Cabiro

The Cabiri, whose native land is Lemnos and whose principal sanctuary is in Samothrace are descendants of Hephaestus. Like Hephaestus, the Cabiri are metallurgists.

Cabiri appear as crab-like humanoids standing about 8 feet tall. Their two arms end in large pincers. Cabiri color ranges from reddish-brown to greenish-black. Cabiri are somewhat alien in their dealings with what they term “the lesser races.” They do feel a certain responsibility for what happens in the sea and as minor divinities in their own right. As a result, they take a fatherly approach to all soft-shelled beings and will patiently answer questions or usher them away from potential danger. A cabiro tribe seldom has commerce with other tribes, and almost never with other intelligent species. They produce are master smiths, capable of producing some of the infest metallurgy throughout the Greek world. Cabiri live as simple hunter-gatherers, subsisting primarily on carrion and algae. Much of each cabiro’s day is spent hunting, filtering algae, or scavenging along the shore. Cabiri often gather large amounts of sand into their mouths, suck out all the organic material, and spit out fist-sized pellets of sand and dirt. These hardened pellets betray the presence of a nearby cabiro lair. Cabiri generally live in coastal caves. Some tribes dig extensive burrows in seaside cliffs. Within a burrow complex, each cabiro has an individual lair, situated near a large, central meeting area.

Though details of cabiro religion are unknown, most artifacts are believed to be religious in nature, and are jealously guarded.

Cabiro adventurers leave their ocean homes when they feel that humanity needs their help. They see themselves as inheritors of Hephaestus’ divine will and act only if an omen from him indicates their assistance is needed. They often seek out great heroes to forge marvelous artifacts for them.

Cabiro names include: Axierus, Axiocersa, Axiocersus, Cadmilus.

Traits

  • Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.
  • Age. Cabiri reach maturity at five years of age. A cabiro can live for up to 20 years.
  • Alignment. Cabiri keep to themselves and follow their own inscrutable ways in service to Hephaestus. They can be any form of neutral alignment.
  • Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan.
  • Natural Armor. Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.
  • Pincers. Your pincers are 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.
  • Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
  • Size. Cabiri continue to grow and molt throughout their lives, and specimens as tall as 10 feet have been reported Your size is Medium.
  • Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You also have a swim speed of 20 feet.
  • Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: smith’s tools, mason’s tools or tinker’s tools.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

5E RPG: Species of the Multiverse. Copyright 2021, Mal and Tal Enterprises, LLC; Author Michael J. Tresca

This is not the complete license attribution - see the full license for this page