Hadozee (Stormwrack)

"So far we've charted a new island in the Spice Archipelago, fished for dragon turtles, visited the Pearl Citadel of the sea-elves, and escaped from pirates no less than seven times. And this voyage isn't over yet. What fun!" - Bansh Midnightchild, Hadozee deckhand

A race of simianlike humanoids, hadozee are often referred to as "winged deck apes." It's easy to see where they would come by such a moniker: they are covered in light brown fur, with a slightly stooped posture, a shaggy mane, and a fanged muzzle. And they have flaps of skin that hang beneath their arms that enable gliding, if not true flight. Because they're also good climbers and balancers, hadozee are particularly suited for life aboard a ship sailing the seas of adventure.

Hadozee stand at about 5 - 1/2 to 6 feet tall, though they always seem slightly shorter due to their natural stooped posture. They tend to weigh between 200 and 250 pounds, most of that weight being solid muscle. Their eyes are black and glitter brightly, and their fur can range in color from a light tawny golden brown to a deep chocolate. Hadozee do not really need clothing due to their fur covering, though many who work aboard ships wear harnesses and belts for their tools and weapons. Hadozee generally have about the same lifespan as humans, though they are considered adults a little earlier.

Most fascinating of all, however, is a hadozee's patagial flaps - flaps of skin between legs and arms, similar to those of a flying squirrel. With these patagia, the hadozee can launch herself into the air and glide for significant distances. It is not uncommon for hadozee in the rigging of ships not to bother climbing down, but simply throw themselves into the air and glide to another part of the ship.

Hadozee Racial Traits

Hadozee Characters

Hadozee is the race for you if you want to play a character eager to see the world from the deck of a heavily customized ship.

Adventuring Hadozee: As a hadozee, you have a natural wanderlust, and you're always eager to sail beyond the horizon. You regard your life as well lived if you see and experience as much as you possibly can.

For some hadozee, this wanderlust is of a more focused sort. You might travel the world seeking out arcane secrets, the lost lore of ancient empires, or vast piles of pirate treasure.

Hadozee adventurers are hardly out of the ordinary among their people; after all, most hadozee feel the call to the high seas at some point in their lives. Certainly, those hadozee who choose to go adventuring away from the ocean are looked upon oddly by their fellows, but "to each their own," the hadozee say.

Character Development: You have a natural talent for Balance and Climb. If you spend ranks on these skills, you'll quickly be able to engage in accelerated climbing and balancing, and you'll be able to go places your enemies can't follow.

Character Names: Hadozee take great pride in the ships that they serve aboard, and will often incorporate part of that ship's name into their own. Thus, Garsh, who has served aboard the Dream of the Night, might call himself Garsh Nightdream. This "ship-name" often binds hadozee together in ways that family or clan names do for other races - a hadozee who meets another hadozee who has served aboard the same ship feels more of a bond with that hadozee than with her own blood kin.

Male Names: Bansh, Darsh, FaIth, Garsh, Grath, Groh, Harth, Krath, Main, Polth.

Female Names: Bahasha, Bannithi, Dashi, Kalla, Kasha, Mara, Risha, Yasha, Yetha.

Ship-Names: The following names are examples of some ship-names known among hadozee, including (in parenthesis) the name of the ship they served aboard to get that name. When the name of the ship includes a term that denotes a woman, hadozee ship-names replace it with some form of "son" or "child" or "daughter," indicating that they feel some kinship to the ship, as a child might to a mother. Hadozee don't change their name for every ship that they serve aboard - the captain, crew, or adventure must be of such a quality as to inspire such a name change. Dawnwarrior (The Dawn Warrior), Midnightchild (The Midnight Lady), Nightdream (The Dream of the Night), Pearldaughter (The Lady of the Pearl), Swiftson (The Swift Lady), Swordstorm (The Sword in the Storm), Wavedancer (The Wave Dancer).

Roleplaying A Hadozee

If the darfellan PC is a tragic character forced to wander, then the hadozee PC is a cheerful traveler, propelled by curiosity and wanderlust into strange places and often dangerous situations.

Personality: Hadozee tend to be very active and curious. Even in dire straits, you're more likely to crack a joke than despair, although your humor can be black and acerbic if the situation warrants it.

