Yippers

Yippers

Sylvan Name: Goro'qo
The Yippers of The West Marches are oft-feared creatures typically associated with the Thalgor. Despite this characterization, Yippers are actually Fey, and they've been locked in war with the Thalgor ever since their arrival to the West Marches, which the Yippers inhabited prior. Yippers are skilled survivalists and warriors who have called the badlands of the Marches their home for ages, but they have largely been exterminated or assimilated by the Beast-Hordes, which further gives their association with the Thalgor power. Yippers are among the Fey races which did not participate in The Great Migration, though some have fled the West Marches since the arrival of the Thalgor.
Yippers earn their name from their high-pitched wails. When hunting in groups, these wails are said to have frightened entire regiments of Althraxian forces during the Age of Blood.

General Information

Rarity: Rare. (You may play this race only after consulting with the DM. There may be limits on the number of players able to play races of this category in a single party.)
Physical Description: Yippers are Fey with prominent dog- or hyena-like features. They sport fur of varied colors across their whole bodies, and may or may not have distinct hair upon their heads and faces. Many Yippers have crooked and raggy ears and facial scars, owing to a common practice of inflicting mutilations upon opponents when training to fight in their youth. These mutilations are typically minor, but they build up. Yippers have long claws upon their hands and feet and sharp teeth, all of which serve them as practical weapons. They have elongated tails which end in a puffy tip.
Family Structure: Yippers are typically raised communally, and parents are rarely directly involved in childrens' lives. This is a matter of practicality, as all Yippers are expected to scavenge and fight for their clan. Children are raised to fight, kill, and forage throughout their youth, and they are often paired off or grouped together during their training, resulting in tight friendship circles among them. Outside of the West Marches, these practices are still typical, though they are at least muted in their character.
Attitude Toward Society: Yippers have no desire to follow social rules, instead holding personal bonds between each other above all else. Even outside of the West Marches, Yippers have a hard time integrating into ordered societies, and they are often stereotyped as dangerous and violent even in the absence of their association with the Thalgor.
Attitude Toward Gender: Yippers have no relevant conceptualization of gender, though they will often tend towards stereotypically-masculine roles within society merely due to their physical prowess.
Attitude Toward Relationships: Yippers very rarely form romantic relationships. Sex is also uncommon for Yippers outside of designated times of the year (typically thrice) when several clans will meet together and engage in large orgies. Unlike for some races, these are not strictly for reproduction, and most Yippers will engage with partners regardless of their anatomy. This sometimes gains them an association with Cinakath that further sours their reputation. Indeed, Cinakath is often openly worshipped at these orgies.

Race (5e)

Placeholder.

Ancestry (Pathfinder 2e)

Yipper feats emphasize their knack for setting traps, their weaponized physiology, and their pack-hunting attitude.

Yippers

Hit Points

10

Size

Medium

Speed

25

Ability Boosts

Dexterity, Charisma, Free

Ability Flaw

Intelligence

Traits

Humanoid, Fey, Yipper

Languages

Human Common, Yipyap, additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive)

Special Abilities

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Bite: Your sharp teeth and powerful jaws are fearsome weapons. You have a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage. Your jaws are in the brawling group.

Heritages

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Hold-Scarred Yipper: You are part of a Yipper clan that participates in ritual scarification or tattooing. The marks on your skin show your exceptional hardiness and vitality. You gain 12 Hit Points from your ancestry instead of 8. You also gain the Diehard feat.
Scavenger Yipper: Your ancestors originated from a land where food was scarce and threats were many. You are trained in Survival. You gain the Forager skill feat as a bonus feat. Your thoroughness when gathering food provides you a +1 circumstance bonus to Survival checks to Subsist.
Tracker Yipper: Your clan has long excelled as trackers and have honed their sense of smell. You gain imprecise scent with a range of 30 feet. This means you can use your sense of smell to determine a creature’s location. The GM will usually double the range if you’re downwind from the creature or halve the range if you’re upwind. In addition, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to Seek a creature or object within the range of your scent.
Witch Yipper: You're a shaggy, dark-furred gnoll capable of making some truly uncanny sounds. You can cast the ghost sound cantrip as an occult innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up. In addition, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to checks to Impersonate and Create a Diversion when using only your voice.

