.

Size. Quaggoths can reach 7 to 8 feet tall, however their slouched posture cause them to appear only around 5 feet tall. They usually weigh around 250 lbs. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You also have a climbing speed of 30 feet.

Superior darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Poison Immunity. Generations of hunting venomous subterranean creatures and perpetual exposure to the molds and the fungi that grow in the depths have forced quaggoths to adapt immunities to poisons of all kinds. You are Immune to Poison damage and to the Poisoned condition.

Wounded Fury. When you are reduced to at least a quarter of your total hit points, you have advantage on attack rolls. In addition, you deal an extra 2d6 damage to any target you hit with a melee attack.

Clawed. Quaggoths can use their claws in melee combat. You gain a claw attack as natural weapon, which deals 1d6 + strength modifier points of slashing damage.

Languages. You can speak Undercommon.

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As you can see, quaggoths make for excellent fighters and barbarians. If you want to make a thonot, which is a quaggoth shaman/leader which has innate psionic powers, you can follow some paths. The most flavory would be taking some feats, like Wild Talent (extremely useful, since it gives you a psionic talent die), Metabolic Control, Telepathic and Telekinetic. Since thonots use Wisdom as a spellcasting ability, you should check classes like cleric, druid and ranger. In fact, rangers like the Gloom Stalker seem perfect for a psi-awakened, Underdark delving quaggoth. You can even take the Magic Initiate feat to snatch a few more cantrips and a 1st level spell if you want to (I suggest looking at the druid spell list). Also the barbarian Path of the Wild Soul offers an interesting twist on magic, although its spellcasting ability is Constitution.

So, that was the quaggoth. I hope you liked it! You can check my entry for them on D&D Beyond, if you want.

Remember, this is all fanmade and as such, probably not balanced.

Be kind to each other.

Daniele