Dragon Tortle
A night and day passes only once a year in the frozen isles far in the south in what other places in the world call summer and winter. These lands are far too cold for even the most daring of explorers, but still those that venture there will find the hot springs and volcanoes that are the home to the mysterious and legendary people known as Dragon Tortles. This remote people resemble humanoid versions of Dragon Turtles with reptilian skin and heavy shells that protect their body and marked by a distinctly draconic appearance complemented by horns and jagged spines along their shells.
Ageless Wonder
A mystery, even among the Dragon Tortles themselves, is where Dragon Tortles come from. The great Dragon Turtles are known to lay their eggs in the sandy beaches of the warmer seas, but it is believed that when a clutch of Dragon Turtle eggs is laid in the snow of the frozen isles they will develop into the more humanoid form of the Dragon Tortle. What is known, however, is that for the first centuries of their life, the clutch of 4-6 Dragon Tortles wander the shores and seas of frozen isles together as little more than beasts.
Among the Dragon Tortles, protecting and finding the wild younglings is a sacred duty. Many adults spend much of their lives searching for signs of younglings and making sure they stay safe from poachers or wild animals. Once a youngling are found by adults, the finder raises them as their own and teaches them everything they know.
After their wild phase, there is some physical development and grow reach their full size and enter adulthood. And this adolescence can take more than a millennium. Beyond this point, however, there is no obvious aging observed in Dragon Tortles beyond the odd scar or injury. Although many Dragon Tortles have died from various causes, most of them being the wandering young, it is currently not known if Dragon Tortles can die of old age.
They have witnessed the rise and fall of empires. They remember the names of gods long dead. And they lived through the ending of the world countless times.
Creating A Dragon Tortle
Most Dragon Tortles don't seem to have a strong attachment to the world outside of their Isles, preferring to search for signs of young Dragon Tortles, tending to the environment of the Isles, and various hobbies. After all, to them, each year is only a single day. However, if the Isles are threatened or if an individual feels a wonderlust for the faster world of other peoples, an adventurer will make their way to warmer waters.
When you make a Dragon Tortle, ask why they've left their home and people to travel north and why they want to be on the adventure crafted by your DM and fellow players.
Created by /u/Stonebringer from Tortle+Dragonborn
Artist Credit: "Tortoise Creature Renders" by Kasper Rossing
Dragon Tortle Features
Ability Score Increase. You may increase one ability score by 2 and increase a different one by 1, or you may increase three different scores by 1.
Size. Dragon Tortle adults stand a stout 5 to 6 feet tall and weigh an average 500 pounds. Their shells account for roughly one-third of their weight. Your size is Medium.
Natural Armor. Your shell provides you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn't affect this number). You can't wear light, medium, or heavy armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield's bonus as normal.
Claws. You have claws that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour at a time while active or up to 4 hours while resting.
Breath Weapon. Inside your shell is a roiling steam engine. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of searing steam in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, the creature takes 1d10 fire damage. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage. This damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).
You can use your Breath Weapon a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Additionally, when used underwater you may continue to hold your breath and the fire damage is not reduced from being underwater.
Hot Under the Collar. The biological boiler in your shell can be used to warm and protect you from the frigid cold of your homeland, granting you resistance to cold damage.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.
