Randoran (Ran-door-ann)
Tiny amphibious creatures whose upper body resembles a pixie and lower body that of a squid, randorans thrive in underground caverns and coastlines. Scavengers by nature, a randoran takes great pride in hoarding shiny items and building mounds out of sunken wrecks. Having a short lifespan and a prolific nature, most view them as vermin and gaining the trust of one can be a momentous task. Those that succeed find a useful ally, as a randorans size and tendency to be ignored by others can be a great boon.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Randorans lack feet, instead have four tentacles akin to that of a squid that they utilize for movement.
Biological Traits
Despite living primary underwater, most randorans lack the ability to breathe under the water. They are capable of holding their breath for extremely long periods of time, with the average being able to hold their breathe for an hour. The randorans who dwell under the waves in the Deep Realm have adapted, growing a set of gills and are capacity to breath underwater, but have lost the ability to breathe easily in air and must hold their breath when traveling to the surface.
Genetics and Reproduction
Randorans lay clutches of eggs after mating, often lining the walls of their den with eggs in groups of 6-8, but only rarely do a majority of randoran youth make it to adulthood. Most fall prey to predators in the first year of their lives, and many hungry creatures raid randoran dens for easy meals.
Growth Rate & Stages
Randorans reach adulthood at 8 years of age, maturing very quickly after the first year of their life.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Randoran young primary live off of krill, phytoplankton, and other minute sea-life, turning to a larger diet of fish and seaweed as they age.
Biological Cycle
Randorans dislike extreme cold, often moving into the deeper reaches of their caves or closer to geothermal vents in the winter. In the summer, the congregate on coastlines in search of mates.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Randoran dens are ruled over in a of trio of the head shaman, who as had the most dreams; the lead scavenger, with the biggest hoard; and the most prolific matron with the greatest amount of children. Many dens are also often ruled over by a powerful aquatic being, such as a naga, aboleth, or aquatic dragon.
Domestication
Sometimes, other aquatic races will "domesticate" a randoran and keep it as a pet or familiar. While a randoran often secretly resents this treatment, the allure of free food and an easy place to live is an offer too tempting for most of them to pass up.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Some find grilled or fried randoran tentacles to be a delicacy, and thus hunt and fish them for food.
Facial characteristics
A Randoran face resemble reptilian pixies, with pointed ears, sharp teeth, and slanted eyes. They often have hair that resembles seaweed.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
A majority of randorans dwell in the many caves and pools on the Xihu Coastline, the borderlands between Central Matera and Vatenrelm. They can also be found dwelling in the Deep Realm, often acting as servants for the mighty aboleth.
Average Intelligence
Randorans are inquisitive and crafty, but are quite impulsive, lacking self control and often basic caution. They rarely receive any form of formal education, instead learning and adapting through trial and error.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Randorans have darkvision, as well as keen noses that can easily sniff out recently deceased corpses. A randorans eyes are extremely sensitive to light, and thus they are mostly nocturnal creatures. Many randorans who dwell deep beneath the waves or in ancient subterrain caves have never seen the sun, and have a much larger range of darkvision.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Many randoran raise schools of fish and pools of phytoplankton as food sources, and often can be found keeping squids as pets.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Randorans have a single name that is often shorter and reminiscent of water or aquatic traits, such as Balo, Duxo, Inigo, Keel, Mako, Newt, Octo, Puk, Rom, or Yar for males and Cora, Isla, Isu, Jou, Lin, Meri, Rainea, Riva, Undin, Vivi, and Wahla for females.
Beauty Ideals
Randorans love shiny objects and items, often becoming more attracted to another based on the size of their hoard rather than physical status. Many randorans also find those with longer tentacles more attractive.
Gender Ideals
While genders are considered relativity equal, powerful male randorans often become shamans, while notable females often take up the role of the overall matrons of the den, with the rest of the den becoming farmers or scavengers.
Courtship Ideals
Randorans have strange courtship rituals, often relying on dreams and portents to tell them when to mate. Randorans mate on beeches, with dens travelling as packs to mix with other dens and expand the breeding pool.
Relationship Ideals
Randorans are compulsive and greedy, which makes it difficult for them to make true friends, but can often find common ground with those who like to obsess over items with them.
Average Technological Level
Randorans are scavengers, thus rely on the trash of other creatures to make technological advancements. They lack much in the way of higher technology, but often craft elaborate traps in their underground layers to protect their hordes.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Most randorans speak Aboleth, but can often be found picking up the languages of nearby races, such as Aklo, Aquan, Common, Draconic, Gnome, Anuri, Halfling, or Undercommon.
Common Etiquette Rules
It is common for a randoran scavenger to offer a portion of its spoils to the leader of the den upon its return, and all randorans in a nest are required to report their dreams to the shamans each time they have them, so that the shamans may interpret the coming omens.
