Appearance
Minotaurs are bipedal humanoids with many bovine features, such as the head of a cow with mighty horns, hooves, and often a thin tail. Even the shortest of them stand at least 6 feet tall, and most tend to be covered in black or brown fur.
After these similarities, one must acknowledge the two distinct types of minotaur; the monstrous kind are far larger and bulkier, often standing over 9 feet tall with fully black or red eyes and frothing mouths sometimes filled with sharp rather than flat teeth. The civilised kind are much more humanoid in appearance, with less fur, a smaller size, and less haunting eyes and mouths.
Description
The First Curse
Most other species in The Varolian were the result of either arcane experimentation, or wholesale divine creation. Not so for Minotaurs. Legend has it that
Kanzu once had a divine child of great power and potential, born with limitless strength and destined for glory. Until one day the child disobeyed his father, and was twisted into something dreadful as punishment. A creature capable of nothing but bloodlust and rage, ever hungry for mortal flesh.
Somehow this first and most terrible of all minotaurs sired heirs, and the curse was transferred to them. Minotaurs have walked the world, destroying and devouring as they go ever since.
The Curse Weakens?
At some point within the last few hundred years, something most strange has begun. Amongst the children of these frightening beasts have been born "runts" - minotaurs much smaller than their siblings, without the inherent desire for carnage that plagues their kind. These lesser minotaur are often killed once the parent realises something’s wrong, but there are always exceptions. Perhaps the runt was able to escape, was left alive and just picked on for being small, or the parent was killed by adventurers and the runt left to fend for itself. Regardless of how they survived to adulthood, the minotaur is free from the ancient bloodlust, able to walk alongside other civilised folk.
Seeking Acceptance
Despite their extreme differences to the horrible monsters of myth, many civilised minotaurs struggle to feel welcomed in human society, and tend to live on the outskirts of cities, if they bother with humanity at all. Others will find themselves more at home with nomadic tribes of
Loxodon or
Leonin. Wherever they make their homes, lesser minotaurs will often engage in vegetarian diets and become protectors of their communities, in an attempt to distance themselves from their carnivorous, dangerous kin.
Religion & Politics
Gods of War
Though they are free from his direct influence, many minotaurs still choose to worship
Kanzu The Bloody, praying to him for the strength to survive and best their foes. Others who are more conscious of their origins will choose to worship
Golden Zia instead, determined to earn their own glory and protect others from harm.
Republic of Ósa
There remains a stigma around minotaurs within the Land of Magic, as many grew up on the stories of barbarism and violence that center around the bestial, larger kind. But, so long as a runt can prove they hold no bloodlust or malice within them, they are welcome to enter settlements, and often find the roles of gladiator or guard suits them well enough.
Kingdom of Praelos
For all the minotaur desperate to move away from their accursed origins, there will always be some who prefer the ways of their larger kin. Minotaurs are more commonly found in Praelos than Ósa, for it is here that they are rewarded well for their strength and brutality, rather than shunned. There is even a sect, or perhaps cult, or Praelan minotaurs who feast on the flesh of their defeated enemies, and are used as elite troops when standard units have failed.
Mechanics - Lesser/Runt Minotaur
Ability Scores: Str +2, Con +1
Size: Minotaurs stand between 6 and 8 feet in height, with stocky builds that have them weigh upwards of 400 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed: 30ft
Languages: You can speak Minotaur and Common
Horns: Your horns are natural melee weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Goring Rush: Immediately after you use the Dash action on your turn and move at least 20 feet, you can make one melee attack with your horns as a bonus action.
Hammering Horns: Immediately after you hit a creature with a melee attack as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to shove that target with your horns. The target must be no more than one size larger than you and within 5 feet of you. Unless it succeeds on a Strength saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, you push it up to 10 feet away from you.
Imposing Presence: You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Intimidation or Persuasion.
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