Ceran

The most common reactions to a ceran are that of unease and fear. Hulking reptilian humanoids, they have a tough time adapting to the fragility of the realms outside of their own. The many gods and evils of the world seem convoluted and gross to their very direct mentality. Rather than worship the divine, cerans are deeply in touch with their ancestry, sometimes calling upon fathers and mothers a dozen or so generations removed. They may be viewed as heretics, beasts, or even monsters, but those who get to know a ceran will benefit from their aged wisdom.

Lumbering Legends

Cerans are a hearty breed of creature, living at least 300 years and rumored to be able to live double that. There are three major bloodlines, Tri-Ceran, Sty-Ceran, and Pa-Ceran; though most of the world has trouble understanding anything beyond the physical differences. All of them stand a minimum of 6 feet tall with some of the largest measuring nearly 8 feet high. Their massive forms are matched by their massive frame. They can easily weigh 300 pounds, making life among more delicate species difficult. This hulking size does not always translate into raw strength, in cerans it most often manifests as stubbornness in the face of death. Children’s stories are rife with tales of ceran warriors refusing to stay down, despite overwhelming injury.

Their scaly skin ranges the entire color spectrum but is rarely ever bright. They have several horns on their head that vary in size and placement based on their bloodline.

Voluntary Outcasts

As long as cerans have been known, they have possessed an inset aversion to heavily populated areas. They lived in their own villages and towns, made of strong woods and stone to withstand everyday ceran life. When other species interacted with the cerans, they found their terse attitude and strange spiritualism perplexing, making relations somewhat difficult. Their distance from “civilized” life allowed rumors and large misunderstandings to build around them for centuries. In truth they are a kind and wise species, giving their all to those in need. They have little sense of self and see themselves as simply one part in a larger whole.

They have an unparalleled sense of honor. A driving need to live up to the name of their ancestors focuses their actions and behavior. Some more jovial species feel as though cerans never let their guard down, and they would be correct. Cerans believe their ancestors are always watching over them and have no desire to shame themselves in front of their grandparents. Those that stray away from this code of honor, and seek a life of selfish avarice, are known as “Rontar” to their kin. In most cases they are left to their own devices, though they are coerced, by many undesirable methods, into abandoning their family name. Those that take a blatantly evil approach to life are hunted by the family, their transgressions too severe for the ancestors to overlook. The ire of a ceran family is a rare and deadly curse to have upon you.

To a ceran, there is nothing more important than family. Be it by birth, found family, or those that came before them.

Harsh Lessons

A ceran’s life is filled with the experience that a stubborn nature brings, combined with the lessons of their ancestors. Wise beyond their years, cerans will gladly share their wisdom with anyone who has the patience to listen. They are fond of long stories, weaving dense meaning into every line. The few ceran texts that exist are so filled with double meaning and subtext that other species can spend years studying a single chapter. Despite this inherent wisdom, cerans are hopelessly bullheaded. Their desire to impress their family pushes them to continue a given assignment, even after repeated failures. A hopeless quest to others is considered a worthwhile challenge to the cerans.

Purposeful Adventurers

Cerans are the epitome of homebodies, rarely venturing out without a good reason. Often, cerans encountered in the wild are on a quest, or string of quests. Their kind nature and lack of familiarity with the world outside their home makes them unable to prioritize assignments. A mission to restore peace to a kingdom holds the same weight as a child missing their doll. Because of this they will sometimes spend years moving from adventure to adventure before they are able to complete their original assignment. Ceran elders understand this behavior and will use it as a wry method for teaching young and rambunctious cerans important life lessons. Even a simple task of collecting a semi-precious stone can take a ceran away from their home for decades, as they help hundreds of creatures along the way.

Ceran Names

So important is Ceran ancestry that, until recent history, they had no personal names. The small interwoven nature of the families meant that every Ceran knew their kin. There was little need for personal names. The closest they had was a simple adjective or noun that described the most legendary of their ancestors. This convention has influenced their new names as they integrate into the larger world. They always use their family name first and, in some cases, may have no personal name.

Family Names: Throndaxi, Reavenden, Holistanden, Roseguns, Stallonus, Vandammed, Locbadias, Lundgryen.

Personal Names: Fighter, Spear, Big, Horn, Wise, Barrel, Foolhardy, Savage, Indomitable, Wit, Shield, Mage.

Other Species

Many species have incorrect preconceptions when it comes to cerans. They believe them to be slow, large brutes, only capable of limited speech and destruction. The ceran lack of enthusiasm for integrating into other societies makes the fight against these misunderstandings an arduous one. Cerans however, do not give into preconceptions about any species or individual, trusting only their own experiences on an individual level. Merit and honor are what matter most cerans, not the places or stories that surround them.

Racial Traits

Cerans all share a similar obtuse build and attitude

• Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
• Age. A Ceran reaches adulthood at age 20 but may spend many years learning from their elders before they are ready to venture out on their own. They usually live around 300 years.
• Alignment. Most Cerans are good natured, tending towards lawful alignments. They are willing to sacrifice great time, effort, and coin to help those around them. Those that lean towards chaos are often ousted from the family. The very few evil Cerans ever recorded are treated like taboo history, their tales told only in whispers.
• Size. Cerans can range from 6 to 8 feet. They average 300 pounds. Your size is medium.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
• Stout Body. You are incredibly hard to keep down. You have advantage on saving throws against being paralyzed and restrained.
• Powerful Build. When determining your carrying capacity or items you can move, you are considered one size larger. Ancestor’s Spirit. Each Ceran has a connection to the ones that came before them. The exact nature of this connection is based on your Ceran bloodline. You can use these abilities once before finishing a short or long rest.