Common Dress Code
Being mostly aquatic creatures and lacking proper legs, randorans rarely wear any sort of clothing, as it must be specially tailored to them at an increased price. They often craft bracelets or necklaces out of seaweed, shells, and scavenged debris. They often find interesting surface objects that they insist are used as hats or other clothing options, despite any easy evidence to dispute such outlandish claims.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Randoran culture is built around dreams and visions, as shamans routinely try to interpret the dreams of the warren, and will often change rules, expel members, or embark on crusades against other warrens based on a dream of one of the members of the nest.
Many randorans view the land as a mysterious and dangerous place, developing many strange myths and stories about the surface and the two-leggers who dwell upon it. They often only make contact with land asides then their subnautic caves to mate on the beaches, and avoid going inland.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Randorans love to hoard objects, and will often compete with each other to build the best hoards. When a randoran youth has grown enough to hold its breath for at least thirty minutes, it is expelled from the nest until it brings back a weapon or another particularly shiny or important item scavenged from the ocean floor. This object that a randoran finds is referred to as its Firstlove, and most randorans develop an unhealthy obsession's with these items, viewing it as their most prized possessions. Randorans also often partake in ritual sacrifice of creatures who they manage to to capture although such instances are rare due to their diminuative statures.
Common Taboos
A randoran that fails to obtain a suitably impressive Firstlove will not be allowed back in the nest. Randoran shamans often ingest strange drugs and inhale fumes from underwater vents in order to bring about strange dreams, and such dreams often bring new taboos or rules with them.
Historical Figures
A member of the Nenu-Lan guild, The Court of Misfits, was a randoran Watershifter named Isu.
Common Myths and Legends
Most randorans worship one of the aquatic gods of other species that share their territory, but a randorans special placement on the importancer of dreams often leads them to worship Cthulhu or other Dark Tapestry gods, although they rarely understand the greater connotations of worshiping such dangerous beings.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Randorans prolific nature on coasts tend to cause them to be viewed as vermin by most land-dwelling creatures. Aquatic creatures view them as valuable for the scavenging skills, but often only use them as tools and oppress them. Randorans tend to be impulsive, so those that do befriend them often struggle not to become fed up with their greedy and rambunctious attitudes.
Racial Table - Randoran: Hit Dice: D8; Class Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Knowledge (Dungoneering), Perception, Stealth; Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier; Weapon Proficiency: Simple, plus any one weapon; Armor Proficiency: None
| Level | BAB | Fort | Reflex | Will | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Carrion Sense, Hold Breath, Light Sensitivity, Mist Child, Water Child, Weapon Familiarity |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Shrink Item |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | Dreamspeaker |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Inspired Mind, +1 Constitution, +1 Intelligence |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Sleep Madness |
Random Starting Ages
| Adulthood | Intutive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 years | +1d4 years (9 - 12) | +1d6 years (9 - 14) | +1d8 years (9 - 16) |
Random Height and Weight
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 1 ft. 5 in. | +1d6 in. (1 ft. 6 in. - 1 ft. 11 in.) | 1 lbs. | +(1d6 lbs.) (2 - 7 lbs.) |
| Female | 1 ft. 3 in. | +1d6 in. (1 ft. 4 in. - 1 ft. 9 in.) | 1 lbs. | +(1d6 lbs.) (2 -7 lbs.) |
Randoran Aging Table
| Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex, and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 years | 28 years | 38 years | 38 + 1d8 years (39 - 46 years) |
Random Randoran Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-40 | River, Swamp, or Wetlands | River Rat |
| 41-80 | Sea | Sea-Souled |
| 81-95 | Subterranean | Savage |
| 96-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
Random Randoran Families
| % Rolled | Parental Status |
|---|---|
| 01-40 | Both of your parents are alive |
| 41-60 | Both of your parents are dead |
| 61-80 | Only Father is alive |
| 81-00 | Only Mother is alive |
| % Rolled | # of Siblings |
|---|---|
| 01-50 | 1d4+1 Siblings |
| 51-90 | 1d6+1 Siblings |
| 91-00 | No siblings |
by @miz0mei on twitter
by @miz0mei on twitter
Lifespan
39 - 46 years; although many randorans fall prey to larger creatures in their late 20s.
Average Height
1 ft. 4 in. - 1 ft. 11 in.
Average Weight
2 - 7 lbs.
Average Physique
Randorans are quite small, lacking physical strength but making up for it with mobility and an increased amount of stamina.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Randorans are often green, blue, or greyish in color, with those dwelling closer to the surface often having more vibrant colors then those who dwell deep beneath the waves.
