TzHaar
TzHaar are a race of golem-like creatures that inhabit magma-lit caves deep beneath the Karamja volvano. The word "TzHaar" means "sacred fire". The TzHaar society is unlike most others, and only vaguely resembles any that exists on the surface.
Gentle Monsters
Despite their fearsome and powerful appearance, the TzHaar are a peaceful race, and have existed beneath the surface for thousands of years. Even today, the finer aspects of their society remain a point of great mystery amongst scholars.
Biologically, the TzHaar are a great marvel. They appear like burning rocks, but are made of solid obsidian and magma. Even though they might appear strong and brutish, they are actually gentle and kind. They possess four powerful arms, each of which has four fingers. TzHaar are physically very strong, and they very rarely suffer from disease. They feed on large mammals and rodents that tunnel beneath the surface.
TzHaar live very long lives, although the exact length is unknown. The TzHaar have the unique ability of memory transfer; a TzHaar will retain all of the knowledge and memories of its ancestors had before it. This generally makes TzHaar a very wise race.
From Lava, To Lava
TzHaar are born from eggs which are incubated in pools of molten lava. Even stranger than their birth is their death. When a TzHaar dies, their body hardens and loses all mobility. Yet, even as their body fails, their mind remains eternally locked within their corpse, which is often displayed in a statue-like state or broken down into the TzHaar's holy currency known as tokkul. Despite this horrible fate, the TzHaar seem to accept this, and believe that when they die their souls will eventually be brought to the heart of the volcano and given new life.
Castes
One of the most prominent parts of TzHaar society is its caste system, which dictates what a TzHaar will do in life. These castes are the TzHaar-Ket, TzHaar-Xil, TzHaar-Mej,
and TzHaar-Hur. At birth, a TzHaar's caste is chosen based on their physical and mental traits, and they strictly follow this for the rest of their life. TzHaar of the same caste may look remarkably similar to the eye of an outsider, but they can tell each other apart by subtle differences in the shapes of their rocky bodies and patterns of magma.
When a TzHaar reaches an age at which they can no longer perform the jobs their caste dictates, they are relieved of their duties and are permitted to enter a life of "retirement". Even as elders though, the TzHaar are powerful, and will often occupy their time by mining or having friendly battles with one another for entertainment.
Honor
The TzHaar value honor and chivalry above all else. Throughout their history, no TzHaar has ever committed a crime, although crime is the subject of some of their fictional tales and plays. Because most humanoids have no such values in the eyes of the TzHaar, they are cautious in dealing with them and keep most of their civilizations blocked off from outsiders.
Amongst the fighting castes, combat is incredibly popular. The TzHaar partake in gladiator-style combat, and fight ancient creatures that live deep underground. To excel in friendly combat is a major goal of most fighting TzHaar. Ultimately, however, to perform the duties of one's caste well is the primary goal of the TzHaar.
TzHaar Names
TzHaar are genderless. They have a unique naming system consisting of multiple hyphenated names. The first part of their name is always "TzHaar", indicating their race. The second is the name of their caste and the third is the individual's given name. TzHaar given names are typically very short, one syllable names. For example, a TzHaar-Hur might be called TzHaar-Hur-Lek. TzHaar will typically refer to creatures of other species by their given name preceded by "JalYt". This prefix translates literally to "cold foreigner".
Given Names: Ak, Brekt, Ix, Jal, Kah, Lek, Lor, Roh, Tel, Zuh.
Appearance
TzHaar vary greatly in appearance depending on their caste. All of them, however, have bulky bodies made of jagged, black obsidian and glowing orange magma. The magma forms swirling or jagged patterns on the surface of their bodies. They wear very little clothing or armor, if any. TzHaar typically wear just a few ornamental metal objects such as decorative bracelets and chains.
TzHaar speak with a unique accent that can occasionally make it difficult to understand their Common. They lack the system of internal muscles and organs used by most humanoids to create speech, and rely on twisting, contorting, and grinding the rocky interiors of their bodies to replicate the sounds as best they can. The TzHaar accent can best be described as normal sounding speech of a very deep pitch, overlaid with scratching and crumbling earthy noises which are nearly as loud as the speech itself.
TzHaar Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score and Wisdom score both increase by 1.
Age. TzHaar don't age in the same way most humanoids do. Their true natural lifespan is not known for certain, but many have been known to live for centuries.
Alignment. TzHaar value honor and chivalry above all else. Throughout their history, no TzHaar has ever committed a crime. As such, TzHaar are almost exclusively lawful good, though some may lean more neutral than good.
Size. TzHaar vary widely in height, weight, and appearance based on their subrace. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Big and incredibly heavy creatures, TzHaar aren't as swift as most humanoids. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Natural Armor. Your fiery, rocky body provides you with natural protection, but you cannot wear regular armor except for a shield. Your AC is equal to 10 + your Constitution modifier, and a shield's benefits apply as normal. You can't use your body to ignite or burn creatures or objects.