Role playing Application: You could roleplay a hadozee as a sunny optimist who tries to find the bright side to the many traps, terrors, and malicious foes that the typical group of adventurers faces. Then when you and your comrades triumph over many adversities, you can say, "I told you so!"

Behaviors: Hadozee are known as very intense, prone to expressing themselves exuberantly - when a hadozee is enjoying herself, she is likely to chuckle or even whoop aloud; when angry, she bares her fangs and snarls. In general, though, they are a very peaceable folk who fight only when they must. Hadozee enjoy working aboard ships and do not consider their shipboard chores as inconveniences, often actually looking forward to them. Some unscrupulous captains take undue advantage of this trait, but for the most part, hadozee are well thought of and highly sought after as crew by the majority of captains.

Language: The Hadozee tongue is composed primarily of hoots, barks, and low vocalizations, with minimal and easily learned body language. Hadozee are capable linguists, however, and delight in learning new languages, though they react positively when they meet non-hadozee who have learned their tongue.

Hadozee Society

Most hadozee are raised communally in port towns; parents think nothing of leaving children with adults who share the same ship-name for weeks or even months at a time. Hadozee tend to congregate into shared living quarters, pitching in to afford and maintain large dwellings so that visiting hadozee immediately have a place to hang their hammocks. Hadozee are very communally minded when it comes to these dwellings. A hadozee who visits a port to discover a communal house in need of repairs or about to be taken away from those who live there due to lack of funds makes sure she leaves the place in a much better condition, often spending all her available funds to ensure its survival. Many hadozee remember these communal homes from their childhoods as happy places constantly playing host to new hadozee with interesting stories. Unhappy is the hadozee sailor who visits a strange port and discovers there are no other hadozee there. When faced with such an option, most hadozee simply remain aboard their ships. Hadozee have long been hired on as sailors, for they are known as hard workers and skilled warriors. They like working on elf ships or alongside an elf crewmate. Hadozee are rarely found aboard ships that remain in arctic or temperate conditions, for they prefer warmer, tropical climates.

Alignment: Hadozee have little room in their lives for higher philosophies of morality and ethics. They simply wish to be left alone to do their work and enjoy their lives, and prefer to leave others alone to do the same. Hadozee tend toward neutrality as a result.

Lands: Although the hadozee do have a homeland, they no longer know (or care) where it is. As far as any of them can remember, they have simply always traveled among other races, working aboard their beloved ships and seeing what the horizon held. Accordingly, they're almost always found near the coasts and at sea.

Settlements: In port cities where hadozee can be found, they live communally whenever possible. New mothers, those recovering from injuries, and anyone temporarily between berths keep up the local Hadozee House and raise whatever young have been left there.

Beliefs: The hadozee are not particularly religious, though moderately respectful of those gods of the sea whom they learn about from other sailors. A shipboard cleric of a sea god can sometimes leave quite an impression on a hadozee - a hadozee who worships and swears by only one god is likely the result of such a meeting.

Relations: Hadozee genuinely adore elves, almost to the point of fawning over them. They get along well with most other races, though they dislike those races who, for whatever reason, seem incapable of putting in an honest day's work on deck. Hadozee and wavecrest gnomes who work together on the same ship often form very strong bonds, and hadozee are fascinated with the wavecrest gnome's ability to speak with sea birds.

Random Starting Ages
RaceAdulthoodSimple¹Moderate²Complex³
Hadozee 13 years+1d3+1d4+1d6
¹ Simple classes are barbarian, rogue, and sorcerer.
² Moderate classes are bard, fighter, paladin, and ranger.
³ Complex classes are cleric, druid, monk, and wizard.
Aging Effects
RaceMiddle Age¹Old²Venerable³ Maximum Age
Hadozee35 years 53 years 70 years+2d20 years
¹At middle age -1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
² At old age, -2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
³ At venerable age, -3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
Random Starting Height And Weight
RaceBase HeightHeight ModifierBase WeightWeight Modifier
Hadozee, male5' 0"+2d8150 lb.x 2d4 lb.
Hadozee, female4' 10"+2d8120 lb.x 2d4 lb.

Hadozee Adventures

Hadozee adventures almost always involve sea travel and a ship.

Other Races and Monster Races
Races of Faerûn
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Character Creation

Source: Stormwrack