Voxel (5e Race)

Author: Midwinter Hunt. (talk) Date Created: Jan 18th 2021. Status: Ongoing idea. Editing: Clarity edits only please

Rate this article Your rating for this article: Favor Like Neutral Dislike Oppose Submit | Cancel Discuss this article

Voxel

The layer of water on the forest floor barely even has a ripple as the tall grass gently shifts. A young girl stalks quietly on all fours to keep low and avoid the gaze of predators. Her dark eyes always alert, she expertly slips deeper into the woods where she can find the rare resources to craft a new spear. She pauses, and her ear twitches as she hears a small splash. Her and the big cat take off at the same time, and chase of hunter and hunted. But the young voxel was ready, and leads the cat to a cliff, jumping up and over the concealed trap. She ascends toward her goal, leaving the predator in a snare that it may or may not eventually escape from. 

The voxel are adept at matching their environment as they evolved from prey animals, and are still affected by that. They are obligate herbivores, so their diet must consist of plant life. They are semi-bipedal, so they sometimes move on all fours. They are faster when running on four legs, so they only walk on two legs when they are relaxed and just casually strolling or jogging.

Appearance

A small, slender race of semi-aquatic mammals. They are usually the minty or teal colors of their planet, with digitigrade legs, almost hoof-like toenails, and padded hands designed for running on all fours. They have non-prehensile tails that are at least the length of the rest of their body. They have thick manes of hair that go down the center of their backs, as well as the tips of their tails. The males’ manes also wrap around and grow partially down the chest. They have brightly colored stripes that change pigmentation based on mood, brighter saturations for heightened emotions, pastels for passive states, pale and de-saturated for frightened or stressed states, and darker shades for aggression. The specific pattern of the stripes are unique to each individual, and are an important part of how they identify each other. Their base skin color gradually changes to match their environment. A full change in color can take a few weeks.

Their average height is four feet tall, and average weight is 80 lbs.

Calculated Height: 3’9” +1d6 Calculated Weight: 75 lbs +1d10

Personality

Voxel tend to be more cautious, do to their need to avoid natural predators. They are taught from a young age to avoid unnecessary risks. This should not be mistaken for cowardice, as they are more than ready to do what they have to to keep their community safe.

Others who know about this race tend to view them as weak and afraid, often leading to voxel being underestimated. While not all assumptions are baseless, thinking that every voxel can be intimated will quickly bring your end.

Voxel are friendly to a lot of other races, but will usually be tense around other races who visibly evolved from predators.

Living Environment

Their entire planet (named Vox) is covered in a thin layer of water. And plantlife tends to be teal or minty colored rather than green. While there are still oceans, lakes, and rivers, and even small patches of dry land, basically the entire planet has about six inches to a couple feet of water. There are billions of species of life on the planet, but most notably is that fact that megafauna are still widespread and flourishing. With many natural predators that attack the people here.

The voxel have become clever at building things to help themselves create a society in this environment. Their buildings are all elevated and there are energy shield around all towns, as well as raised paths within and outside of towns. These roads can be made of mounded up soil, stone, and cobble, or more minor roads are built out of wood.

Days on this planet are only 16 hours long, and years are 354 days long. That would make their year 236 standard 24-hour days, or approximately 8 months long.

Voxel Names

Names are given to children when they begin to exhibit a strong personality. And a Name Granting Ceremony is a massive celebratory event in a child’s life, and it is when they are considered a member of society. Many children are old enough to help decide on their own names when it is granted, others who are too young or who can’t decide have their name chosen for them by their parents and the town elder. Either way, a name is both a praising of who they are as a person, and a blessing that they will always have positive traits throughout their life.

Clan names come from notable heads of your clan, and deeds they did in the past. It’s a way of showing what legacy you have from your ancestors. It is possible to become the head of your own new clan if you are granted one after showing a great feat of heroism, but that is very rare and something most people will only see happen once in their lifetime. Let alone accomplish it for themselves. Oftentimes, a voxel will go on adventure seeking a name for themselves in an effort to create their own clan. All names are gender-neutral.

Given Names: Liithal, Tyrannie, Braive, Allirt, Colm, Brite, Corrage, Dynamick, Fathe, Kynd, Kwiet, Shye, Reddy, Offal, Fancie, Gental, Mystie, Zanie

Clan Names: Empty-Walker, Ivol-Eater, Longstrider, Flyer

Voxel Traits

'

Creature Type. Humanoid

Ability Score Increase. Dexterity +2

Age. While they reach physical maturity at 14 local years, they are considered adolescent as soon as they are given a name (typically between 4 and 8 years), and are not considered fully fledged adults until 10 years after that. Given that they are not killed in the environment, they can usually live to be 75 local years without any trouble.

Alignment. They are usually good or neutral aligned, as cooperation with each other is extremely important in their culture.

Size. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base speed is 25 feet. 35 when on all fours, 50 when swimming.  

Diver's Eyes. They have large, dark eyes with a transparent inner eyelid. These eyes are adapted for seeing as clearly under water as they do above it. 