Ancestry Feats

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Name	Traits	Level	Prerequisites	Benefits	Details
Crunch	Yipper	1	-	Your jaws can crush bone and bite through armor.	Show spoiler Your jaws can crush bone and bite through armor. Your jaws unarmed attack deals 1d8 piercing damage instead of 1d6 and gains the grapple trait.
Eldetic Ear	Yipper	1	-	You have an amazing memory for sound.	Show spoiler You gain the Assurance (Performance) feat. With a successful DC 8 flat check, you can accurately recall a sound or a snippet of conversation you heard within the last week. You are memorizing by rote rather than content, and can't use this to cram facts, so this doesn't grant you any extra ability to Recall Knowledge.
Goro'qo Lore	Yipper	1	-	You paid attention to your senior hunters to learn their tricks.	Show spoiler You paid attention to your senior hunters to learn their tricks. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Stealth and Survival. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You also become trained in Yipper Lore.
Hyena Familiar	Yipper	1	-	Hyenas serve Yippers as pets, trackers, and represent fallen comrades.	Show spoiler Hyenas serve Yippers as pets, trackers, and represent fallen comrades. You gain a Tiny hyena as a familiar.
Pack Hunter	Yipper	1	-	You were taught how to hunt as part of a pack.	Show spoiler You were taught how to hunt as part of a pack. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid, and your allies gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid you.
Snare Setter	Yipper	1	trained in Crafting	You are adept at the time-honored Yipper art of trap making.	Show spoiler You are adept at the time-honored Yipper art of trap making. You gain the trained proficiency in Crafting. If you were already trained in Crafting, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain access to all uncommon snares with the kobold (in PF rules) trait. You gain the Snare Crafting feat, though when choosing your formulas for that feat, you can also choose from uncommon kobold snares, as well as common snares.
Vengeful Hatred	Yipper	1	-	Your heart aches for vengeance against those who have wronged your people.	Show spoiler Your heart aches for vengeance against those who have wronged your people. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to damage with weapons and unarmed attacks against creatures with the Thalgor trait. If your attack would deal more than one weapon die of damage (as is common at higher levels than 1st), the bonus is equal to the number of weapon dice or unarmed attack dice. In addition, if a creature critically succeeds at an attack against you and deals damage to you, you gain your bonus to damage against that creature for 1 minute regardless of whether it has the chosen trait.
Yipper Weapon Familiarity	Yipper	1	-	You were taught to be a hunter and a raider.	Show spoiler You were taught to be a hunter and a raider. You are trained with flails, khopeshes, mambeles, spears, and war flails.
Distant Cackle	Yipper	5	Witch Yipper heritage	It takes a very brave person to enter the laughter-haunted forest where you dwell.	Show spoiler It takes a very brave person to enter the laughter-haunted forest where you dwell. You can cast ventriloquism once per day as a 1st-level occult innate spell.
Pack Stalker	Yipper	5	Pack Hunter; expert in Stealth	Ambushes are an honored Yipper tradition.	Show spoiler Ambushes are an honored Yipper tradition. You gain the Terrain Stalker feat and can extend its effects to a single ally so long as they remain within 10 ft. of you. If you have master proficiency in Stealth, you can extend the effect to two allies. If you have legendary proficiency in Stealth, you can extend it to four allies.
Right-Hand Blood	Yipper	5	-	It's said that the flesh of the right side of a Yipper can heal diseases, but that of the left side is poisonous.	Show spoiler It's said that the flesh of the right side of a Yipper can heal diseases, but that of the left side is poisonous. You can take 1 damage to feed someone blood from your right side and Administer First Aid or take 2d8 damage to Treat Disease or Treat Wounds; in either case, you don't need healer's tools, and gain a +1 item bonus.