Subraces

There are three major subspecies of Cerans: Tri-Ceran, Sty-Ceran, and Pa-Ceran.

Tri-ceran

This subspecies is the most common of the Cerans. Their prolific numbers mean they have had the most interaction with the outside world. Because of this, they are often better equipped to deal with the day to day hustle of civilization. The price of this adaptation has been a weakening of their ancestral traditions. While they may seem resolute in their old ways to an outside observer, other Cerans know that the familial bonds are frailer than they used to be.

They have three horns, one set against their nose and two on the head plate. Their coloration is typically bland with very little variation on their bodies.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
• Gouge. You can use an action to try and attack an enemy with within 5 feet with your horns. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Strength modifier piercing damage.
• Ancestor’s Spirit. You can call upon the warriors within your family to summon a spiritual weapon. Using a bonus action, a weapon comprised of your ancestor’s will materializes in your hand. It behaves like a normal weapon, despite being made of spiritual energy. It is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances. It disappears after 1 minute. When creating your character, you must choose the one weapon you will receive.

Sty-ceran

These Ceran are rarer and more reclusive than the other bloodlines. They have not adapted well to the outside world, keeping their young away from the dangers this new influence might bring. They are deeply spiritual, spending hours in communion daily with their ancestors. Their resolute adherence to tradition has made change slow in their bloodline. They are seen as primitive by other species and even other cerans can view them as less advanced. Despite this, they are amazingly gifted with insight. They have an unnatural ability to peer into one’s soul and discern their desires and intentions. The few that leave their family are wonderful negotiators, minstrels, or leaders.

Sty-Cerans have a flurry of smaller horns that adorn their head plate, with a small singular one on their nose. They often have a primary scale color that is contrasted highly by splashes of bright colors. Sometimes they accentuate these flashy colors with tattoos or markings.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
• Not Your Time. Due to your deep link with your ancestors, they can help you to avoid an early death. When you are reduced to 0 hit points, but not killed outright, you automatically succeed on your first death saving throw. Once you use this ability you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
• Ancestor’s Spirit. You can call upon your ancestors to guide your mind and body in combat. You can roll a d4 and add the result to any attack, damage, or saving throw roll you make. You can do this after you roll but before you know the result.

Pa-ceran

Pa-Cerans are the most brutish of the bloodlines. They are direct in their speech, giving no thought to the tone and words chosen. Larger than most, Pa-Cerans are generally less willing to deal with affairs they decide are trivial. Like most cerans they lack context for the world at large, and so a “trivial” affair may be the fall and rise of entire nations. If an event does not directly affect their family, it is likely not worth worrying about. This does not mean they cannot be amazing allies; they just need the right incentive. Their very direct nature means they need to know exactly how any quest might benefit their family before they consider it. Gaining their assistance is typically easy as they are quick to trust others; making them prime targets for the wrong person with the right enticement.

Their dull scales are accented with tufts of fur that stick out around their neck and spine. The horns are small, almost decorative, and serve little purpose. The large nose however, is coated in a thick bone that spreads to a great deal of their face.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
• Nosebutt. You can use an action to try to make an unarmed attack against an enemy with within 5 feet with your nose plate. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage.
• Ancestor’s Spirit. Your ancestors were great warriors, standing nearly unchallenged for generations. As a bonus action, you can choose to gain +1 to either your AC, attack rolls, saving throws, or damage rolls for 1 minute. Additionally, if you are healed while using this feature, add +2 to the total healing you received.

Magna-ceran

A species unique to the Retroverse, Magna-Cerans embrace a deeper connection to the world they live on than to their own ancestors. To them, all life ebbs and flows with the planet itself and so the remembrance of singular people is less important than synching with the origins of their energy. This philosophy is cemented in their minds in part by the magnetic bone plate in their skulls. They can quite literally feel the earth around them, becoming attuned to the rhythmic pulse of energy that flows through all things. Aged Magna-Cerans often become seers or councilors, using their ability to detect small changes in a person’s energy field, giving them the ability to provide more insightful advice.

Magna-Cerans are most often pastel colors, with some reflective metals that collect in their hides. They have no traditional horns but use the magnetic bone plate to create artificial horns from metals and arrange them in decorative or weapon-like patterns.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
• Magnetic Skull. You can create a crude weapon on your head as a bonus action. Once there, you can use an attack action to strike at an enemy. On a hit, the attack deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (chosen when creating the weapon) and the weapon is broken. You can use this trait to create weapons a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of once) before finishing a short or long rest.
• Magnetic Pulse. As a reaction to a melee attack against you, you can cause an oscillation of the magnetic fields around you. Any metals on the attacker’s body quickly push and pull, throwing the attack off balance and imposing disadvantage on the attack. You can use this trait once before finishing a short or long rest. Ancestor’s Spirit. Magna-cerans are in tune with the energy of the world and others around them. You can use your action to make an Insight check on any creature within 15 feet. If your roll is a 20 or higher the target creature cannot surprise you, you can tell if they are lying, you know their alignment, you have advantage on saving throws against them, and they have disadvantage on attack rolls against you. The effect is lost after 1 minute. You must finish a long rest after using the ability successfully before you can use it again.