Diving. Since they live on a planet that is completely covered in water, they are fully adapted to spend a significant amount of their time in it. They have webbed hands and feet, and large lungs. They can dive for 10+Con mod minutes before needing to get air again. 

Color Changing. Their base skin tone will gradually change to match the color of their environment, this change takes two to three weeks, but after it is complete they are adept at blending in. Advantage on stealth rolls to environments they are matched to. 

Flight Response. They are prey animals, so they have an ingrained instinct to run when in danger. When fear responses kick in, they almost always go with flight over freezing or fighting. When in the frightened condition, take the dash action.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Voxaltok, as well as a number of extra languages equal to you Int mod

Subraces

You must pick a subrace.

Coastal Voxel

This branch of the race lives along the oceans and gathers most of their diet from deeper depths. Their hair is often more silvery, and their stripes brilliant white when active, and gray when passive. They are the strongest swimmers and deepest divers.

+1 to Con, and +2 to diving time.

Arctic Voxel

The only branch of the race that does not spend most of their lives trudging through water, since they live where it is all frozen in snow and ice. They are larger and fattier than the other branches, with smaller ears, and have thicker hair with dark stripes. In the winter their hair is white, while in the summer it will shed and turn a more normal blue. They tend to have very light colored skin as well, since their environment is frozen.

Add five to your calculated height and weight.

+1 to Con, and a resistance to cold.

(Note: it isn't common to have starry eyes, this is just a unique individual)

Forest Voxel

The smallest and lightest of all the branches. They have very delicate features, with light blue hair and stripes that tend to be in the orange and red tones. They are the most likely to travel throughout the world, and are known for their inventiveness that comes from the high concentration of land predators that surround them.

Calculate your height and weight, and then remove five from both.

+1 Wis, and proficiency in Perception

Tropical Voxel

This branch lives along the equator and other warm areas, and have larger ears and darker skin, with different tones depending on the hue of their environment. Their hair is often very dark, even being black, and stripe colors have the most diversity out of any branch, their stripes are brilliant bright colors that range from reds to yellows, blues and purples, and even green which does not appear in any other subspecies. Rarely they have have gold in their eyes. They have much shorter hair that covers much less area than other subraces, and the men don't have full manes on their neck and chests.

They have had to create creative solutions to protect themselves from the hot sun and warm water, so they are rather inventive compared to other subraces.

+1 Int, and resistance to hot environmental effects

Plainlands Voxel

This branch looks almost identical to their forest sisters, with blue hair and a slender build. The main difference is that they have longer legs, and their stripes tend to be more pink or purple. They are adapted to living in open spaces, where large predatory flying creatures are something they always have to keep an ear out for.

+1 Wis, +10 to land speed

Marshlands Voxel

Some parts of the world are more mud than water, but that didn’t stop people from living there long enough to adapt to it. The voxel that live in the mudlands have hair that is always less saturated and often darker to the point that it will frequently appear brown or close to it. Their skin tends to be closer to brown as well or silty gray, since their environment is less saturated with bright plants. Since not many other animals live there and there is less stress on survival, they have had the most time to work in the arts and form social advancements.

+1 to Cha, proficiency in Performance or Persuasion

Cave Voxel

The most reclusive and rarest of all voxel, they made their home in deep crevices and caves of the mountains. They have become adapted to their dark home, and have developed to have pale hair that is light blues, pinks, or even white and silver. Their eyes have white pupils. Their stripes are also pale pinks. Their skin is usually pale, but can darken if they spend time on the surface. Due to their diet that often includes bioluminescent mosses and other fungi, the cave voxel often have glowing markings.

Due to the darkness of their home, they adapted to see their surrounding.

+1 Wis, 60 foot Darkvision

Above: Cave voxel in normal lighting. Below: Cave voxel in darkness.

Society

While much of the population may be spread out in smaller villages, there are plenty of larger and more organized cities that serve as large centers for culture and progress. They have no concept of countries or borders, no wars or territorial disputes, and any wrongdoings are handled directly by the person who was wronged and the families of both parties, with Elders only being involved in rare cases.

Most towns will have a City Watch, who take up the job of patrolling and guarding the barrier around the town. They warn of wild animals, natural disaster, and even keep an eye out for signs of disease. Being a Watcher is a highly prestigious position in society, and takes years in an academy to be given a spot. Even those who end up failing their classes are viewed well for just having gotten close.

Culture

Age is very important, with more experience comes more respect. Every community has an Elder, who performs ceremonies and presides over the community.

They portray emotions primarily through their stripe pigment and tone of voice, as their facial expressions are dampened compared to other races. Ear position and tail movement is also a factor.

Alcohol

All of their spirits are made from fruits, and have a very sweet taste. Most of it tastes just like sugary juice, but it is still easily enough to make even large races intoxicated after a few glasses. The stronger varieties are even sweeter, with the most potent being sickeningly sweet and having a syrupy texture. Only the bravest or stupidest of souls drinks this, and most are out of the race after just one shot.