Geographic Distribution
Randoran
Type
Aberration
Ability Score Modifier
+4 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom. Randorans are quick, crafty, and tough, but are impulsive and lack strength
Size
small
Speed
Randorans have a base land speed of 10 feet and a base swim speed of 30 feet. Their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance. They gain the +8 racial bonus to Swim checks that having a swim speed entails.
Language
Randorans start out speaking Aboleth. Randorans with high intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aklo, Aquan, Common, Draconic, Gnome, Anuri, Halfling, Undercommon.
- Materil: Randorans are intrinsically tied to the Water Materil, and must become Waterdancers.
- Tiny: Randorans are Tiny sized creatures. Tiny sized creatures get a +2 size bonus to AC, a +2 size bonus on attack rolls, a -2 penalty to combat maneuver bonus and their CMD, and a +8 size bonus on Stealth checks. Tiny sized creatures use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier when calculating their Climb and Swim skill modifiers. Tiny creatures take a space of 2-½ feet by 2-½ feet, so up two four of these creatures can fit in a single square. Tiny creatures have a reach of 0 feet, meaning they must move into enemy squares to attack it in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. Tiny creatures do not threaten squares for creatures larger than tiny, and typically cannot flank an opponent.
- Darkvision: Randorans can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Carrion Sense (Ex): Randorans can sniff out the dead. This functions like the scent ability, but only for corpses. This ability functions underwater at double the normal scent range.
- Hold Breath: A randoran can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to four times their Constititution score.
- Light Sensitivity: Randorans are sensitive to light. A randoran is dazzled in an area of bright light or within the radius of a daylight spell.
- Mist Child: Randorans excel at concealing themselves. Whenever a randoran has concealment, the miss chances to hit that randoran increase by 5%.
- Water Child: Randoran are adept swimmers. Randorans gain a +4 racial bonus to their Swim checks, can always take 10 on Swim checks, and may choose Aquan as a bonus language. This racial bonus stacks with the racial bonus from having a swim speed.
- Weapon Familiarity: Randorans find a weapon they like at a young age and train their whole life with it. A randoran picks one weapon at character creation, and becomes proficient with that weapon.
- Shrink Item (Su): Starting at 2nd racial level, a randoran gains the ability to shrink items down to their size. This functions as the shrink item spell with the following exceptions; the spell always shrinks the item down to tiny size, the spell cannot change the composition of an item, and the duration of the spell is permanent. A randoran can only have a number of items shrunk equal to its racial level. Any new items shrunk after that returns the oldest item shrunk to its original size.
- Dreamspeaker (Sp): Randorans have an innate talent for dream magic. At 3rd racial level, they get a +1 bonus to the saving throw DCs of spells of the divination school and spells that produce sleep effects that they cast. This bonus increases by one for every five hit dice the randoran possesses beyond 3rd. They can pick a spell from the following list and cast that spell as a 1/day spell like ability, using their total hit dice as their caster level; bed of iron, polypurpose panacea, sleep, or restful sleep. The saves are Constitution based. A randoran with a Constitution score of 15 or higher can cast dream as a spell-like ability once per day.
- Inspired Mind: Starting at 4th racial level, a randoran gains a -1 penalty on will saves against mind-affecting effects, but gains a +1 racial bonus on all other Will saves, and a +4 racial bonus on all Craft, Perform, and Profession checks. These bonuses and penalties increase at every fifth hit dice beyond the 4th.
- Sleep Madness (Su): Starting at 5th racial level, anytime a randoran would become helpless due to a condition, such as forcefully being put to sleep or paralyzed, they are instead affected by a confusion spell for the duration of the effect. The randoran enters a sleep-like trance during this time, and doesn't remember anything of its time spent in the trance. If a creature accesses a randorans mind during this time, that creature is automatically affected by the confusion spell as well.
Alternate Racial Traits
- Climber: Some randorans specialize in utilizing their tentacles to Climb surfaces. These randorans gain a Climb speed of 10 feet (and the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks having a climb speed entails). This trait replaces the Water Child trait.
- Deepborn: These randoran have never seen the surface world, and have adapted to life completely beneath the waves. They gain the Aquatic subtype and a set of gills, allowing them to breathe underwater but can no longer breathe air. They can hold their breath out of water for as long as their Hold Breath trait would have allowed them to breathe underwater without this trait. This ability replaces Hold Breath.
- Mutated: Some randorans are freakishly large, reaching over two feet in height, becoming Small sized creatures. This trait replaces the Mist Child trait and alters the randorans size.
- Undersight: Some randoran have adapted to see solely underwater or in dank caverns. These randorans increase their darkvision to a range of 120 feet, but are now blinded by light, gaining the light blindness trait. This trait replaces the light sensitivity trait and alters the randorans sense.
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