Volcano Body. You have resistance to fire damage.
Hybrid Nature. You have two creature types: humanoid and elemental. You can be affected by a game effect if it works on either of your creature types.
Many Arms. TzHaar have four arms. Two arms act as the primary arms, behaving normally, and two more are secondary arms. Your secondary arms are much smaller, and not as strong or mechanically skilled. You can grasp things with your secondary arms with a reach of 5 feet, and they each can lift a number of pounds equal to three times your Strength score. You can use them to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object; or open or close a door or a container. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options. The secondary arms can't wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using magic items, performing the somatic components of a spell, or grappling or shoving creatures.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and TzHaar.
Subrace. Each TzHaar is born into a caste based on their shape, size, and ability. Each of the TzHaar castes is considered equal in power and respectability, but differs in its role in society. By dividing themselves, the TzHaar are able to effectively manage their people and retain a power balance. Choose one of these subraces.
TzHaar-Ket
The TzHaar-Ket are the guardians and police force of the TzHaar. If ever the TzHaar city were threatened, TzHaar-Ket would be the first to defend it. With their tall and wide stature, TzHaar-Ket are fearsome soldiers that follow a code not unlike the concept of chivalry.
TzHaar-Ket have very bulky legs and primary arms. Their heads sit in the center of their large, round torsos. They are the bulkiest of the TzHaar. They are between 7 feet and just under 8 feet tall and weigh between 1400 and 2000 pounds.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Earthly Grip. You can grapple a single creature using both of your secondary arms together.
Burly. You gain proficiency in Athletics.
TzHaar-Xil
The TzHaar-Xil are the hunting caste, being agile, yet adept in combat. They are primarily in charge of gathering food by hunting prey that live underground. Like the TzHaar-Ket, they take great pride in their skills in combat.
TzHaar-Xil have hunched torsos with long limbs. They have small heads at the end of their long necks, which slope forward and downward from the top of their torsos. Their long arms make them particularly skilled with thrown weapons. Their long legs and tails also make them more dexterous than the other castes. They are between 7 feet and just under 8 feet tall and weigh between 1200 and 1600 pounds.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Skilled Hunter. You gain proficiency with the javelin and handaxe. When you make a thrown weapon attack at long range, you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll. You can also draw a thrown weapon as part of your attack action, either before or after attacking, without using your free object interaction so long as at least one of your secondary arms is free.
Strong and Swift. TzHaar-Xil are swift on their feet, despite their massive weight. Your base walking speed increases to 30 feet, and you gain proficiency in your choice of either Acrobatics or Stealth.
TzHaar-Mej
The TzHaar-Mej are the mystic class of the TzHaar, although they are also the race's leading and governing class. As mystics, TzHaar-Mej are generally the wisest, and are responsible not only for governing the TzHaar, but for recording their people's history in their libraries.
TzHaar-Mej are slightly taller and less bulky than the other TzHaar. They have thin, cone-shaped torsos, and small feet and hands. Their thin primary arms are only slightly larger than their secondary arms. Atop their torsos sit their pointed heads, which are flanked by two wide, arched spikes. Between these spikes, directly above their heads, lies a large floating ball of magma. They are between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 1000 and 1400 lbs.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by an additional 1, for a total bonus of 2.
Comes in Handy. You can use either of your secondary arms to satisfy the somatic components of spells you cast, provided at least one of them is free.
Fire Mage. You know the dancing lights cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the flaming sphere spell at 2nd-level once with this trait, and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Whenever you cast either of these spells using this trait, the spells' effects appear as spheres of lava rather than their normal appearance.
TzHaar-Hur
The TzHaar-Hur are the craftsman class of the TzHaar. If pressed to combat, a TzHaar-Hur will often prefer to use only their fists. Despite their lack of innate combat ability, TzHaar-Hur are incredibly important to the TzHaar, and are capable of forging weaponry from obsidian found in the volcanoes where they dwell. In addition, TzHaar-Hur are excellent miners, architects, and sculptors.
TzHaar-Hur are the smallest of the TzHaar, standing much shorter than the other castes. They have no legs, instead using a rotating ball of magma at the bottom of their torsos to push themselves across the ground. Their small heads poke out from between their shoulders. They have smaller primary arms which, like the TzHaar-Mej, are only slightly larger than their secondary arms. They average barely 4 feet tall and weigh between 800 and 1200 lbs.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Skilled Artisan. You gain proficiency with one type of artisan's tools of your choice, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make using it. You can operate tools using your secondary arms.
Scholar. You gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Arcana, History, Investigation, and Religion.
Volcanic Touch. Using an action, you can touch a weapon or up to 5 pieces of ammunition, causing them to heat up and glow with pale orange light. For the next 1 minute, attacks made with the weapon or ammunition deal an extra 1d4 fire damage. The weapon or ammunition must be made of or tipped with metal, stone, or another inflammable material. After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.