Technology

Much of their technology comes from a resource that appears as a yellow crystal that can be carefully forged into tools. The material vibrates in a molecular level and causes an internal friction that generates electricity, and handled by a skilled craftsman, it can be made into a weapon that generates a deadly charge, or it can power a home, all it takes is careful containment and engineering. Their towns and cities also use this technology to make energy shield walls to keep out predators.

They are also exceptional farmers, since their food source is plants, they have found ways to very efficiently grow the crops that keep them alive.

However other parts of their technology may be considered primitive by other races. They still rely heavily on the labor of domesticated animals, and they have no powered vehicles. They don't have any powerful or ranged weapons, as they have no need of them without war. And torches, lamps, and candles are also still the most common practice for lighting the dark.

Religion

They are a very spiritual and superstitious people. They don't worship any current deities, but they hold a belief in an ancient population called the "Old Ones" who the voxel believe will some day return and lift them into a higher existence that is free of hardship. Many of their religious relics are said to be remnants of the Old Ones' civilization.

They also hold a strong belief in a mirror world where evil spirits reside. They believe that the souls of anyone who was eaten by a another creature get dragged into that dimension because the body is required to make the soul pass on to the afterlife. Plus, any person or creature that takes a life will not be permitted in the afterlife, so then also are left trapped in the in between. The beings of this world stay where they belong for the most part, but they can sometimes leak out as ghosts, hauntings, and as the causes of dark magic. Anything that has been tainted by the mirror world must not be touched. If you do touch it, you must spiritually cleanse yourself for a day and a night in prayer to the sun and stars and souls of your ancestors. If you're lucky, you won't be cursed. If it seems the person has been tainted they will be forced to leave their community until you can find a spiritual healer.

Due to these beliefs, funeral rites are extremely important and are diligently carried out. If someone does happen to be killed by a wild animal, it is vitally important for any family or friends nearby to invoke the spirits of their ancestors to come retrieve the soul of the deceased before it is too late. If someone has committed atrocities in the eyes of the community, such as taking a life, they may be denied funeral rites and therefore be condemned to be trapped in the mirror world for all eternity.

Outside of their general view of discouraging violence and outright banning killing any other living creature, their religion does not actually consume much time to practice. There is no prayer, no meeting to learn it as a group, and no holidays or festivals are dedicated to religion. Children learn their beliefs from the community through stories told in moments where teaching comes organically, and young voxel are free to experience it as they are ready.

Fun (Cursed?) Facts

Relationships

Voxel tend toward monogamy and having life long partners, although there are some exceptions to this. Places with higher populations such as cities will be more open to different kinds of relationships than rural areas. And while there is no marriage in their culture, it is normal to openly commit to a relationship in front of friends, family, and/or the community Elder.

Attractiveness is based on an individual's markings. Having clear crisp colors and sharply defined marking, and often more elegant patterns in marking, is deemed attractive in most voxel cultures. The main exception to this rule is cave voxel, who value markings that make facial features and the limbs of the body more visible in their dim homes. This also does mean that when judging attractiveness in other species, they primarily consider if the other species has well defined stripes.

The secondary feature to judge attractiveness is on how full and soft their hair is. Hair is a big way they display their own style, personality, and even personality.

Equality

While there is obvious sexual dimorphism in the species, voxel have very few gendered roles in society. The men are no bigger than the woman, and oftentimes they are seen as slower and more at risk because the manes they grow, while beautiful, can be a hassle in many situations. So all working roles in society are equal, the raising of children are shared between both parent, and both men and women hold leadership roles equally. The only thing women are allowed that men aren't, is extra care and support and time off while pregnant and with a young baby.

Gay couples are fairly commonplace and viewed as normal. And since child rearing is mostly communal, they never miss out on any parenting moments. Trans individuals are less common, and they are not pressured into any specific societal roles based on sex, but some voxel still do experience gender dysphoria, especially when puberty starts. There is an entire industry where trans woman can donate their manes to be made into prosthetic manes for trans men to wear.

Language

All names in the voxel language are gender neutral, as well as all pronouns. In fact, gendered words are uncommon and only used for certain conversations where specifying a gender might be relevant.

Words for objects, creatures, and ideas tend to be more description based, so the point where someone can hear the name of an animal they have never heard before and fundamentally understand what kind of animal it might be. This concept carries over to names of individual people describing their personalities.

Biology

They have a transparent inner eyelid that closes perpendicular to their main eyelid. This allows them to see more clearly when diving. They can also close their nostrils at will.

They have a cloaca, so it can be difficult to determine the sex of a child until puberty.

They give birth to live young and nurse their babies. Baby voxel are covered in fluffy fuzz that tends to be in light blue and white colors. These colors frequently mimic that of more dangerous animals until the fuzz sheds in the late toddlers stages.

They are obligate herbivores. The plants in their diet have sufficient nutrients and vitamins that they evolved to not be able to process and digest meat in any capacity, unlike many herbivores on earth.

They can easily activate both vocal cords at the same time in speech and songs without any difficult practice or training. It is normal for them to make multiple notes simultaneously, and some words even require this duel-pitch attribute to pronounce correctly.