Nopon
Clad in fine robes, the tribe's elder stood before the collection of noblemen. Despite him standing on a raised podium, none had to crane their necks to meet his eyes as he cleared his throat and spread his arms.
"May I introduce... Heropon, Riki!"
A cheer came from above as the Nopon warrior lept forth to perform his grand entrance for the nobles, only to flub the last motion and send himself tumbling in front of them like a big furry bowling ball. Several members of the crowd, clearly related to Riki if their coat patterns were anything to go by, shouted encouragement despite his failing.
"Heropon, go forth!"
"Heropon, make dadapon proud!"
Reinvigorated by their cheers, Riki jumped to his feet and proudly displayed his family's battleaxe with his large prehensile wings.
"New Hum-Hum friends! Riki will keep friends safe in scary jungle, for Riki is... legendary heropon!"
Stuffed to the brim by bundles of fur and energy, Nopon communities are never a dull place to spend an afternoon. One can overhear the fervent back and forth between a merchant and their customer haggling prices, watch foolhardy adolescents egging each other on to perform daring feats of acrobatics with their wings, or let a lonely grandmother regail you stories about her many, many children. Nopon are boistrous, and are always on the lookout for new deals, new adventures, and new friends.
Vibrant Furballs
Nopon are a race of small furry creatures that at times seem to rival even humans when it comes to diversity. The average Nopon stands at about 2 and a half feet, and are surprisingly light at only 25 to 30 pounds. Their fur spans the entirety of natural hair colors, from muted browns and blondes to vibrant red, and frequently include simple patterns such as stripes and spots. They sport long wings atop their heads tipped with four digits, which are dextrous enough to be used as an extra set of hands.
They groom themselves similar to a cat, and take pride in maintaining a clean appearance even (or especially) when adventuring through rough conditions. Female Nopon love to dye their fur in various colors, and Male Nopon will occasionally add highlights to their fur as warpaint or to display their societal status.
Tight Bonds and Wallets
Nopon have a strong culture of responsibility to one's immediate family. All members of a household are expected to help care for their younger siblings until they reach various ages of maturity, and when a Nopon parent has become too old to care for themselves, their children will do everything in their power to help make their life easier. They also form fast friends with members of other races, although they still tend to speak highly of themselves and refer to their traveling companions with terms such as "sidekicks" and "students".
Because of their familial expectations, Nopon are almost always on the lookout for ways to better themselves (and by extention, their family). They are considered to be extremely shrewd businessmen, whether they trade in gold or adventuring services. A Nopon can easily guage the value of most objects and know where to go to get the best deal in everyday goods.
Not So Eloquent Speakers
Many Nopon have unique speech patterns. While they understand Common as well as any Dwarf, Elf, or Gnome, they frequently struggle with the finer details of grammar and sentence structure. Unless born into a high societal position, Nopon tend to speak in short, slightly broken sentences. Amongst each other, Nopon always refer to other Nopon by title or names, rather than pronouns, as a sign of respect, and the "-pon" honorific is used frequently in titles such as 'heropon', 'elderpon', 'littlepon', and 'grampypon'.
As such, Nopon have trouble grasping pronouns when speaking with other races. Nopon refer to themselves and others in the third person, even when speaking with people directly, and like to add the "-pon" honorific to others they consider especially close friends. Nopon are also brutally honest with their feelings, to the point they can be unintentionally insulting towards others. Nopon consider it rude to sugarcoat criticism as it gets in the way of honest dealings and self-betterment.
Nopon Names
Single syllable names do not exist among Nopon, and when speaking to someone with such a short name it is common for a Nopon to simply repeat the name to form a two syllable title for them (such as calling a Kenku named Crash, "Crashcrash").
Nopon do not have family or clan names and instead a family of Nopon will differentiate themselves by theming their names, such as all members being named after types of berries or common woodworking tools. This can make it difficult for other races to tell which Nopon belong to which family, but Nopon claim they can always tell who is a family member and who is a friend.
Male Names: Baburu, Hanahana, Kekai, Kenken, Raion, Riki, Sejiseji, Takitaki, Torra, Yariyari
Female Names: Beru, Cheri, Kara, Kawakawa, Lele, Mofu, ShinShin, Suna, Sutori, Yuka
Nopon Traits
Your Nopon character has certain characteristics in common with all other Nopon.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. Nopon physically mature at the same rate humans do, although many retain personality quirks typical of older children and adolescents. They can live up to 200 years.
Alignment. Nopon are good at heart. Those who work as artisans, traders, and government officials drift towards lawful, while chaotic Nopon may find work as performers and hunters. Despite their greedy tendencies, Nopon put their family and friends before gold.
Size. Nopon stand between 2.5 and 3 feet tall and typically weigh around 25 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Expert Trader. Whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check to barter goods or services, you are considered proficient in the Persuasion skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Nimbleness. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
Nopon Wings. You have a pair of prehensile wings atop your head which are flexible enough to act as a second pair of hands. Your normal hands are slightly limited due to relying on your wings as extra limbs. You can't carry objects weighing more than 25 pounds in your normal hands, and you can only wield light weapons with your normal hands.
You can make attacks, cast spells, perform object interactions, and activate magic items with your wings. You can't wield more than one two-handed weapon at once, you can't engage in two-weapon fighting if you are wielding a shield, and you are unable to wield a two-handed weapon and a shield at the same time.
When engaging in two-weapon fighting, the weapon wielded in your wings is considered your main weapon, while any weapon wielded by your normal hands is considered your off-weapon. You can engage in two-weapon fighting even if the weapon in your wings does not have the light property. You can still only perform one extra attack as a bonus action when performing two-weapon fighting.
As a reaction, you can spread your wings. Until you stop spreading your wings (no action required), you are considered to be under the effects of the feather fall spell. You can't perform this reaction if you are holding anything in your wings.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Nopon. The Nopon language is very rigid and full of honorific titles.
Subrace. The two main kinds of Nopon, Cleverpon and Naturepon, are actually differing cultures dependent on whether a Nopon grew up integrated among more developed races or within an isolated tribe. Choose one of these subraces.
Cleverpon
Nopon that live among other races quickly pick up on their customs and technologies. Cleverpon living in the world of Eberron have a natural talent for Artifice.
Cleverpon, known among the Nopon as Koipon, are slightly more reserved than other Nopon, enjoying time feeding fish, reading, and tinkering on gadgets.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Magical Mechanic. You can innately cast the mending cantrip without material components.
Skilled. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Tinker. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth o f materials to construct a Tiny clockwork device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time. When you create a device, choose one of the following options:
Clockwork Toy. This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each o f your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.
Fire Starter. The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.
Music Box. When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.
Naturepon
Naturepon, or Shizepon as they call themselves, grew up in a tribe of exclusively Nopon, secluded from other races. They tend to produce strong warriors as a necessity from surviving in harsh environments. Despite this, they can be just as welcoming as Cleverpon, though they prefer tradition to the new and strange ways of the outside world. In Eberron, Naturepon can be found primarily within the Eldeen Reaches trading rare herbs and spices with wandering merchants.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Nopon Tribal Weapon Training. You have proficiency in the greataxe, greatclub, and greatsword.
Speak with Small Beasts. You can communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller beasts through sounds and gestures.
Surprising Strength. You do not suffer disadvantage on attack rolls with heavy weapons.
Credits
Frontier Village, Xenoblade Chronicles - Monolith Soft & Nintendo
Art Directors for Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Norihino Takami, Kunihiko Tanaka, Tetsuya Nomura, Koichi Mugitani, Takayuki Yanase, Eiji Takahashi, Masatsugu Saito