Snare Genius	Yipper	5	Snare Crafting; expert in Crafting	Your expertise makes your snares more powerful, and you can place them quickly and efficiently.	Show spoiler Your expertise makes your snares more powerful, and you can place them quickly and efficiently. Each day during your daily preparations, you can prepare three snares from your formula book for quick deployment; if the snare normally takes 1 minute to Craft, you can Craft it with 3 Interact actions. Snares prepared in this way don't cost you any resources to Craft. The number of snares you can prepare this way increases to four if you are a master in Crafting, and to five if you are legendary. When you Craft and deploy a snare that deals damage, any creature that critically fails its saving throw against the snare's initial effect and takes damage becomes flat-footed until the end of its next turn.
Yipper Weapon Practicality	Yipper	5	Yipper Weapon Familiarity	You have come to know Yipper weapons as you know yourself.	Show spoiler Whenever you critically hit using flails, khopeshes, mambeles, spears, and war flails, you apply the weapon's critical specialization effect.
Grandmother's Wisdom	Yipper	9	-	You carry the bones of your ancestors with you, and you can ask them for counsel.	Show spoiler You carry the bones of your ancestors with you, and you can ask them for counsel. You can cast augury twice per day as a 2nd-level occult innate spell.
Laughing Yipper	Yipper	9	master in Intimidation	A Yipper's sinister giggle is a sound of warning and threat.	Show spoiler A Yipper's sinister giggle is a sound of warning and threat. You gain the Battle Cry skill feat. You don't take a penalty when you attempt to Demoralize a creature that doesn't understand your language.
Pack Tactics	Yipper	9	-	You are adept at working with your allies to surround a foe.	Show spoiler You are adept at working with your allies to surround a foe. If an enemy is within reach of you and at least two of your allies, that enemy is flat-footed against you.
Snare Commando	Yipper	9	Snare Crafting; expert in Deception or Intimidation	Your snares are so befuddling that your victims rarely notice you slipping out of sight.	Show spoiler Your snares are so befuddling that your victims rarely notice you slipping out of sight. When a creature fails or critically fails a save against your snare, if you have expert proficiency in Deception, you can Create a Diversion against the triggering creature. If you have expert proficiency in Intimidation, you can instead Demoralize the triggering creature. If you have both, choose one of the two effects.
Vicious Snares	Yipper	13	Snare Crafting; expert in Crafting	You've learned how to create traps that cause greater injuries.	Show spoiler You've learned how to create traps that cause greater injuries. You deal an additional 1d6 precision damage with damaging snares you craft. This increases to 2d6 additional precision damage if you're legendary in Crafting.
We March On	Yipper	13	-	You make sure that your allies push themselves while traveling.	Show spoiler You make sure that your allies push themselves while traveling. You gain the Caravan Leader and Pick Up the Pace general feats, even if you don't meet the prerequisites.
Yipper Weapon Expertise	Yipper	13	Yipper Weapon Practicality	You fight with effortless expertise with Yipper weapons.	Show spoiler Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in a given weapon or weapons, you also gain that proficiency in flails, khopeshes, mambeles, spears, and war flails.
Death Yip	Yipper, Auditory	17	-	You call out to your allies and push them to give their all in combat.	Show spoiler You call out to your allies and push them to give their all in combat. All allies within 30 feet that can hear you gain a number of temporary Hit Points equal to your level. In addition, these allies become quickened for 1 minute but can only use the extra action to Step, Stride, or Strike.

You Might...

• Keep a bone from a favorite relative to ask for advice.
• Analyze your surroundings, always looking for ambushes, advantageous terrain, and escape routes.
• View dying in glorious combat as preferable to a mundane death from old age or illness.

Others Probably...

• Are intimidated or scared by your size, teeth, and association with the Thalgor.
• Underestimate your intellect, cunning, and knowledge.
• Respect the brutal efficiency of your traps and hunting style.

by LadyofHats, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons